Zogitt

To die is to heal and live again

This show has been on my watchlist for the longest time. I've watched several time travel tales that discarded any resemblance of logic for the sake of drama. Fortunately, this show gave time traveling a novel spin and is an integral part of the story telling. While the Show did not pay too much attention to the butterfly effect, it did not treat the temporal shift as a gimmick neither.

I'm sure there is no need to bring up the synopsis again. The important point here is that the ML did a great job portraying the fish out of water aspect of a doctor transported from the 1500's to present day Seoul. He was shown to be super resourceful and resilient. The Show made light of his ability to adapt to the present though. While it helped to move the plot along, it did lacked credibility.

Where the Show injected some novelty into the tropey plot is when the FL was taken back to the Joseon era by the ML on several occasions and it was she who had to adapt to the sudden change of her circumstances.

This jinx position allowed the Show to explore problems in both eras and forced the OTP to confront them as a team. The writer-nim also used their time in Joseon as a circuit breaker to take them away from the fast paced and insulating modern world. This gave the OTP breathing space and opened their hearts and minds to each other.

In the end, this is much more than a rom-com even though the early episodes were heavy with comedy. The Show skipped through several genres without pausing for breath. Tragedy, treachery and conflict were heavy in the second half and it was much more melodramatic. One cannot escape the social commentary which is mirrored both in the modern as well as olden times. The rich and powerful are still lording over their "slaves" and are prone to hide their inadequacies. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

Overlaid on top of such weighty subjects was the bittersweet romance of the OTP. Both leads are damaged and flawed. The Show forced them to confront their demons and plot a path through moral dilemmas so that they grew and heal each other. Their chemistry was so natural and their emotions so raw. While they did bask in the glow of their burgeoning love, their days together were numbered. You can sense their despair when they were separated and their longing for each other was palpable.

The acting was superb from the main cast. The range displayed by the M/FL was exceptional. The script is intricate with a solid core as foundation. However, some aspects of time travel were a bit contrived. The odd plot holes were just brushed aside. The oriental medicine aspect also took on an almost mythical quality so you might want to suspend your disbelief.
I do wish the ending was more fan service. We demand hugs and kisses, not a walk down a crowded street! The epilogue was very cute. The SML is in for a fun ride. :)

It is a quality production and it showed both in the set design, costumes as well as the OST.

The final caveat, this show is not for you if you dislike historical drama, cruelty, brutality, graphical medical procedures including acupuncture.

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Space cowboy meets Vincenzo meets WALL-E

It must be really hard for writer-nim to come up with new ideas for a space movie that has mass appeal and yet be as original as possible. In the case of Space Sweepers, they got 1 out of 2 right.

As an adventure movie, it is a blast (figuratively as well as literally). The 2 hours run time flashed by with little drag. Action was the centrepiece of the show and it runs the gauntlet of thrilling space flights, hand-to-hand combat, full scale space battle and zero gravity gun fights. In between, there were rare moments of the crew taking a breather and giving the found family trope a decent airing. It is a bit of a shame that most of what I have described are derivatives of a number of movies that came before. Classics like Star Wars, Blade Runner, WALL-E and others all casted a shadow on this film.

That is not necessary a bad thing. Many successful films have stood on those mighty shoulders. In this case, the script was good enough to allow it to be seen as paying homage rather than outright plagiarism. It was not quite original though but it got the job done.

Being a Korean production, the Korean leads all delivered strong performances. Even the child actor and the CG android have strong personalities. However, the same can't be said for the international casts. The evil antagonist was the strongest showing of that bunch but minor roles can be a real mixed bag. The least said, the better. ;)

The budget for this movie is over US$20millions (cheap by Hollywood standards). The CGI was really well done, the cyber punk inspired settings were expansive with grimy and edgy interior designs. Space structures are impressively huge and intricate. It is rated M but there is little blood nor graphical violence shown. Dead bodies were surprisingly "clean" even after being shot multiple times by an assault rifle.

As to be expected with this type of sci-fi drama, there are inconsistencies with future techs and pseudo sciences. One particular issue I have has to do with the "indestructible" nanobots floating in space. They are used as a kind of deus ex machina but that also contradicted with an overarching plotline so who is correct? There are other causal effects and subplots that were presented to us as fait accompli so it is pretty much 'ask no questions and you will hear no lies'. :)

Finally, the ending was actually not my favourite. I would have preferred the grittier ending as the story suggested but they must have done some market research and decided to go with a fan service version. They rammed it through but you really have to suspend your disbelieve.

OST is generic techno, heroic, eerie tracks which paired well with the scenes but ultimately forgettable.
Finally, please watch this in the original Korean/multilingual soundtrack. The English dub wasn't bad but it is not the same.

