Wynndzofchange

Atypical Romance with Intrigue

I had my doubts going into this drama because I am not a fan of the FL. However, this is the first drama that I have seen with her that I enjoyed. This was a good role for her and she did a very good job portraying this FL.

I had only seen the ML in one other drama, but it was his performance that kept me coming back. His eyes truly are deep and affectionate. That was evident in every scene, even when he tried to portray himself as a person of questionable character.

Every role in this drama was cast perfectly and all characters, regardless of their roles personality added depth, humor, empathy and the full range of emotions. I will say that I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch a drama with the ML’s mother in it for a long time, as just seeing her face had me angry with her in every appearance she made in the story.

The childhood friends, the grandmothers and the biggest surprise of all was the ML’s little sister. Let’s just say that her singing debut was definitely not what I expected 😂

The storyline was good. A little weird in places - like the FL’s former boss who kept pursuing her even when he knew she was married, but didn’t believe it because he had convinced himself that he was perfect. Narcicist doesn’t even begin to describe how much this guy admired his self.

I have to admit, the 2nd ML was annoyingly endearing because he was just a tender hearted oaf who clung too much to his image of being a gangster. I loved the interaction between him and the 2FL’s son.

Tge story has a lot of twists and turns and the screenwriter did a great job of leading your mind down one path only to find out our assumptions were wrong. I showed the corruption and coverups of serious crime, revealed the dangers of holding others, especially children, for things beyond their control - and even more so was that revenge and anger have terrible side affects on you and those you love.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, and this is my only complaint about the drama. The wedding was just the 1ML and 1FL, with no guests, flowers or any of the pomp and circumstance of most cdrama marriages and felt more like it was filmed in a giant walk-in closet with less than ideal lighting. I really wish that screenwriters and directors realize how a mediocre or poorly planned ending can be a big detractor of a dramas ratings.

Sorry for the side trip!

All in all I think this was a good watch and tugged on all your emotions and pulled you in to the story at the beginning.

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Laugh Out Loud Funny & Cute, Too

Tgis is not my normal type of drama to watch, but I needed a lighthearted watch after seeing Prisoner of Beauty, and this was a good choice.

The characters are so odd and quirky that you instantly love them except for the raccoon loving control freak Managua ruining Editir In Chief who just made you want to push him down the stairs, off the top of a tall building or down a vacant elevator shaft 😂

There were a lot of times I laughed out loud or giggled in 96% of the episodes.

Every character was amazingly portrayed and their uniqueness remained consistent throughout the drama. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with it.

If you’re on the fence about watching this, don’t be. It’s good medicine.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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Potentially Sweet

I found this drama a bit on the dredging side and a bit on the “what the heck?” side.

First: the transition between many of the episodes was nonexistent. At the end of one ep you’d be left hanging and then it was completely forgotten about in the first half of the eps. Then they were added for the last half.

Second: Bad camera work in spots - there was a scene where there was a close-up of feet running on a dirt road in the mountain during the earthquake. When the feet got closer to the viewer on the screen, you could see the ground bouncing like they were running on a piece of plastic. That was a huge fault. the second problem in this area was the lack of sound control in many of the scenes you can hear background noise that is completely unrelated to the drama. For example, when the new chief was introduced to the crew at the firehouse, you could clearly hear, military, marching or some sort of police training or fireman training in the background it was very vocal and very loud.

a third thing I noticed was some bad CGI replacement of when one of Dayin was climbing the cliff to rescue the boy after the earthquake, when you could see his feet moving on the side of the mountain, but he was not moving at all up the mountain. It was like he was crawling on glass.

While you never know what parts of the episodes get cut during censoring, there was not really a whole lot of editing to replace that smoothly. The story seemed to jump a bit and events happened that caused things that you saw, but you had no idea how they occurred in the first place.

On the Upside:

Overall, the acting was not bad considering the material they had to work with. There were many scenes of shy faces from the female lead and angsty faces from the male lead (but let’s face it Gong Jun is not hard to look at so that was not too distracting 😍).

