Good prediction, beautiful cinematography, great costumes. Like the main leads and many of the supporting characters - but that ending was just crap (in that it was so unnecessary) I found both their actions to be a bit selfish in the end (especially given they have a daughter) - I find the whole noble sacrifice thing stupid - hers out of guilt and his out of grief. SO, yeah, that ending was a just a big 'ole NO for me. I will give a lower rating because of it.
These days children barely tries to understand their parents and their upbringing. They just want instant freedom…
as well as showing parents who can let their children be independent from them and have their own lives - it should be an either or, both needs to happen
I think the biggest problem for this drama is the it was labeled as a romance drama, when it really isn't - that is such a secondary, even an afterthought really, part of this drama. The main characters are really the FL and her mom (who truly has to be one of the most horribly annoying moms in cdrama land). So, I think that if you know that going it it might help - might not, but, maybe Unfortunately, this was sold a romance drama with XK and YZ - which is probably why most people went to go watch it and then you got slammed with this mom character who took up waaaayyyy to much screen time. Add in that really the whole first 1/3rd of the show (or more) is about her extracting herself from the boyfriend and his family - this just went on way too long. We dont even get to them getting together until well into the second half and there isn't even any flirting or real buildup and then bam - kissing on the bus and then nothing after that - so that part was weird. I did like that once they did get together - good communication and support of each other. If you enjoy watching self-absorbed, self-centered moms who are overly invested in the kids lives in REALLY unhealthy ways - you might enjoy this. She was stubborn beyond compare, didnt care how her kids felt about anything - everything was about her disguised as caring for her family. She just made want to punch the screen all the time and pretty much fast-forwarded through most of her screen time after a while. The enabling by her family (especially the husband) to behave this way cause no one liked to deal with her outbursts (so, she has basically holding them all emotionally hostage) - was annoying as well Most of this drama is about the kids trying to break free. It literally takes mom getting a death scare before she will learn - but, even all that she turned into an unnecessary drama. Now, I get, she was an luneducation, poor woman and so much of her behavior was about her guilt and Shane around that - but that ultimately does not excuse her behavior towards her family. Some of this was also about exploring the generational gap And this wasn't the only awful family - the original boyfriend's family was awful, mom Zhang (President Zhang), his parents - just a lot of awful parenting all around. Biggest highlight was Grandma - love this actress and she was just delightful here. This could have been an interesting life/romance drama - but it was just a bad script and when you make one of your main characters so unlikeable and unredeemable that you actually hopes she dies at the end just to give the family some relief - you have probably failed on the script. This had some potential and you had two really good leads that were just waisted.
overall this is a pretty good one Great story about strong women during an era when women were not supposed to be - the journey and growth of the Hua women was fun to watch. FL that is steady, strong, smart and mature, no baby voice or any of that silliness. She has her crisis at the beginning and with help of the ML makes her decision and never wavers (mostly - has one moment but it doesn't last long). She was not someone to be taken lightly and I liked that she was just this steady rock throughout. Good romance - mostly because they communicated well, were supportive of each other and respected each others lives and choices. You aren't going to get real sizzler here - but it s very heartwarming romance. You are gonna HATE, HATE, HATE the emperor (as you are supposed to) - this was a well done villain because he was a bit complex in that he clearly adored his nephew (so we kind of liked him for that part) - but he was just a vapid, paronoid narcissist who ultimately was the biggest emotional manipulator and tormentor and really should have died a lot sooner than he did. My biggest let down here is that the ML was loyal to him to the end and that he wasn't able to break away on his own It gets a bit draggy in the middle - as in common in cdramas - but it is worth a watch
Just finished this up and it had some potential - but, ultimately did not work for me at all. I struggled out of the gate with the whole setup to start with - actress sisters runs off and they basically kidnap her twin sister to take her place - she was literally at a dig site with other students and it was like no one seems notice she disappeared (they explain it differently later in the drama which is problematic in if itself - like they think we forgot by then). But, I went with it - but it just didnt get any better. I mean, I get it, its a rom-com and not supposed to be real - but it at least has to have a certain level of plausibility - and it just kept filing on this front. So - PHD sisters takes over actress sisters life and she cant even for a hot minute act like the actress sister - so now her personality has done a complete 180 and everyone just acts like its normal. She then goes on to completely change the actresses persona - I just kept thinking, what happens when the sister comes back? Is she now gonna have to act like this new persona? How is that gonna work. It was also amazing how the PHD student becomes an expert in PR (cause she took picture of her friends in college), can act perfectly with very little training and seems to know the biz like the back of her hand - the writers really must have thought we were all just stupid. While I did appreciate the PHD sister had a good, tough, take no shit personality - she also was soooo exhausting in how she got mad every five minutes, was hot and cold all the time and often just made no sense in her actions. Besides being pretty and that they had a contract - not sure why the ML stuck it out after a while. To then wrap it up with the whole - I am going to run away/disappear to save you idiocy - of course, does this immediately after saying she will marry him, etc... By far - the worst character of the drama is the little sister. I pretty much fast-forwarded through most her scenes. She was just this childish girl with the stupid huge bow in her hair that everyone has spoiled (cause they just really dont know what to do with her). She cried and pouted and whined and worst of all stalked Secretary Gao. And this is what ultimately killed it for me. The romanticizing of stalking as if it's just her being persistent cause she 'loves' him and then to reward it all by actually having him fall for her and get married - NO!NO!NO!