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Short fluffy romance done the Japanese way

In a nutshell this show is a workplace romance/age gap love done the Japanese way.
It is short, fluffy and pain/angst free. The meet-cute is, honestly, illogical but j-drama excels in carrying this type of setup forward and creating a whole drama around it. It worked but this is no high drama and it will not get your little grey cells working overtime.
What this show gave us are swoon worthy moments and skinship with the works. The cute and naïve FL trope is on steroids so we have the whole (cough) inexperience package. Thankfully, the experienced and much older ML did not exploit this but just ate her up with his love and lust.
There is barely enough material to last 8 episodes but they padded it out with lots of flashbacks. A few red herring subplots and a half hearted love triangle tried to raise the angst level but it was never going to be effective against the rusted on OTP and it is all about the OTP.
A decent watch in the end but goes down better with popcorns. :)

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Great CP chemistry and romance but questionable values did not sit well with me

So many c-drama are set in the corporate world that is itself a trope. Sometimes it works but a lot of the time the plots are filled with jargons and then a bit of magic drama dust to create a company collapse or save the company in the nick of time. This show is heavily business focused and there was no ends of "intrigue" and dirty tricks.

The basic story is straightforward. Two old school mates met up again after many years apart and found love. The twist here is that the ML was in love with the FL since their school days and he tasked himself to protect her. The reason is because she is allergic to tears and it could kill her if she is not treated quickly. He tried to toughen her up so that she won't cry but it was seen as bullying. He was going to confess to her before he went aboard to study but circumstances made them part in bad terms and he missed that chance and lost touch for years. This misunderstanding lasted well into their new working relationship as he became her boss in her new job.

There were no doubt that the pairing of Bai Lu and Leo Luo was a masterstroke. They looked great together and have bucket load of chemistry. They did not shy away from the touchy feely stuff either so there were lots of skinship. The 2OTP was cute and they tried hard to tell their story but there were a number of plot holes. In the end, it was underdone as their romance felt contrived. The 3OTP (noona romance) came out of nowhere and it was a stretch. 2 other pairing of fellow workers overflowed the CP quota.

The romantic story of the OTP would have been good enough to sustain a shorter run but they had a lot of business subplots to get through and it is here that the tone and plots did not sit well with me.

Most of the early episodes have the OTP investigating various companies as part of due processes before the company goes public or are bought out by another company. However, instead of doing the sums and highlighting dodgy transactions so that the authorities can follow up, they (including junior analysts) behave like private investigators and some kind of corporate crusaders riding out to right wrongs. That would be ok if the message is clear but again and again, the punishments do not fit the crimes. We are talking about someone who embezzled a lot of money as well as a manager who drugged and raped a young worker. That is a criminal offence, is it not? This type of moral greyness ran right through the whole show. The FL was drugged and dumped in a hotel room (unharmed, thankfully) and even though it was obvious who did it, there was no retribution. Other people who did wrong were just spoken to or cut a lot of slack. With that, what appeared to be a righteous stance soon turned into a mess of confused messages. It speaks volume about the business environment in China if it is even partially true.

I also have issues with the SML storyline. There was little chance of a second lead syndrome from the start but he was given a lot of screen time in the last few episodes. Once that subplot started, there was little doubt how it would end. It did little to progress the main plot but managed to turn the SML into a despicable character.

There were funny moments and lots of swoon worthy moments. I did liked how they set up the OTP as competitors after the time skip and their interactions were cute but it ended almost as soon as it started. If they did the time skip and just have them working in their own small company or even in competition, I'd ship them even more. The ML's proposal short movie was clever and the doggie is so cute throughout. :D

Production value is high but there are gaps. OST was fine. If I ever want to rewatch this, I would start at ep.20 and then watch the next few episodes where the OTP was white hot then skip to the last episode just for the feel good fan service.

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Sweet healing romance that managed to be underdone and overcooked

As a rom-com I can't fault its setting, both M/FL and support casting. OTP chemistry and swoon worthy moments. They are all present and accounted for, if anything, someone must have done a checklist so that every item was ticked and double checked. The problem lies more in the show's desire to please "everyone". To be honest, the writer-nim largely succeeded in doing this but it was also its Achilles heel.

The premise of the show is simple, the FL is forced to restart her dentist career out in the boondocks and there she found love as well as new friends and found family. It is a well used trope and with the show navigating a fairly safe path meant that for the longest time, it never hits any real highs or lows. I think that may well be because it is the FL's first show after 2 years away from the limelight. She probably wanted a high profile hit and this definitely delivered.