A lot of the character development in all of the character rolls was either left out or censored out, so it was hard to adjust, watching the sudden change in many of the characters. There was also problems with concluding issues that they brought up with some of the characters, but never addressed. Again, those could have been left on the cutting room floor.

well many people have complained about the druglord being busted in the ending of the drama, it was something that needed to be done to clear the past from the male and female leads. In order for their relationship to actually function properly the mail lead really needed to let go of what had happened to his father and his guilt associated with that. Even though he was not responsible. He still held onto the pain from that event, and it kept him back in being able to fully commit to the female eat.

He also needed to get past the issue with the villain/toxic drug manufacturer who had harassed and bullied him in school. The events that took place with that person left a lasting impression on a kind and gentle person‘s heart, and he needed to deal with the trauma and the pain that was associated with it in order to again be able to be happily married with his new girlfriend.

as for the female lead, I had not seen her before, and found her acting quite good. The only issue I had with her character was that she was almost a split personality, where she would be extremely strong and determined one moment and then the next completely helpless and leaning on anybody and everybody to fix her fragility. That is not anything against the actress herself, it was just a flaw of the character. She did what she could with the role and made it her own.

Another good part of the drama was the endearing and trusting relationship between the brothers of the station house and the medical staff. It was good to see that their cooperation during the earthquake helped all of them to mature in some ways and others to gain more experience and understand that not every job that is out there is something that they should take lightly or assume to be something heroic when it actually can be quite laborious and very tiring.

the villain played his part very well. He was easy to spot from the very beginning, and he was very oily his personality, oozed crook and deceiver.

I appreciated that the family members were not hysterical or bossy or overbearing for the most part and no one snuck into anyone’s apartment and dug through their belongings to find personal things that they as parents thought they needed to know about their adult child’s life. it was nice to see a drama, where most of the parents were supportive and communicated well with their children.

as for the main characters in the drama, the male and female leads both did a good job for train two people who fell hopelessly in love at the beginning of their meeting and got together too quickly, and they had to navigate through adjusting to having someone in their life outside of themselves. It was good to see that their communication for the most part was open, and that they were willing to work with each other to get through the problems and overcome them for their future.

well I may sound very critical of the drama. These are things that annoyed me, but they did not detract from the fact that this was a very sweet drama that explored relationships on many levels and the consequences of not dealing with things that have traumatized you or victimized you or caused pain in your life when you encounter someone else. Be that male or female friend or in a relationship it’s important to learn how to look past your own prejudice and filters on how you view people and see them for who they are and not for who you think they are.

I would definitely watch this drama again at some point, but it won’t become one of my favorite comfort dramas - strictly for the fact that the story transitions just jumped all over the place and that it seemed like a lot of things were cut out.

I would suggest if you were on the fence to go ahead and watch the drama draw your own conclusion about the storyline and the characters and just let yourself enjoy the sweetness and silliness that comes with life and the interactions of other people.

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Dragons and Rain

Whilevtgus wasn’t a complicated drama, some of the characters were quite complex.

I have seen the male lead in other dramas and always found his acting quite good. In this drama it was outstanding. He was able to portray a creature unaccustomed to human contact in the appearance of a human, even after living with them for 500 years.

Some of the characters were quite annoying, and I found their characters overacted and exaggerated.

The crown prince lead was like the kid who used to do bothersome things to everyone in school to remain clueless as to why no one would play with him.

The FL is also another of those characters for me. Her constant chatter and inane behavior, combined with her shrill overly dramatic speech grated on my nerves - much like scraping my knuckles on a food grater. It wasn’t until the last 1.5 episodes that I found her tolerable.

The FL’s first suitor was the unsung star of this drama next to the ML. His character progression and changes were so well done and left a big impression on me. He went from obnoxiously self absorbed, to angry, to brutal to crazy and finally regressed to a completely different person filled with compassion and regret. Tge character her portrayed was one you could hate, pity, and then made you smile at the end.

The story was pretty good, and while there were some flaws, it was still a good story.

Most of the scenes were well done. Tge underwater scenes were a little weak, but still tolerable. The scenes at night in front of the oceans were poorly done cgi. Tgd waves formed in the exact same pace at the exact same place and the size/speed were not realistic looking at all. A wave formed far off shore with a huge white cap with no swell. The wave reached the shore too quickly, had no sound, and reached the shore with no spume (sea foam) at all. Grieing up in a town that was on the coast, I found this portrayal distracting.

