This show had me anxious until the last minute
I really liked this drama. I binged it in a few days, and literally did nothing but watch this show for those days just so I can get to the end. I haven't been this invested in a drama in a while. This is the kind of love triangle drama where you genuinely don't know who the FL is going to end up with. They went back and forth so often that when my ship started to sail, I didn't believe that it will last and I had to see it to the end.I loved Ou Chen, especially over Luo Xi whom I hated until the last few episodes which is when I finally forgave him for all the s*** he pulled because he finally apologised. Luo Xi is the one charecter I never understood because he has the mentality of a child. When he first came into the drama he didn't like the FL then almost immediately fell head over heals. But she disliked him and didn't care for him at all. She was also already in a long term relationship with her boyfriend whom she loved. But Luo Xi did everything to break them up and later hates the FL for not resipricating his feelings for her in the past (and present). He had no right to ever hate the FL or want to seek revenge against her when she did nothing wrong, she can like whomever she wants. I blame him for a lot of the misfortune the FL had to suffer and he didn't deserve the love of her or her family.
Ou Chen was such a sweet character and his relationship with the FL did seem a bit toxic at first, but then again we never actually got to see how their relationship was before Luo Xi started messing around with their heads. Because before he showed up, their relationship was going in a nice flow (not at all toxic), which is why the first episode was so good. I wish we got to see more of their relationship at the start. Their story is so sweet especially how they met, we're not really told how they started to date, but it can easily be assumed. I felt like since the beginning, they were always meant to be together, and the other ML is the villain if anything.
The acting was good especially for both ML's but I didn't particularly like the FL's acting. I couldn't tell whether her lack of expression and lack of emotion was because of how her character was written or because of the acting. At first I thought it was just the character, and I liked having an FL that comes off as cold, cold because she wanted to protect herself. Which is what she essentially said that she did. But even in some really emotional scenes (plot wise), she shows no expressions, she does everything in a poker face. I understand that her character comes off as a bit depressed, but she can't even pull a sad face. However, her character started to show a lot of emotions in the last few episodes. I cried through the last 2 episodes because her character was so pitiful and I didn't notice just how pitiful her character was throughout the drama until the last few episode. It was like her emotional barrier finally broke, but it would have been nicer if it had broken earlier.
The actor who played Ou Chen did an amazing job. His charecter came off as both cold and warm somehow, and I was in love with his charecter since the first episode. He did so much for the FL without actually telling her how much effort he put in. He was a very straight forward and reasonable person similar to the FL, but he looses all of this when it comes to the FL and his relationship. I just wish he told her how much effort he put in especially with his gifts because a gift is all about the thought, and he hand made all the gifts he gave her, but he never tells her this. He also had some of the best character development and I loved his friendship with Simon and David, it was my favourite friendship in the entire drama. I loved watching the trio work together and have conversations with each other, because usually it would be two of them agreeing with each other and one of them talking to himself (usually Simon) or just zoning out (Ou Chen).
The ending seemed a bit rushed, especially for such a long drama that dragged the relationship between the FL and Luo Xi. I wanted the FL and Ou Chen to have a romantic relationship for longer in this drama, but the ending was rushed and didn't show me as much as I wanted to see of their relationship. The ending was also very emotional and the last minute twists were pointless, I hated the back and forth relationship of the FL and ML's, you litterally have to watch the drama until the last minute to see who she ends up with, even though you already know who it will be at around episode 30. But I was really satisfied with the ending. It's the ending I wanted, and at least I got that. And I didn't really care for any other romantic relationships but I loved all the friendships in this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
Wasted Potential
This drama started of very promising. I started this drama because I loved the concept. I have watched several historical, timetravel Cdrama's and this is the only one where the main characters go back and forth in time more than once, and timetravel in itself is delved into. But it went downhill really fast and the story dragged for almost half the drama.I really liked the FL's power of travelling through time, and how she brought the emperors to the present with her. Though after 2, it became a bit much. But I hated the FL so much. I was hesitant to watch this drama because of the FL actress who played the second FL that I resented in another drama (one of the reasons was because of her acting). I somehow hated her even more in this one because for a person who comes from the modern world, she should know better. Her stupidity got on my nerve. Anyone who knows anything about historical (and present) Kings and Queens, knows that you should speak respectfully and bow to them when you first see them. She was so disrespectful to all of the emperors when she first met them as emperors. She also expected the emperors to somehow know their way around the modern world immediately after arriving there. She has the audacity to be rude and scold them for being afraid of cars or not knowing how to use the shower. I mean she is responsible for teaching them about the modern world because she brought them to it.