Having said that, the meet-cute and the OTP's journey to true love was well done and there is always something happening to push them closer together. The seaside village of Gongjin cannot be more idyllic. It was picturesque day and night. The FL is in her 30's (ML is 1 year older), well dressed, sophisticated and pretty. She became all giggly and with aegyo dialled up after she fell in love. To be honest, it was a little jarring. This was initially matched by her best friend who also fell in love with a local and formed half of the 2OTP but she is a lot more grounded as the relationship progressed. The ML was handsome, charismatic, chilled, helpful, friendly and a bit eccentric. A total opposite to the usual cold, rich, man-child of a ML. The local villagers were a eclectic bunch. They are classy actors who knew their trade and will steal the scene if you let them. It was clever of the writer-nim to drip-feed their backstory slowly so that what appeared to be just the usual nosy neighbours and busybodies were shown to be true friends and have raison d'être for their behaviours.

The deft hand of the writer-nim is evident else where. There are lots of tropey plots and cliché scenes but they were seldom over the top to the point where you facepalm and groan out loud but they can also be undercooked so that it became a bit superficial. One area where the writer-nim went a bit overboard was the fate motif. There were just too many coincidences to be believable.

Hence, it was quite odd when around episodes 14,15 the story became a potboiler/melodrama. There were certainly buckets of tears (have tissue handy). The whole plot about the ML's role as a fund manager was overcooked. Seriously, it wasn't really his fault and certainly in regards to his friend's death. So it was drama for drama sake and not very convincing. After all the hints of a dark past, it turned out he was even more saintly than he already is.

The "tread lightly" approach also meant that there was not a lot of growth in the characters but more like story progression. Old wrongs were righted, broken or strained relationships were healed. Naissance love triangle morphed into a bromance. The snobbish and judgemental FL became someone who appreciates the country lifestyle and her new friends but she was essentially the same decent person. The ML stays the same except now everyone knew his backstory and loved him even more.
It was no surprise that everybody got a happy ending. Sunshine, rainbows and a herd of unicorns roamed the land. :D It was sugary but it brought the show to its own logical conclusion. At least it was not rushed and there was enough time to give everyone a proper sent off.

OST was nice and breezy. Production value was high. Quality cinematography captured the lovely sceneries. I really enjoyed this show so rewatch value is there for the swoon worthy and feel good bits but skip ep.15 if sentimentality is not your cup of chai. Almost forgot to mention the PPL, there were quite a bit of it. Not egregious but more than I'd care for.

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Decent romance but the show spent too much time treading water

TL;DR: Decent rom-com with a sports theme but draggy and a bit claustrophobic.
Most shows are like a jigsaw puzzle. It is made up of lots of pieces and when the pieces fall naturally into place you get a good drama, when the pieces don't fit well, you get half formed picture that tells a confused story.
This show started well. The swim team members are handsome and they have a strong bond with a healthy dose of macho bromance. The FL seemed to have a good heart and strong moral compass even though she is only an intern. It was quite obvious who the anointed OTP is and they do look cute together. Their meet-cute was tropey but it worked. Another positive aspect is the swimming competition, They were shot skilfully with great action scenes. The daily grind of a swim team is also front and centre rather than just gamify the subject like some other sport based drama. However, not all the jigsaw piece are fitting in nicely, there are missing pieces and others jammed in and felt out of place.
One of the problem is the portrayal of 2ML (Lin Zi). He just came across as creepy and an unlikeable character. He was obsessed with the FL and is revengeful against the ML. The whole plot with him worming himself in her workplace as her assistant is just unrealistic. How can an intern gain an assistant? Have the writer heard of office politics? What did the other interns think, let alone other reporters and senior staff? At one stage, he also set up a "love nest" for the FL and decorated it all by himself (while holding onto a spare key?). It is just as well that that subplot came to a dead-end or we'd have a psycho thriller on our hands instead of a rom-com. Regardless, I feel icky watching a lot of his early scenes.
The development of the FL is also lacking until the end. In the beginning, she was shown to be intelligent and headstrong but as the show progressed, she seemed to go backwards. With her first encounter of the 2ML, she'd labelled him a weirdo but then once he entered the company, she was easily manipulated by him and just seemed to missed all the clues to his shenanigans. In fact, she didn't clue in to his subterfuge until her best friend told her late in the story.
This bring us to my biggest gripe, the show is draggy. 36 episodes was too long. Even though it is obvious who the OTP is (and the 2OTP for that matter) and everyone around them all clearly of the same opinion, they spend half the show denying there is anything between them. Even after the ML confessed to the FL (only after seeing the 2ML confessed first) she was still going around doing the "I am confused/I should sacrifice myself for your career" trope for several more episodes to the general detriment of all concerned. Even after the 1OTP situation settled down, the 2OTP took up the baton and went on to denying their growing attractions. I was getting tired of hearing "No, no, that's impossible!" shouted by the leads every time someone asked whether they are dating or liked each other.
This slow plot progression is not helped when the competition subplot proved to be quite claustrophobic. It all centred around the fictional Dream Cup college championship and the races were largely against the same people over and over. The show hyped up the competitors as if they were national celebrities but I'm not sure how a college swim team can attain such high profile. If anything, I wished the show was set at a higher level so that the competition offer higher stakes than just the South campus matched against the North campus and some no-name competitors. I felt the show was just treading water for 2/3 of the show.
If you think the show was going to settle down to some quality CP time on the home straight then you will be mistaken. It changed tone again and went full on melo. Surprisingly, that actually had a positive effect on the show. Whilst there were a lot more angst and confusions, it ultimately acted as a cathartic release of penned up emotions and brought clarify to our protagonists. I'm glad it happened or it would be a happy ending that was not earned.
The group of young actors did what they can with their roles. I won't say that the acting was great but acceptable. I think the female actors gave more nuanced performances while the guys had too much machismo and only showed moments of vulnerability. The ML's mum was a gem. She is a real scene stealer. What a shame that she disappeared just when the show gained momentum.
To be frank, It was a struggle to sit through some of the episodes until the 2/3 mark, the fast forward button helped. It picked up after ep.27 and really gathered steam around ep.30. As expected, the ending was uplifting and satisfying. I actually felt better about the show after I finished it. It wasn't a bad show overall but it was patchy.
The OST was quite good. The score were well matched to the scenes and well produced.