I did enjoy the storyline of this drama. And the scriptwriting was pretty good. A few oddities but nothing that would detract from the overall story.

I found this drama enjoyable despite the annoying characters, and found its theme remained consistent from start to finish.

if you’re looking for a good, quick watch with a unique storyline, this drama is a good choice.

P.S. Happy ending.

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Unique Way To Live Life

A lot of people complained about the number of men that Rose loved, but they failed to understand that to Rose, every experience whether good or bad was worth living because it was those very experiences that made life worth living to her.

The easy pampered days of the school girl, the girl who fell in love, broke up, got hurt, got married, had a child, broke up, and fell in love again, and had her heart shattered when they were separated by death, all made Rose the person she became.

Real life is beautiful, ugly, messy, painful, filled with happiness and remorse. How you choose to move through all of the difficulties and joys in your path directly reflect how you can navigate life successfully.

I think Rose had the right outlook on life. Every aspect is worth living. You would never know what extreme happiness is had you not experienced the bitter and heartbreaking things life throws at you. Deelking in regret or anger only robs you of the opportunity for joy, deep affection and the ability to handle life with grace and wild abandon, even when you have to live with heartbreak and tears.

The cast was perfect in each of the rolls cast for them. Every actor played their characters well. Very well. Tgere wasn’t one character who didn’t pull you to them or drive you away ((ie. 2nd ml’s mother). You can empathize, cry, clench your fists and want with every fiber of your being to slap someone silly. THAT is good acting.

I found the scenery, the sets, the locations added a great deal to the stage of life Rose went through. She fought hard, worked hard, loved hard and felt loss deeper than most, and each location showcased that beautifully.

The music was also well suited for Rose’s changing life. The lyrics had different meanings at different stages and added depth to each stage without detracting attention away from the storyline.

I found the script well done. It flowed naturally from one stage of life to the next. There were not any odd gaps or questions in regards to the timing of the events. Well done.

Directing and production were also spot on. Each character had depth and substance and none felt like they were there to fill space. Each actor had their purpose and fulfilled it very well.

Tge only tiny flaw I found was that Rose didn’t age physically. Her character appeared youthful even when she was in her 40’s (she was 24-26 approx when her daughter was born, and when her daughter was last in the drama she was nearing college age (15-16). But at the same time, her outlook on life - riding a motorcycle, learning to fly an airplane, running an art gallery kept her mind and body sharp, so it wasn’t that much of a distraction.

I loved the pairing of Zhu Zhu and Wallace Huo was beautiful. Chemistry and compatibility oozed from every screen. Their portrayal, as described in the synopsis, as soul mates was so well acted out that watching his passing felt like you were losing him as well.

Overall, I’d give this a 9.8…but since that’s not a choice, a 9.5 will do.

I would rewatch this again, but it would have to be a long gap as it was deeply similar to my own.

Ignore the complainers. This is a fabulous watch and well worth watching!

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Surprisingly Refreshing

I don’t normally watch Jdramas, but was looking for something short and lighthearted, and this fit the bill perfectly. It was a pleasant surprise and I quite enjoyed it - and was disappointed it was over so quickly.

I found all of the characters quirky and charming in their own way, but also appreciated how each of them, when they coupled off dealt with conflict and misunderstandings maturely in the end. There was a lot of self-doubt and confusion, but also a great deal of maturity in being able to talk through things even when one partner was a little angry or upset.

I also found the pairing of the actors interesting as none of them appeared to be who you’d expect them to be with. It says a lot about not letting unimportant things get in the way of developing a friendship or a relationship. Not everyone is made up of the prejudices we might have based on insignificant things.

I think this will be one I keep on my go to list for angst free, drama free, manipulation free viewing. It’s worth the watch despite the low rating and spam comments.

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Fadt Lane To A Hard Braje

This actually wasn’t a bad watch, I actually enjoyed the story and I have to give credit to the ML and then the 2ML as they made the series palatable.

The FL wasn’t bad in her role, she just had a very stiff frame all the time. Even when in the1st intimate scene - which really wasn’t intimate and lacked even a hint of affection from her to the ML.