I really liked the three emperors, they all have very different personalities (which you can say make one whole):
- 1st emperor: The muscle. A fighter and a strategist who out of the three, had the most successful reign. He is also, somehow the dumbest in the modern world, but then again his reign was the earliest of the three.
- 2nd emperor: The heart. A very emotionally driven person, who out of the three, had the toughest life (in the sense that he should have died but was mercifully kept alive but tortured). He also had all the characteristics of a typical SL.
- 3rd emporor: The brain. The smartest character in the entire drama, he also arrived the latest, but to me he was the best. Out of the three emperors, the 3rd is definitely my type. He was also the least emotionally driven and his personality made the most sense out of all the characters. I love that he didn't seem to really develop any romantic attachments to the FL as the other two did.
The drama had so much potential to create a really good time traveling plot. I genuinely thought that these historical figures would go to the modern world, either make a new life for themselves or learn to rule their empires better by learning about history, or something. But the plot litterally went nowhere. All that happened for half the drama was that the FL would accidentally go to the past and bring an emperor to the present. And this only took place within a few episodes. After that, nothing happened until the last few episodes when the characters finally realise, what we, as the audience already knew on the first episode, we do get a bit more information (which at this point is useless). I have never seen a drama that was as dragged as this because any relevant plots in that drama take place in around 10 episodes in total.
My favourite characters in this drama were the FL's best friend who gets stuck in time and the 3rd emperor. I also really liked the other two emperors, but their feelings for the FL annoyed me a bit. One thing I couldn't understand is why everyone loves the FL so much (other then the neighbour with the fringe), other then her powers, she had nothing going for her, not even personality wise. All the emperors had more going for them when they came to the modern world, then the FL did in the modern world. They all got really good jobs and seemed to be earning a lot of money, whilst the FL is just an intern at a company that almost got her sexually assaulted, publicly in a room full of coworker. I also really wanted the 2nd emperor to get his sister back, I loved his relationship with his sister so much, but the ending ruined almost everything good about this drama. The only thing I liked about the ending was that the FL's doctor friend got his HEA, and he deserved it more then anyone, same with his girlfriend.
This was also the only (so far) historical Cdrama I've watched where I wanted the ML and FL to get a HEA in the past (in the ML's world/empire).
Was this review helpful to you?
The vengeance was the best part
I really liked a lot of this drama, but it went downhill for me after around 20 episodes. I really liked the ML and I liked how he went about getting revenge and it was the best part of the show, sadly his revenge story didn't take up majority of the show as you'd think.I liked the FL and her character really suited the ML. I just hated how nice and kind she was. There is a limit to how nice you can and should be to people that don't care for you or appreciate you at all. And that's what really annoyed me about her. I was really happy that the romance aspect of this drama came in really late and that it's singular focus for the first half was the ML's revenge.
I didn't mind the ML's relationship with the FL's sister because I knew he despised the sister. But I really wish the sister got what was coming for her, because despite the fact that she hates the ML, I hate how she looks down on her sister for being with someone she had first. If the ML and FL were always going to end up together, why did the plot have to make him go so far with the sister who would always looked down on her sister and him. But this wasn't what triggered me about this drama; It was the redemption that did it for me.
I hated the redemption arc of all the surviving characters in this drama. Especially the sisters one. The one charecter I wanted dead more than anyone, survived. And it was a pathetic and unsatisfying redemption arc at that, for all the surviving characters. It also seemed very last minute. I was really hoping she'd get the karma that all the other charecters got, including the ML, but she didn't. I don't understand why a drama, entirely about vengeance, has to have a redemption arc at all. I don't even think the ML needed one, even though he was obsessed with getting revenge and hurt a lot of people unintentionally to do so.
