Tempest

Beautiful! Rewatch Worthy!

Beautifully done. When I first went into the show, I wondered why there were so many episodes (Part 1 & Part 2 included). I was also vary because with Cdramas, the higher the number of episodes, the higher the number of misunderstandings. And the endings usually are very rushed and done poorly. Immortal Samsara was a refreshening change from those dramas. The best part about the drama is the story between the main leads, it has everything that you want to see, romance, angst, bickering, devastation, death, and more so.

This was my second time watching the drama and it was better this time around. During my first watch, I was too blinded by everything Yan Dan suffered to give some credit to Ying Yuan and his sacrifices. What's more, he was man enough to admit that he was wrong to have abandoned her. I have seen a lot of dramas where when the ML abandons the FL for their own good, they seldom admit that they messed up. They even double down and claim that they would do it all over again. But that's not Ying Yuan. What little grudge I held against Ying Yuan for abandoning Yan Dan, I happily let go after completing the second part. I am so glad they finally got the happy ending and peace they deserved. (As much peace Ying Yuan can have with Yan Dan's lively personality in their life)

In this part, Zhi Xi's character was much better portrayed, much more expressive, her feelings for Yan Dan much purer, something that I though lacked in the first part. Even before she sacrificed her life, she had redeemed herself and I was glad to see the sisters enjoy a good relationship. I would have liked to see Yan Dan get married to Ying Yuan in the wedding gown left to her by Zhi Xi.

Overall, this isn't my last time rewatching the show. Another great thing about this drama, the poetry series about agarwood, it was so emotionally charged. Wow! And let's not forget the beautiful music that accompanied each and every moment.

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Heartbreaking & yet that didn't stop me from adding this to my rewatch list!

Writing this review on my second rewatch. I'm already on Part 2, but wanted to drop the review before completing that one since I still have things fresh in my mind.

I found this show as a recommendation of the drama "The Starry Love". When I played the first episode, I kept wondering if one of them was a remake.
The visuals in "The Starry Love" are much better than first few episodes of "Immortal Samsara: Part 1". However, the visuals got better from then on. The effects were more believable.
While effects might have been an issue in the first few episodes, the outfits were always astonishingly good. I coveted many of Yin Yuan/Tan Zhou's outfits.
So, thinking that they were a remake I was committed to watching the entire thing. (I don't mind watching stories with the same trope if I loved one of them)
So, the scene started in the heavenly realm, the dances, sisters born out of twin flowers, immortals forbidden to love, the disturbances from the demon realm, and so on. There were so many similarities. But it didn't take me long to realize that while they shared a resemblance to each other both "The Starry Love" and "Immortal Samsara" tell different stories.

Characters:
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Zhi Xi: The elder sister, twin to Yan Dan, was one of the first characters that made me realize that the differences in the stories. The Starry Love's Ye Tan got a sister who was the sole person who cherished her, however Samsara's Zhi Xi was always envious of her little sister. If you are an average person who has to work hard at everything, then It is easier to relate to Zhi Xi's character more than Yan Dan's, who on the other hand, has always been cheerful and carefree. Someone for whom things always come easily. It was sad to see the how Zhi Xi's allowed others perception of her doubt not only herself but Yan Dan as well. She was so easily convinced that Yan Dan was against her that she played a huge role in Yan Dan's misery. Later, the story tried hard to convince the viewers that she did her best to make up to Yan Dan, but her redemption arc just didn't seem sincere. I just rewatched Ep 12 and I realized that I had put on rose-colored glasses, hoping that Zhi Xi didn't go out of her way to lie to Yan Dan & create all that misery, but she did. She was first to take the reward for saving Yingyuan, which she didn't, & last to bear all the costs of it, she later came up with excuses to pacify Yan Dan's hurt feelings & continued to lie to her. When Yan Dan jumped off the bridge, we could all see the guilt on Zhi Xi's face but there was no real devastation. It could be because of the actress, maybe she wasn't able to convey her feelings through her expressions. Despite that she was an interesting character, a weak willed woman who tried to save her ass and framed her own sister who wanted nothing but the best for her. She truly was the weaker sister. Even by the end of it, she put majority of the blame on Yingdeng when she was the one who destroyed her own sister.

