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Only if you're a Liu Yu Ning fan
After watching The Prisoner of Beauty I really wanted to love this but it wasn't meant to be. Don't get me wrong Liu Yu Ning was terrific as the male lead Nan Heng / Li Shi Liu unfortunately he couldn't save this drama.I have never been so angry watching a drama before. But this one managed to piss me off to no end. How could one character (the male lead at that) be so hated. Everyone (aside from his people) were mean, downright cruel to him. And then along comes the female lead and dang if she isn't the worse of the lot (and that includes the emperor and that's saying something)
His own father hated him for something he didn't do. Honestly how could a child be responsible for a grown up's death? And it just went downhill from there.
Every episode seemed to get worse starting from the very first episode. In just a couple of episodes I was actually rooting for Nan Heng to ride off into the sunset and leave the rest to their own fate.
Then around episode 30 the writer decides to change it up and have the emperor realize he'd wronged Nan Heng. And of course the female lead finally comes in with the "White head, same heart" but personally, I felt it was too little too late.
Great happy ending.
Would I recommend it? No. But if you are a Liu Yu Ning fan and you've seen everything else of his then give it a shot, he's the only reason to watch it. However, I'd recommend a rewatch of The Prisoner of Beauty instead.
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If you are a Zhang Linghe fan....
At first I wasn't sure about this drama because it started out so slow. I usually give anything I watch 3 episodes before I decide to finish it or not. But for Zhang Linghe I carried on. It took me until episode 7 to get really interested in it. I'm so glad that I continued watching.Zhang Linghe was absolutely amazing in this.
Was it as good as SOKP? No, but it was so close.
If you're a fan of Zhang Linghe definitely give this one a try.
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Opinions do vary
This mini drama was absolutely fantastic! I enjoyed every second of it.The ML did some questionable things but never out of hate everything was out of love and his need to keep her safe and after finding out her real identity I can understand why he did the things he did to keep her by his side.
Did he go about it the right way? Absolutely not. Could everything they went through have been avoided? Yes, like most misunderstandings in most dramas a simple conversation would've worked wonders. But then where would the drama be?
It was one giant misunderstanding after another. One of the first things she thinks she sees is him doing something bad, instead of asking she immediately assumes he did it and never once questions that belief. And that sets the story for why she's scared of him. If for one second she'd stopped and asked instead of assuming everything would've been different.
In the beginning he lies and admits to doing something he didn't do, So why did he lie? To convince her she was unfit to marry someone else so she would stay by his side.
Is the ML toxic? Opinions do vary. I thought he came off as a controlling a** because he was obsessed with loving her, and keeping her by his side to keep her safe. We find out over the course of the drama that he was never taught what love was and that there was a right and a wrong way. And unlike the ML in Circle of Love (who most everyone would agree was 9th level circle of hell toxic) everything this ML did was because he loved her (not saying it was right just saying it was never done from a position of hate),
So should you watch it? Well that depends on your tastes. If you like your ML so in love with the FL that it borders on obsessive love, if you like a ML who's passionate, aggressive and willing to do anything, whatever he has to in order to keep her safe and by his side, if you like a FL who reacts first instead of asking why, a FL who has to be rescued almost every single time she tries to run away, with a great HE then boy oh boy is this the drama for you!
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A King's Love
This is the story of a king who fell in love with a court lady (who even though loved the King she valued her 'freedom' more). What followed was an angst driven drama fueled by the utter cruelty of the FL, with a lot of will she won't she.After so many reviews from others I'm just going to hit the points that drove my opinion.
I felt more pity and compassion for the ML than I ever did for the FL. The FL treated him horribly and said such cruel things to him, that had those words been said to any other king she would have been severely punished if not killed and she knew this.
Even after she was told to leave the palace and was brought back a year later she was still such a horrible person to the ML.
She was a court lady, she had to do exactly as she was told there was no sense of 'freedom' for her at all except by the King's grace, which she failed to realize time and time again.
Even if she refused him, he had every royal right (because he was King) to take what he wanted. But he didn't because he loved her and wanted her to want him too. Which of course as we saw on the drama she did.
King Jeong Jo/Yi San gave Seong Deok Im the chance, one last chance to refuse him. He called for her into his chambers and tells her "Can you live your whole life without seeing me? Tonight, if you mean to turn me down, I will let you go. But we will never get to see each other again, and this will be the last day we meet. I love you. It is okay if you do not love me back. I do not care what feeling you have for me whether it is loyalty or love. If you just stay by my side. Give me an answer. Must I truly let you go? Tell me, Deok Im." (I watched episode 16 again just so I could get the words right... and they broke my heart all over again.)