This drama would have been a lot better of it was slightly shorter. The last 3 episodes seemed irrelevant to the overal plot, and the redemption ruined it for me. It was so satisfying to watch the characters get their karma, and the irony of how they got it was hilarious, but the ending ruined this for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
Very UNEXPECTED plots and twists that have you questioning EVERYTHING
This is a 13 episode Tdrama and it was the perfect length for the drama.There are several storylines in this drama, around 3-4 episodes long each and are all delved into. The first 4 episode had a somewhat expectable plot if you've watched the trailer or read the synopsis, but after that, it really goes outside of the usual fantasy box and starts delving into sci-fi, especially the last 3 episodes.
This drama really goes from a world of gods and demigods called Kawas, a whole mythology thing where the big, main God is Kakarayan (whose storyline was my favourite), to sci-fi and a Matrix like plot that really has you questioning the reality of everything that happened in the drama. This was the plot that got me really emotional, especially when the world of the ML literally comes crashing down around him.
It is full of unexpected twists, so many that the ending, though satisfying, creates more questions than answers.
Characters you think are bad or good, or real, or fake, aren't at all what they seem. Though there is one thing I will say about all the characters and that is that there aren't really any bad guys.
My favourite character was definitely Kakarayan more so than Orad and I loved how (SPOILER) Kakarayan literally created Orad to live the life he wanted for himself with the girl he loved. There is a wholesome love triangle that's never delved into, but one I absolutely ADORED.
SPOILER: I LOVED the ending of this drama, it was PERFECT and so much happier than I would have expected. It sort of went down I route I don't like, where everything is a dream. But it did it so well that I didn't care, and they also make it a point to say that it wasn't a dream, perhaps just a forgotten memory as almost the entire plot of the drama was. I would have liked to see them get married or at least engaged at the end, to wrap up the storyline and finalise it in a way.
Was this review helpful to you?
Dystopian is Back
I watched this drama when it released and I forgot to write a review. Here is me finally writing my review several months later as the plot was unforgettable.This is by far my favourite Thai drama. It is not a typical Thai drama, at least to me it is unlike any other Thai drama I've seen, and I haven't watched many because I am not a huge fan of Thai dramas. However, this drama felt like the Netflix drama it is, it seemed much more like a Western dystopian drama, that is what made me like it so much. If you are a fan of American/English (maybe even European) dystopian dramas/movies, then I'd highly recommend this drama to you.
I say dystopian is back because, first I think the genre is honestly back, and second because this drama gave me the same vibe as the dystopian movies that came out around 2010s.
It is set in a world where women are the majority of the population, and where men are seemingly rare making them a 'prize' in society. The drama focuses on on the 'prize' aspect of the men, in a competition where several women are doing everything to win the romantic interest of any one of the men so that they can have what we view a typical family (a husband, wife and children born the natural way). Men and women are segregated in society, however only the wealthy women have easy access to these men. Majority of the population is poor, living in poor conditions with access to minimal healthcare, including the FL. These are women that have never even seen a man in their lives and these women can only adopt or have children through artificial insemination. It is very rare for any of the women competing for a man to be from the poor part of society, in fact the FL was the only poor person who was actually able to compete in the actual competition.
The concept of this drama to me came off as like a very patriarchal society (which didn't seem very dystopian to me) because of the way the men are first seen. Though many of the women live in such poor condition, all the men were are first introduced to live very extravagant lives with lots of money and no concept of what it is like to go without food or medical care. However, when you delved deeper you realise these men are treated like caged animals. Though the women are competing for the men, the men don't really have a choice on who they can be with romantically, they have no choice on their lives. They are separated from their parents and grow up confined in this one place and their lives are fully controlled by the rich women, especially the MLs life.
Though this drama has only 6 episodes, the story was very well paced and the plot had a lot to unpack with a lot of really well written side characters (and side plots) alongside the main characters (and the main plot).
The season finale was also very good and leaves it open for a season 2. I really hope this drama gets a season 2. I don't understand why the overall raring for this drama isn't much higher and why this drama doesn't get much hype (or at least didn't get much hype when it released).