I started out REALLY liking this - a show that had an embalmer and a woman with a physical disability in a romantic relationship - two VERY taboo topics in asian culture - so I was very excited by this and it started off great. But by the time I finished, I so did not want this couple together - mostly because the FL was so toxic in too many places (accusing him of forcing her, the whole engagement/leaving debacle, etc...) I also couldn't stand that she had to mention she was disabled every 5 seconds - yes, I know, WE KNOW, you don't have to keep bringing it up. She also ended up being just a big talker - liked to pontificate on being a 'modern' girl (code for being feminist)- while not really understanding or grasping the true meaning of it. She had piss-poor communication skills and it was pretty evident that she could have used a really good mental health therapist. But what got me was she used all of that to just justify doing what she wanted without having any guilt or consequences (in her mind) and it was all about her. Annoyed with ML character because he just kept eating it and coming back for more. There were two episodes in particular (first time they tried to be intimate and she freaks and accuses him of forcing her and the whole leaving for Shanghai and manipulating him into an engagement) - just crossed the line for me. I would have dropped her after the first episode, but for sure after the last one - she just went right in for the kill hitting his most vulnerable spot and then even says at the end "I don't think I did anything wrong, why do I feel guilty?" - what the actual f*ck girl - are you serious!! And while he wasn't that great at communicating either - he didn't intentionally or even unintentionally play games - which she did ALL OVER the place. Besides the horrible relationship - what this drama did beautifully was the story-telling around death and dying - these pieces truly were masterful
so did not get this at all - it made no sense. How/why did he live this long? It never gets explained. Why does she think in her idea to court him that the first thing she should is say she is engaged??? WTH logic is that - it was stupid and weird as the set up. Still didn't find her all that likable in this - slightly better than in original, but not by much I get this was just done as a fan service - but it made NO Sense in connection to the original - they would have been better off just doing something else.
Just finished this and have to say - one of my least favorite FL characters out there - she was just awful! I could write. full-on rant, but roylyn's review above pretty much says everything I was thinking - so, no need to repeat it all. But, man, never wanted to main couple to NOT stay together as much as these two - she was just toxic for him. Really, the only thing that kept me going was I was enjoying the ML actor - hadn't seen him in anything before and he was wonderful - looking forward to his comeback
On EP10 and my god this FL is annoying - she hasn’t uttered a truthful word yet to the ML (and she wonders why he doesnt trust her), completely self-absorbed in her own bubble - as if she is the only one with problems (literally has a convo with her maid who expresses that she too is sad and FL is like WHAT!?!? You are sad too - what do you have to be sad about?), causing all sort of problems that she has to be bailed out of - can’t understand why she thinks her emperor dad is going to help, girl he married you off when you were in a coma ffs. Her antics at this point aren’t cute or funny - just makes her look like a brat. Constantly sticking her nose in where it doesn’t blend, no sense of boundaries - she has a GRAND sense of entitlement. And what bothered me the most was her constant threat to hurt herself to try and get people to do what she wanted. Really annoyed with her ‘brother’ - he is getting kind of creepy now with his obsession with her
Update: On Ep 27 and my lord, there is nothing i hate more than stupid FL’s - and this one is pretty dumb and the horrible trope of always listening/trusting the wrong people (mostly because she doesnt trust herself and she isn’t that bright). Add in the martyr complex of everyone else is more important than me (boohoohoo) And, just f*ck off to the maid who did her job poorly, knew everything and didn’t say a word (and then, of course comes clean at the worst possible moment - that’s on the writers) And this emperor is just a pig Update: Ep 31 - the absolute lack of how female reproduction is astounding - claims of sex and pregnancy overnight! I mean, i know it was all fake - but its not even close to believable And, still have to say - her brother is still super-creepy
