Typical cdrama - painful in 2023
After the huge hits of cdramas like Hidden Love etc, you can be tempted to watch the incredible Yang Yang expecting more of the same. However prepare to be disappointed. The first episode kicks off strong and then sharply takes nose dive.The concept of Firefighters x Doctors is a good combo - and they cast this show well. In fact the cast is superb and their acting is fine. Every single one plays their role well, INCLUDING the leads who have been harshly criticized for their performance. I actually think they did very well considering the poor script they were given. The script is the biggest disappointment here. At times its unimaginative-and ridiculous. The first half of the series it has us spinning in never ending circles, with no progress. It’s exhausting. At this show finished at the half way point I’d have given this thing like 3/4.
In fact the dialogue between Yang Yang and Bin Bin is the only redemptive part. They have the best friendship and scenes. To the point where you may go “female lead who?”
Thankfully we finally find 2nd gear and this show picks up, and the tension will have all of our blood pressure’s rising and the show starts giving Descendants of the Sun vibes. Everything picks up and though it continues with its slowest of snail burns and every typical cdrama trope under the sun-I stayed engaged.
There is a lot of oddities though that are hard for viewers to understand. Like why do we not see leads together much, the lengthy scenes of the adopted brother- they feel irrelevant- especially as the show goes on. Then we have massive gaos where we seem to have forgotten about the Firefighter bro’s. Quite frankly I think I stayed for them for a huge chunk of this show.
Overall I gave this a 7. It needed script editing and at least 10 episodes of irritation removed from the front half. BUT the leads are beautiful and acted well together (eventually when the script allowed). Their chemistry was on point.
I ended up liking it but it wasn’t a show I will bother with again. One watch only. That’s my only a disappointment because I love Yang Yang shows and his FL was probably the best one yet. They were on fire, which hearing they may have hooked up during filming - you could get a sense of. Great job.
The OST, a couple of great songs and the oddest piano piece ever. Its like they let a toddler loose with a piano, and recorded it. 🤣🤣
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This review may contain spoilers
Almost there, but not quite Meet Yourself
I had such high hopes.This show started off and continued in such a beautiful classy mature way. I celebrated. Finally he was bringing us another Meet Yourself… however, that was not to be the case.
Don’t get me wrong. There is so much beauty in this script. Both his profession and her physical situation are unique. Both new to any drama I’ve seen before. The music, stunning.
The cast is stellar. The chemistry is perfect.
The script however- was churning along nicely, with the tensions, the slow burn development. It is heavy at times. Emotional. Tears will be shed. The relationship progresses despite the issues both of the leads are dealing with. The barriers start to break down. We see growth, and so you hope that we will continue to see them figure out communication skills, honesty and maturity.
Instead the writers take a massive leap backwards and drug this show into such a stupid place.
For a show like this that is not your a-typical cdrama romance of cold CEO, poor childish FL with every trope under the sun… you’d “hope” they could have modeled REAL relationship skills. Show the audience what dealing with complexities that affect your future actually looks like. Instead the FL just appears like she has had zero growth ARC the previous 75% of the show. The selfishness and inabilty to make ML a real part of the decision making progress is unbelievable and quite frankly, if we hadn’t been so close to the end, I think I may have quit, it is that bad.
I was so disappointed. Please don’t do this. There would have been a climax to the beauty of the show we have been captivated with thus far. We could have said “yes girl, thats how you do it!”. Instead I was ready to throw my shoes at the TV.
It ends ok.
It has a Marvel ending. Stay for the end of the credits. 😉
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Thank goodness for Steve
Oh man I was hoping for a classic cheesy rom com, but I don’t even know where to start. I feel like this calls for bullet points:•What happened to the romance? Everyone got more romance than the leads! The 2FL. The bestie and the playboy. The sus VP. The rando artist guy. Even the last minute office couple. Seriously writers, you trolled.
•FL was so incredibly annoying. She only knows how to clompy run, can’t walk it seems, even just a few paces. Like her shoes are too big the whole drama. She cries ALL the time. She puts up with quite a bit (far too much) verbal abuse, mostly from the ML. For most of the show. Like 99%.
•Extreme lack of chemistry with ALL the relationships.
•So many plot holes, I’m not going there.
•Goes from mega rich to penniless in a matter of a day. Like seriously? You had nothing in the bank, and why does a rich person not own a home or a car?
