Green Flag Enthusiast

Tales From An Incel

Ummm ... where do we begin? First things first, you don't watch this show for the romance. You watch it for the DRAMA. The drama of it all is what saved this show because the romance was sorely lacking. Also, I saw someone said that the show had a strong beginning and got worse. I'd have to wholly disagree - it had a weak beginning and got better as time went on. Sure, the plot twists were pretty predictable overall but the whole "he bullies me because he has a crush on me" shtick has gotten old. I know fans are really into this more recent phenomenon of awful MLs treating their love interests like crap, but I've never bought into that. Especially if the writers weren't going to allow the FL to have a backbone and be seen as a strong contender against the ML but I digress. You like what you like, but it's redundant and repetitive at this point.

So, the beginning of this show was NOT doing it for me and I almost dropped it because of that. I don't like bully love stories. I can't stress that enough. However, when we got closer towards one of the major plot twists of this show, things started to get a lot better. Here's where my primary issue lies - I wish they would have made the FL a lot more morally grey than she actually was. The ML's mother (yep, she's a major antagonist/villain in this story. albeit not the Big Bad by the end of the show, of course) was overcome with so much guilt that she ALWAYS assumed that the FL was to blame for every stroke of bad luck she had. Honestly, that would have made for a better story if you ask me. If the writers had decided to make the FL morally grey in the beginning before transitioning to illustrate that someone else was actually in the background pulling the strings, this show could have easily been a 9.5/10. That would have given this drama more depth and complexity instead of falling into the predictable and easy route of "Oh, I'm just a damsel in distress who hasn't really done anything wrong and my boyfriend's mom is blaming me because her guilt is eating her alive." That was boring and lackluster. Give me more!

Back to one of my original points - the romance was there but I wouldn't necessarily classify this as primarily romance because it's more suspense/thriller/mystery. The leads had decent chemistry, I guess. The chemistry wasn't the problem. Their story is the problem. I don't mind noona romances. I don't mind age gaps but this age gap is wayyy more intense than what you typically see. Sure, age gaps in CDramas isn't a new thing but age gaps in xianxia/wuxia dramas are a different ballgame for a reason. Age gaps in modern CDramas are already walking on a tightrope between acceptable and downright inappropriate. This romance fell somewhere in the middle but closer towards the latter if you ask me. The ML was 17 and the FL was 30. Sure, he eventually turned 18 during the series but it's still icky to me because I can't imagine why an established 30-year-old woman would ever be interested in a 17-year-old high school teenager who hasn't even graduated yet. Frankly, what would have resolved this issue is sticking him in college instead of high school. Yes, his mother still being in complete control of his life could have still worked here, as well. All of this could have worked in a college setting! Also, there were things that happened that were obviously misconstrued and no one ever called it out. The ML kissed the FL on the cheek at an assembly in front of the whole school, including the administration, and we're claiming that SHE seduced HIM. That was inappropriate on all fronts and the FL didn't even appear into it, but it was inappropriate because of the student doing it. Not because the teacher begrudgingly allowed it to happen. There were a LOT of bizarre instances like that. Yes, she eventually crossed the line in a big way with the ML but not at that point in time and that confused the FUCK out of me.

Now, onto the plot twists. The first plot twist being that the ML's mother was the mistress that ultimately led to the deterioration of the FL's parents' marriage. Now, if you've willingly read this, then surprise! There's the first big spoiler. However, I must say how juicy that could have been in the hands of more imaginative and creative writers. The wasted potential of that arc is something I will always mourn because the places we could go! That arc was chock full of potential twists and turns later in the story but the writers dropped the ball there. The second plot twist being that the Director was the weirdo behind everything the entire time was ... predictable, to say the least. I always had a suspicion that it was him. To me, it was quite obvious that he was responsible for most of what was happening. There was a slight second where I thought it was the ML's father getting back at his overbearing, domineering wife but nope! I almost bumped the rating up to an 8 because I thought that's where we were going but then they completely went into a different direction and settled on the predictable route. I was disappointed!

All in all, the actors did a decent enough job with what they were given but I didn't buy the romance aspect of their love story. I didn't buy it at all. Unfortunately, that's not enough to keep your interest in the grand scheme of things. If you're able to get past the first few episodes, then you may be surprised. I must must underline the fact that the first few episodes are ROUGH. Those episodes will absolutely lead to you dropping it if you're unwilling to go there and I wouldn't blame you at all. I won't lie and say it's a masterpiece but it's watchable. Would I recommend it? Yes. Would I rewatch it? Actually, yes! This has become a comfort show to me, of sorts. Don't ask me why.

Read More

There's Just Something Missing.

Let me start off by saying this - this was a DIFFICULT show for me to finish in the beginning. The beginning of this show was incredibly slow. I don't mind the concept of shows setting the stage and foundation for whatever story they're attempting to tell, but I felt like this was one of those shows that would easily lose a potential viewer in the beginning. The only reason I kept going was because I'd been told by several people on various platforms that the set-up for the show makes the rest of it that much more worth it. I was told this, verbatim. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

Now, the complaints I have for this show are not with the actors. The actors were okay. They did the best with what they were given. We can honestly say that. This show could have been so much BETTER but it wasn't. I'm actually quite disappointed with what this show turned out to be. The premise is intriguing and appealing, but the execution leaves a LOT to be desired. The execution fell flat, and that's my primary takeaway from this show. Months into the future, I'll probably think about how amazing this show truly could have been if given to a set of more competent writers (or directors?) Anyway, this show sounds good on paper but it doesn't deliver on those promises.

Starting off, I love Bai Lu. I love her to pieces and I find that she's quite talented for the most part. Now, I must say that I finished watching Till the End of the Moon prior to watching this show so some of this review mostly comes from my inner comparison of the two shows. Mainly for no other reason but because of the fact that Bai Lu stars in both. Let me start off with one of my biggest pet peeves EVER when it comes to watching dramas - there was a very distinct lack of chemistry between Xue Ning and her love interests. It's the strangest thing because all of her love interests were attractive. Yet, there was a strange lack of sexual tension and chemistry between her and any of them. I don't know how or why they manage to do THAT but it was one of the first things I noticed after I got through the first 10-episode slump.

Again, I'm wondering if this is due to the director or something else, because I didn't ship her with anyone. Her first two love interests were decent men for the most part. They weren't downright awful or cruel, but it felt like the writers didn't know what they wanted to do. Meaning - it's almost like they were gearing up for a very specific endgame for Xue Ning and then decided to change their minds in the last 5 episodes of the show. Also, she had amazing chemistry with her girl friends. Xue Ning's relationships with the Princess and Fang Yin were some of my favorites in the entire drama.

People often complained about TTEOTM suffering due to the writers not knowing which way they wanted to commit regarding Ye Xiwu/Li Susu's feelings but I felt the same way about this show. By the way ... Xue Ning did absolutely nothing in this drama. There was no sense of urgency; she kind of just sat around waiting for someone else to do something. She was more reactive than proactive, which makes no sense because she's the only one who knew the future. This character was way worse than Li Susu and that's saying a LOT because Li Susu was terribly written too.

Anyway, I felt like the writers were building the foundation for Xue Ning to end up with Zhang Zhe and then suddenly decided not to follow through. I'm not saying this because I shipped them. I'm saying that based on the way Xue Ning acted towards him. There is a very distinct way she looked at him that she never replicated with Xie Wei. Xue Ning looked at Zhang Zhe like he hung the fucking MOON! She had the heart eyes every time she talked to him and it was very very obvious that she liked him. It may not have been obvious to him because he's the selfless, hero type so his only purpose is to bring justice to the kingdom and blah blah blah blah. He was gorgeous but I needed more rebellion from him. If they would have shown him struggling to do the right thing while understanding that following the rules and decrees of an indecisive leader would have sent everyone straight to hell, then I would have been rooting for him honestly. Xue Ning's interest for him was there.