Auntie is THE best
Update: finished I think I just may be too old to watch these kinds of romance dramas with this kind of FL. The ‘princess’ who has ‘been weak since birth’, who needs to be saved every five minutes; is not that bright (played off as naive and too trusting); super-childish (thank god no baby voice here - so there is that), the martyr character (my life/feelings are not as important as everyone else’s - so let me die - really is a selfish viewpoint because it says i dont care about how much that will hurt those i leave behind, just caring about how they can save everyone) or the idea that love means sel-sacrificing - same difference - its just wrong; ridiculously stubborn; never listens to anyone - just does whatever she wants (somehow this is always portrayed as a good thing - like they are just persistent) - I just cannot understand the attraction beyond being ‘cute’ - cause there just isn’t much there beyond that. I want my FL’s to be strong and fierce and not need to be saved every five seconds Big plus - the ML in that black outfit really is quite a lovely sight. HE is a little confusing - can tell if its real or not, just because the way it’s edited - different outfits that change suddenly at cliff, sudden time jump without warning and a bunch of other strange happenings in last episode +
I watched this in MyAsianTV and that may have ruined a bunch of it as the subtitling was just crap - besides being widely inaccurate - there was also the issue of anytime there was song lyrics the subtitling for the songs overrode the dialogue subtitling. These shorts are hard because the editing gets messy and this one actually had ALOT of story and not enough time to tell it (like, their backstory, would have been nice to see more. As well as more info on their respective palace stories). Then some weird jumps and edits at the end that didnt make sense.
Hot mess, super-low budget/production, has lots of funny moments (thanks to Zhou Lu Si) - season 1 is better than season 2. super-rushed ending (season 2 ending) that will leave you a bit unsatisfied. BUUUUT - episodes are short and quick - so if you need a filler binge while waiting on other stuff - its kind of fun
Hot mess, super-low budget/production, has lots of funny moments (thanks to Zhou Lu Si) - season 1 is better than season 2. super-rushed ending (season 2 ending) that will leave you a bit unsatisfied. BUUUUT - episodes are short and quick - so if you need a filler binge while waiting on other stuff - its kind of fun
On ep 14 and am really struggling to continue - sooooooo boring right now and the FL is kind of ruining it for me - so childish and she is kind of dumb (like airhead, blond dumb) I see by comments it may get better around ep 22 - but that is quite the long wait - may have to drop for a bit and come come back.
Update: decided to stick with it - just cause I cant seem to drop stuff that I started. On ep 35 now and so far, seems like most of the drama in this drama is caused by the FL doing stupid shit and the ML keeps having to come save her dumb ass. She spends most of time running around with the sad doe eyes and acting like a dumb blonde - not really getting why all these guys keep falling in-love with her
Gonna save you all a bunch of time and just move along. The ONLY saving grace of this drama is the super-steamy kissing scenes (of which there are numerous) - beyond that, its just a hot mess I am tired of the childish FL’s that they try to play off as ‘spunky’, but just comes across as angsty teenager with attitude (ffs writers, she is a 27 yr old woman - write her as such) and the super-toxic corporate family. HATED that they did the redemption arc at the end and absolutely NO consequences to anyone’s horrible actions
I found both their actions to be a bit selfish in the end (especially given they have a daughter) - I find the whole noble sacrifice thing stupid - hers out of guilt and his out of grief. SO, yeah, that ending was a just a big 'ole NO for me. I will give a lower rating because of it.
Unfortunately, this was sold a romance drama with XK and YZ - which is probably why most people went to go watch it and then you got slammed with this mom character who took up waaaayyyy to much screen time. Add in that really the whole first 1/3rd of the show (or more) is about her extracting herself from the boyfriend and his family - this just went on way too long. We dont even get to them getting together until well into the second half and there isn't even any flirting or real buildup and then bam - kissing on the bus and then nothing after that - so that part was weird.
I did like that once they did get together - good communication and support of each other.