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Surprisingly good rom-com that managed to tiptoe through the cliché minefield

This show has been on my watch list for a long time but the synopsis gave off the wrong tropey vibes for me so I kept skipping over it. Recently, I dropped a bad rom-com so I thought, "I can't do much worse". I'm glad I finally committed, it was surprisingly good.
First of all, this is not a big budget production. There are no big names or famous city as a backdrop. The production value is good through and there were not a lot of PPL, certainly not egregious. The OST is nice and totally serviceable. I liked that the ML's are handsome but not idol level good looking. The FL's are attractive and looked natural which made them more relatable.
The first half of the show is pretty much as expected. A head strong manhua artist decided to use a cold college professor as her template for the ML in her next comics. She has never been in love so she sucked at drawing romantic scenes. At first, he was just an interesting research subject but over time she fell in love with him. Of course, there were lots of push/pull and ambiguities. Nevertheless, she was brave and focused in her pursue of him. By the mid way mark, he was in love and they became official. Yes, there were cliché moments but there was no shock twists. Clichés were handled with a deft hand and you won't get worked up about stupid plots holes. But then I was overcame with anxiety because I have seen many shows expending all their energies in getting the CP together and then after a bit of CP bliss, they'd turn their laser focus on breaking them apart by any means just so that they can engineer a 11th hour happy ending. I'm grateful that this didn't happen. Sure, there were lumps and bumps along the way but their love was strong and they were the A-team and push back against all the Forces of Evil. Hazzah!
Another aspect which I found satisfying is the communication between the CP's. Of course, there were misunderstandings, jealousy and doubts but issues were never left to fester and they were resolved quickly with some straight talking. Another one is the age gap between the CP's. All the CP's have significant age differences and while some show will milk that for tension and be judgemental, this show just took it in its stride. It was part of the story fabric and you can take it or leave it. There was also growth in all the characters which was good to see. For example, the ML went from a cold and aloof character to become a kind, considerate and hot blooded BF. The 2FL was a bit of a seductress in the beginning but she became a super loyal GF to the 2ML.
In so many Chinese rom-coms, the 2/3OTP is either angst filled or just a convenient way to park the M/FL's best friends and provide a bit of down time for the 1OTP. Our 2OTP also had a rough start but while they did not have as much screen time as the 1OTP, their trajectory were similar well plotted and had more attention in the second half. Their love also grew stronger with every challenge. The strong 2FL definitely wore the pants in this relationship.
This brings us to the FL's. All three were forthright with their approach. They didn't hide or play dumb but push hard towards their goals. Ok, may be not so much for 3OTP because their pairing was a bit iffy but the 3FL knew what she wanted in her heart as well.
I'm glad that the show can see the tropes coming and it is wise enough to use them in a positive way and not be subsumed by them. Time and time again I expected the worse but good things happened instead. That made the show engaging and very watchable in my book.
The show is not perfect. There are script issues and some of the younger actors are still a bit rough around the edges but the positives outweigh the negatives. It is light, funny and sweet but not to the point of sugar overload nor was it overran by non-sensical plot twists. I enjoyed it so much that I binged it.
P.S. I watched this on Tencent official YouTube channel and every episode had the same audio issue whereby the dialogue track would randomly drop out for a minute or two and for no apparent reason.

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It is all about the CP, silly, and now some messages from our sponsor.

Watching this show is a guilty pleasure. You know that the leads are too beautiful and perfectly matched, you know the storyline is pure fluff but nicely done and everything is just so romantic. If you want to forget your worries for a while then binge watch this.

