This drama was like an ice cream sunday--no nutritional value and probably too sweet for some people, but so, so good. And despite being an older, Thai drama, the main female's character was actually well-done, even by today's drama standards.
Hi, just wanted to saw that this was like the most accurate review for a single drama ever.
It was your review that gave me the push to watch this and I finished it acknowledging that all of the things you said were so on point, like the the music (so not congruent to the scenes), characterizations, chemistry, even the fast-forwarding.
Haha, what a clever article. To be honest, looking at that title, I was expecting real diseases or symptoms like hypertension, insomnia, delusional disorder, PTSD, etc :D
Gives a whirlwind of emotions and really takes you around in circles, but in a good way because mysteries are not supposed to be straightforward. I really have to applaud it because although mystery/crime/detective shows have become the trend as of last year, it was fresh when it came out. To those wondering, I would say it's a mix between a detective/murder mystery and a melodrama, so it hits cravings for both lol (so yeah, don't compare it to signal or anything because it's not the same...).
I was hesitant to give this one a go because of the talk about the female lead, but it wasn't a problem at all.…
As for my thoughts on ep 19, ditto what everyone else said that it cheapened the entire show, BUT all of a sudden the male lead starting getting some crazy (platonic) chemistry with the second female lead (Xiao Yue) and it sort of made me doubt the meaning of life...along with all that major, hardcore Xin Yu-Yi Ting shipping I was doing for the past 18 episodes.
I was hesitant to give this one a go because of the talk about the female lead, but it wasn't a problem at all. I ended up rooting for her the entire time. When we can see the entire perspective, it's hard to remember what's going on in other's POV, especially when they are essentially put in a cage and spoon-fed lies.
Right, so for me, this show is like crack, especially since I feel like everything I have been picking up has been ehhh. Things I love:
- The chemistry between the leads is sizzling, even if they are just talking to each other.
- Female lead: as another poster mentioned, Sun Yi is nailing it. Qin Sang is such a breath of fresh air among drama heroines that are too simple-minded, too idealistic or too feisty.
- The costumes, scenery, lighting, etc: just so, so beautiful. I heard a few comments on how it's not historically accurate but I'm sorry, it's just too pretty. Also love that backdrop of intrigue, just makes everything so addicting.
Of note, I feel like the synopsis is a tiny bit misleading. There's definitely more politics and family dynamics than just romance.
Uh well the actors are ok. They could’ve been better chosen. And the personality of the main female is really…
My sentiments exactly. One of the reason's I adore the novel is because Han Yunxi is an amazingly written character; she doesn't take anyone's shit but she doesn't suffer from the dreaded special snowflake syndrome either. Change her personality and the entire drama will become a dud. Sigh.
Omg, soo good--and all thanks to the female lead. I never realized what a difference a well-written and well-acted female lead makes to a drama. Makes me want to shake a finger at all those other dramas that throw a random Candy-type FL into their dramas and don't let said drama reach their full potential.
OMG. I feel like you wrote the exact thoughts that have been lingering in my brain forever (or ever since I jumped on the c-drama bandwagon lol). Yeah, the lack of wo-mance is pretty annoying and if you look deeper, it spells a lot of things about society in general.
For some strange reason, everyone (and I mean from the east and west) love to pit women against each other. It's like the media is secretly telling us women are all b***** or something, and honestly, it comes off pretty demeaning.
And the other thing is that it may be a supply and demand thing (or chicken and egg). Maybe some research analyst in kdrama media noticed shows with bromance had higher ratings or something. Lot's of people actively look for bromance and I've even seen one or two comments on a the few female-centric shows on how there is "not enough male characters".
Wow, this is excellent--it looks like it took quite a bit of effort. I know you used only Kdramas, but it would be interesting if you add dramas from other countries in the mix and compare and constant.