Was this review helpful to you?
The ML and FL were a MOOD
The relationship between the leads can be seen through this conversation:ML: "You can either struggle and drown to death, or wait until you can kick yourself back up"
FL: "Are you telling me to drown deeper to the bottom?"
ML: "That's not what I meant. Was that not comforting either? You and I really don't mix well."
A hate to love romance between two really decent people. Both of whom, individually are really loveable but together (at least at the start) clash. They have very ironically and drastically different personalities: the idol is antisocial who seems to hate people in general (excluding fans), a mood in itself, whilst the no name reporter is a social butterfly that is hated by everyone for reporting the truth (at least from her view).
The SL couple: They were in a toxic relationship, not necessarily because it was abusive. The SML loves the SFL and she lives off of him despite the fact that she clearly doesn't love him. I felt bad for the SML for being in love with her and I hated the SFL for using him, his emotions, money and company to make it as an idol. I understood why he was always angry at the SFL when it came to the ML and I hated how the SFL always played innocent with him despite knowing that he knows her better than anyone else.
I LOVED the SML in this drama, despite him first being portrayed as a villain, he was always a really decent person that is always misunderstood by other people. I loved his relationship with the ML and FL, they all made such good friends. The friendship between the ML and SML was beautiful despite them not being friends for the majority of the drama. I hated how the SFL got in the way of the friendship between the two ML's and they both deserved better than the SFL.
Was this review helpful to you?
Great start but dragged end
I don't really like dramas where a woman pretends to be a man and then the man falls in love with the woman thinking she's a man. I've seen so many versions of this story but this was the first one that actually seemed to work.The best thing about this drama was definitely the cast especially for the FL. She actually made a very handsome man, and she also made a really pretty woman. She was gorgeous at the end as a woman, I didn't like the wigs. This was the fist cross dressing drama I've seen where the woman makes a handsome man and is actually hit on, a lot, by women rather then sexually confused men.
I really liked the relationship between the ML and FL, their dynamic was great and you just know they'd make a great power couple, if only their story didn't drag so much. I hated how long the secret was kept and found it unnecessary especially when the ML was very confused about his sexuality. This is the one cross dressing drama where it actually delves into the sexuality of the leads. The FL is heterosexual as she said many times and the ML was more pansexual (the ending was confusing about this point).
After around 11 episodes I stopped caring about the main lead couple and became more interested in the second lead couple: Qing yang and Nana. I loved the second lead couple, they had such a sweet slow burn romance that had a very weird start. I didn't like Nana at first, found it weird how she was chasing Qing Yang, but then you find out that she actually wasn't lying and she wasn't actually chasing him but the memories he reminded her of. The more you see their relationship grow, the more heart warming it gets and by the end, they were the only couple and characters I cared about.
I don't understand how such a short drama could drag so much. The only thing that dragged was the main plot of the FL secret that she is a woman and not a man. I thought that they would at least, at some point make the fact that she had to be a man for such a stupid reason, an actual. That something actually does happen saving her life simply because she is a "man". But nothing happens, it was pointless and stupid and I don't understand how no one read any of her documents, her passport or even her plane ticket and found out the truth.
Was this review helpful to you?
Exceeded my expectations for a Thai drama
I don't have high expectations for Thai dramas, I usually expect to find at least:- one really annoying side character that creates all the drama and gets in the way of the leads,
- a bunch of misunderstanding dragging the drama, and/or
- an annoying FL who takes all the s*** the ML throws at her and never fights back.
- as well as a hateful SFL.
This drama exceeded my expectations when it had NONE of the above.
I really enjoyed this drama. It had me hooked from beginning to end that it took me literally just a day to finish this drama.
The FL was feisty and strong. She was a genius and can hold her own and survive in whatever circumstance. She did not take any s*** from the ML and he didn't really give her any, ever. Her capability is what everyone admired about her and I love that she got respect from EVERYONE for it. One of my favourite Thai FL's so far.