There is a coherent story but nothing overly dramatic or deep (at least by the usual c-drama standard). The romance is sweet and wholesome. There is a good deal of skinship and when they play in bed they weren't doing crosswords! The show is so full of nice people that it must be a record. The FL's agent is a mother hen type but without any manipulative behaviour of the typical talent agent. The young assistant is not a slave but a happy, bubbly soul. The parents are all lovely people. Most of their friends are sweet and some are a bit nerdy or gossipy but likeable. The senior staff members are all father figures with wisdom to spare. Even the antagonists (and I used this word very loosely) were not trouble makers. No breakups, no forced separations, except for one patch of misunderstanding, it was plain sailing for the whole show. It is a funny thing to say but taken in totality, it actually made the show felt a bit odd.

Why? I think the answer lies in the Chinese government wanting to change the narrative around the entertainment industry and the greed culture. Consider the recent controls placed on rabid fandom, cancelling of several high profile celebs and the push for "common prosperity", I can see some subtle messages imbedded in the show. For instance, early on, the FL actually asked the question "am I worth this much?" during a discussion about a new contract (and in RL reference to how much some actors are paid for a few weeks of work). As the show progressed, Dilraba got more and more grounded and they even got married in a group wedding (to much acclaim from netizens) when most c-drama would have gone all out for a lavish wedding as the finale. Social media played a fairly neutral or even positive role here instead of a hot bed of venomous slander. Paparazzo were made fun of and "chased out of town". National security officials were helpful and understanding(?). Yang Yang is an aerospace engineer and that is topical as China has successfully landed a Mars rover just recently so there should be a lot of interests. But more importantly, he was considering joining an investment bank for the money but changed his mind. The message here is that greed is no longer good but contribution to the society is more rewarding. This is reinforced by the fact all the "loser" characters were bankers boasting about their pay checks and their excessive consumptions. The FL's ex was a stereotypical rich CEO type but in this show, he definitely did not get the girl and Dilraba made it very clear why. Ditto when the rich BF of a co-star arrived with in a convoy of fancy SUV's and truck load of fancy food for the casts and crew, it was not well received but when the ML arrive in an old jeep and fixed their internet with his own hands, it gained the approval of the upper echelon aka the Director. May be I'm over thinking this but this show certainly have a mix of PR and subtle messages to promote Chinese aerospace achievements and also amped up the positive feedbacks when you are perceived to be doing the right thing by society.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this show a lot because it was so sweet and entertaining. They knew their ace is the OTP and they dialled up their chemistry and gave us as many swoon worthy moments as we can handle. Is this a realistic portrait of modern Chinese lives? I would say it is better than one that is filled with devious plots to breakup our CP and manufactured dramas just to stir up angst but is the pairing of a movie megastar and a chief aerospace engineer likely in RL...?

There were some issue with the YouTube dialogue soundtrack but otherwise, the OST was very nice. Production value was high but some early science stuff was a bit dubious.

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Light and fluffy rom-com that is weighted down by its setting

If you look at this show purely from a rom-com perspective then it is quite good but tropey. Nice cute CP with not a lot of "drama". Some swoon worthy moments but I can't help but feel that the ML did most of the heavy lifting. The FL is cute and pretty but for the longest time, she has minimal facial expression and a pout. When they do kiss, I felt that she was kissed rather than they shared a kiss, if you know what I mean.

The elephant in the room is the backdrop of the e-sport scene. There has been several other shows using that theme but this one has a very singular focus on one MOBA game and it does felt a little claustrophobic as all the antagonists and protagonists came from that pool. Sometimes it is the fans or management or players behaving badly. No wonder they got some backlash from gamers saying that they portraited e-sport in a bad light. To be fair, the show did expend a fair bit of energy on promoting the goals and aspirations of the players but they do live ostentatiously so the message is definitely mixed. It would be interesting to see how much traction this show will have in the current push by the Chinese government to limit online gaming by the younger generation. Just to round out the topics de jour, we also see the issue of rabid fandom and cyber-bullying. Maintaining the light tone, things never get truly out of hand.

OST is light and fluffy and rewatch value is limited as the show is padded out with a lot of gaming sequences which you will either love or be confused by.

