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Revenge is best served with family secrets
City of Streamer is an incredibly polished production and, to date, the best of its genre. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the period styling is beautiful.The plot itself isn’t particularly groundbreaking--a classic revenge story with mystery mixed in--but the execution is excellent. It’s the kind of drama where you can't even afford to skip a scene.
The cast is phenomenal. The characters are nuanced, distinct, and complicated, with believable motivations and contradictions. Jing Tian is fantastic as Feng Shi Zhen. She’s effortlessly elegant and commands the screen. I adored her styling!
Timmy Xu was a pleasant surprise as Rong Jia Shang. Other reviewers criticized his acting, but his almost restrained style suits the character perfectly.
As for the chemistry between the leads--it was perfect. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated and multi-faceted. I could understand why some viewers found themselves rooting for Mr. Meng (the SML). Still, once you understand what Shi Zhen is being forced to endure psychologically, her choices and actions become much more understandable.
One warning, though: this drama deals with some very dark themes, including off-screen rape, drug addiction, mental illness, and child abuse.
Overall, this was such a pleasant surprise. Stylish, atmospheric, intelligent, and genuinely engaging--I was invested from beginning to end. All of the episodes maintain a fast pace, and all characters get their ending.
This is very underrated.
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Absolutely not
Dropped at episode 3.The production is actually alright; the acting is what you'd expect from a low-budget J-drama.
The storyline is stereotypically banal, but the characters are the worst: the second ML is trash; I don't know, he should stick to modeling (what's with that hair??), and the FL is backboneless as always.
If at least this drama had tried to be a little different from your usual. But nope.
I was actually looking for an 'accidental pregnancy' plot, but there are far better shows than this. I recommend Positively Yours (2026).
I can't imagine putting myself through this cringefest again.
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