Despite how the plot sounds, the ML being a member and powerful figure of the Hong Kong mafia and essentially being obsessed with the FL's sister (simply because her sister was really pretty and nothing else). He was not what I expected at all, he was very respectful of the FL before he even cared for her, In fact he wasn't 'bad' to anyone, he had a lot of admirers as well as a really close friend (perhaps more) in the SFL (Mei Jin) who I thought I would dislike, but in fact grew to love.
There was also the FL's sister who I thought would be the annoying side character that gets in the way of the leads, but she was not problematic at all, and in fact had very little screen time I didn't care for as it didn't do anything to the plot.
The ML's right hand man Jongsing was a very loyal friend to the ML and despite his romantic feelings for the SFL who liked the ML, it did not get in the way of Jongsing's loyalty to Lan See.
Side couples:
The only genuine side couple were Meena and Puey In who had a rough start. I feel like their story would have been similar to the story the ML and the FL's sister would have had, had the FL not taken her sisters place. To me it was like a "what if" storyline. Puey In starts off as a jerk who kidnaps Mean because he likes her, he also assaults her, but then he grows on Meena.
No love triangles:
There were no love triangles in this drama, not real ones.
The SFL likes the ML but is okay just being his friend and sharing a platonic relationship. She also has an adorable admirer in Jongsing.
If there is a SML, it would be Danny Tapia, who surprisingly had no love triangle storyline with the FL despite how close they were. He and the FL were platonic soulmates if anything.
No dragged story:
Pure romance and action, no melodrama, no dragged storyline and fast paced. So much happens in all the episodes, there is no time for misunderstandings, unnecessary plot lines etc. There are a lot of unexpected twists alongside the expected storyline in the synopsis that makes the drama so much better and perfect for the 16 (1 hour 50 minute) episodes (though I did skip quite a lot of the drama after episode 11 when the romance became more ...real).
Was this review helpful to you?
LGBTQ+ with no real romance
I LOVED everything about this drama. It is not the type of drama I would typically watch and the main romance storyline is EXTREMELY toxic. It wasn't even romance, it was OBSESSION on the ML's part.I loved the ML, in the sense that I loved HATING him. Nishikido Ryo acting was amazing, he played the role of such a hateful character in a way that mad me feel sad for Sosuke. He somehow made me, as an audience understand and empathise with Michiru's love for Sosuke, and he had the supporting characters fooled as well. Usually when it comes to toxic couples, I would be annoyed at the FL for staying with such a toxic ML, but the script and acting for this drama was so well done, that not once was I annoyed at the FL for believing the ML and staying with him whilst he abused her.
This was my first LGBTQ drama, one where the main characters were LGBTQ, though there wasn't't really any romance between them, the love triangle was perfect: Ruka was in love with Michiru who later fell in love with Takeru who was in love with Ruka.
(Sort of a SPOILER)
I had a very ominous felling about the end of this drama after the opening it had. But I loved the ending. By "no real romance" I mean that none of the leads officially end up together romantically, though I can see them thriving as throuple after the end, as everyone was in love with everyone but not each other. It doesn't really go in depth with this part of the storyline but focuses more on the amazing friendship that develops between the leads who are only trying to protect each other from people like Sosuke and as well as homophobia and transphobia against Ruka.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Not once did this drama bore me
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this drama especially because I did not think I would enjoy Xing Xu's drama after the last drama I saw of his. He's an amazing actor, amazing at making me hate whatever role he's playing so I was surprised by his "good guy" role here, though there were times I hated him. I actually started this drama for Evan Lin after his role in Crush and I have never seen any of Jing Yi's dramas before, not that she's in many. But the casting for this drama was perfect and I LOVED all the characters, at least the ones that lived. I also loved that everyone got what they deserved. This is my first historical, non-fantasy drama where the villains get what they deserve and the "good guys" actually live to have their happy ending. At least most of them did.This is literally the only drama where I was able to remember everyones names and it is really important to the plot that you know everyones names since it is HIGHLY political (and action-packed), the powerful families being: Mu (FL's family with all the money), Tan (ML's family that's power was taken), Xu (SML's family who killed and stole everyone's power) and the Pei and Su family (best friends of the SML and at some point rivals in war). The children of all these families stood by each other, became really god friends and even family with each other.