Their interactions were decent too, but his character was too much of a Lawful Good, which made me doubt his HEA with Xue Ning. The writers kept setting up this strange narrative of Xue Ning suffering from deep self-loathing due to the horrors she committed in her past life. Because of that, they were never going to pair her with Zhang Zhe, especially since we know they weren't going to add any extra layers to his character besides being the quintessential Good Guy.

Now, Yan Lin was a sweetheart but it was never going to be him and that was also obvious. He was a good man who really cared about her, but I knew he wasn't going to be The One. He bowed out gracefully and that just goes to show what kind of a man he was. He loved her but he knew she didn't love him the way he wanted her to; it didn't change how he treated her. He still cared about her. He still protected her. He still wanted her to find happiness, even if it wasn't with him.

Now, let's talk about her and Xie Wei. I typically don't like the enemies to lovers trope but I can be if DONE PROPERLY. That last part is the most important distinction about that statement. The teacher-student thing didn't bother me. The idea that he would be awful and toxic to her didn't bother me either. What DID bother me is the fact that there was no real sexual tension between the two of them. I wouldn't consider a man walking around choking you and telling you at every juncture that you belong to him to be sexual tension. Granted, that could be hot under the right circumstances. However, it wasn't hot in this one. The direction for those scenes were AWFUL. I don't know if it was because the director/writers were still waffling back & forth on her endgame so there was a failure to commit. They swung from "OMG, he's kissing me against my will. Let me beat my fists against his chest to get away and to stop him" to "He's kissing me? I guess this is happening; I'm not really into it but it's happening." Her responses came off more like fear rather than suppressed sexual desire. It went from fear to resignation. It was weird, very weird.

I think the fans' attachment to the dark romance/red flag ML trope did a LOT of the heavy lifting for the endgame couple here. The drama itself did none of the work and I stand by that. Someone else said it best and I'm inclined to agree, but it appeared as if Xue Ning was simply going through the motions when she got with Xie Wei. It didn't seem as if she even LIKED him. It seemed like she was mostly tolerating and humoring him for some reason? What reason would that be? I don't know, but that's what it felt like. The acting choices from the FL were incredibly confusing.

Sidenote: The one couple I actually found myself interested in was Fang Yin and her husband (whose name I can't remember for some reason). Now, those two had the potential to be great. There was just something about him wanting to lift that weight off of her shoulders and shared the burdens of life with her that I found intriguing. He saw her and he knew that she could have been the love of his life eventually. Yes, he wasn't in love with her initially but he could have been. If the writers had allowed them the opportunity to blossom and thrive, they could have fallen in love with each other and it would have been interesting. I wanted to see where it would go. I wanted to see more of it, but we didn't get that and that's unfortunate.

It bears repeating - this show could have been SO MUCH BETTER. I'm disappointed because it didn't live up to its potential. My expectations were so high based on what I'd read from other people, but I should have lowered them. Will I rewatch this show? Maybe some scenes because there were some scenes I found unintentionally funny, but not a complete rewatch. Would I recommend it though? Ehhh, maybe. It's not downright terrible but it's not as great as people claim it is. It's just okay. It's incredibly overrated though.

ETA: I ended up going back and knocking this one down to a 6.5 after some distance, funnily enough.

Read More

It's Not Horrible but ...

The first time I saw Ji Sung was in Devil Judge, which I ended up dropping about halfway through my watch of it. His performance wasn't the issue, but the story was .. lacking TO ME. I found myself rather bored while watching that one, and that's why I stay away from revenge/revenge adjacent dramas because I know I'm gonna be bored to tears and will not finish it.
Now, I feel the same way about that show that I do about this one and that's why I mentioned it. The premise and story of this show is amazing and I've never seen any dramas about DID prior to watching this one, so I'll give the writing department kudos for their originality and creativity. However, this show is missing something. I'm not saying it's not a fun time because it is. But there is something about this show that I can't quite put my finger on. Again, Ji Sung did very well. His acting was superb; you could immediately pick up on the differences between each personality so I'll give him props for that. However, his co-star was ... interesting. Oh Ri Jin was not boring or dull; she wasn't either of those things but I found that I didn't care about her all that much by the end of the show.

I watched most of this show on mute so the constant screaming that some people have mentioned didn't bother me. However, the character of Oh Ri Jin is forgettable. There's nothing about her that endeared me to her. By the end of the show, I can't even say that I shipped Oh Ri Jin and Cha Do Hyun. The pairing had semi-decent chemistry but the characterization of Oh Ri Jin affected my enjoyment of the relationship/show. I think some people truly underestimate how much the lead character/lead love interest can make or break a show. Or maybe I'm in the minority of not minding a crappy plot as long as the characterization and interpersonal relationships are solid and enjoyable. Either way, I didn't care for Oh Ri Jin. I didn't hate her, but I also didn't love her. She was just kind of .. there. If you're the type of person who doesn't care for the romance aspect of a drama, then I'd probably recommend this show to you. While the romance is there, it's not groundbreaking enough to overshadow anything else and it won't interfere with your enjoyment of the rest of the plot.

Also, how could I forget about her brother? Oh Ri On. I couldn't stand him and I feel like the writers were too sympathetic to him and his plight. Oh Ri Jin didn't hold him accountable for everything he did as much as she should have, and that's unfortunate. Then again, there were many issues with the characterization of Oh Ri Jin to begin with and her relationship with her brother was definitely one of them.

I got to the last three or four episodes before I started fast forwarding through literally everything. I was just so ready to finish watching this show. I'd grown weary of watching this show and I just wanted it to be over! Also, I feel like those last 3 episodes were incredibly rushed. I feel like the show would have benefitted from gradually convincing the alters to reintegrate with Cha Do Hyun. Some of the alters were clearly ready to go, like Perry Park for instance. He should have been reintegrated 10 or so episodes before the ending, if you ask me. It was unrealistic to assume that all of his alters were willing to disappear all at the same time like that. Some of his alters clearly had the temperament of never wanting to leave - Shin Se Gi, for example. He should have been the only one they kept until the end, because it was clear that he never wanted to leave and wanted to experience life for himself. Things were just wrapped up too nicely at the end; it was almost TOO convenient and TOO clean, in my opinion. It's almost like the writers lost their way and didn't quite know how to end this show, so that's how they ended it.

It was an okay show but I feel extremely strange about this one. Hence my writing a review for it. For the most part, I don't like to review most of the media I consume unless I felt an extreme urge to do so like with this one. I highly doubt I'd revisit and rewatch this one.

Read More

It Didn't Feel Like A C-Drama!

First and foremost, this show did NOT feel like a typical Chinese drama and that is absolutely refreshing. Nothing against the C Dramas, but they're a lot like K Dramas in the sense they're pretty predictable and they always feel like other shows within the genre. Which, again, is fine. This did NOT feel like a Chinese drama by any stretch of the word. I can't reiterate that enough. That should be more than enough for any potential watchers just case in they want to watch this one. I know I keep saying it but I don't think you guys understand me when I say this. There was skin being shown in this show. There was a lot of kissing. There was even a moment where the main characters were in bed together naked after having sex the night before. Like, this didn't feel like the censorship I'm used to and I'm happy about it!

For the sake of this review, just look at the show for what it is (regarding the age gap/age difference/power imbalance, that is) - a fictional depiction of something that could be terribly terribly problematic and gross in real life, yeah?

