Hime

Great, just great. The kind of drama that you remember for a long time. I loved the way the FL was written.

Dramas with a lot of characters and subplots are usually a hit or miss for me but this one was definitely a hit.

We saw several women in different situations, we had several subplots but they were all interesting and the FL never took a backseat like I have seen in some other dramas. She was always present even when the episode was about the story of another character.

The cast and acting were great and so was the whole production in general but the highlight was definitely the character writing and the way the story was told. I cried like a baby while watching the last episode.

I watched it back when it aired and came across it again today after finishing Against The Current and I definitely remember feeling the same way about the male lead.

Might rewatch it soon since I feel back then I was unable to see the true value of this drama. It was good enough for me to remember it to this day but I also remember disliking the ML for a big chunk of the drama and thinking the plot was a bit too slow for my taste. Let me just finish crying after finishing Against The Current first. ^^'

I never said it had anything to do with age. You took the time to go check the rating I gave to a drama I watched months ago, I did not even remember which drama you were talking about before I checked it...but did not take the time to read my replies to previous comments. I mentioned the age making a comparison between what I like now at 32 compared to what I would have liked at 15.

And what do you mean I barely give any series above 8? I have given A LOT of dramas a rating above 8 and anything I give a rating above 7 is something I would consider rewatching. For me a 10 means a drama is perfect and it is almost impossible to find a drama that has no flaws so the highest ratings I give are usually 9 or 9.5 instead of 10.

Filling for Love was not great, which is why I gave it an 8 instead of a higher rating, but for me it was not average either. It had enough elements that were different from your average drama and the actors did a great a job. I have been having a hard time finding kdramas I enjoy lately and that one I found a bit better than some of the ones I had watched previously so I was more generous with my rating.

Everyone has different rating systems. You do not have to agree with my rating system the same way I do not agree with the rating system of people who give a drama a 10 after watching one episode because it has their favourite actor in it.

Everyone needs to look inside theirselves once in a while...you too. Ask yourself why my comment bothered you so much that you had to go investigate what dramas I have watched in the past and how much I have rated them just so you could attack my "weird taste".

I miss how MDL was when I first joined. People could have discussions and disagree without attacking each other. Ratings were also a lot more reliable. There were no people giving 10s before watching a drama or for superficial reasons or people going on hate campaigns to bring down the rating of dramas that have a specific actor they hate.

Do not bother replying. Just go watch your next drama. I have already spent way too much time replying to comments on this drama and have already said everything I needed to say. Let's not waste each others time when we could be doing something more productive.

He was not a toxic person in general, I meant toxic as a boyfriend...or whatever he was before they officially started dating. I just did not like his attitude, he is very similar to his father and down the road I could imagine him being harsh to the FL like his father was to his mother, hopefully not since he had some character growth. To be fair, I also did not like the FL's attitude at times. I guess you enjoyed their character growth while I focused too much on their flaws.

Fair enough. I am usually more picky, I rate my favourite dramas 9 or 9.5, I might have given a 10 to only a few of the thousands I have watched.

But yeah, I could see myself dissecting and rewatching this like you said, but that would be years ago, back when I had just started watching dramas, or maybe if I was on a different mood. I have moments I am more into specific themes and if I watch a drama that does not fit the current mood I might not value it as much.

My sister liked this one and we usually have a similar taste so I was surpised I did not like it as much BUT at the same time I was watching some pretty good historical dramas so this one kind of paled in comparison. I did like some things they showed, I cried with the death of a particular character and liked some subplots. My main issues were with the business stuff that I found boring compared to some other business dramas I have watched...and the main leads relationship...I kinda felt conflicted about them being together, in the real world if I had a friend in a relationship like that I would not want them to stay together.

I completely agree with what you said. My opinion is not the threshold of a good drama, everyone is free to like what they want. And people are always changing what they like too.

Some dramas I watched 10 years ago and loved I would not watch again and others I dropped after a few episodes just to give them a second chance years later and found them to be pretty good.

If you or anyone else really enjoyed the drama and want to give it a 10 go for it, you guys were not the people I was ranting about. It is the people who give 10 solely because there are a lot of steamy scenes. Or the people who did not even start watching and already give a drama 10 because it has an actor they like in the cast. Those kinds of superficial ratings are the ones that make MDL ratings less reliable.

"somehow because you started watching dramas in 2010, u imply that makes you more discerning in ur assessment of a good drama because (and I quote) 'people who recently started watching dramas WILL be more forgiving'"

This part I am not implying, that is exactly what I meant. What is wrong with what I said? Does it not make sense?