I hated almost all of the FL's family, including her father and I was so happy to see them get what they deserved. I also didn't want the SML so suffer any losses and I was happy that his loss was very brief and that he didn't seem to suffer as much as all the other characters did.
I really thought this drama will have a tragic ending, but it didn't. The one thing I was rooting for most was that Xu Guangyao lives to the very end of the drama and doesn't go bad. He was the most wholesome person in this entire drama, everything about him was good. Despite this drama being a lot about children paying for their parents sins, Guangyao was so beloved by everyone that no one truly blamed him for his fathers wrong doings and no one had him pay for it. I was so happy that he didn't get punished for his fathers crimes. His father was the biggest villain in this drama, but he was a really good father to his son, a better father than Mu Wanqing's father ever was to her and that was Xu Bojun's only redemption.
I loved the relationship between all our leads and the AMAZING chemistry between Xing Xu and Jing Yi. I was surprised by how quickly I shipped their characters especially because I came into this drama expecting to ship the FL and SML. Wanqing and Guanyao had a very sibling like relationship despite Guanyao being in love with Wanqing (the way he looked at her spoke so much), which I loved. I never shipped them romantically until I hated the ML for a few episodes for treating the FL really badly, I was so happy to know that it was all an act on the ML's part, I was terrified that he'd become the villain and that the FL would die. I also loved how the ML felt about the SML, he always found Guanyao to be "too good for this world" and he seemed to genuinely love the SML as a family since Guanyao was the Wanqing's "brother" and so his brother in law.
This drama really had me anticipating EVERYONE's death, I was terrified that someone I liked would die and literally the one person I didn't even think about (but liked), was the one person that died.
Was this review helpful to you?
This drama is about trauma and a lot of it.
This drama had me hooked from the very first episode. I loved the leads in the first episode and I understood the FL.The FL had very low expectations of men in general after all her traumatic experiences. It was obvious what she went through after just watching her reaction to people, especially men in general and it's surprising that no one else clocked why she became the way she was. It was so surprising how defensive the ML was of the FL after seeing her the second time and how quickly he clocked what was going on. I loved how defensive he was of her, despite being the playboy and womaniser (who didn't really respect woman) he was introduced as, he was the nicest and sweetest person ever to the FL. He was a good guy in general who just liked to play dumb.
I also loved the FL. Started this drama for Barbie Hsu after watching her on Summer's Desire and I loved her character here. Though she was younger, her acting was still really good here. You could really see the FL's trauma through her eyes.
My favourite thing about this drama was all the friendships. The second leads, as any typical second leads, were in love with the main leads at the beginning. The SML was the ML's best friend and the SFL was someone the ML would sometimes hook up with. The SFL, despite first bullying the FL because of her relationship with the ML, she almost immediately became best friends with the FL. No one shipped the main leads together more than the second leads, and that, I think, is the best type of second lead.
The main leads relationship also remained consistent. There was no break up (not one I considered to be a real one at least). And they always stuck by each other through all their drama. Nothing could stop them being together, not even family. I was surprised by how there was no family drama breaking up the main leads.
(Sort of a spoiler) What I found really sad and kinda funny was the fact that the FL's personality is exactly like that of what people perceived the ML's late twin brother to be like. They even shared the same lines. It was as if the ML loved his brother so much he ended up with a girl that was exactly like him.
This show is mainly about trauma and a lot of misunderstandings at least in the ML's part. Had there not been any misunderstandings of the ML's past, he wouldn't have had any of the trauma he had in the present and I don't think his brother would have done what he did.
Was this review helpful to you?
I Love My President Though He's A Psycho
0 people found this review helpful
The most RANDOM and MESSY plot I have ever seen.
This was one CRAZY drama. I have never seen a drama with as many plot twists as this. Every time I think the drama is getting to the end, based on the plot of the episode, I realise there's 8, 7, 6 ..... more episodes to go. It is so unbelievably unpredictable which I actually enjoyed, only because I have NEVER seen a drama with a plot as random as this (more like multiple plots). There is no one way I can describe the plot because it changes EVERY episode.This drama is 10+ HOURS long and so much happened. A LOT of unnecessary drama as well as drama that I genuinely lost the plot off, which rarely happens. It's also really CRINGE, the amount of times I paused this drama to take a break from the cringe was annoying. The acting was okay, but sometimes even the acting had me cringing, usually it was the lines.