Yan Dan | Bai Piao Liang: The younger sister, twin to Zhi Xi. Okay, before watching this drama, I didn't realize that the actress portraying Yan Dan was the same one from "Go Go Squid" and it was a bit surprising to me. I liked Yang Zi looks much in Samsara. Since I had come off binge watching "The Starry Love", I was also pleasantly surprised to hear Yan Dan's voice, it pretty much sounded same as Ye Tan's. There's also something about Yang Zi, she is such a treat to watch. I have seen her performance in "Ashes of Love" as well, she makes the screen light up with her presence. I wish there were more interesting historical romances with her as a lead. Coming back to Yan Dan as a character, she is a carefree light hearted sprite, who wants to take care of her sister and her friends and write for a living, someone who doesn't really have a lofty ambition but someone who's actually warmhearted. It gives me pleasure to watch such characters thrive and makes me doubly sad to see them suffer. She suffered a lot, framed by her sister, abandoned by her love, punished for crimes she didn't commit. The sad part, through her redemption arc, Zhi Xi was never selfless enough to clear Yan Dan's name. Yan Dan was too giving and forgiving of people who did her wrong.

Emperor Yin Yuan/Tang Zhou: Cheng Yi is wow! Him portraying Emperor Yin Yuan is his best performance I have seen to date. The aura he presents, the stylist did such a wonderful job on his entire look, however that all would have been for naught had it not been for Cheng Yi brining his A game to the picture. He did such a great job portraying the "Couldn't care less about anything" look. The indifference was portrayed so brilliantly, it came as a shock to see him further display a wide range of emotions. Yin Yuan as a character was highly complex . As we seem him put things in motions to save Yan Dan, we also see how Yan Dan didn't measure up to the entire world in his eyes. Even when he was being punished, what he did to Yan Dan was the last reason listed for his punishment. He also let her down so much. She was found guilty of a crime she didn't commit, and instead of clearing her name, the let the criminal get away with it. The criminal lived on and prospered well while Yan Dan had to struggle so hard to forget the betrayal & pain. Granted, he did go through heartbreak, refused to forget her as a punishment to himself, but he never had to question Yan Dan's love for him. Yan Dan on the other hand knew that he abandoned her after she gave so much of her to him. After all that Yan Dan was put through, it wasn't much to ask for her to find someone else in the mortal world or to feel something for YuMo, but not enough time had passed for her to enjoy her life that Tan Zhou showed up.

YuMo: It was really hard to consider him as a SML in the beginning, he just seemed like silly comic relief and his story didn't really speak to my heart. I could only see him as a guy Yan Dan could be interested in once he came to the mortal world. He was such a sweet guy that I wanted Yan Dan to give him a chance. Even though he clearly had feelings for Yan Dan and did everything for her, he never tried to sabotage her happiness. This is such a stark contrast to YingDeng's love for Yin Yuan, who thought she was doing her best to protect Yin Yuan but was mostly trying to ensure that he didn't end up with Yan Dan. So, YuMo was a greenest flag in this story.

After watching Immortal Samsara, I have become a huge fan of Yang Zi and Cheng Yi. I wish to see them together in more dramas as main leads. I tried watching "Noble Aspirations" but they don't have enough screentime together to enjoy it fully. They are not even a couple a couple in that.

Advice to anyone who wants to watch it:
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Go ahead! It will make you sob at times but its a beautiful disaster that you won't regret watching.

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Came Here To See Another Of Zheng Ye Cheng's Drama & He Didn't Dissapoint As An Actor

Zheng Ye Cheng was the reason I came here and I of course loved looking at him, but when it comes to romance in the drama FL was the one more invested in their relationship and it showed. It reminds of the saying, one person in a relationship is always more devoted, that's gotta be the Sassy Princess here. Although when I read the Synopsis of the drama, I expected that she pursued him first I also thought that he would fall a little harder but I didn't see the same kind of reciprocation.