Do you think an experienced chef will go crazy about some cooked pasta with tuna compared to someone who cooked for their first time and it turned out edible? If it is your first time cooking of course you will be happy you were able to make your first meal but for a chef who has been cooking for decades - it is just pasta with tuna, nothing special about it.

If I have been watching dramas for longer, have watched thousands of dramas in over 15 years, of course I will be a lot more picky compared to someone who just started. If someone just started watching dramas then everything is new to them. What I consider a cliché they might consider something new and refreshing. So obviously they will be more forgiving with the ratings and opinions.

About your second point, not everything said has to be explicit but the danger about interpretation of what is not explicitily said is that it creates misunderstandings, specially so in writing since you cannot hear me say the words and hear the tone I am using.

I am sorry if my comment came across as agressive to anyone who liked the drama but that was never my intention. Like I said, my sister liked it.

A lot of people gave it a good rating for the "right reasons" but I have been around MDL long enough to know that a lot of people also gave it 10s because the drama was very generous when it came to intimacy compared to most dramas. That was all that I was saying. That a lot of people rated the drama higher than they would if there were no steamy scenes and I stand for that part since I have seen it happen countless times with other dramas.

I personally rate a drama based on the acting, the plot, the production value, how much I enjoyed it, and so on, so I do tend to be a bit judgy when I notice people are giving dramas higher ratings because it has a popular actor, steamy scenes or just because it is a kdrama (which is not the case here). This makes it a lot harder to separate good dramas from average ones which makes everyone's lives harder when we are looking for something new to watch.

This is what I expect to see on MDL. You shared your opinion and defended your view without attacking my view unlike what some other people did.

I agree with what you said, humans have weaknesses and do not have it all figured out.

I am ok with grey characters or characters that are flawed but some of the characters actions were a bit too much for me...I started not shipping the leads together.

Also, if the plot had something more to offer I would not be so focused on the main leads complicated relationship and might have been more forgiving but for me the plot was not interesting enough. I did not hate the drama, I just did not like it as much as most people seem to have liked it.

As long as people are aware this is a drama and that not everything the leads did or said is normal in a healthy relationship.

It really irritates me when people read one of my comments and make it out to be something IT IS NOT. Seems like people on the internet these days have a real hard time with reading comprehension.

I will paste below the exact same paragraph I left on my first comment but I will use CAPS on the parts you missed.

"If I WATCHED this back when I WAS 15 I MIGHT have been going around saying something like "this was one of the best Chinese dramas of the year"...but, being 32 now, I FOUND the writing weak, their relationship a bit too toxic FOR MY TASTE and the business stuff boring."

You said "speak for yourself and yourself only"...that was exactly what I was doing.

Also, I forgot to mention something. People who recently started watching dramas will also be more forgiving, I started watching dramas in 2010 so I cannot give a high rating to a drama with leads that have a toxic relationship and a plot I PERSONALLY found boring.

In previous replies I have already explained why I believe the current rating is this high in part because of the steamy scenes and not because the drama is actually great so I will not repeat myself.

Everyone is free to share their opinion here, which is what I was doing. But when replying to a comment make sure you understand what the person said before getting all defensive. I was talking about MYSELF and comparing how I felt about the drama now compared to how I would have felt about it when I was younger. Back then I thought toxic relationships were normal and ok...now I don't.

P.S. - I realise mentioning my YOUNGER sister might have been misleading but I clarified that my sister is going to be 30 next year to the person who first replied to my comment. My sister liked the drama, I did not...we did not argue about it and I do not think she acts like a teenager because she liked this drama, same as I never said anyone who likes this drama is younger or immature.

Yeah, that was more or less what I was trying to say but somehow it became "anyone who likes this drama is a teenager or acts like one" ^^'.
I have been watching dramas since 2010, this kind of drama cannot get a high rating from me with chemistry and steamy scenes alone. I need good writing, an interesting and refreshing plot, a healthy mains relationship...not this toxic mess we got.

More than the steamy scenes...their relationship was toxic. Maybe you relate because you have been or know someone who has been in a complicated relationship like this. I get it, it might be relatable to some people. It is not for me.

In real life someone like the ML is a total red flag...the FL is not really a green flag either but I will not go deep into that.

Like you said, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am not saying only teenagers would like this, never said that, I said I MIGHT HAVE LIKED THIS WHEN I WAS TEENAGER which is not the same as saying anyone who likes this is a teenager or is like one.

Everyone is free to like whatever they want.

My point is that from what I have seen in recent years on MDL, a drama having steamy scenes WILL increase the overall rating of a drama, same thing with having a popular actor in the main cast, kdramas also have higher average ratings compared to other countries, these are things I have noticed after many years on MDL and almost 2 decades of watching dramas.