Now, I typically don't watch dramas with age gaps. Although I'm from the West and I have a very distinct relationship with coach/athlete or mentor/mentee dynamics due to that socialization, I didn't mind that aspect of this show that much. It didn't bother me, and I find myself ignoring it even though it's something that was mentioned quite frequently. It may be due to the fact that both actors felt older than that? Yu Cheng didn't FEEL like an 18-year-old, if that makes any sense. Yes, in some ways, he did feel immature. But for the most part, he definitely felt older than a teenager. If they casted actors who were more closer to the characters' ages, then I may have felt differently about it. Even in Yu Cheng's characterization, he came off as "more mature" than his peers. He wasn't all that interested in romance and sex, which worked out pretty well for this show because that probably would have easily turned this show into something else.

I think the fact that he was more mature and focused on his dreams of becoming a professional athlete is what helped me to accept his affections for Luo Na. If he acted like the typical 18-year-old chasing skirts and slacking off on both his studies and sports, I would NOT have rooted for their relationship. At that point, this show would have turned into a sad attempt at getting the audience to buy that this older, mature woman would even be interested in someone that juvenile. That's enough talk about the age gap/age difference.

I did see some people mention that Luo Na didn't act like she reciprocated Yu Cheng's feelings or that he showed more interest in her than the opposite. To those people, I have to say this - with all due respect, what show were you watching? It was obvious from the first episode that she was dazzled by him. It was obvious that he caught her eye and grabbed her attention. She saw him before he saw her. Out of all those competitors, Luo Na paid attention to him. It was like love at first sight for her. She was clearly rendered speechless by him. Not even the other coaches with her took notice of Yu Cheng, but she did. Their relationship was the perfect example of "she fell first, but he fell harder." She was way more careful with showing her affections for him, although I don't think she did a good job of it. Even though she may not have realized it, it was fairly obvious. She was attracted to him and that was obvious, but she didn't quite understand her own feelings. Which is why the 180 happened after they officially got together because the levy had been broken! She had no reason to hide what she felt, especially since she finally accepted it. However, I DO think it was silly for her to have told him that no one could know about them when she wasn't very careful while out in public with him. Come on, Luo Na! Anyone with eyes could see it.

Also, another thing. I didn't mind Yu Cheng's short bout of heartbreak and depression. It felt realistic to me. He was a young guy who felt like he had been rejected by the girl he likes. Why wouldn't he lash out and respond like that? He was sad! It's normal to feel that way and it was normal for him to lash out like he did. Yes, kids, alcohol makes all of us do stupid things when we're using it to bury our pain and grief. He screwed up! He didn't pay for it with his life, thankfully, but it was stupid. I think a lot of people feel the same way that I did about Yu Cheng not feeling like a teenager, because anyone who's ever been around teenagers should be surprised by his reaction. I guess people forgot that he was technically a teenager and he was acting like a stupid, immature teenager. Kudos to the actor for his acting! He did VERY well with depicting a heartbroken teenager. I felt sorry for Yu Cheng! He made me feel his pain. Good for you, buddy!

Also, the chemistry! OMG! The chemistry between these two was off-the-charts. They were fucking hot together. The first time they kissed, my heart raced! It was so sexy. I don't know how to explain it, but you could feel the heat and sexual tension wafting off of your screen. Their chemistry was unquestionable. You don't have to ponder whether the chemistry is there, because it definitely is. I know some people didn't like Yu Cheng's characterization or maybe they were grossed out by the logistics of their relationship, but they can't deny the chemistry. The chemistry was undeniably hot! You will definitely enjoy their scenes together.

Now, the thing that kept this show from getting a perfect 10. I do agree with some reviewers regarding the ending. The ending felt .. weird. I can't explain it. I didn't like the last episode. There was something off about the final episode, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a happy ending, and we love that! However, I do agree that the reporter angle in the last few episodes was unnecessary. That didn't need to happen. I think the writers ran out of steam and didn't know how else to fill those last episodes, so that's what we got. But outside of that, I do like the show. I would rewatch it again because it's a feel-good romance drama. It's not too heavy, it's not too dark, it's not too angsty. There is very LIGHT angst, but it's not enough to make you angry. it's not enough to piss you off and make you drop the show altogether. There's not a lot of relationship drama or drawn-out love triangle nonsense to annoy you. (There is a love triangle technically, but I wouldn't even consider it as such as Luo Na only feels strongly about Yu Cheng and not her best friend who's in love with her. Luo Na never returns her best friend's feelings, and he knows it so he's never confused or under a different impression regarding their relationship.) It's just a clean, wholesome show. Like, if you want to watch a cut-and-dry romance drama with no real outside issues, then this is the show for you!

Read More

The Best K-Drama I've Ever Seen!

I'm going to start off by saying that I've never been a huge fan of Korean dramas. I'm not sure why or how, but all of the dramas I've ever seen have always been over-the-top dramatic and downright nonsensical. I'm not very fond of soap operas and soap opera-esque shows, so I typically choose to stay far far away from them. And yes, I have tried to watch some Korean dramas in the past and I've never been impressed. Either I'm bored senselessly or I'm unable to suspend my belief to buy certain storylines because they're so effing ridiculous, especially if they're not marketed as being fantasy/supernatural. They're just regular slice of life K-Dramas, but they always employ certain tropes that can only be found in dramas from this country. I can't explain it, but I'm sure someone knows exactly what I'm talking about. And no, I 've never had any issues with watching dramas from other Asian countries; I've always managed to find something to watch from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. Korea has been the only country where I've had difficulty falling in love with their dramas.

However, this show is nothing like that at all. If you're anything like me when it comes to Korean dramas, then I will highly recommend that you watch this one. It's nothing like a typical Korean drama and that's what made it stand out to me. I know some people may not like the female lead but I LOVED her. She's one of the primary reasons why I fell in love with this show to begin with. She's also the reason why I've decided to give K-Dramas a second chance, so thank her! I've always been drawn to female characters like Moon Young. Yes, she's awful and does some irredeemable things. However, she stands up for herself and other people too. Moon Young is an excellent female lead. She's interesting, complex, and dynamic. She's not boring and she's quite memorable, as well. She doesn't fall victim to being "weak." Granted, I don't mind female characters who aren't as assertive and opinionated as her. But I do mind when female characters are practically depicted as pathetic doormats who don't stand up for themselves and constantly allows things to happen TO them. Moon Young is definitely nothing of the sort. She doesn't let anything happen to her; SHE makes things happen.

Gang Tae was amazing, as well! This is the first time I've ever seen this actor but I'm thoroughly impressed by his performance. The running joke for me while watching this was: "if there's anything you can count on, it's Gang Tae crying." I joke, I joke! But the actor played the role of Gang Tae being suppressed but wanting that freedom of being a single, unmarried, young man in his 30s pretty well. You just know Gang Tae held back for most of his life and you believed it. Now, I loved the two of them as a couple too. Yes, we know that no means no but this is a fictional depiction and is not real. So, because of that, I honestly don't care how "creepy" Moon Young may or may not have come off. I don't care, friends. Anyway, the two of them as a couple worked well for me. I've never watched any shows where the female lead chased the male lead. This show depicted that pretty well too because Moon Young never really came off as desperate or thirsty. In the hands of less competent writers, it would have been fairly easy for Moon Young's choice to chase Gang Tae to come off as pitiful and pathetic. However, that never happened. Even when Gang Tae would reject her in the beginning, it never came off as pitiful. It's a very delicate balance that must be employed and they handled the challenge incredibly well.

Sang Tae was great too, but he would annoy me ever so often. Mainly because it almost seemed as if everyone would walk around on eggshells with him instead of calling him out for his own manipulation. I don't care what anyone says, but Sang Tae manipulated Gang Tae quite a bit during this show. I understand him not wanting to "share" his brother but Sang Tae isn't stupid. He knows that Gang Tae would constantly choose his brother over himself again and again, and that's unfair to Gang Tae. Why should he be forced to sacrifice his own life and happiness to take care of his brother for the rest of his life? It wasn't right! So, I'm really glad that we saw some growth from Sang Tae regarding that issue by the end of the show. This was my favorite trio once everyone got on the same page, and that makes me happy.