Despite the 8+ rating, felt this was potentially underrated:
-It had a great way of mixing the heavier and darker elements
-The humor was actually pretty funny
-felt like these were actual problems students would face (esp in Korea)
-a real shout-out to Eun Ji's character. She was great at being compassionate but not a doormat, cheerful but not obnoxious, moral but not self-righteous, and good character development too. She made a huge chunk of this drama for me.
-fleshed out Soo Ah in a very realistic way. Just like KYD, I hated her but couldn't hate her. TBH, I could see bits of myself in her
-loved HDJ's flat-as-a-board character, so cute
First off, what's with this summary that seems to spoil the entire plot?
And I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about this one. Digging into the novel rn, I would say HYX is more pragmatic and the "eye-for-an-eye" type so the terms "cheerful and optimistic" and "compassionate heart" seem like they might change her character around....which would ruin 1/2 the drama for me.
The main difference between this drama and many other revenge themed dailies is that the revenge part starts quite…
It was your comment that gave me the push to watch this :D. I really wanted to watch a female-revenge storyline, but never did because having the 'revenge' part start when 50-75% of the drama is done ruins it for me. The pacing is so fast here I'm scared they won't have anything good for the second half of the drama.
This is a really well-explained list. I started City Hunter, but dropped pretty early because I got vibes referring to your points above.
As for Love O2O, yeah, I really can't disagree, but the leads were so different and refreshing from all those dumb candy x jerk chaebol kdrama leads that the stiffness didn't bother me.
Woah, sooooo excited to have a "pessimistic" female lead! As nice as they are, the poor-but-pure-naïve-and-cheerful lead that every single drama has is so overdone. And having ZZ as the lead makes it even better
It was your review that gave me the push to watch this and I finished it acknowledging that all of the things you said were so on point, like the the music (so not congruent to the scenes), characterizations, chemistry, even the fast-forwarding.
- The chemistry between the leads is sizzling, even if they are just talking to each other.
- Female lead: as another poster mentioned, Sun Yi is nailing it. Qin Sang is such a breath of fresh air among drama heroines that are too simple-minded, too idealistic or too feisty.
- The costumes, scenery, lighting, etc: just so, so beautiful. I heard a few comments on how it's not historically accurate but I'm sorry, it's just too pretty. Also love that backdrop of intrigue, just makes everything so addicting.
Of note, I feel like the synopsis is a tiny bit misleading. There's definitely more politics and family dynamics than just romance.
Makes me want to shake a finger at all those other dramas that throw a random Candy-type FL into their dramas and don't let said drama reach their full potential.
For some strange reason, everyone (and I mean from the east and west) love to pit women against each other. It's like the media is secretly telling us women are all b***** or something, and honestly, it comes off pretty demeaning.
And the other thing is that it may be a supply and demand thing (or chicken and egg). Maybe some research analyst in kdrama media noticed shows with bromance had higher ratings or something. Lot's of people actively look for bromance and I've even seen one or two comments on a the few female-centric shows on how there is "not enough male characters".
So I guess it's complicated?
-It had a great way of mixing the heavier and darker elements
-The humor was actually pretty funny
-felt like these were actual problems students would face (esp in Korea)
-a real shout-out to Eun Ji's character. She was great at being compassionate but not a doormat, cheerful but not obnoxious, moral but not self-righteous, and good character development too. She made a huge chunk of this drama for me.
-fleshed out Soo Ah in a very realistic way. Just like KYD, I hated her but couldn't hate her. TBH, I could see bits of myself in her
-loved HDJ's flat-as-a-board character, so cute
In short, don't pass this one up!
And I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about this one. Digging into the novel rn, I would say HYX is more pragmatic and the "eye-for-an-eye" type so the terms "cheerful and optimistic" and "compassionate heart" seem like they might change her character around....which would ruin 1/2 the drama for me.
As for Love O2O, yeah, I really can't disagree, but the leads were so different and refreshing from all those dumb candy x jerk chaebol kdrama leads that the stiffness didn't bother me.
Could you do a best couples list =)?