All she had to do was refuse and walk out of the room and she would have had her so called precious 'freedom' (although what freedom to be a glorified maid?) but she chose to stay. She chose to become his.
When someone makes a choice knowing what consequences, (she lived in the palace from a young age she knew the consequences) those actions would have, then they alone are responsible. And even after she made her own choice to stay she still wanted to make sure he never found out that she loves him too. (I don't care whether your love is a king or a pauper that was a horrible thing to do.)
The Red Sleeve is a gorgeous drama and Lee Jun Ho gives a magnificent performance as Yi San (King Jeong Jo). It is one I highly recommend but take heed it's definitely a drama to watch with lots of tissues at hand. (although the book is much sadder).
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What should've been
This had the potential to really be a great rom com. It could've, should've, would've been so much better but unfortunately it wasn't. The parts that were supposed to be funny weren't. I kept waiting for the romance to show up but it never did. There was no chemistry between the leads at all.Now let's talk about the leads:
Kang Ha Neul (he played the 8th Prince in Moon Lovers) and I was really looking forward to seeing him as the male lead... the one who gets the girl. Although he was still just as gorgeous and adorable as the male lead Han Beom U, the character was too much of a doofus and a coward to be all that likable.
Go Min Si as Mo Yeon Ju wasn't a very likable character at all. I get that she took the blame for someone she loved and then had him ghost her but that's no excuse for her attitude toward anyone else. She needed anger management classes not a love interest.
Yoo Yeon Seok (the lead in When the Phone Rings) was a delicious surprise cameo, even though his character in this drama wasn't a very good one.
Is it worth watching? Well, maybe. If it's on your watchlist and your curious (even after all the reviews) by all means give it shot. It's not gonna to hurt.
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Cute and Romantic
This was such a cute, funny, romantic and very entertaining drama! It has no angst, great romance, lots of kisses, they are not fish kisses or pecks on the lips these are full blown steamy kisses!The only bad here is the subtitles (I watched it on K/Cdrama on Facebook) and they were horrible but they didn't take away from the enjoyment of watching. Qiao Su (Yu Long) and Li Mo (Yang Mie Mie) are great together, you can't help rooting for them from the start.
If you like vertical dramas and you have a little over 2 and half hours to kill, give this one a try. But if you want your drama to have well, drama then look else this one is all about the romance.
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Better than expected
Highly entertaining drama! A lot better than I was expecting it to be. The story was interesting, the ML looked like a man and not a boy, the FL didn't use a baby voice and wasn't irritating, the bad guy was bad, the second ML was adorable, the angst was minimal, the kisses were few but steamy.There's a lot of pearl clutching going on in regards to this drama. And I don't understand why. I don't know how the drama could have made it any clearer, they were not together when she was a child. There was nothing untoward going on between them. Neither of them thought of the other as anything other than family.
Once grown and in the Blood Sacrifice Hall, she came on to him like a cat in heat and she kissed him (as Gu Yu an assassin). She knew for a fact who he was. But he was clueless to her identity because she kept lying and saying she was Gu Yu. If there's a problem with that blame the writers not the actors or even the characters.
As for the age difference... There was nothing creepy about it. I've seen dramas with larger age differences between them. It's odd that a woman can be older than the man (Nothing But You) and that's fine. But if the man is older suddenly he's a pedo and should be tarred and feathered.
If age gap, addressing each other as brother and sister, if falling in love ten years or so later bothers you, then give a hard pass to this drama.
However if you like short dramas, age gap, non blood related brother and sister, a great story, a ML who looks like a man, a 2ML who just wants the FL happy, few but steamy kisses and a good (although a little rushed) happy ending.. then give this one a shot.
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If you're bored
The story itself was an entertaining one. Time travel, Joseon man is summoned from the past into the present. I have to admit I was a little more interested in the past instead of the modern day one.The romance didn't start romancing until episode six in modern times. With only two episodes left it felt a little late for me to get invested in their modern day love story.
Most of the actors are great in their roles. (the FL can be a little irritating as is the SFL.) The stand out is Chani. He's fantastic as the male lead Park Yeon (in both Joseon and modern times)
The OST was wonderful, the songs chosen really fit the scenes.
If y'all are like me you want to know if it's a happy ending or not. We all know it's a time travel drama so eventually he has to go back, right? It's sad and pitiful not unlike My Demon or Goblin. I know, I know, you want to know if he comes back right? That is left to the viewer. It's very rushed and depends on how you interpret it. We can assume. So for me it's a little more open ended then I like.
Should you watch it?