Now, before I end this review, I must talk about the elephant in the room with the story. While the story was good and the actors more than made up for certain weak spots in the story, there was something that I wish was made more clear to the audience. This is regarding the woman who turned out to be Moon Young's mother or the woman from Devil Judge (haha). I feel as if they should have justified her sudden reappearance by saying that Moon Young's father has a distorted version of his recollection of the events regarding her "death" due to his tumor. If they'd just mention that in passing, that would clear up so many things. The audience watched her bleed out on the foot of their stairs and watched him put her body in a bag and throw it to the bottom of the lake. How did she survive? I never fully believed Moon Young's recollection because of her age, the length of time that had passed since the event occurred, and her overall trauma. However, that doesn't really explain how her mother survived all of that and I wished they would have cleared that part up a lot more, because it didn't make sense.

Aside from that, this show was incredible and I'm sad that it's already over. I would absolutely recommend everyone watch this show if they were on the fence about it. It was downright amazing!

Read More

Let's Just Say I Had a Change of Heart

As you can tell by the title, this was a drama that I initially dropped early on in my CDrama experience. This was one of the first few dramas I attempted to watch after falling in love with Falling Into You (2022). Obviously, there are some similarities with the age gap/age difference but that's about where the similarities start and stop. Anyway, I dropped this drama a LONG time ago and completely forgot about it. Fast forward to a few weeks ago where I watched the ML in another drama that I absolutely fell in love with, so I decided to come back to this drama and realized that it was the same actor. Everyone say, "Thank You, The Princess & The Werewolf!" If it weren't for that drama, I never would have circled back to watch this one. Chen Zhe Yuan is outstanding! I enjoyed him in that show and that's why I decided to go back and give this drama another chance.


I'm quite outspoken regarding my dislike and hesitance regarding age gaps. Age gaps always tend to be a miss for me. It never ticks off all of the necessary checkboxes for me to thoroughly enjoy them. In this case, I'm not going to pretend like the age gap doesn't bother me because it absolutely does. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the show but it's certainly not something I can relate to or understand honestly. There's a 5-6 year age difference between the lead characters? I can't imagine being 25 and dating anyone under 21. Plus, Duan Jia Xu watched Sang Zhi grow up. This isn't a matter of grooming by any means, but the age gap could turn some people off and I'll be forthcomimg about that. If you had an issue with the age gap, then you have every right to feel that way because it does come off as kind of icky in the grand scheme of things. But I digress.

Also, the episodes where we watched Sang Zhi grow up dragged out for FAR too long! I think that's what made me drop this show the first time. It's one thing for there to be a trope I'm already uncertain about. It's another thing to force me to watch a show overly emphasize said trope by giving us 5 or 6 episodes of the FL being an underage minor and the ML being an adult. That part of the drama dragged out so long and it would easily take someone out of the story if they were already unsure about watching this show to begin with. We didn't need to see that much of her being a kid in relation to Duan Jia Xu. We didn't need to be constantly reminded of the age gap/age difference in that way, honestly. It went on too long!

So, moving on. I think there were some things about this show I would have changed to elevate this drama that much more. I feel like the stakes should have been higher in terms of the obstacles they faced as a couple. The stakes never felt high and there didn't appear to be any true threats to their relationship, which can make the drama feel a LOT longer than it actually is. It makes the drama feel more draggy instead of compelling. Duan Jia Xu's issues weren't serious enough to make me believe it was enough to be an issue for them. My one pet peeve is that I feel like Sang Zhi should have had more of a presence and backbone. Sometimes, it felt like she was TOO passive for someone who was actively pursuing an older guy. While she did stand up when necessary, I feel like she didn't fight enough, if that makes sense. Knowing that you were going to have to deal with a ton of naysayers being hesitant, uncertain, and wary of your relationship should have made her more assertive when it came to fighting for her relationship with Duan Jia Xu. I think in these moments her age was fairly obvious; it highlighted her immaturity. Her personality and her choices reminded me that she's a young woman. There are certain temperaments and perspectives that naturally develop with age. A wisdom, of sorts. Due to that, I did extend some level of grace to her.

Last but not least, I feel like Duan Jia Xu would have have benefited from having more of an edge to him. Don't get me wrong, I'm a STRONG proponent of nice male leads. I love them dearly! However, I feel like he should have had some flaws, some jagged edges to male him feel more realistic and three-dimensional. I feel like he was TOO perfect. I kid you not - this man was flawless in every way. He had no real flaws and it could easily bore you because the character comes off so flat because he's so dull. I didn't want him to be a red flag but I wanted him to be more human.

Also, I did see some people say they wished he was more uncertain about jumping into a relationship with Sang Zhi. While I understand the sentiment and reasoning, I feel as if that would have only worked if Sang Zhi were more determined about snagging him in the first place. I know some people hate that trope but I actually love the "female chases male lead first" trope because it's subversive and it's different. You don't see that much in CDramas, so I would have gladly been all over that. But again, that's the only way it would have worked. Otherwise, this drama would fall apart with a ML who's uncertain about acting on his feelings for the FL and a FL who is easily swayed by the opinions of her family and others; it would not have made for an interesting drama. It would have been annoying and draining.

Anyway, I think I yapped enough for one night. Was this a great show? It was okay. Would I recommend it? Initially, I would have said yes. But after some time has passed, no. Also, I realized that I didn't actually like this show. Would I rewatch it? Probably not. Don't get me wrong. I did enjoy it somewhat but I don't think I can rewatch it. I skipped through the first few episodes of this show for a reason and I doubt I would want to go through that again.

Read More

Just A Typical RomCom

First things first, do NOT go into this show thinking this is anything resembling a revenge drama. It's not! No, I didn't see any trailers nor did I have any prior knowledge of this series before I watched it, so maybe it's my fault for assuming that. Either way, this is definitely nothing of the sort. It's a nice, cheesy, typical romantic comedy. Truly. As long as you watch it with that little tidbit in mind, you should be fine going into this story. (Also, I've decided that I'm actually going to remember the character names from now on to make these reviews more seamless.)

Now. The one thing I will say is that this was another show that I felt had amazing potential but it fell flat for me in some aspects. While I understand that expecting the female lead to hit us with a complete 180 was unrealistic to begin with, I still expected her to have more of a backbone than she did. After watching the first episode, you would be under the impression that she's going to be a tough, femme fatale getting back at her family and ensuring that she doesn't waste her life again. Wrong! You would be dead wrong if you allowed yourself to believe that? What's wrong with you? (I'm joking about that, friends. That was just a little bit of sarcasm.) But seriously, I fully expected Yi Joo to go toe-to-toe with her stepmother and stepsister and never miss a single step. In fact, I expected her to always be three, maybe four, steps ahead of literally everyone else. She has the advantage here! She's the only one (that we know of at this point) that has literally traveled back through time. She knows what most of her opponents and enemies don't know. So, why isn't she beating them at their own game? Why wasn't she able to do that?

Granted, I understand that she couldn't possibly be three steps ahead of her brother-in-law because he was running circles around his own family for years. She couldn't possibly beat him, but HER family? Yes, she should have been able to neutralize them very very early on in this show. She simply didn't, and I don't understand why the writers wrote it that way either. Which brings me to another issue I had - there were far too many players in this game. There were far too many moving parts in this machine and that bogged the show down tremendously. There was no reason for this show to have this many villains at once. Absolutely none. In my opinion, they should have picked one - if it was going to be Jung Wook, then let it be him. If it was going to be Yi Joo's family, then let it be them and only them. It didn't need to be both sides of the family causing a ruckus here.