He was one of the ML's that always need to be prodded by the secondary characters to take action. Left to his own devices, the FL would probably end up married to the another guy. Since I had just completed the sleepless princess before this, I already hated the trope where they marry someone else, so her marrying another guy didn't sit well with me. But it wasn't as emotionally charged as the scene in Sleepless Princess. Mostly because the marriage didn't happen.

Acting wise, all did a good job. Kinda hated the FL's father, his sacrificed his family for his ambition and still ended up being forgiven by his daughter. He pretty much held the gun that killed his wife.

Would I watch it again? Maybe.

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Good for the first 10-15 episodes.

I didn't read the reviews for this one before going into it, should have. I just wanted to see Garvey Jin in another romantic drama but it was for the naught. His story only got interesting in the last couple of episodes that was the only good part about those episodes.

The story is so bad halfway through. Why can't these people talk things out? What's with keeping the baby from the father? Its not like he is going to be crappy father, the ML was a green flag and honestly would have been a much better father than the mother. As a role model for the child, she should have at least considered how her decisions would affect the baby but no. Once you find out you are pregnant, reach out to the fellow. Stop making decision for the guy, if he said he didn't want to be a father once he found out, then that's another story. But that was not this guy at all.

Just felt like wasted 9 hours watching this. Had to skip most of the scenes since they were not very impactful.

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Jung So Min's best work I have seen so far!

This and Alchemy of Souls are two dramas where I have seen Jung So Min shine, and this one outshines her performance in Alchemy of Souls.

Her acting during the stage therapy and her entire character was so damn good. It was so easy to get drawn into her character, to feel what she felt, to even disagree with things she did.

There were times when I didn't like Lee Shi Joon, a lot of things which we would have deemed as red flag were excused due to him having PTSD but then again same could be said for Woo Joo.

Shi Joon was so goofy at times and their repertoire was also great. I loved that part of them.

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I had just finished a rewatch of the Chinese drama Filter and this was the first recommendation on MDL.

As much as I love chaotic couples, I only like it when the chaos does not include verbal abuse of any sort. Seo Yi Do called Min Ye Rin worthless in so many different words throughout the first arc of the drama, that I wanted to stop watching.
And it was a good thing, at least I got to see some happy times, the final arc was better.

In the beginning, it felt as if just as she was about to escape her toxic husband she met Seo Yi Do, who was a different kind of red flag on his own. She then fell in love with the said red flag. It is so difficult to describe the duality of Seo Yi Do's character, there are parts of him that I won't ever like, but by the end of the drama he had somewhat won me over and I was so glad for Jae Hee.

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What an accurate title for the drama: We Are All Alone!

I have seen Cristy Guo in some supporting roles here and there but this drama is where she shone bright like a star.
As Lin Xiang, her story was the most riveting and the ending was unexpected yet not surprising.

Lin Xiang, wasn't a character that I liked, her self-obsessive nature couldn't see anything apart from herself. There was a time when she could have helped Mo Xiang Wan but their relationship was very one-sided. Xian Wan mothered her expecting nothing in return and Lin Xiang thought of it as her due. (How I wish they had gotten Lin Xiang a therapist but alas...)

I added this drama to my watchlist thinking that it would be second chance romance for the leads, but the romance took backseat in this drama. Although there was romance, the majority of the drama was heavily focused on the workings of the showbiz.

I am glad for one the most, Guan Xian dumping Yu Jiang. That guy kept stringing her along, making promises he couldn't keep. He already disappointed his previous wife and was ready to do so with Guan Xian as well.

This was also my first Godfrey Gao drama and I feel that he was a underutilized resource in this drama, but still managed to make his presence known. His character eventually became a strong pillar of support for Mo Xiang Wan, something she was in desperate need of.

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Actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters

The best part about this drama are the actors. I added this to my watchlist because of Ryu Soo Young and I don't regret watching this. He was great in this and so were the other actors.

