When Life Gives You Tangerines is not fully a modern drama. It is a slice of life drama that tells the story transcending generations. Since it’s set in relatively recent history (20th century/1900s), I put it in my list of modern Korean dramas.
Mr. Sunshine is not a traditional sageuk. It’s a fusion or modern sageuk. Since it’s still set in the Joseon era, I put it in this list of my favorite sageuk dramas.
Do they still ban time travel/transmigration plots in C-dramas? I’m nervous about the ending. I’ve heard of the novel’s ending and I love it! Hope the ending for the drama won’t pull a Summit of Our Youth 😭
I’m glad you enjoyed episode 39! Those are just my thoughts watching that episode. And I so agree that they did the first half right, while the latter half went downhill. I guess part of it is the sudden shift towards political tone. I wish they sprinkled some of the politics early on so that the change won’t be so abrupt and it’ll flow better. Also, in some parts of the second half, there would be obvious cuts. So I guess they were trying to cramp up the plot due to max number of episodes.
Even in PoJ, Chang Yu’s action scenes rocked! She delivered that action + Zeng Qing Jie also shot it well. I wonder why they toned down the men’s action scenes.
For me, episode 39 is like the climax yet the whole episode felt underwhelming and absurd. Chang Yu “suing” Wei Yan in court felt reckless in a way that Chang Yu’s evidence was weak to sue a man who spent his life maneuvering the intricacies of politics. Wei Yan wouldn’t have been found guilty if not for the evidence that Xie Zheng accidentally found. That court scene even stopped before it reached its peak with Qi Min suddenly barging the palace to take back the throne. For years of planning and scheming, Qi Min failed miserably and absurdly. Not to mention, he met his end because he just.. fell protecting Qian Qian and not because he’s hurt in battle, or at least a struggle. He didn’t even lift a finger in his own battle. I suppose maybe they want to show his character growth through his and Qian Qian’s arc but it all felt like nonsense. Also, for the last battle scene that have been built up throughout the drama, it felt so underwhelming. In such a big space, the troops felt so little and we didn’t even get to see a legit battle scene. Xie Zheng and Wei Yan’s duel leaned more towards cinematography and visuals rather than action. So basically the whole episode 39. Btw, I’m not a hater. I LOVE everything about this drama despite its flaws but episode 39 was just not it for me.
Is the drama worth watching?Is the FL strong?Is it like ML/FL is not overpowering ML/FL?
1. Worth a try. For me, episodes 1-7 wasn’t able to hook me but I kept going and starting episode 8, I was hooked! 2. Yes, she is. 3. Not really. But starting from episode 8, you really start to see their chemistry. In the earlier episodes, it just didn’t quite click for me.
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2. Yes, she is.
3. Not really. But starting from episode 8, you really start to see their chemistry. In the earlier episodes, it just didn’t quite click for me.