If you're bored and are waiting for the next big drama to release then this one is okay and worth a one time watch if you don't mind open endings however, if you like your time travel endings with a definite happy ending then may I suggest you look elsewhere this one isn't it.
It's still a solid 9 just for Chani, the OST and the Joseon story.
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Not the mini drama you're looking for...
Entertaining mini drama, good but not great. Good kisses, fair romance, gorgeous ML, irritating as h*** FL.The best thing about this drama was Dai Gao Zheng as the male lead Xiao Lang / Li Zi Xing.
If you're looking for a mini drama with lots of teeth, steamy kisses, romance to die for, a gorgeous ML.... 1 out of 4 ain't bad but unfortunately this is not the mini drama you're looking for.
However if you're a Dai Gao Zheng fan and can over look a FL who gets more irritating as the episodes go by, then give this one a try. After all he's hot enough to make you forget what you're watching as you just soak in the pretty.
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For Zhang Jing Yun
For a mini drama this was surprisingly good... in the beginning. I was kept entertained and rooting for the main couple despite the back and forth with the past lives.It all started to fall apart around episodes 17-18. The FL can be a bit much. I understand being defiant but she crossed the line from defiant to reckless into downright stupidity.
The rinse and repeat story lines quickly gets old. However if you can get passed that it's not a bad watch.
It's a happy ending, albeit a very rushed one.
It's definitely worth watching for Zhang Jing Yun as the male lead Ye Sha / Ling Cang, he is serious eye candy (and his acting is good too) and wait until you see him with the white hair!
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Since this was based on the character Sang Yan from Hidden Love, I couldn't wait to watch it. And I really wanted to like this more than I did. But, unfortunately, I felt something was missing.Granted it started with a disadvantage because I was a fan of Victor Ma (the original Sang Yan in HL) but I came to like the actor Bai Jing Ting in the role, even though he still didn't quite ring true as Sang Yan.
What I had a hard time with was the character Wen Yi Fan's treatment of Sang Yan. Leaving him when she was in high school and breaking his heart might have been understandable but doing it again once they were adults and in a relationship. I had a hard time with it.
One can forgive someone once especially a teenager they do dumb stuff without warning all the time. But as an adult? She could have talked it over with him. At the very least she could have left a proper goodbye.
It did have a happy ending.
All in all not a bad watch but it definitely didn't live up to all the expectations.
Should you watch it? That depends. Are you a fan of Victor Ma? Did you love him as Sang Yan? If you did this one might just grate a bit, because no one can replace an original actor in a role. However if you can set aside that and watch this drama as a standalone unrelated to HL then by all means give it a shot, you just may enjoy it.
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A palate cleanser
A mini drama about a contract marriage that is cute and fluffy romance. The kiss scenes were okay, I've seen better but I've also seen a lot worse.There was no angst and no break up. HE.
If you're looking for something with teeth or even spice this isn't it. However if you want something fluffy give this one a try. It's definitely worth a watch (use as a palate cleanser after a heavy angsty drama)
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Cute and funny
Cute, funny, entertaining rom com. I was all set to give it a 9 because I did enjoy watching, the ending was a happy one but there wasn't any kiss scene between them but I felt that I would watch it again.But then came the real ending and OMG was it good! They did the scene in Ghost... yeah that one, complete with him being shirtless! Very hot kisses! Popped it right up to a 9.5 (yeah, I'm shallow like that, don't judge) 😊
It didn't hurt that Huang Xiao Ming as Xiao Gong (the ML) was adorably hot!
Definitely one to watch, especially if you need a palate cleanser from all the more heavier dramas.
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With a grain of salt
This was a great movie! It was very entertaining.ML and 2 ML both liked her but neither were brave enough to admit it. They all had secrets. (FL was unaware of her secret)
It did feel rushed, they crammed a lot of information in an hour and 16 min. Had it been more fleshed out this movie would've been fantastic.
If you like fantasy, demons (that look like monsters), with a tinge of romance (a tiny portion), a very sad ending and you have a little over an hour of time to kill give this movie shot. You may enjoy it.
But take my review with a grain of salt, I also loved Hellboy, Warm Bodies and I, Frankenstein.
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Only for Li Jiu Lin
This mini drama was a mind f and a half. Did he or didn't he? Is she or isn't she?There was a lot of bouncing around between what was a dream and what was supposed to be reality.
The ending was a HE (or was it? The bracelet that she gave him that's supposed to tell him if he's in a dream or reality was blinking)
If you want something that doesn't make you scratch your head and go huh almost every episode then skip it there are better dramas out there.
However, Li Jiu Lin looked gorgeous in this (but doesn't he always?) so if you're a fan of his and just want a little eye candy give it a watch.
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