If you enjoy watching self-absorbed, self-centered moms who are overly invested in the kids lives in REALLY unhealthy ways - you might enjoy this. She was stubborn beyond compare, didnt care how her kids felt about anything - everything was about her disguised as caring for her family. She just made want to punch the screen all the time and pretty much fast-forwarded through most of her screen time after a while.
The enabling by her family (especially the husband) to behave this way cause no one liked to deal with her outbursts (so, she has basically holding them all emotionally hostage) - was annoying as well
Most of this drama is about the kids trying to break free. It literally takes mom getting a death scare before she will learn - but, even all that she turned into an unnecessary drama.
Now, I get, she was an luneducation, poor woman and so much of her behavior was about her guilt and Shane around that - but that ultimately does not excuse her behavior towards her family.
Some of this was also about exploring the generational gap
And this wasn't the only awful family - the original boyfriend's family was awful, mom Zhang (President Zhang), his parents - just a lot of awful parenting all around.
Biggest highlight was Grandma - love this actress and she was just delightful here.
This could have been an interesting life/romance drama - but it was just a bad script and when you make one of your main characters so unlikeable and unredeemable that you actually hopes she dies at the end just to give the family some relief - you have probably failed on the script. This had some potential and you had two really good leads that were just waisted.
Great story about strong women during an era when women were not supposed to be - the journey and growth of the Hua women was fun to watch.
FL that is steady, strong, smart and mature, no baby voice or any of that silliness. She has her crisis at the beginning and with help of the ML makes her decision and never wavers (mostly - has one moment but it doesn't last long). She was not someone to be taken lightly and I liked that she was just this steady rock throughout.
Good romance - mostly because they communicated well, were supportive of each other and respected each others lives and choices. You aren't going to get real sizzler here - but it s very heartwarming romance.
You are gonna HATE, HATE, HATE the emperor (as you are supposed to) - this was a well done villain because he was a bit complex in that he clearly adored his nephew (so we kind of liked him for that part) - but he was just a vapid, paronoid narcissist who ultimately was the biggest emotional manipulator and tormentor and really should have died a lot sooner than he did. My biggest let down here is that the ML was loyal to him to the end and that he wasn't able to break away on his own
It gets a bit draggy in the middle - as in common in cdramas - but it is worth a watch
I struggled out of the gate with the whole setup to start with - actress sisters runs off and they basically kidnap her twin sister to take her place - she was literally at a dig site with other students and it was like no one seems notice she disappeared (they explain it differently later in the drama which is problematic in if itself - like they think we forgot by then). But, I went with it - but it just didnt get any better. I mean, I get it, its a rom-com and not supposed to be real - but it at least has to have a certain level of plausibility - and it just kept filing on this front.
So - PHD sisters takes over actress sisters life and she cant even for a hot minute act like the actress sister - so now her personality has done a complete 180 and everyone just acts like its normal. She then goes on to completely change the actresses persona - I just kept thinking, what happens when the sister comes back? Is she now gonna have to act like this new persona? How is that gonna work.
It was also amazing how the PHD student becomes an expert in PR (cause she took picture of her friends in college), can act perfectly with very little training and seems to know the biz like the back of her hand - the writers really must have thought we were all just stupid.
While I did appreciate the PHD sister had a good, tough, take no shit personality - she also was soooo exhausting in how she got mad every five minutes, was hot and cold all the time and often just made no sense in her actions. Besides being pretty and that they had a contract - not sure why the ML stuck it out after a while. To then wrap it up with the whole - I am going to run away/disappear to save you idiocy - of course, does this immediately after saying she will marry him, etc...
By far - the worst character of the drama is the little sister. I pretty much fast-forwarded through most her scenes. She was just this childish girl with the stupid huge bow in her hair that everyone has spoiled (cause they just really dont know what to do with her). She cried and pouted and whined and worst of all stalked Secretary Gao. And this is what ultimately killed it for me. The romanticizing of stalking as if it's just her being persistent cause she 'loves' him and then to reward it all by actually having him fall for her and get married - NO!NO!NO!
I also couldn't stand that she had to mention she was disabled every 5 seconds - yes, I know, WE KNOW, you don't have to keep bringing it up. She also ended up being just a big talker - liked to pontificate on being a 'modern' girl (code for being feminist)- while not really understanding or grasping the true meaning of it. She had piss-poor communication skills and it was pretty evident that she could have used a really good mental health therapist. But what got me was she used all of that to just justify doing what she wanted without having any guilt or consequences (in her mind) and it was all about her.