The only normal person on this drama is Butler Feng who I actually shipped with the Xiao Nian even though they had no romantic anything together. I liked Xiao Nian, it's rare for me to find an FL that doesn't annoy me, and she didn't for most of the drama. Both the ML (Gong Ou) and SML (Qian Chu) were psychotic, not necessarily in a bad way and both were the FL's love interests:
Gong Ou was violent (an outright bully) to everyone but the people he loved and he was also really WEIRD and gets even weirder by the end of the drama. He is the kind of ML that treats everyone badly but the FL. If you want a sweet and obsessive ML who only cares for the FL, then watch this.
I thought Qian Chu was normal and sane, but instead he turned out to be like the SML in Memory lost, but I loved Ai Qi from Memory Lost from beginning to end, but I didn't like Qian Chu so much at the end. He also had the same vibe, personality and similar looks as Ai Qi from Memory Lost. And there was definitely something off with him. But unlike the typical SML's, it was COMPLETELY understandable why the FL would never choose Qian Chu over Gong Ou despite how "sweet" Qian Chu was, even from the first episode, especially at the end.
I would recommend this drama if you want to watch a somewhat short CRAZY AF, drama with a LOT of drama and CRINGE. Also, I hated the music, it did not give the vibe of a Cdrama, maybe the vibe of a Telenovela.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Better than I expected especially after reading all the bad reviews and comments.
I dropped this drama after 1 episode because of all the bad reviews and comments I read on MDL and YouTube, and the fact that I thought Aaron was the ML but wasn't. But then I immediately picked it up again and actually enjoyed the drama knowing the ending. I LOVED the fact that Calvin was the ML. I did not like Ah Yi and even hated him sometimes, but Da Ye was so LOVEABLE and perfect.A lot of the bad reviews and comments for this drama are about how Xia Feng keeps going back and forth between the two guys, as if she's indecisive about who to be with, but it really wasn't like that. If anything, Ah Yi was the most indecisive character in this drama, which is why he was the SL. Xiao Feng liked Da Ye from the very beginning and spends SEVERAL episodes pursuing him, until he rejects her in the nicest way possible because he simply didn't understand romantic relationships and how to love someone in that way. I feel like Xiao Feng only starts to go out with Ah Yi only because he liked her, and she liked the idea of liking someone who reciprocated her feelings. She later grew to genuinely like him. But, Ah Yi only pursued Xiao Feng because she reminded him of his first love, which was unrequited. This is why I loved that Aaron was the second lead, Ah Yi didn't put Xiao Feng first over his unrequited love, and when he did, it was too late. When Da Ye first rejected Xiao Feng, it wasn't because he didn't like her, in fact I'm certain he had romantic feelings for her but just didn't know it. It was because he didn't want to lead her on in any way, the way Ah Yi did.
There were a LOT of things I didn't like about the FL as well as Reen Yu's acting. Her acting was WAY over the top, reminded me of the FL from Skip Beat!, but in this drama it felt really out of place considering the fact that all the other charecters were more down to earth with less exaggerated acting. It could partly be blamed on the Reen Yu's script, but I also think it was her acting in general. I loved Calvin and Aaron's acting. Despite Calvin's character being somewhat of a bubble head, unlike Reen Yu's character, who too was a bubble head, Da Ye didn't seem as stupid and unrealistic as Xiao Feng was. Xiao Feng seemed like a character that walked right out of an anime, like the FL from Skip Beat!.
Da Ye was a character that could do no wrong and I love that he broke the fourth wall multiple times.
Xiao Feng did start to get annoying towards the end of the drama, especially in the last few episodes, at this point I started skipping through the drama. Ah Yi wasn't that great either but Da Ye started to get a lot of character development in the sense that his character started to show a more serious side. Sometimes he'd go from a carefree and bubble headed person to a dead serious and sometimes out right mean person. But this didn't really go anywhere and wasn't really developed into. The ending was definitely rushed. Unnecessary rushed considering how slow the last few episodes were.