•Plot was slow and pointless for too long.
•The scheming 2FL was as dry as a brick, the relationship was weird and cringe and went on too long.
•ML acts jelly in the early episodes and then seems to quickly forget he had anything to be jelly about.
Honestly I was hoping for a Cunning Single Lady type show and got something total pants. It’s so forgettable I’ve watched it before and forgot and only realized about half way through, at what point I watched the rest as I couldn’t remember the ending. Likely I’ll have forgotten about it next week.
Steve. We are all on #teamsteve. Thank goodness for Steve. For his weird facial expressions and random english lines that brought humor, laughter and a whole lot of funny comments on Viki. You did it Steve. You saved the show and the bored to death viewers!!!!
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Soapy & Draggy
Be warned, the same song is used a billion times per episode so get used to the Lucky Star song and if you can’t tolerate it, drop the show.The leads were great, plenty of chemistry.
This became more soapy the longer it went and I skipped tonnes just so I could finish. If you can follow it on fast forward, well then it’s obvious it is not the best script ever written.
Lots of plot holes, laughable at times.
Won’t evet rewatch. So go down this road with caution. I think it had a few redeeming moments so I gave it a 5 overall. Thai dramas can be a hard watch, so this was doable but I was ready for it to be done.
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Utter nonsense you somehow love it ??
Utterly ridiculous and stupid but hilarious that it doesn’t even matter that this drama is packed full of cliches and drama tropes because you somehow tolerate it all. Between Baron’s hair(😎🥰) and smoldering gazes, the strange mix of silly and comedy don’t quite mix with the supposedly serious plots of mafia and murder and disappearance of characters- just make sure to leave the comments on and enjoy the watch with others! Its a must. I will say I skipped a good 7 episodes around the half way mark, it got a bit boring and draggy - and I had no care in the world for the whole nana plot - that could have been cut completely. One big plus for this show is the chemistry between the main leads - they were on fire, and the bts at the very end of ep 19 is fun to watch. The soundtrack is whack just like this drama, but if you need something to lift the spirits, this is perfect, just don’t take it too seriously and enjoy this nonsense 🤣🤣🤣Was this review helpful to you?
Best cdrama ever!
Best cdrama ever for romance without the stupid stupid breakups, idiotic manipulative exes, and a FL who isn’t a childish baby voice and actually a nice mature young lady. The chemistry is something else and the kissing scenes plus bonus 😎 are 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥Of course it wouldn’t be a drama without some stupid drama and I guess the budget didn’t stretch to police uniforms lol because on the couple occasions it called for it, it was nowhere to be seen. However we can excuse this nonsense because the rest of the show is just beautiful. OST & cinematography was fantastic.
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light and fluffy but skippable parts
Overall this was a fairly easy going show, no over dramatics that couldn’t be resolved despite the fact the writers attempted a few cliche efforts at this. When it happened it was pointless and added nothing to the overall development of the plot. The MLs are silly and childish for far too much of the show and often the 2nds just plain show them up - seemingly like the only adults actually acting like adults. The friendship between ML & 2ML is the most satisfying thing about this series and they are adorable and funny. Overall it ended satisfyingly, but I skipped so many scenes that dragged and felt boring to watch. Clean up the writing (needs a major edit, which is kind of funny when this show is about editors and authors 🤣) and we’d have something that trundled along at an engaging pace. Instead we have 36 draggy episodes. One to watch if you need something light and you aren’t irritated by baby voice from FL’s which happens far too often in Cdramas. Not a fan personally- I think strong female leads can ditch the baby voices, pouty faces and childish comments. The 2FL in this show shows how its done, classy, professional independent adult. That is how to portray strong female behavior.Was this review helpful to you?
A comforting drama with a stellar cast!
I did enjoy this drama, once it got moving - it took a few episodes- as the beginning does feel like its just going in no direction at all. What we do get is never ending angst with lots of whining and yelling from the FL. They never seem to have the guys act like that, and its so common in kdramas having the girls screaming all the time, its ugly and hugely off putting to the viewer. Nothing will turn me off the FL faster than constant screaming dialogue.The alcohol consumption in this show is off the charts. Like please, stop this korea, does anyone have a healthy liver? I highly doubt it. I know its common in Korea but this kind of drinking in shows is so disgusting. All the drunk scenes are ridiculous.