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Short and Sweet romance with a decent plot

I have only watched a few Thai dramas and this is another good 'un
Let's be honest. this is no high drama. It is low angst, low impact drama by any measures. It is a rom-com that can be easily binged as it is only 13 episodes long (about 45 mins each). Because of the short run time, the pacing is good and the plot moves along without too many deviations.
What I did like are the OTP's chemistry, they are hot together. Yes, lots of push/pulls in the beginning. The development of their relationship was well paced. It is not like they hated each other for 80% of the show and then just jump into bed because they ran out of time or ideas. You can see from their expressions and their private musings that they were falling for each other as the show progressed. They also have this easy going sexy vibe with each other.
I also like how the writer used the dirty tricks cooked up to harm the OTP as catalyst to push them closer together and take their relationship further. This is so much better than just set them up as the OTP early on and then throw roadblocks at them until the inevitable breakup. In this case, you still get the impact of the misdeeds but it was also a positive force and you can enjoy their growth as well. Nicely done.
What I didn't like was how the antagonist was used. She got away with too much. Even after being called out again and again, she just kept escalating her scheming. Yes, it moves the story along but she was not really punished in the end (she paid a price but it was a fraction of the pain she brought unto others) and then she even gets a happy ending. This is a pet hate of mine. Many dramas allow the antagonist a free run, give them a slap on the wrist and then hands them a happy ending as bonus. Not really sending a strong message, are we?
Support cast did a fine job. Some were a bit one dimensional but that is to be expected in such a short run show. They served their purpose by introducing some angst. The main support roles were more fleshed out. I loved the BFF of the FL. She was such a perfect foil for the FL. The 2ML (Tawan) was too weak for my liking. He enabled the antagonist ceaselessly, called her out repeatedly and then just hanged around like a love sick puppy (which he was).
All in all, an enjoyable watch. Nothing amazing but well worth the time to binge it and recharge with some swoon worthy moments.

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Genre bending wuxia rom-com that takes irreverent fun to the next level

A word of warning. If you are a wuxia aficionado then you probably should skip this show. The setting is familiar and the characters played roles that are instantly recognisable but almost everything in between have been flipped and turned around so that it became irreverent and very tongue-in-cheek.

The plot is classic wuxia. I would even go as far as saying it was old school. All based around sects, secret sutras and the attainment of the highest level of martial art form with special powers and lots of flying around. The basic plot was the typical blood feud that spanned years and wicked plots to secure the secret sutra. However, that storyline was largely used as the skeleton for the meat of the story which was the romance of the OTP.

Here I am going to on a tangent because it has been bugging me. From the first episode to about the 1/3 mark, the show gave me strong "What's wrong with Secretary Kim" vibes. I know the setting is completely different but if you look at the basic outline then you can see quite a bit of WWwSK's DNA in this show. The handsome and VERY narcissistic boss (ML), beautiful, long suffering and super efficient assistant (FL) who had been with him for years. Once the boss realised the FL was going to quit, he decided that the only way to keep her was to marry her. There was even a childhood trauma which the FL only vaguely remembers and a "brother" that saved her which could be either the ML or the 2ML. Curious, no?

Anyway, back to the review. The romance was the focus of the whole show and luckily, the writer kept a steady hand on the wheel and did not allow the show to go from rom-com to melodrama at the blink of an eye. Yes, there were death, injuries and destructions but the Love is strong with the OTP. Once you get past the standard wuxia storyline, the writer really got "creative" with the subplots and twists. It was Sillyville for much of the show. Everything from slapstick, funny dialogues to visual gags were thrown into the mix. Even the presentation was not spared. We had scenes shot like black and white silent movies and even a cartoon segment. You certainly have a feeling that there were some influence from webtoons.

Was the show funny? A fair bit of the time and there were even the odd hilarious moments. Some jokes did fall flat but that is to be expected. Most of the plots were telegraphed in advance so it is almost like having laugh tracks, you know something weird and crazy was going to happen soon. Credit goes to the writer and director for sticking to their guns. The humour didn't stop until the last scene.

It did get a bit draggy during the second half of the show as it was a long retelling of their courtship but from a different perspective.

A lot of the main support cast were there as comedic foils so their characters were deliberately one dimensional or exaggerated but they earned their pay. It was not an easy gig.

Yes, it is a silly show and you are not talking about fantastic acting, intricate plots or heartfelt emotions (most of the time) but in a sea of same-same dramas, it is a nice change of pace and it did have some cute and funny moments. I enjoyed it more than I expected and that surprised me. Rose-tinted glasses helped a lot. :)

The OST is weird. Not much Chinese music, almost themed like a Benny Hill show (look it up if you don't know that reference ;) ). Rewatch value is there if you want a break from heavy going dramas.

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Text book rom-com with a love of clichés

The TL;DR version: it is a very tropey, cliché laden rom-com that failed to hit any heights and ended up meandered for too long before a predictable ending.

The longer version: This show started fine. Very tropey setup with cold, rude CEO ML and feisty college student FL in a contract marriage. The logic behind the plot was questionable but we'll let that pass for now. It was set up and running within the first 2 episodes. Consider the show runs for 30 x 30+ mins episodes, you would think that there is lots of time to develop the characters and watch their relationship blossom but alas, the real confession didn't happen until late in the show and nothing much happened (drama wise) between those two points. It was overstuffed with every colour of clichés that I wish I was a cliché spotter! Time and time again, just when you see the obvious set up and waited for the ML to utter the 4 immortal Chinese words (我喜欢你) and seal it with a kiss, the scene faded to black and they took a collective step back.