Of course that does not mean everyone who gave it a high rating did it for the steamy scenes and I am not saying that is your case, I am just saying that I am pretty sure A LOT of people did give it a higher rating BECAUSE of the steamy scenes.

I am glad you enjoyed the drama more than I did. I by no means meant to offend or discredit anyone who liked this drama. I was just sharing my view on the high average rating.

True. Maybe some parts and characters were relatable to people who watched. I did think the leads had chemistly and I liked some things about the drama, I just do not think it deserves such a high rating but like you said, MDL is full of dramas with really high ratings that are not that great, I have also come across some dramas with ratings like 7.5 that deserved at least a 9 in my opinion.

With that said, although I agree with you that not everyone gave it a high rating for the steamy scenes and that some people might have really enjoyed it, I have noticed a trend in the past few years - popular actors (specially idols) in the main cast, steamy scenes, being a kdrama - these are enough to increase the average rating quite a bit no matter if the plot, acting, editing and overall production is that good.

So yeah, you are in part right but I still think I am not completely wrong in what I said either. If the steamy scenes were not there, I am sure the rating would be closer to 8 rather than the current 8.6

I never said it was about the age. I said "If I watched this back when I was 15" so I was talking about myself not anyone else. My sister is only 3 years younger (will turn 30 next year) and liked it.

I just do not have the same view about relationships I had when I was a teenager, which is expected. The me right now found the leads relationship a bit toxic, at points I even felt it would be better for them to go separate ways and I rarely think that when I watch a drama with romance. The plot itself was also a bit boring for me.

If you read a few more comments you will notice I was not the only one who did not enjoy this drama as much as everyone else.

I did not mean to discredit other people's views but I know from experience that ratings on MDL are not trustworthy.

People will give 10s to dramas that are not that great because of an actor they like and give 1s to dramas that are really good because of an actor they hate. The amount of skinship also influences the average rating A LOT, which I believe is part of the reason this drama has such a high rating. You can kinda tell from the difference in average ratings between the people who finished the drama and who dropped it.

A good drama even when someone drops it will have an average rating of over 6, but this one is 4.91 while the finished rating is 8.74 and the verified 8.1. If the leads did not have so many steamy scenes and only a few kisses I am pretty sure the rating would be 7.9 - 8.1 max.

My younger sister liked this one but I finished it after having it on hold for weeks. I believe the only reason this has such a high rating is because the leads have a lot of steamy scenes.

If I watched this back when I was 15 I might have been going around saying something like "this was one of the best Chinese dramas of the year"...but, being 32 now, I found the writing weak, their relationship a bit too toxic for my taste and the business stuff boring.

It was not all bad, but definitely nowhere as good as the average rating makes it seem. I have watched dramas this year that are way better and have a lower average rating.

That or the writers went on vacation and the interns were tasked with finishing the story.

I liked that ending better.

For me, this drama is 24 episodes long. Episodes 25-30 are not worth re-watching if you do want to re-watch this in the future.

Yup. That was one of the things that bothered me the most with the way they wrapped up the drama. A more fitting ending for her would be staying home alone for years and then him falling in love with some woman from the military or something and bringing her home and she having to live a life like her mother...being the WIFE but having to watch the husband being in love with someone else.

I think the writers forgot what a piece of work she was the entire drama and how disgusting it was the way she forced the man she "loved" to become her husband.

Yup. In the comment I left I mentioned that. For me it was good up until episode 25 then it went downhill. Those last 6 episodes felt rushed and did not meet my expectations. Episode 24 was a pretty good one too, what a shame.

Episode 24 was the last episode I really liked and it was pretty good one, but starting in episode 25 everything went downhill. Maybe I had high expectations, maybe I wanted to see some of their married life.

They killed characters I felt did not really need to die.

They sold us a future happy ending for the Marquis and the spoiled brat (I'm sorry but he deserved a much better wife, yeah, he had faults but Qing Ru just does not deserve to have a happy marriage, it is almost saying that it is worth doing a bride switch and forcing the man you "love" to marry you because eventually he will fall in love with you)...yeah, if you cannot tell I was specially angry at how they handled this part of the story.

Some of the reveals and big secrets coming out at that point felt a bit forced and not really beliavable. If it was so easy to get rid of people and blaming someone else, it did not make sense that neither the FL's father who "loved" her mother and the Grandma who knew she was her biological daughter did so little to protect her. Idk, it just felt like the drama had to be wrapped up so they had to rush and decide how they would explain the characters actions. I felt the actions of some characters at times did not match their personality.

Anyway, it was not a bad drama, I quite liked it up until near the end. Those last 6 episodes just did not meet my expectations.