I loved this cast, especially all the side characters. I was here for that development between the younger sister and the dolphin center dude. Nothing felt inorganic in any of the plot lines, it was well done.
We do see quite a bit of character growth and that is a win for the writing in this show. So many characters saw a positive change, except maybe for the lying cow and the dad - who seems to remain just a fairly chill guy from start to finish. Even chasing JCW didn’t even feel overly threatening lol.
The views were great, I’m sure even more people will want to visit Jeju now than they do already, look out!!! 🤣🤣
Loved the relationships amd connections and a community coming together.
Final thought, what is with all these time jumps amd people chasing their dreams alone in Kdramas??? Doesn’t anyone just hook up and go off together???!!!! Like for reals in this case it even would have made complete sense. At 38 with so much wasted time - another time jump felt more annoying that supportive. Amd it makes no sense in a drama. Like who sits and honestly watches the time wasting filler while we wait for thr inevitable return? Not me. Time waster. Last episode was incredibly rushed because of that, and what was the benefit of the credibility of the experience- he just comes back and is treated as not knowing anything still… like that was weird.
Overall, I’m glad I watched. I enjoyed this far more than My Demon, it would probably have hit a 10 for me if we could have toned down the screaming, the over drinking and lengthy circles this show goes in.
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This review may contain spoilers
Had so much potential to be a 10 star
Things I loved:Music! Incredible- sadly can't seem to find the OST.
Main Lead fantastic, perfectly portrayed the idol star
Chemistry - on one hand this was really great between the main leads.
Character ARC for ML.
Things that took it from a 10 to an 8:
Pacing - this drama could have easily been cut in half. I love that friendship develops first but it dragged and dragged.
Chemistry- there were so many moments that we could have gotten a reaction to their inner feelings of attraction/love but it never came.
First kiss is in one of the last episodes.
FL behavior is ridiculous as the story progresses she becomes more silly. The constant rejection or flinching away was believable in the beginning, as ML is a joker. But once it becomes clear he loves her, she is still doing it
FL kissing is frozen.
This drama would have absolutely killed it had they come together faster, leaned into the great chemistry that the actors had, and more scenes post getting together of working thru the issues of star/manager/voice problems/industry/hostage taking as a proper couple.
The side story of the bestie falling in love with 2ML was easily erasable.
How was it OK for Xu have a relationship but not for the 2ML. So many plot holes.
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Beautiful Secrets, Wonderful Lies
98 episodes of extremely depressing and miserable content. Everyone is lying at some point even the 2 leads who hide information at times. I don’t think we saw any kind of beautiful or wonderful live until the final 2 episodes which means, this show is overvaluing itself lol. Jin Woo is my favourite and his character is hilarious as the show develops.The mothers all need to do one, I don’t think I’ve been as annoyed at 3 grown women as I have in this show. Especially the blomde witch. The writers seemed to be trippin all over the place, logic was thrown out the window. Don’t get me started on the hospital staff, like hello do you do your job or do the relatives do it for you?!!!
I was so frustrated throughout this drama I was about to give it 1 star but I bumped it to 6 for my guy getting a happy ending.
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Great visuals, romance is flat
I love everything this actor does, and one thing he does incredibly is bring the chemistry with the way he interacts, looks and kisses his FLs. Sadly though that didn’t show up. But honestly I kind of expected. This FL is pretty much frozen fish. You can imply chemistry all you want but it didn’t show up here, which, since the premise of this whole show is romance-impacts the plausibility of the entire thing.I’m not really quite sure why comments are calling the ex toxic? I felt for him almost the minute we discover the reason for the break up. Naturally there is frustration at his lack of communication and honesty, but they do a massive disservice to those who are struggling with mental health issues by villianising him. That felt really uncomfortable.If they wanted to make him a part of the plot there should have been more development there, and some growth, instead we get one scene where she continues to just be mad.
The length of the drama probably leads to the under development of too many sub plots. I almost feel grateful they tied up the bestie relationship because I was started to feel that might drop off too. Bestie was the best part of this show, she had such a well written role.
At the length of the “Soundtrack” dramas, you can’t really go beyond a couple plots-and Soundtracks do that expertly. They have all the sexual tension and simple plot. This one had beautiful wide cinematography and a OST that hits Sh**ting Stars vibes, but I felt almost nothing with the romance, the hugs the frozen kisses made it real hard for our ML to make up the difference.
Disappointed honestly-the ratings are high but I can’t give it more than 7.5.