They did amped up the sugar moments after the confession but it was all bait and switch as the writer threw even more CP roadblocks in their way and culminated in the predictable plot arc. If you think that I'm talking about the OTP both dying in a plane crash then you should get a job with them because you are way more creative.

I'm not saying that every rom-coms have to be full of original ideas but better ones handle clichés like delicate building blocks, be creative with them. This show used them with extreme prejudice and with little return. It was like they took the "Chinese Rom-com for Dummies" to the pitch meeting.

Acting was patchy. The FL is fine. A feisty college student is bread and butter for young actors these days. The ML suffered from the Chinese idol syndrome. They have the looks and the physique but his acting skills are limited. Stoney face might be ok for the cold CEO role but when the role expanded and he couldn't stretch to meet the demands then we have a problem. The FL's BFF and one half of the 2OPT was problematic as well. It was almost painful to watch her in some of the lovey-dovey scenes with the 2ML. There was little chemistry with the second pairing but they can be cute together. There was a decent amount of skinship with the CP's but not a whole lot of passion. One surprise was the ML's mum. She was a scene stealer and a fount of wisdom and so sweet and understanding. Shame that she didn't have a bigger role.

There was little growth in the characters, more like Jackal and Hyde personality changes. This was especially true for the ML and not in a good way.

The ending was sugar coated and the FL's male junior did the honourable thing but the happy ending was never in doubt. It was a decent conclusion. I'm not too sure why they did the CGI chapel in the end. Seemed a bit unnecessary.

OST was serviceable. Rewatch value is low.

I started off enthused, gradually became irritated (aka almost dropped) and then finally settled on resigned indifference.

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More of the good things and a few niggles

Oh, so much I loved the Dr Romantic's drama-verse. It was a little microcosm of a perfectly crafted world where love, skills, compassion and friendship can overcome all evils. Dr Romantics 2 certainly had that in spades but there were awkward moments with the storytelling, a bit like your dog peeing on the rug while your friends were visiting. Do you ignore it or not?
As an ensemble drama, this show is second to none. The old hospital was a great setting and the main/support cast were always superb. You can pretty much just watch them chat while washing dishes and it would be ok. ;) However, where DR1 was a wonderful journey as we observed how the team grew, worked and played together, DR2 had the hospital well and truly humming along (still short staffed and poorly funded) but a lot of the enjoyment was just seeing the regulars in their roles. Some of them were angrier, some were more stressed, they all got older and one had to retire. The pacing was so fast and furious that you don't have time to worry about the in between bits.

Some reviews lamented that this is not DR2 with the same cast. I understand that but I don't think there is a dire need for that. DR2 is strong enough to be judged on its own merits and the time and plot have moved on. This left us with a time shift and 3 new doctors. Two of the new doctors were very flawed and scarred individuals. It was good that they came to Doldam Hospital because Dr Kim saw their potentials and he made them whole again.

That worked but because it included the OTP we had to deal with their romantic subplot. It was true that the ML had a crush on the FL since their med school days and we were left with no doubts by the flashbacks. Her feelings towards him was a lot more ambiguous. In a way, backstory stuff was a bit redundant as they were the classic trope of opposite types being thrown together in high pressure situations. You can literally get a spark off two wet sponges. No surprise then that after lots of push backs from the FL, she fell head-over-heels for the ML. It got the job done as the plot goes but it felt heavily scripted. On the other hand, the 2OTP were cuter and felt more relatable but they didn't get enough screen time, IMHO.

Another niggle is that after many episodes of trials and tribulations showing us the M/FL's personal issues, it all got resolved too easily so that it lost a lot of the impact. The main antagonist (Prof. Park) was a bit grey, neither truly evil nor chaotic. Deus ex machina was in full force at the end of the show where most of the evil plots and scheming were largely resolved in one stroke. It was a most satisfying conclusion but I couldn't help but felt like I was the only one left out of a prank.

Don't get me wrong, when this show gets it right (and that was most of the time), it was a masterful piece of medical drama. So many heart warming as well as gut wrenching moments. I still felt a bit choked up when I recall certain scenes (no spoilers!). But I do feel that the writer-nim succumbed to the demand of a romantic plotline and the desire to give us a happy ending at all costs.

The OST was great. Rewatch value is high.