I hesitated to watch the drama because when it come to twins stories always portray them as being polar opposites, with the doormat twin being the lead. That was exactly what's wrong with this drama. (Let's not even talk about the story, it went as you would expect.)

Although I rooted for the leads to get together, I wanted Sun Hee to do better! She is such a mess. In front of her daughter she lets people treat her like shit, she always apologizes for things she hasn't done wrong. I felt so damn bad for the daughter who had to grow up with such parents. I felt bad for her as well, I just wanted her to stop making such poor decisions.

Do Hee is a piece of shit and that's what her character was meant to be. Since she was just a prop anyways, should have let her stay in that bed and not recover. She didnt' deserve her mother or sister, Tae Ri was more suited for her.

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Because even in unrequited love, I loved myself - Hye Ri

I added this to my list because of Shin Hye Sun, I know not a lot of people enjoyed her in Welcome to Samdalri but that was my second Shin Hye Sun drama and I liked it. So far this one is even better. I have always enjoyed dramas, movies, and books that tackle dissociative identity disorder, so this was bonus for me.

With the way their relationship unfolded I wouldn't have been surprised if they hadn't ended up together. What I wanted to see was the moment the other personality (Hye Ri) came into existence.

Eun Ho & Hyeon O's relationship was such a tangled mess, both stuck in that love-hate relationship since they can't get over each other. Poor Kang Ju Yeon, I like him better because he has been much kinder to Eun Ho (Hye Ri), but at the same time Hyeon O is kinda fun to watch. I like watching Kang Ju Yeon & Hye Ri together, they are so adorable but with the intense feelings between Hyeon O and Eun Ho, he might loose and it is going to be sad. I am okay with her ending up any one of these two as long as they decide to communicate well in the future.

When it comes to Shin Hye Sun's characters here, I do prefer Eun Ho to Hye Ri. But all of them are interesting.

The one thing that I can't get over is Hyeon O being unnecessarily mean to Eun Ho.

Is it absolutely necessary to humiliate her like that when she is already down?

If you have broken up, then move on and stop dragging her down. If her work is not up to the mark then whatever critic he has, he can do it officially instead of going mean girl outside office hours.

At times, I want to dissect Jung Hyeon O's brain so bad, we get that you are trying to help her in your own way but my boy it doesn't hurt to say nice words. It is so easy to say all those mean things why not just put in some effort and say something nice to her.

Eun Ho and Hyeon O are such a hot mess. They have such a strange and toxic dependance going on, on the plus side, at least he was there for her after the breakdown she had while anchoring. What he said wasn't wrong, since they both wanted different things in life, it made sense to break up. But they were together for 8 years, none of them thought to sit and talk about where there life was headed? He was harsh when breaking up but that seems to be his personality trait.

I might have liked Hyeon O a bit better if the creators had showed her more of his side after the breakup, we barely got a glimpse. I wanted to see how his life went on after their break up, the raw emotions and not the mask he puts on. But we can't deny that whenever she was with Hyeon O she seemed more like Hye Ri than Eun Ho.

I would have rated it 10 if not for the sloppy hair on Hye Ri, it bothers me so much I feel as if it were on my own face. Also, I just feel that they should have discussed all the hurtful words he threw at her, it just seemed like that was glossed over.

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Ha Joon's character was the glue that held it all together.

Had it not been for Ha Joon's character Kang Tae Ho, this would have been such a waste of time. The only person worth watching was him, he was a green flag but by the end I hoped that he also cared about himself a little more. Didnt like him in the beginning, there wasn't much to like but once he stopped being an ass that was quite early on he was golden.

As much as I feel for Lee Hyo Sim, she didn't have to abandon Tae Ho. They could have talked it out, it would have been a decent thing to do for him, especially after the way he had treasured her.

Boy was she messed up, she gives a liver to a father who abandons her but abandons a man who cherishes her?

Her family was kinda shitty, I was hoping that she would just be done with them. The worst of them were the wannabe lawyer brother and her mom, both so much like each other, expecting her to pay for them and then treating her like crap.

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Pretty Darn Good!

