This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful world building, lost me near the end
I got hooked in by the murder mystery game and how magical the production was in that world. Getting into the narrative of the show I thought the characters weren't as goofy as in other dramas where I'm constantly cringing and begging for a serious moment. It was very well paced and I felt like we were really given time to settle in with the dynamics between all of the characters. And they made me actually care about the architecture industry for a bit, it takes some dedication to take the professional context of a romance drama that seriously and I appreciated it.I didn't particularly dislike Pei Zhen for most of it. The story made it easy to empathize with him, and he really just wanted something to brighten up his life. I liked him as a foil to Xiao Zhi Yu. He definitely wasn't right for Hu Xiu though, and behaved immaturely toward her and Xiao Zhi Yu.
I wish the murder mystery game had been more important to the plot, like if it was a genuine hobby the main characters were committed to and they immersed themselves in that world fully as a pastime, because I liked how they expressed themselves when they were in game and I wish I could've seen more play running tandem with the drama. Also I play role playing games with friends so I'm a bit biased.
I really just dropped it because I didn't like how Hu Xiu treated Xiao Zhi Yu when her parents got to her first about his past. In general I really can't imagine blaming the son for the alleged actions of his (dead) father. Especially like, if she knows who his father is now she knows how his father died and that Xiao Zhi Yu was young when it happened, hello, don't you love that man and want to comfort him over that major trauma? Plus he's had to keep it secret his whole life to make a living and y'all are just now getting close. I skipped ahead a few episodes to see what they made of all that just to see her crying about him keeping secrets again. That's when I knew I'd lost interest.
That being said, the first half or so of the season was so engaging I will watch it again just to experience that. And I still would recommend it, because it was so much fun for a while I was certain I would finish it, and I've never been certain of that with a drama before.
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