Then there was the ML and 2ML’s mother, who needed a reality check and a very snug fitting straight jacket with extra long sleeves and industrial grade fasteners. Rhe actress played the evil, calculating personality quite well. Her face transformed into another person when she let loose (like Bilbo Bagginsvwhen he saw the one ring around Frodos neck), and then instantly back to her false persona of a caring parent.

There could have been a few more episodes to fill in and make it feel less like a hard brake on the freeway during rush hour, as the transition between episodes made you feel like you missed something and realizing it never happened.

Asude from those things, I actually enjoyed the story and seeing the ML’s personality develop. He handled that quite well for an 8 ep drama.

Tge 2nd ML his true identity well, and his emotions in check for most of his part in the story, and then unleashed them with great finesse.

I’m not sure this would be a drama I would run to if I was looking for a quick watch, BUT, I will watch it again at some point. Sonetimes doin that can help you pick up on things we might have missed and change my thoughts on it.

Overall, watch it. It’s not a cringey drama and has a ML and 2ML who worth worth keeping an eye on.

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Funny Sweet Sad and Happy Ending

This drama was pretty good despite some of oddities in a couple of the character portrayals, bad makeup on some and obvious wobbly swords in fight scenes.

Let’s talk about the makeup issues first. Two in particular were so bad that I couldn’t take my eyes off them and had to rewind so I could read the subs. one was a child’s hairpiece was so poorly applied that the ridge of the headpiece was clearly visible on his forehead and profile. The other was a piece of tape to hold another male actors wig on wasn’t concealed by anything other than poorly applied foundation. Swords wobbled during fight scenes and it was obvious that these props were budget friendly.

Liu Yichang and Esther Yi were excellent! Both have incredible comedic timing by them selves and together. They were the perfect combination of serious, witty, kind, noble and loving. I laughed quite a bit in this drama, and it was all from the acting of these two - they are brilliant.

The second couple were also quite funny. One seriously academic and wise but very naive, and the other a feisty spoiled lady who was proud, fierce and had a strong personality. Then there was the older couple that were just adorable. Then there was the surprise of the ML’s right hand man and the unexpected maid!

The villains were well played, the back story filled in gaps, and it was hard to tell that the bad guys were there in some instances as their characters were so well hidden.

The forensic side of the drama was interesting considering how little they actually had available to them. It was enjoyable to see how the cases were solved and they were explained well.

There were two characters that were poorly portrayed in my opinion. One was Qin Fu. His acting was just awkward and overdone. The other was his bodyguard- it was like watching a piece of furniture try to be a dog - he just didn’t connect well with the role.

The comedic inserts and odd behaviors of the leads and support roles were done quite well. The scriptwriter and director brought the humorous side to the forefront, and kept me laughing.

Overall this drama is one that can be rewatched and appreciated more with each viewing. I laughed and cried and was intrigued all the way through. So if you’re tired of all the standard drama tropes and draggy episodes, watch this drama. It’s well worth the time!

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Keep Tissue Close By

First - do not expect a warm fuzzy ending. It’s been 10 minutes since this movie ended and I am fighting off a second wave of tears.

I am usually not too affected by high school love stories, but this one broke my heart. I have felt this type of pain from the loss of my husband, and was quite envious of their ability to tell each other how they felt before they were permanently separated in the end.

The movie itself was very sweet it its development between the leads and how they grew close. And while I find these noble ‘sacrifice’ story lines annoying sometimes, this one made me quite sad.

The ML (what a gifted actor he is!) and the FL grew close because of friendship and shared interests, not an attack of random hormone release, and this is how lasting relationships should begin. A steady slow burn that stokes a fire that lasts a lifetime.

It was refreshing that there weren’t any psycho ex’s or ranting parents throwing fits and causing havoc. I am glad they focused on this instead of including tropes that distracted from the story.

Their separation was sweet and something neither wanted, but adults will be adults when it comes to making decisions regarding their families.

I am glad they left out how he ended up losing his life, because I’d still be sobbing if it had been included.

The ending was bittersweet. The FL finally found out what happened to him, and she finally got to see his love for her reflected in the video he had left behind.