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Almost made it
Got hooked with this actor while watching My Lethal Man. He was absolutely incredible in that show and I was shocked when I discovered how young he was, he for sure had my convinced he was a seasoned actor in his 30’s. Was disappointed with the next release and dropped it, so was really hopeful for this one to be better. It was, but only so far. I’m starting to think he just got real lucky with an awesome script and Director for My Lethal Man.The length of this drama is thankfully short for a cdrama. There are moments where it lags, and plenty of plot holes. It’s watchable, I had high hopes, but I was still confused at almost the halfway point, and that’s not a good look.
Asthetically well matched, the casting was spot on for the leads, but they didn’t quite hit the mark with the chemistry sadly. I did appreciate the realistic kisses and behavior once in a relationship (often that falls flat of cdrama FLs don’t know how or seem to want to kiss the lead). That was satisfying. But they missed a connection that the story is “telling” you is there but don’t quite hit the mark at showing you. Also, the script is subpar and the lines a bit ridiculous.
Overall a good watch, typical cdrama for the tropes, not sure I’d bother rewatching. Worth it one time at least.
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Short fluffy drama
Overall I liked this short drama, and probably would have rated it higher if it wasn’t for some of the iffy writing.The best friend is questionable far too often. Her lovely green flag bf has to put up with a lot, I’m not sure a guy would tolerate her flip floppy fickle behavior.
The FL also behaves very questionable for someone who’s been in love for 10+ yrs you’d think when it happens you’d be happy. I didn’t like how the writers wrote her response or her initial behavior once in a relationship. It just does nothing to build any chemistry and seems off.
There’s some angst but its very minimal, no triangles thank goodness and no drama with the parents, so lets be thankful that trope was skipped.
Little puppy is adorable we needed more scenes 🥰
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Lots to Love, a few things to hate
Where to start with this, because overall I felt like this was such a much needed improvement on typical cdrama fare.Arthur Chen proves that good looks and incredible acting skills can go hand in hand (Leo Wu is another example). In fact when you consider how young these guys are, they both should have an incredible future ahead in adult roles. The intensity that is required of him in this role plays a huge part in the credibility of the script, so kudos to him. Job well done.
Likewise, a lot is askes of Zhang Jing Yi, who for the most part plays it well. There are times when her silence or inability to respond feels extremely frustrating but this could be the constraints of the script or the directing.
Be warned, it gets very heavy and serious with topics like revenge, obsession, tragedy, the usual cdrama tropes of 2FL delusion, rude controlling parents, jealousy that gets twisted to never be the perpetrators fault but everyone else’s.
There are moments in the show where it all becomes a little unecessary and actually damages what could have been the best cdrama I’ve ever seen. Instead the low blows and cheap shots the writers throw into this show randomly is destructive to it. That’s where my disappointment ends.
The other friendships that form, between college friends through to the awesome gang at Flying Network help support the two leads who really need it throughout. When you lack family support the friends need to come through and there are some touching scenes.
The romance is genuine, and the chemistry between the two is amazing.
Occasionally it felt draggy, but all dramas do at times. I would have loved a little more variety with scenes, it gets very top heavy with college classes, programming group - I do think they could have got the message across about who dominates who without 50 hrs of classroom/club scenes (over exaggerating but you get the drfit) and towards the end too much tedious office scenes, but thats just balance and you kind of tolerate it when the story is good.
Loved the music, the OST was top notch, however I supose it will be hard to find? I never can find full drama OST’s for chinese shows on the streaming services.
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wow just wow
Not sure where to even start with this review, I came across this show as a “filler” drama inbetween waiting for new episodes to drop of a new one, and this show sucked me in fast.I fell for Min Ho’s hair in an instant and missed it in the latter half of the series. 🤣
In all seriousness, this drama has all the classic feels and a few typical predictable plot points you know and love from Korean shows, but the acting from the ML’s in on top form. Deepest darkest evil and complete character arc growth for another, who discovers his tender hearted side, while never quite leaving behind his “go getter never give up” drive he displays from the beginning.
There’s so many comedic funny moments too amongst the cast, that is needed when you consider so much of this show has serious, and tragic parts. It strikes the perfect balance.
I loved the Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook & Tinkerbell vibe and it added a fun uniqueness to the whole drama.
Definitely be back for a rewatch any time I need a pick-me-up or a smile on my face.
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