Cute and Easy Watch with a Mature Backdrop
Just wanted to leave a quick review.Finished the drama pretty quickly, and while I did skip through some parts, overall I quite enjoyed it.
Our ML and FL are both 30, and reunited after they briefly met in high school. Our FL has a physical disability from an accident, which I found really interesting, since it was quite relevant to certain minor parts of the story.
They do have some up and downs in their relationship, but I found it quite reasonable and I think the way they handled most of them were pretty reasonable. 🩵
The whole love vs. career issue is a big big conflict, and I can see arguments to both sides. Finding someone who loves you immeasurably is really rare, but also being able to build a career to be able to be independent is also something that should be prioritized.
Their chemistry was great🔥, and this was my favorite drama with the FL-- her bubbly character mixed with some pain from the past and her strong stubbornness as a defense mechanism was at the same time lovable and sad to see.
The ML is also great in anything he does. lol
The MAIN genres for this were romance, which they don't drag out at ALL, and family, which was really prominent throughout the drama.
Another solid healing drama👏🏻
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Quick watch to skip through
Like most, I started this after seeing a short clip that had me going "OOH he's cute. This'll be my next watch!" 🫶🏻And yes, he is indeed very cute and the overall vibe is really cute.
The setting starts off at a college but honestly it's basically a high school, not that I mind. The only thing that bothered me about this particular fact was that the level of maturity of the characters were that of preteens in high school, not adults in college.
That being said, the synopsis including "school for rich children but poor female lead somehow gets admitted" was giving me major F4 vibes✨ (AND the fact that the friend group is four cute dudes), but the school background became so irrelevant.
Like most cdramas, I'd say it started quite strong and with some good potential.
At the halfway mark I found myself losing interest and by the last quarter everything became quite ridiculous. The director seemed to have a vision but the execution was just not there unfortunately. The plot was all over the place, with random characters popping in and out, references to DEAD characters referred to as "they left" was the most confusing because you assume they'd go find them only to later hear them say something like "when they died..." like what??
My favorite part of this was the best friend couple. She's ADORABLE 🐶 and her partner is so cute. Their scenes, though few, were imo so much cuter than our leads. The chemistry was just better.
I will say though, it wasn't TERRIBLE and the fact that the episodes were relatively short (15 minutes) was a smart move, or else there would have been so much filler. Don't regret watching it, but won't rewatch.
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Perhaps the best modern CDrama of 2025
This is the perfect example of when not to trust reviews. This drama slaps. In all ways possible.I literally don’t even know where to start— the beautiful leads, the perfectly annoying antagonists, the wow factor of a “ceo coming back to life” introduction, that OST?! I’ve watched hundreds of dramas and this honestly is in my top five cdramas, def my top modern cdrama of 2025 by a mile.
First of all, our badass female lead shows no weakness in front of her enemies. She just survived hell for the past three years to make an epic comeback in front of the family that stole her family’s legacy. From the brink of death to reclaiming her throne, as she should, her beauty and brains blind all. Even when any other normal person would fall in defeat, her determination to avenge her family and bring justice was truly commendable.
And then our male lead 🥰 This is the first time watching this actor act, but his puppy dog persona juxtaposing our headstrong female lead was just the cherry on top. Having been abroad with sports, his morals aren't corrupted by his business-focused family so when he trusts and approaches Haimeng whilst everyone legit pulls him away, I melted. He's just so soft and innocent but not in the weak way where he doesn't know how to differentiate between right and wrong. He knows how to protect his girl **swoons**
Their CHEMISTRY especially, was off the charts. Normally, the idea of getting with an in-law sounds pretty revolting, but in this case I could not encourage them more. (and good, because the ex-husband doesn't deserve her) The cinematography captured each of our leads' perspectives SO WELL (BRAVO). The lighting and colors, light and/or dark, capture the beauty of Haimeng and Siyu as seen from each others' eyes perfectly. I found myself falling for them at the same time as them HAHAH. It started with Haimeng's icy exterior melting in front of Siyu, the only person in the house who doesn't treat her with contempt. With the gradual increase in trust came the natural development of respect and soon after, feelings. I love how until the end, they chose to trust each other despite what could've turned into a situation of messy misunderstandings.