Was this review helpful to you?
The last 4 episodes RUINED this drama
I loved the three main leads in this drama and their relationships, they all had really good chemistry. I was hoping, throughout this drama that none of their relationships would get ruined by the politics:- the sibling like relationship between Shyi (FL) and Wang Er (SML),
- the frenemy relationship between Yanyi (ML) and Wang Er (SML) and,
- the comedic bromance to romance between Yanyi (ML) and Shiyi (FL).
I love how none of the leads cared about politics though it influenced their lives more than anyone else's due to the power of their family (FL), their own status (ML) and their families strong political alliance (SML).
Yanyi (ML):
At first Yanyi seemed like the the typical cold (frankly a bit boring) ML, but after several episodes he became much warmer and comedic. His relationship with the Shiyi also made his character more interesting.
Wang Er (SML)
Wang Er was always hilarious, he was a bully in the first episode but was surprisingly a sweetheart in every other. He was the most intuitive character and was spot on about Shiyi from the start. The guy who sleeps in all his classes turned out to be the poet and writer of the group.
Shiyi (FL)
Shiyi made a quite handsome man, the makeup and posture was perfect. Her character was physically strong, calculative, street and book smart, but also very oblivious to the admiration of Yanyi and Wang Er, which made me love her more. She wasn't annoying or stupid in any way and she always had a plan before doing anything. I usually don't like plots where a the FL pretends to be a man, but I felt that there was a good enough reason for that to be the case here, and the FL pulled it off really well as a pretty boy. She had both men and women alike, falling head over heels for her and seriously considering their sexuality.
Lin Baozi
The doctor is introduced several episodes in. An anti-imperialistic doctor who doesn't care for power, status or the gender of Shiyi. He was a really funny and enduring character who seemed like the third wheel to Yanyi and Shiyi.
Wang Xiyuan (SFL)
Wang Xiyuan was also surprisingly a sweetheart and EXACTLY like her brother which made her such a loveable character. (SPOILER) I mean, she got married to the Shiyi, the woman her brother was in love with 😂😂😂.
Ending (SPOILERS)
Everything was going great until about the last 4 episodes, especially the last 2.
I have NEVER seen a Kdrama or Cdrama where the ML is the Crown Prince/Emperor and gets a happy ending with the FL. I've seen open and outright sad endings, but not a single happy ending. And this drama, though comedic and mostly light throughout, it got really sad and HEAVY in the last 4 episodes. The three relationships I was afraid would be ruined, did in fact get ruined, the only reason it was surprising was because it happened very late in the drama. Character development, relationships and even the plot went down the drain in those last episodes.
Was this review helpful to you?
Unique story, great friendships and atypical romances
I started this drama for Jang Ki Yong after seeing him on Born Again and Come and Hug Me. I love the roles he usually plays, characters that are warm but would come off as a psychopath, which is sort of how he is here. Woo Yeo is a Gumiho whose goal is to be a human, and litterally the only thing stopping him is his lack of human emotion. I also loved Hyeri in Reply 1988, her role here was just as lovable and maybe even funnier.I LOVED the second lead. I had such bad second lead syndrome in this drama. The first half of Sun Woo's story was like any other American drama/move where the "player"/"badboy" makes a bet to make a girl go out with him and/or fall for him, and then ends up being the one to fall for her. Though, here, it's far less cringe. This being a Kdrama and all, where he is the second lead, it's predictable where his storyline would go. He's not ending up with the lead, no matter how much I shipped them, especially after the red string of fate connected them. Sun Woo and Lee Dam's story was great on it's own, and so damn sweet in an atypical way that I couldn't help but ship them, maybe even more than I shipped Lee Dam and Woo Yeo (the ML).
My favourite thing about this drama was all the friendships. Lee Dam and Jae Jin had a sibling like relationship, absolutely no one would consider their relationship to be anything more. The same goes for Woo Yeo and Hye Sun's (the SFL) relationship. This made the friendship and relationships of all the main characters very uncomplicated and made them more of a family then they already were.
Was this review helpful to you?