I really loved this movie despite its ending. It was beautifully filmed and the cast was perfectly cast. Frankly, I don’t even remember anything about the music, that’s how much my mind was engaged in the story.

I think this will be my go to drama when I need a good cry and to cherish memory’s if the past.

Keep the tissues close at hand for the ending. You’ll need them.

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Brain Cramps, Angst and Nearly Dropped

I’ll start this with this. I hope you are good with puzzles and don’t mind scratch a bald spot on your head trying to figure things out initially.

This story flops around like a fish out of water, and makes you wonder if the script was laced with an illegal substance.

There are 3 different ‘illnesses’ attributed to the ML, and that is probably due to translation issues (at least on the platform I viewed it on.

Lastly - one of the vocalists had serious issues staying on pitch with the music score. It was painful to hear.

BUT…

Stay with it if you can get past every drama trope available to man (except as several have nentioned) twins, and bonding over stray animals.

I watched this to see if the ML was any different in this role than some of the others, and he was. He did a good job despite the script. And be on the lookout for rabbit ears, a bow tie and a fluffy bunny tail. Even that was done well.

The FL did well with her roll, making you appreciate her characters calm behavior but also wanting to smack the snot out of from time to time.

The rest of the cast were good in their role, except for the obsessed female childhood friend who overacted the majority of the time, as did the brother from another mother. And the ML’s sarcastic bitter aunt. She made me wish for a stapler, some super glue and duct tape.

I don’t know what’s up with a lot of C-dramas, but why why why do they wait until they’re almost ready to roll the credits before they get the main couple in a rom-com married? Or destroy the ending with this one with what looks like a forced close just to get out early in the last day of filming?

Overall, this wasn’t a bad drama but it wasn’t great. I gave it a 7.5 as I think everyone deserves some credit and shouldn’t be judged for bad writing.

It’s ot a drama I would rewatch. I can’t take the stress…

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Funny, Sad, Intruguing

First - this is the 2nd drama I have seen with Lee Jong Won, and he has impressed me! His eyes will stop your breath, as his mastery of conveying emotion through them is phenomenal.

Lee Ha Nee was also incredible. Her character was naive, and brave and hopeful. She mastered her character flawlessly.

The rest of the cast was also well chosen. There wasn’t any of the awkward chemistry that is sometimes seen when the villains are overly villainous, and the comedic inserts throughout the episodes made me laugh multiple times.

I felt horrible for the way widows were treated during that time period, and it was refreshing to see that the characters lived within the social boundaries but did not resign themselves to the expectations of seclusion and even ending their lives.

The story was well written and the overall production was amazingly executed. Thenonly thing that left me with a negative impression was the choice of some of the music. While the FL was a force to be reckoned with, the initial song was too abrasive as her character was more than that. Just my personal reaction though.

Tge other tiny disappointment was the ending. It did not end the way it was built up. Not badly, but it was a bit of a disappointment considering all the ML and FL experienced together.

Overall it was a good drama, and I enjoyed every episode. I probably wouldn’t watch it again anytime soon, but it would be a good one to watch again at some point.

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“Its’s all your fault”

This is a running theme throughout this drama - people are either blaming misfortunes on others or assuming responsibility for things they had no control over.

I have to say that excluding the ML, FL, 2nd FL and Old Gao, most of the other characters were not a major contribution to the story. instead they were all pretty annoying characters. The overly exaggerated and dragged out scenes with many of the characters were almost a turn off.

I love Zhang Han’s acting, and the chemistry between him and Janine Chang was palpable. There story could have been all that was needed to give this drama a better rating without any of the side stories which took up more screen time than the leads. And I noticed the repeat jewelry placement of the same pieces to multiple characters.

I watched this previously about 5 years ago, and had the same impression then. Even though I skipped a lot of the side stories this time, and was annoyed with the attempted nobility to take responsibility of every wrong in everyone else’s life and hide to avoid difficult situations, I still enjoyed the story between the ML and FL

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Not A Typical Romance

Before I start, I just have to say that the FL, when dressed in her red and black clothing, reminds me of an anime character. Now that this is off my mind…

Cons:
Some of the characters were overacted to the extreme. The evil stepmother, the evil sister, the self-absorbed sister who wanted to slap everyone, the angry crazy crown prince. Everyone seemed to have a penchant for yelling to prove how angry they were with everyone they encountered. Although their characters were more sinister in nature, they were always angry even when their scheming minds should have led them to a level of calm before the storm.