I’m assuming this was low budget but girl, you can't even tell. Other than some crowds seeming sparse or lack of diverse locations, everything from outfits (our girl is a legit MODEL) to pace of storyline distracts you and honestly makes it seem like a very well thought-out, highly-sponsored masterpiece.
I don't ever write reviews, but this one was much needed especially with the weirdos giving this such poor ones! Please give this a try, it's the perfect length (not the super short ones but also not so long it drags the story) and really moves at a steady intriguing pace. It won't be perfect, with some loopholes, but they can be easily disregarded lol
LOVE IT! 🩵 SOOO glad I watched this. I'm happier :)
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Don't Waste Your Time
This is one of those dramas that gain hype through short clips on Reels, gaining traction and interest from the global community, not local (because Chinese people appreciate plot more than anything). I guess a lot of people use the term "vertical drama" but this is more like a short cdrama from a lesser known production company...Anyways, I too was one who came in after seeing their reels, which are all snippets of the leads kissing. They're all quite impactful, I give you that. I also thought I'd give this a try because the two male leads have worked on reputable dramas before. Unfortunately, I had to drop this about halfway and that was a stretch.
The plot makes no sense from the beginning-- there's no explanation of this affinity virus and its origins, and the drama synopsis is completely different from what's being shown on screen. The CGI is NOT even remotely good, contrary to those who claim it is... c'mon it's 2026. That orange octopus coming out of nowhere LITERALLY had me laughing out loud. It looks like a school videography project. And don't get me started on the farfetchedness of some other... creatures😂
The leads aren't the worst actors, and I've seen them all on several other projects, but despite all the skinship they didn't even have good chemistry. Their off-screen chemistry was loads better.
So... to describe this in one word, I'd say cringe. And not the good kind. The embarrassing kind. 🫣
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My FAVORITE kdrama pairing!! ?
When we first found out this drama would be filming with Go Youn Jung and Kim Seon Ho as the leads back in 2024, I was beyond ecstatic. Alchemy of Souls 2 is one of my all-time favorite kdramas, and GYJ is probably my favorite k-actress. And then finding out the Hong Sisters wrote this was just a cherry on top. It was a LONG wait but I can finally feel the satisfaction of finishing such a well-executed and high-budget show!Plot-wise, I have to be blunt and say it wasn't my favorite. The pacing was pretty slow, and there wasn't a SUPER big plot twist, nor constant action to keep you on your toes. But I still enjoyed its simplicity. Almost like a healing drama, there was more of a lighthearted vibe to this drama from start to finish. I do wish there was a bit more though, as I did not find myself crying myself to sleep or laughing with giddiness like I do with some really well-written masterpieces.
Characters were all great, emphasis on our three leads. Like I stated earlier, our ML and FL were just fantastic and simultaneously executed the yearning and comedic relationship development so well. But I have to say, Fukushi Sota was quite the scene stealer. Every episode, I liked him more and more. It was pretty obvious from the start it would be a love triangle (literally the first scene lol) but I didn't realize I'd low-key be rooting for him🥲 He's such a healthy example of a MAN. 😅 The second couple was very random and meh but not annoying.
High budget is always a feast for the eyes-- in this case, the travel destinations were so beautiful. Japan, Canada, Italy were all filmed in quite scenic locations and it was a delight to see them going to places I've visited. Overall, I think more budget does have some correlation to high quality, giving the show almost a movie-like aesthetic. I wonder if they cut the story to only 12 episodes because of the amount of money they were pouring into this-- honestly 16 could've been better for the story.
Overall, it was an enjoyable finish. And just a feast for my eyes🫣🥰 Don't think I'd rewatch, but this will remain in my memory as a beautifully-executed easy watch with a great lineup.
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A Drama with Some Great Scenes... But Not Overall
Like I wrote in the title, the drama had its good and bad parts. Quite a few of the scenes were surprisingly mature, which I actually prefer especially since most dramas featuring young adults is always inaccurately portrayed. I appreciated their openness to addressing some topics seen as "taboo" like queer relationships and sexual curiosity.The editing is quite subpar, giving low budget, but I was able to get used to the style within five or so episodes. The main couple was cute but because they didn't really have any angst it wasn't as heart-fluttering when they got together. I'm surprised I actually managed to finish it.
That ending was probably the worst ending of 2025 though hahaha
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