Back to my original point though - there were times when Yi Joo allowed people to chew her out and she stood there and said nothing! When her pathetic ex-fiancé chewed her out in the bridal shop, I wanted to scream! Why are you letting him, of all people, chew you out and humiliate you in front of all of these people? Especially when YOU didn't do anything wrong. Se Hyeok only married you to get closer to your sister, who he was truly in love with. In knowing that, that man could NEVER raise his voice to me out of indignance. It wouldn't have happened. Yi Joo should have shut that down immediately! I understand her needing to get stronger to fight back against her stepmother, but that shouldn't apply to everyone else. Everyone else should be fair game. These people abused, isolated, alienated, and treated you like a stranger in your own home since you were a child. Where's your anger? Where's your fire? Where is it?! Your own father allowed his wife to do all of those things to you and he said nothing. Now that I'm thinking about it - maybe that makes more sense to the story. Maybe the reason Yi Joo didn't know how to stand up for herself is because her own biological father didn't know how to either. Like father, like daughter.

I have no notes on her husband. Do Guk was fine. I had no issues with him. I did, however, have some issues with his story though. Let me explain - yes, I know that he traveled through time like she did. However, there were some things he'd say that made no sense. He mentioned the fact that Yi Joo spoke casually to him first and that's why he felt so comfortable doing that when they met in the future. However, we NEVER saw anything like that. In fact, Yi Joo questioned whether he even knew her before she got married when they met in the current timeline (that's technically in the past, weirdly enough). So, when did they have this conversation? During the big reveal, that was something that was still left unexplained. They went back to the events of the first episode but not any further than that. I think the writers wanted to fully sell the idea that they knew each other but they failed at doing so. They wanted to create this intimacy that never actually existed between the two leads. The point is that the writers should have incorporated some scenes prior to the first episode that explained why Do Guk was so enamored with Yi Joo. Do Guk was in love with Yi Joo like Se Hyeok was in love with Yoo Ra. Which actually means that both of them were in love with a fantasy because neither of them knew these women enough to be in love with them. We all saw what happened when Se Hyeok finally saw the real Yoo Ra. It wasn't pretty! It simply worked out well for Do Guk when it didn't for Se Hyeok. Go figure!

All in all, I wouldn't rewatch it. It was okay. It was nothing absolutely amazing, but it's something to watch when you're bored and you don't want to watch anything too dark and heavy. This is a lighthearted show that makes no sense at all when you truly examine it, but that's fine.

Read More

Less is Always More

This drama is actually semi-decent but the runtime is absolutely atrocious. To each their own and this next part is purely based on personal preference of the viewer, but this is where I stand on the topic. I RARELY watch dramas that exceed a 40-episode count. I know some people prefer the longer runtime but I am NOT one of those individuals. Yes, I know things have changed a lot since this drama aired in terms of how many episodes each drama is allowed to have. But going forward, you should think long and hard about whether you would like to jump into a drama with this many episodes if you're a new C Drama watcher who is watching all the highly recommended dramas of yesteryear. Just REALLY think about it! I know some people claim that you won't even notice the runtime if you're truly enjoying a drama but that's simply not true. You will notice it and it's going to really emphasize just how draggy and drawn out certain arcs/plots are in said drama.

While I enjoyed this drama, I skipped a huge chunk of it. The episodes I did watch were fairly enjoyable, I must say. I forced myself to watch the first 8 episodes of this series before I started skipping around. That was more than enough to give me a decent foundation and feel for the story they were trying to tell. Like most xianxias, this drama was split into 3 arcs. The first arc was fairly entertaining, despite the fact that it was still too much. I skipped most, if not all, of the second arc. I'm notorious for hating the 'immortal is sent to the mortal realm to pass their tribulations' arc. I hate it with a passion because it always lasts far longer than it should and the characterization of those characters will render you impatient. The helpless, naive, almost wounded baby bird-like vibe of these characters during this arc is why I'm not a fan of it. Yes, Ling Xi seemed that way in the first arc but it was x100 during the second arc. At least Ling Xi had more spunk and was ultimately endearing. Lin Mo (her human self) was simply painful to watch.

Anyway, I liked the leads well enough. Ni Ni is absolutely PHENOMENAL when it comes to her acting choices. She is a treat to watch and she definitely tugs on your heartstrings. I had written an entirely different thing about the ML and I immediately pressed backspace because I felt it was best if I was honest. The ML did okay too; he's not a horrible actor but I felt he should have brought more complexity to this character with his acting choices. He was very much so stone-faced for the majority of the drama. I get it, he's the God of War and that's apart of his entire shtick. Stiff upper lip, stone faced, unaffected, unbothered. I know some viewers enjoy that but I like my male leads to be a little more emotive than that. Not too emotive but more emotive than this. Their chemistry was okay but it definitely seemed more like a mature love rather than a passionate one, which is bizarre to think about due to the very obvious age gap between the two characters. It's not a huge issue but I can see why it would be a dealbreaker for some fans.

The secondary characters were fun too, but the runtime made it impossible to enjoy them because the drama was so DRAGGED out. There were a few secondary couples in this drama, and they were actually not bad. But again, too many different plots that could have been wrapped up in less time than we got. Anyway, I have only fallen victim to the Second Male Lead Syndrome ONCE in my journey. It doesn't happen often and it still hasn't happened. What, did you think I was gonna say I had fallen victim to it this time? Noooo! The SML was fairly complex and nuanced but I didn't care for him. I felt no empathy for him or sadness. It's weird to think about, but I felt like I should have felt pity for him but it never happened. His scheming and plotting and pretending to be loyal to Ling Xi's mother for as long as he did kind of soured me on him. I felt like he deserved everything that happened to him. Sorry not sorry!

All in all, it was a decent watch. It was funny and I enjoyed the characters. Would I rewatch it? Absolutely not! Would I recommend it? Unfortunately, no. This monster of a drama is far too drawn out for anyone to truly enjoy it and not feel compelled to skip around. It's too long! You're going to give up before you hit episode 60, I assure you! Or you're going to force yourself to finish but it's going to be a hard fought victory. Also, watching this marked the end of my foray into xianxias. I'd told myself this would be the last xianxia I willingly watched because I genuinely don't like them. This drama isn't the sole reason for that, but it definitely solidified a feeling that was already brewing inside of me for quite some time now. Thank you, Love and Destiny!

Read More

Proceed With Caution - Viewer Discretion is Advised

I watched this drama eons ago and I suddenly felt compelled to type up a legit review. Don't ask why! I don't know. This is another drama that sits in a very grey area for me. This drama probably has the best acting, more cohesive story/plot, and better chemistry out of the entire History franchise/verse but it's also the most triggering thing you will probably ever watch from the Asian BL world in recent years. This drama is chock full of TRIGGER WARNINGS. I am not kidding when I say that. If you happen to stumble upon this review in the year 2025 and you've never seen this drama, heed my warning. Heed everyone's warnings, actually! When people say it's incredibly problematic and triggering, that is NOT an exaggeration. Please be mindful and take care of yourself.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me delve into why this drama sits in a grey area for me. Aside from what's already been mentioned, of course. I honestly really liked this drama. I know, I know. Please put the pitchforks down! It's triggering, it's problematic, but I really liked this drama. Don't get me wrong - I felt incredibly conflicted as I watched this drama for obvious reasons. Rape was a major plot point in this show, and I don't know why. I have no idea why they chose sexual assault/rape as a plot line and it happened a couple of times. There was an attempted rape but then there was a completed rape (which is gross to even type but that's the best way I can describe it). Then again, they were already toeing the line with having the ML's younger brother stalking him and falling in love with him. Yes, they may not be biologically related. However, the younger brother was raised from an early age to see him as his brother. They were raised alongside each other as brothers.