Annoyed with ML character because he just kept eating it and coming back for more. There were two episodes in particular (first time they tried to be intimate and she freaks and accuses him of forcing her and the whole leaving for Shanghai and manipulating him into an engagement) - just crossed the line for me. I would have dropped her after the first episode, but for sure after the last one - she just went right in for the kill hitting his most vulnerable spot and then even says at the end "I don't think I did anything wrong, why do I feel guilty?" - what the actual f*ck girl - are you serious!!
And while he wasn't that great at communicating either - he didn't intentionally or even unintentionally play games - which she did ALL OVER the place.
Besides the horrible relationship - what this drama did beautifully was the story-telling around death and dying - these pieces truly were masterful
How/why did he live this long? It never gets explained.
Why does she think in her idea to court him that the first thing she should is say she is engaged??? WTH logic is that - it was stupid and weird as the set up.
Still didn't find her all that likable in this - slightly better than in original, but not by much
I get this was just done as a fan service - but it made NO Sense in connection to the original - they would have been better off just doing something else.
Really, the only thing that kept me going was I was enjoying the ML actor - hadn't seen him in anything before and he was wonderful - looking forward to his comeback
Really annoyed with her ‘brother’ - he is getting kind of creepy now with his obsession with her
Update: On Ep 27 and my lord, there is nothing i hate more than stupid FL’s - and this one is pretty dumb and the horrible trope of always listening/trusting the wrong people (mostly because she doesnt trust herself and she isn’t that bright). Add in the martyr complex of everyone else is more important than me (boohoohoo)
And, just f*ck off to the maid who did her job poorly, knew everything and didn’t say a word (and then, of course comes clean at the worst possible moment - that’s on the writers)
And this emperor is just a pig
Update: Ep 31 - the absolute lack of how female reproduction is astounding - claims of sex and pregnancy overnight! I mean, i know it was all fake - but its not even close to believable
And, still have to say - her brother is still super-creepy
Auntie is THE best
Update: finished
I think I just may be too old to watch these kinds of romance dramas with this kind of FL. The ‘princess’ who has ‘been weak since birth’, who needs to be saved every five minutes; is not that bright (played off as naive and too trusting); super-childish (thank god no baby voice here - so there is that), the martyr character (my life/feelings are not as important as everyone else’s - so let me die - really is a selfish viewpoint because it says i dont care about how much that will hurt those i leave behind, just caring about how they can save everyone) or the idea that love means sel-sacrificing - same difference - its just wrong; ridiculously stubborn; never listens to anyone - just does whatever she wants (somehow this is always portrayed as a good thing - like they are just persistent) - I just cannot understand the attraction beyond being ‘cute’ - cause there just isn’t much there beyond that. I want my FL’s to be strong and fierce and not need to be saved every five seconds
Big plus - the ML in that black outfit really is quite a lovely sight.
HE is a little confusing - can tell if its real or not, just because the way it’s edited - different outfits that change suddenly at cliff, sudden time jump without warning and a bunch of other strange happenings in last episode +
These shorts are hard because the editing gets messy and this one actually had ALOT of story and not enough time to tell it (like, their backstory, would have been nice to see more. As well as more info on their respective palace stories). Then some weird jumps and edits at the end that didnt make sense.
BUUUUT - episodes are short and quick - so if you need a filler binge while waiting on other stuff - its kind of fun
BUUUUT - episodes are short and quick - so if you need a filler binge while waiting on other stuff - its kind of fun
Update: decided to stick with it - just cause I cant seem to drop stuff that I started. On ep 35 now and so far, seems like most of the drama in this drama is caused by the FL doing stupid shit and the ML keeps having to come save her dumb ass. She spends most of time running around with the sad doe eyes and acting like a dumb blonde - not really getting why all these guys keep falling in-love with her
The ONLY saving grace of this drama is the super-steamy kissing scenes (of which there are numerous) - beyond that, its just a hot mess
I am tired of the childish FL’s that they try to play off as ‘spunky’, but just comes across as angsty teenager with attitude (ffs writers, she is a 27 yr old woman - write her as such) and the super-toxic corporate family.
HATED that they did the redemption arc at the end and absolutely NO consequences to anyone’s horrible actions