There was a lot of information the viewer had to put together to make sense of scenes that should have been explained, but probably left on the censors cutting room floor.

The FL’s animosity toward the ML right out after he comes to her home also leaves me scratching my head a bit. If she’s trying to blend into the background why was her character so antagonistic to the law-man?

The 2nd ML gave away the plot to have him fall in love with the FL way too soon. I would say that is the fault partially of the script. There should have been some time for him to struggle with the way his feelings would impact the way people saw him, his ‘sister’ and the family business rather than walking around with puppy dog eyes around her. His role was kinda creepy.

The ML and FL needed to have more time together. One day they were enemies, next day in love. Probably more cut during the review process.

There was no resolution with the evil stepmother. She was a driving force that was put in prison and the poof - she was never mentioned again.

And, while the two evil sisters were living on the streets, there could have been more development of the self-absorbed sister. She’s there, then a brief glimpse of her gathering coins being tossed at her by another angry girl, and then hardly anything after that until the end. More could have been done with her character to contrast her learning about her egotistic behavior in comparison to the middle sister and her constant manipulations and angry outbursts.

Pros:
Once I got past the disjointed and bizarre first few episodes, the drama actually started coming to life. And even though some parts were a bit draggy, the pace was pretty consistent. There were a few holes, but overall it was a good story.

The acting - even the perpetually angry people - was done well.

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Leads Carried The Drama

So many annoying characters. Busy body friends, stalker brother of ML female classmate who had a crush on him (brother/sister manipulators and liars), ML’s mothers voice and dramatics. if it hadn’t been for the M/FL’s, I would have dropped this drama like a hot potato.

The story was good to a point, it was just dragged on to fill in the backstory of why the ML was banned from competing for 4 years.

ML is adorable. Bright, expressive eyes, a smile that is captivating and he is a very good actor. His character was extremely positive, and he portrayed a young man becoming a responsible mature adult in his career and relationship very well.

FL is awesome in everything she does. Her character was spunky and smart - and she played the role of learning how to love someone and being vulnerable in a relationship could make it stronger.

Plot was okay, just an excessive number of plots and side stories. There were a few inconsistencies in the translations from one episode to the next, and as others have said - the actors are not professional swimmers, which, with all of the footage of them swimming became distracting.

Despite all of this, I enjoyed the interaction of the ML and FL and found myself fast forwarding a lot of the secondary storylines just to see their story.

I originally watched this when it was released, but came across it again and remembered why I easnt too impressed with the drama overall. If it had been anyone other than the ML and FL I would not have watched it again.

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Liu Yuning is off the charts

I finished this drama a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to digest everything before I submitted one.

First of all - to all those haters who accused LYN of riding on the coattails of his co-leads, and saying he’s too ugly for costume dramas - you are so wrong and this drama not only proves how wrong you are but shows your inability to observe and make correct observations. LYN is a force to be reconned with and his ability in this drama to play the roles of basically 4 people (NF tge actor, NH the bad version, NH the good version and LSL) proves he is not riding anyone’s success. He is riding that wave because of his dedication to doing a job and doing it well.

With that said, I think that every cast member did an excellent job. From villains to innocent bystanders, every role was well executed.

The scenery was stunning. Costumes were beautiful.
The OSTs were perfect and well chosen. There were characters to love, characters to hate and pity, those who annoyed you half to death until the very end (FL 😂), those you rooted for and those who broke your heart.

The court politics were just frustrating. And the only place this drama fell short for me was the instant flip the emporer did in accepting the son he despised and abused for 10 years. That much hate for that long doesn’t dissipate overnight. It just felt rushed and disingenuous.

The ending was a little cheesey, but after enduring all the emotional rollercoasters and misunderstandings, and the desire to slap the FL until she shut up and let the ML talk, it wasn’t so bad.

If you’re hesitating to watch this because of any of the negative comments or reviews, do yourself a favor and watch it. The story will keep you guessing and the characters will hit all the emotional buttons. It’s very very good.

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