Here's where things get icky - despite the fact that these two men were raised to view each other as brothers (and the older brother saw the younger brother as such the ENTIRE time up until the birthday trip), the actors had IMPECCABLE chemistry. Their chemistry is so good that you ALMOST forget what's happened and who they are to each other. It's the weirdest thing. It's almost as if the casting department went out and decided to cast the two people with the best chemistry for this job and unleashed them onto the audience! That's where the conflict comes in because you're confused. You know they're brothers but you also can't ignore the very fiery and passionate chemistry between them. It's weird! Then again, the Taiwan market doesn't mind the pseudo-incest thing as much as other cultures do, it seems.

Unfortunately, the second couple was way more interesting to watch than the lead couple. Imagine that! The lead couple is fairly boring and mundane compared to the second couple. However, the lead couple is a LOT safer in comparison. But don't get it twisted - the lead couple has its own issues too. You have a ML pretending to be romantically involved with his straight best friend to get closer to a woman he's obviously attracted to. Neither of them are gay but they do start to fall for each other during this highly problematic ruse. It's problematic but less so.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. There's far too many land mines of triggers in this drama to safely recommend it to anyone. Would I rewatch it? I have in the past and may do so in the future. I'll be honest about it.

Read More

A Grey Area Indeed

Let me start off by saying that I watched this drama EONS ago and never got around to typing up a review. Reviewing a completely different drama just a little while ago compelled me to fully get around to writing up a review for this drama after God knows how long. This drama, for all intents and purposes, sits in a grey area for me. To give context, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama BUT this drama was not objectively great. It had many, many flaws, which results in me having an incredibly complicated relationship with this drama.

There isn't much that can be considered unique about this drama, especially in the years after it aired. There are MANY dramas floating around the C Drama Verse that shares this exact plot, give or take a few minor details. However, the main draw of this drama is the ACTING. The acting was the best thing about this drama. The premise/concept is enticing and it can certainly draw you in but it won't keep you riveted because it falls apart very quickly on in the drama. Like with most C Dramas, the execution fell flat. It starts off strong and then it devolves into this strange, convoluted thing that leaves you scratching your head in confusion. What just happened? How did we get here? Did I miss something? These are all valid questions you may find yourself asking yourself as you continue on your journey of watching this drama, but you WILL be entertained despite all that. The actors do their best with what they're given. I'd even boldly claim that they actually elevated this drama in the best way.

Now, I previously mentioned in my review of SOKP (Story of Kunning Palace) how some people disliked this drama because they couldn't buy Ye Xiwu/Li Susu's affection and love for Tantai Jin. Honestly, that's a fair assessment. There was something about the direction that would leave you questioning whether she actually loved him or not. You knew he loved her. You FELT it! With her, you couldn't rightfully tell. While I am a Bai Lu enthusiast under the best circumstances, I honestly don't know whether to blame her or the directing for this. This lead couple is a couple that you WANT to root for, but the story makes it difficult to do so because it misses every emotional beat to show you that the love is reciprocated and requited. It's almost as if Tantai Jin was in an one-sided love affair with Li Susu who was simply going through the motions. Speaking of which, the reason why I mentioned being confused on who to blame for the lack of love from Li Susu's side is because I felt the same way about Bai Lu's character in SOKP too. In my opinion, there seems to be a pattern there but I digress.

Also, I never fully finished this drama. I was advised to stop watching after a certain episode number and I listened. I already knew there was going to be some disappointment for me so I never finished this drama officially. I know what happens and I know how it happens, but I never tortured myself by watching it for myself. I wasn't that curious. But again, this drama had all the makings for the dark romance/enemies to lovers trope of so many fans' dreams and it just did NOT deliver on that. I'm rarely a fan of either of those tropes but I could be IF DONE RIGHT. Unfortunately, this was NOT done right.

As I mentioned earlier, this drama sits in a grey area for me. On one hand, I really liked it and I enjoyed it. On the other hand, distance from this drama made me realize that I, as a fan, was robbed of a better story. As I watched more dramas after this one, it really drove the point home for me just what I was missing. When you know better, you do better, yeah? But again, the acting from everyone involved was impeccable. It will make you laugh. It will make you cringe. It will make you cry. Would I rewatch it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Unfortunately, no. Watching this drama is like craving a certain food for weeks and then when you finally get it, it's not as good as you hoped it would be.

Read More

The Mind is A Terrible Thing to Waste

This review isn't going to be as long as my regular reviews are, but I would frankly consider that to be huge progress for me! Anyway, this story was quite refreshing and unique. This drama tackled a plot that hasn't necessarily been done to death, much like other dramas within the C Drama space. Going into this review, I would like to emphasize the uniqueness of this plot as that's the biggest draw to this drama.

Again, the overarching concept was the biggest draw. The acting was okay; it wasn't bad. It was decent for a short length series so I wasn't expecting award-winning acting from the cast going into it. That wasn't my issue with this one. My main issue with this drama is the pacing. I'm not sure how or why but I found the pacing to be the weakest aspect of this drama. It's the strangest thing because this is a short-length drama and everything sort of, kind of just flies by before you even have the chance to register what's happening.

Somewhere along the way, I grew bored. Again, it was a shocker to me too. I didn't expect to find myself fast forwarding through this drama nor did I expect to start skipping entire episodes just to get through it but that's exactly what happened here. I think the pacing and storyline could have been MUCH tighter. I fear this drama wasn't as tight as it should have been. They played things too fast and loose considering the type of drama and the amount of runtime allotted here. I feel as if they spent too much time on certain things while rushing through other aspects of the overarching plot. HUGE SPOILER ALERT AHEAD: for example, the big reveal that the daughter was completely fine this entire time and was only doing all this to help her father work through his own grief by forcing him to confront what happened to his wife/her mother took wayyy too long.

That was the MAJOR plot point of this drama. However, it took about 13.5 episodes to reveal the plot twist in an 18-episode count drama. The majority of the drama was spent building onto a plot that was essentially proven to be pointless by the end of the drama. That part is what I would consider to be drawn out. They spent so much time building onto that plot point that it felt as if they were speed running the actual plot twist (see above). After watching episode after episode of them setting the stage to help the FL 'snap out of it', it grew old very fast. It became redundant and repetitive. It was like an episode of Groundhog Day every episode. It was the same thing over and over again. It's easy to lose interest, even in a short-length drama like this one.

Overall, the acting was okay. The story was unique and exciting in the beginning but you may lose interest before you reach the plot twist. The chemistry was decent and I would have liked to have seen more romantic moments between the lead couple. The ML was incredibly attractive, I must say. They were an attractive couple with decent chemistry and I just wish we would have seen more of it. Would I rewatch it? Probably not. Would I recommend it? Sure. It's not horrible; I would rec this for watchers who want a quick, bite-sized drama to watch after watching a more exhaustive, angst-ridden long-form standard drama series. It's a great palate cleanser, as I like to call them. Just remember that you're not going to walk away from this drama with a new lease on life or anything like that. It's not that kind of party!

Read More

With this drama, the most important aspect for me to note is that it had potential. Don't get me wrong - this drama appeared to be promising but it fell flat. Whenever I rate anything around 7.0, it's usually a tell-tell sign to me that it's not the best but it's also not the worst thing I've ever seen either. This drama falls right smack dab in the middle of those two extremes.

The premise drew me in and it seemed promising but the execution fell flat. I'm not exactly sure why, but I felt the writers didn't allow this drama to reach its fullest potential. You have a drama where the gender construct/binary can be deconstructed and you do absolutely nothing with it. This drama had all the makings for a very deep dive into this particular subject and it just ... didn't. Sure, I know some viewers will say this drama leaned into the 'after school special' shtick with deconstructing the idea of a gender binary closer towards the end of the drama. However, I disagree. With respect to different cultures, I have to critique the way it was handled. It seemed more surface level than anything. Meaning - it leaned into the explanation that would be easy for someone with a very cursory understanding of this notion, which isn't terrible but it does make it very shallow. It lacked depth! There were some truly thought-provoking places this drama could have gone with this subject and they didn't. Maybe they should have consulted with someone while writing this one?