Worth the time spent watching it. The story was nuanced, the only arc that seemed a bit weird was the Park Jung Woo trying to be the bad guy, but he wasn't all that bad. Despite that, I loved all of the characters, well, except for the initial Ji Hong Ah, at least she changed a bit later on becoming more palatable.

The romance between the main leads was lovely. I didn't much like that she dropped the ball by not picking up the call but I understand her hesitation over the long-distance relationship. The breakup seemed reasonable as well, they had been together for a while and he refused to open up. Yes he had his reasons but like she said just watching their performance made me lonely for her.

I saw some negative reviews and lot of people upvoting them, I'm surprised by this, because I like this one very much.

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Serving a toxic romance on steroids.

Gu Yi was Liang Dai Wen's personal little yoyo, when he was done playing with it, it would lie discarded in a pile of mess.

I kept hoping that Gu Yi would at least get to experience some ounce of healthy relationship with Xu Guan Rui, who was way better companion for her, but alas writers never fully explored that. Instead they chose to stick with the absurd game of push and pull between Gu Yi.

Gu Yi was in dire need of some therapy here, she kept continuously going back for more trouble.

Liang Dai Wen was a better man when he felt no emotions compared to the one who treated like Gu Yi like shit when he had his emotions, kissing her one day, and brutally rejecting her next day. (Young Adult romance books are full of these stories and I wish they would read better more healing romances)

It started out well and I expected it to be more nuanced focused on treatment rather than the push and pull. There were so many different ways to make it a decent story. I am hoping angels falls sometime is better, if it isn't I am done with all of Lin Yi's dramas because despite him being a decent actor, the scripts he picks are not up to my tastes.

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I expected something like "One Spring Night" but alas.

I thought this would have some family drama and that the age-gap between the couple would be the major, but it was just a year so not that big of an issue. The first episode is a bit boring and thing only get interesting at the end of it, which kept me watching.

I came here for Won Jin A and Ro Woon, but I am not a fan of their story. Their respective characters Yun Song A and Chae Hyeon Seung didn't endear me as a couple, because Chae Hyeon Seung put way too much effort for someone who bailed on him even when he was willing to give it a shot. She put herself first so many times, thinking of Chae Hyeon Seung as an afterthought. I am glad for him that they were able to make it work but I think he could have done better.

The real star couple of this story were Chae Ji Seung and Lee Jae Un, however brief their screentime, these two were good to each other.

Speaking of the story, the writers need to stop with the breakup in the final 2 episodes, it is getting old and just makes your characters and story look bad. It doesn't delved into any character development, in fact it takes away from whatever growth they have had so far.

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It was about to go on my rewatch list but then the breakup happened.

The drama was so close to being one of those warm and inviting ones, but they messed it up with the breakup.

Wei Zhi and Shan Chong could have easily worked it out together. We don't really need these kind of incentives to keep watching. I as a viewer don't enjoy dramas that add breakup in the last arc of a drama. I especially don't like it when the person who initiates the break up isn't the one to take the first step towards patch up.

Shan Shan and Dai Duo were such a great couple. I enjoyed their relationship because it was so damn heartwarming, the care and love for each other was easy to see and not once did they waver. I wonder what Dai Duo's family is like, I hope they welcome Shan Shan with open arms.

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Good characters failed by a story that only picks up in the last arc.

I watched sword and fairy 4 before this and was actually more interested in the SF6 because of the cast. Both of them lacked when it came to the story. Despite looking forward to watching this one, it was hard to get past episodes. Had to use fast forward far too much for the liking. The story lacked depth and just couldn't ensnare me.

They had decent characters but the story was all kinds of messed up. The supposedly good sect was okay sacrificing a thousand to save the rest of the world's population because one member of their sect came back from the future and told them so. So many important characters lacked the backstory that could have fleshed them out. I finally got into the drama around the final 10 episodes and most of them were sad.

I am few of those who believe that Bian Luo Huan wasn't really wiped out of existence, his sacrifice was not in vain. Part of him will always live on in Yue Jin Zhao. Sacrifices should be rewarded and not forgotten.

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