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Cute, watchable youth drama with a hard edge

At its core, it was a youth drama, a college romance but it was also a modern take of a wuxia drama which got me interested.
The core story charted the FL's growth in her tai chi skills and the romance between the FL and ML who was her college senior as well as tai chi teacher. Yes, that was an over simplification as a lot of it was tied up with the ML's plan to modernise the teaching of tai chi and the competition/bad blood between different Kung Fu styles/clans/sects. If you are thinking that tai chi is taught around the world right now so what's the big deal then you will have to watch this and see for yourself. ;)
The likes:
* The aesthetics was beautiful. One of the best looking c-drama I have seen. The cinematography and sceneries used were superb. No CGI required. There was an almost calming, ethereal quality to it with old architectures and lots of Chinese arts on display. The colour palette was warm and natural.
* The main cast were so good looking. The guys won, by the way. ;)
* Most of the fight scenes were expertly choreographed. Looks amazing and impactful.
* The story was not draggy (see discussion below).
* It was relatively angst light (see dislike below) and a lot of the misunderstandings were resolved fairly quickly with some straight talking.
The dislikes:
* While the aesthetics was beautiful, it did have its inconsistencies. The classic was the B-roll showing ancient tile roofs and in the background were high rise buildings shrouded in fog/pollution. Some scenes transition between rooms can feel weird. Like a really modern room (with digital wall switches) to a traditional Chinese sitting room that was suppose to be part of the same building. Not impossible but . . .
* I initially thought the production deliberately downplayed mod-cons like TV to keep that ethereal feel but then towards the end of the show, the OTP switched on the TV and started singing karaoke. Hmmm
* While the skinship was kept very much in the G rated realm, the fighting did get graphic and bloody (especially towards the end). Some themes were also very dark. It did felt odd that death and major crimes were ok but skinship was not.
* The romance was there and we even had 3 couples but they were all very restrained. There were chemistry (sort of) but there was little progress. A bit of hand holding, side eyes and a hug or two. We didn't even get a proper kiss for the whole show. The 2OTP is where the writer usually have more freedom to play with emotions and passion but we only got more angst and little passion. The word chaste came to mind.
* Costumes was a real mixed bag. The worse was probably the ML. His costumes went from standard sombre street wear to weird baggy Chinese trad/mod fusion. I won't call them stylish. For the OMG moment. Check out his costume for the final fight in the dying minute of the show. It is straight out of a video game.
Acting:
I thought the FL looked familiar and then it dawned on me that she was the FL in Dr Cutie. She did better in Dr Cutie but I think a lot of that was due to the script and the character had more freedom to express herself (and improvement in her acting abilities over time). She did a good job here as a young feisty college student.
The ML did ok for the most part. I believe he is an idol so we can't expect too much acting skills. As to be expected, he was supposed to be cool and aloof but at least he managed to appear more aloof due to his senior tai chi rank rather than just being a stuck-up. He was a bit out of his league with his wooden delivery during some big emotional scenes.
The rest of the support cast were mostly young and they did a decent job. Most have fairly straightforward roles.
I just realised I kept saying "towards the end". The reason is the last few episodes just felt odd. The directing, subplots and acting all felt misaligned. Episode 22 was the turning point for me. There were scenes and editing that didn't make sense. The tai chi dojo was supposed to be trashed but we saw none of that. A couple of girls got rescued but why? The cliché breakup that wasn't a breakup?
The National martial art competition was the main focus towards the end and it was done well. Lots of awesome fight scenes. There were also plot holes but you sort of just go along with it. It hit me later on that the competition was suppose to have lasted over 30 days?! That is ridiculously long. Even Wimbledon only lasted 2 weeks.
Episode 24 was mostly fan service but it felt underdone. We have the big dramatic scene (not spoiling) then relationship doubts then happy group scenes with cameo of the Japanese actor (for no reason). Final twist at the send-off was poorly handled and if it was meant to be a surprise then it landed with a thud. It just felt like a mishmash of scenes and messages. Something happened to the script writing for the last few episodes and it was not good.
Oddly enough, episode 1 was a bit like that. Things just happened that didn't felt connected. If I had only one word to describe it then it would be messy. Just as well things got a whole lot better for the next 20 episodes.
OST was quite good, especially when it matched well with the beautiful sceneries. Dubbing was a little patchy at times.
I would rewatch it for its aesthetics, the cute moments and the fight scenes but it is not a high priority.

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Sweet ensemble cast (some with 4 legs) that delivered

Very few drama trope can stir your emotions like those involving animals and with 6 furry pets involved we are guaranteed emotion and cuteness overload.
To be honest, the movie didn't break any new grounds and everything was fairly low key in the drama department but it was written that way so it delivered as expected. The stories were nice and sweet but it can hit you in the feels when it wanted to and I was really saddened by one of the stories. The rest were sweet, heart-warming and uplifting so mission accomplished.
Best to watch it with family or SO and your own pet on a lazy day.

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