Besides that, the acting wasn't bad. It was decent enough. I will say that I don't believe that I truly grew to like these characters though. I liked Makato a LOT more than Akira, strangely enough, and that rarely happens. I never seem to enjoy the male lead more than the female lead but that's what happened here. Go figure! Despite Makato using his appearance to hide the fact that he suffered from a lack of self-love and self-esteem, he seemed more ... sure of himself than Akira did. He had no issues with standing up for himself. Akira was incredibly passive and was more of a pushover. I hated the Fumi (SFL) character a LOT and it's all because I KNEW that she was going to run right over Akira and I found it irritating every time she came on-screen. Akira lacked a backbone and she was too trusting and it showed. Sidenote: the SML (whose name I don't know/don't remember) TERRIFIED me. He was so unsettling to me. From his eyes, to his glasses, to his hair, his creepy smile - he was terrifying to me. He made my skin crawl. He gave me weirdo vibes and I didn't like him either.

There weren't many romantic moments here. Did they have chemistry? I guess ... If you're watching this for the romance, you're going to be disappointed. Little to no kisses are seen in this drama. As this is the second J Drama I've watched recently, I find that most J Dramas aren't really 'romantic' in the way that most of us are probably used to. It's cute, it's adorable, but it's not really romantic in that way. At least this subcategory of J Drama romance, that is.

Would I recommend it? Ehh, sure. It's a quick binge watch. It can be used as a palate cleanser as it's not too heavy. Would I rewatch it? Probably not. I like my romance to be more overt than this. I need more romance, I need more kissing, I need more feeling! This drama didn't give me any of that, unfortunately. Not a bad drama at all, but I expected more.

Read More

A Pleasant Surprise, Indeed.

I've been in an Asian drama SLUMP for the better part of a year now. Yes, I think it's been at least a year where I haven't been able to get back on the horse with Asian dramas (as a whole), so to speak. I've been jumping from country to country trying to find a drama to pull me out of this slump and nothing worked. However, something compelled me to start watching this. As time progressed, it took me until the middle of the first episode to realize that I'd watched this before. Rather, I'd began watching this once upon a time and I dropped it shortly after. For some strange reason, reading the synopsis and title did nothing to jog my memory. I think I dropped it maybe around episode 2 or 3. I can't remember which.

Anyway, I almost dropped it AGAIN but something told me to skip to episode 6 and start watching from there and that was the single best thing I could have done for this drama. For anyone reading this review in 2025, watch the first episode for some background information but I'd suggest you skip right to episode 5 or 6 for things to really start getting interesting. Unfortunately, the first few episodes of this drama are incredibly DIFFICULT to watch in a painfully awkward way. Then again, if you're someone who has experience watching J Dramas, then you'd be fine with the ridiculousness often found in these types of dramas. If you're not, then you might not like it. J Dramas can be an acquired taste in many different ways and you have to acquire a taste for it. So yes, the first few episodes are 'cringy.' However, once you push through those few episodes, you will enjoy yourself. The unique advantage of J Dramas is the average runtime/length of them. They're short and sweet; you won't have to sit through tens of episodes before you get to the good stuff.

Now, Sakura and Tendo are our main couple. It's hard to conceptualize this couple because they don't fit the typical mold of a lead couple in a drama. There's an age gap. Not necessarily a creepy one, but it does exist. Tendo is your typical tsundere type, so he's going to be quite stone-faced for the majority of the drama. I know some people are into that, so you may enjoy it. But for the people who are not, he's like that most of the time so there's your warning. Their chemistry is slightly nonexistent but existent, if that makes sense. If Tendo wasn't a tsundere type, I think the chemistry would have been a lot more felt. But because his character is a tsundere, it's difficult to figure out if he even likes her or not. There are kisses. But there's always the question of - are you kissing her because you like her and it's what you want to do or are you kissing her to indulge her because you know that she likes you? It definitely affects the chemistry in a big way, in my opinion. Also, Sakura is very very immature. She's the cutesy, childish female lead that most of us are familiar with in this market. Typically, I don't like those types of characters but she experienced a LOT of growth and character development over the course of this drama. We watch her grow and make decisions that are suitable for a fully grown adult. The actress? OMG! She's GOOD. The actress is so good; she will make you cry and I commend her for that.

Also, there are SO MANY love triangles/squares going on outside of the main couple that will make you want to rip your hair out. Unfortunately, I skipped all the scenes with the side characters because I couldn't be bothered to invest any time in that strange game of musical chairs. You can skip those scenes and not miss a single thing. And yes, some of those side characters are interested in each of the lead characters but it's all unrequited/one-sided. The leads only have eyes for each other. It does get annoying watching the side characters chase them despite knowing this, but those scenes are totally skippable.

Again, there won't be many romantic moments between the leads until the last few episodes. But hey, it comes with the territory of a tsundere ML. I didn't expect to like this drama that much honestly because both leads are prime examples of my least favorite character tropes. I'm not a fan of tsundere male leads or cutesy, immature female leads but here I am singing this drama's praises in spite of that. Amazing work from the actors!

Read More

Well ... It Was Definitely A Show

I will advise anyone reading this review to grab a snack and something to drink because you’re in for a ride. This is a long review, my friends, because I have a LOT to say. So, buckle up!

First things first, I started writing this review as I was finishing up episode 8 and I just wanted to get my initial thoughts out before I forget them. Obviously, this may end up being a very long review by the time I finish watching this series but we’ll see. Who knows what may happen between now and then? Aside from that, I just want to let it be known that the first few episodes of this series will lead you to believe that it’s good. Spoiler Alert: this drama/series is NOT good. Not at all. The feuding websites storyline became redundant and boring pretty quickly in the series. It wasn’t an interesting enough concept to center an entire show around. However, if you’re here for that aspect of this series, then you might enjoy it. If you’re here for the romance aspect (much like I was), then you’re not going to enjoy this series.

The most important thing to come out of watching this series is the fact that I have NEVER watched a drama where I disliked/despised all the major players. When I say this, I imagine that the people reading this are suspicious of this claim, but I am completely serious about that. It’s not an exaggeration. I have never watched a singular drama in my LIFE (whether it’s an Asian drama or a Western drama) where I found it difficult to root for any of the main characters. All these characters were the worst, at least when it comes to the main characters, that is. I found the supporting characters to be more interesting and to have far more redeemable qualities in contrast to their lead counterparts.

As someone who is more accustomed to watching Western dramas that are marketed as ‘women’s unity/women’s empowerment,’ I find this drama to be very surface level when it comes to illustrating that concept. This depiction of unity between women is completely and utterly empty. It was as deep as a puddle. I know it’s not a common theme in a lot of Asian dramas overall, and I kind of wished they wouldn’t have marketed it as such because it was lackluster. The premise is decent in theory, but terrible in execution. At least in this market. Sorry not sorry! This drama appears to be written by someone who has a very very slight idea of feminism and feminist concepts but they don’t know much else about it and it showed.

First and foremost, the relationship between Ga Kyung (Sunbae) and Ta Mi was the cause of a lot of gritted teeth and eye rolls. I’ve never hated a female relationship dynamic as much as I hated theirs. Sunbae is a coward who allowed her arranged husband’s mother to control her life and Ta Mi is a coward who allowed the woman who’s shown her time and time again that she cares more about her own selfish, self-serving interests than she is about preserving their friendship. Both women suffered from a lack of backbone when it mattered. They had no issues retaliating against those they deemed ‘weaker’ than them but they were too cowardly to stand up to the people they truly needed to stand up to, and that persistent plot point is why I can’t, in all honesty, rate this drama as high as other people would. If you’re going to walk around like you’re a Girl Boss, then you can’t pick and choose when to embody that persona. You must embody that energy the ENTIRE time and that just didn’t happen. When I started laughing every time Sunbae would get metaphorically smacked and put in her place by her mother-in-law, that’s when I KNEW the drama failed to hit the mark of whatever point they were trying to make. Cha Hyeon (Scarlett) & Ta Mi were loyal to Ga Kyung to their detriment and Ga Kyung was loyal to her master, I mean her mother-in-law. What a waste of space that one. I found myself waiting for one (or both) of them to give that woman the smackdown she deserved for far too long and it never came.

Also, the only saving grace for Ta Mi is her willingness to buck the system and stick to her guns when it came to marriage and children. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a female lead in an Asian drama expressly admit that she’s not interested in the traditional, conventional lifestyle much of society wants to pigeonhole women into. I can and will give her kudos for that point and ONLY that point. With that being said (and I hate to say this as a resident noona romance stan), Ta Mi and Park Morgan’s relationship should NOT exist. I repeat - Ta Mi and Park Morgan’s relationship should not exist in ANY capacity. Being platonic friends? Yes, that’s fine. Being romantic partners? No! I’m going to get up on my soapbox now, but their relationship is the primary reason why I don’t see the point in large age gaps in romantic relationships in real life. Their issues were incredibly realistic if you view it from that perspective. At the end of the day, Ta Mi is older and she’s more set in her ways and it’s obvious that she’s not changing her mind about marriage/children. Park Morgan is young, and it makes sense why he wants something different from his long-term partner. Neither one of them are wrong, but they are wrong for EACH OTHER. They do not want the same things out of life; they are incompatible. Once I saw that, I was not interested in their happy ending. I was not invested anymore. Prior to that, I didn’t like Ta Mi as an individual character and I thought Park Morgan was weird so I wasn’t attached to their dynamic anyway. Someone else said it in their review but it bears repeating – whenever one person in a relationship compromises (re: sacrifices) on their desire for something as major as wanting children or getting married, they will grow to resent their partner. The relationship will ultimately crash and burn because they are inherently wrong for each other. I started skipping through their scenes around episode 8, I think?

Scarlett and her romance with Ji Hwan were the shining stars of this series, if you’re looking for the romance. Her romance made her more enjoyable to watch. She became a LOT more likable when her individual storyline began steering her away from the push and pull B.S. between Ga Kyung & Ta Mi. The more the writers distanced her from that nonsense, the more palatable and tolerable she became. She became less annoying. Her romance was pretty adorable and almost like puppy love, in a way. It was refreshing to watch, honestly. But also, don’t be mistaken – Just because I enjoyed Scarlett a lot more than the other two doesn’t mean she was my favorite by a long shot. I still feel as if there was more they needed to do with her characterization and character development and we really didn’t get to see that. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be her. But again, that’s not saying much because the other female leads either weren’t likable (Ga Kyung) or interesting (Ta Mi) at all. If she were in a series with other leads that were actually endearing to the audience, she would fall short.

Sidenote: I also need to make sure I make this one point crystal clear - I thoroughly enjoy morally grey female characters when written well and when acted well. Ga Kyung wasn't charismatic enough to pull it off. Nothing about her performance made you feel sympathetic for her and her plight. The only way morally grey characters can exist on that very edge of a switchblade between being utterly irredeemable and still quite palatable is if they've been humanized via the writing AND the actor's performance. It has to be both; it can't be either/or because it won't work otherwise and it definitely didn't work here. I didn't care about Ga Kyung. I didn't care about any of the bad luck she continued to have. I just didn't care!

Strangely enough, I do have to give the writers credit for Ga Kyung’s relationship with her husband. There was something about him that I enjoyed when he came on-screen. I don’t know what it is, but I DO know that I believed him to be way too good for his wife. He was just as morally grey as she was and they clearly could have been a joint force to be reckoned with against his mother, but I guess the writers weren’t interested in going in that direction. But that’s also another reason I believe this series was written by someone with very little knowledge of feminism. There was no reason for Ga Kyung and her husband to get a divorce for her to achieve her dreams. She could have still chosen herself while being married. She could have stepped down from her role and tried to make it work with her husband while doing what she pleased. It’s not either/or, she could have had both! Any man that sees all the ugly parts of someone like her and still wants to be with her is clearly a man that is worth fighting for. He knew who he married and he still wanted to be around. Sunbae was a cutthroat, conniving, and deceitful woman for much of the series, and that did not chase her husband away.

This series also marked ANOTHER first of mine – fast forwarding through scenes just to get to the end. I’ve NEVER done that before and I did it with this series! I’m so disappointed in what this series could have been; I find that a LOT of these dramas fall under that umbrella of ‘amazing potential/premise, weak execution.’ I’m usually a Cdrama fan but I randomly decided to go back and try again with the Kdramas and it was .. interesting. Also, the guy that plays Ji Hwan played the SML in “Extraordinary You” and I hated his character’s GUTS in that role. So, it was nice to see him play the role of a nice guy for once and I found myself enjoying his scenes. He’s not a bad actor, so I can give him credit for that. I’m a sucker for those adorably sweet, green flag male characters and he gave me that, so that was pleasantly surprising. For his fans (which I know there’s a lot of you), you will have to wait until episode 7 before he’s prominently featured in the series though so be prepared for that.

In conclusion, this series has no rewatch value whatsoever. This series dragged and it definitely didn’t have enough material for 16 episodes. You will walk away from this series feeling underwhelmed because it falls on the overrated side of things when it comes to fan reception. At least when it comes to the ratings on this website, which are always pretty skewed as we all know. I only started this series because I’ve been on the hunt to find more noona romances and I’d come across this one quite a bit during my research so I decided to give it a shot and here we are. Would I recommend it? No. Will I rewatch it? Also, no.

Read More

Broke My Slump!

As my headline states, this drama actually broke my months long drama slump and I am ecstatic about that! I kid you not - this is the first drama I've been able to sit and watch through to the very end in months. Hallelujah!

So, anyway, I have not watched Girl from Nowhere, although I've seen enough mentions of it in other reviews and in the comment section to know they share some similarities. Because of that, I was able to enjoy this without comparing it to that drama. I do plan on watching that one next but my enjoyment of this drama wasn't colored by my feelings in any way.

I really enjoyed this drama. I can't stress enough how electrifying and dazzling the female lead is in this drama. She is incredibly compelling and entertaining to watch. I had fun watching her on my screen. The male lead was fine. I have no qualms about his performance; he did well with the material he was given but I was watching this drama for her, not him. Generally, I'm a heavy romance fan so I mostly watch romance dramas because I can't watch anything else because I lose interest quickly. However, I didn't have that problem with this drama. There's slight, very slight, romance but it's definitely not a drama centered around the romance by any means. Don't go into this one expecting that because you're not going to get it.

So, Kiritani Sara is my type of female character. I'm a SUCKER for manipulative, deceptive, calculating, intelligent female characters who are always four steps ahead of everyone else. She ran circles around everyone in this drama without breaking a sweat and I love that. In the end, she got the last laugh. Literally. Even in death (yes, she dies!), she's still fully in control of the narrative that suits her sensibilities. She got her revenge because the male lead will go to prison for the rest of his life. She destroyed his family like she accused his father of doing hers.

The one pet peeve I did have is the gaping plot inconsistency of a 6 year old being cognizant enough to resort to murder. She's not old enough to understand death nor should she be old enough to know which poison is fatal enough to mass murder 20 people at once. She may feel jealousy but not anything else. That's the one thing that made no sense to me.

All in all, I highly recommend this one. It's short and sweet. The plot doesn't drag and you don't have to watch a drama that should have ended 10 episodes ago that refuses to die. Give it a shot!

Read More