launev

quick and easy to watch - keep expectations low - but not bad for a mini-drama

Just finished this up and my head hurts from how utterly stupid it was - the writers must really think the viewers are complete idiots to have written such a bad script. It had such great potential - but just failed everywhere.
I had a lot of second hand embarrassment for the actors that they had to act this awful script.
1st half was worse than the second - but not by much. While i get they were going for comedy - it wasn’t funny, just stupid. Second half was more the corporate intrigue/murder mystery and it was just so full of HUGE plot holes and things that just didn’t make sense at all.
Leads were ok - but am soooo sick of the stick-thin/anorexic fl’s - when I can see collar bones, shoulder bones, hip bones and knobby knees - it’s just not attractive. She looks so unhealthy. Doesn’t help with Asian obsession of white/white skin - just add to the sickly look.
Also don’t understand the weird “nude’ tights that just look weird
She wasn’t actually all that good at her job - her only skill was the weird “i can make only rich guys, fall in love with me with a look” - I mean seriously, why only rich guys??? Otherwise, she constantly screwed things up with her trying to play ‘savior’
Did appreciate once they did finally get together -the did have a good relationship with good communication and no real third party interference
Loved the scooby-doo teams (for the most part) - could have so done without the crazy idol girl and all her violence.
But the award for best scene stealer goes to SLL - he turns out to just be fabulous

those socks just killed me! it reminded of a small child in their ‘Sunday best’ - they could have completed the look if they had put patent leather mary janes on her 😂

Just finished this up and would say its ok - not great, but not bad either.
One of JT’s better roles recently
I hope after his ‘retirement’ if he decides to come back, he ends up with a good management company that will stop pairing him with actresses that are 15 years younger than him. This one worked a bit better than most - but it’s still disturbing. It would be so refreshing to see him in a drama with a more mature FL

exactly - we just had different experiences and both are valid - its what makes watching these and reading comments so fun - to see how everyone experiences them differneetly

I am not looking for real life here, I come to these for entertainment and a bit of fantasy - so, yes, a bit of sizzle would be nice

Jut finished this up and would say its pretty good - if you like this genre - not great, but good.
Unfortunately, I came to this right after Legend of Shen Li and the difference is quite noticeable. Shen Li is up there with Peach Blossom in its quality, depth, story and seasoned actors - this is not. But definitely worth a watch.
Male leads really do carry the show and will never forgive the writers for A'Jaing's ending - so not necessary.
Lead actress is not one of my favorites, but loved the main ML actor - he was fabulous
No real chemistry between leads - great sense of commraderie - but thats about it.
Did appreciate no 3rd party interference once they do finally get together; no chary/psycho princess or childhood sweetheart (thank you writers for that); no horrible parent (mostly -his dad is great, but not that awful, psycho parent); and once together - stay together and have good communication and partnership - just no real sizzle to them.

Overall, this is a pretty good drama. I really liked how they dealt with mental health (for the most part - will get to that in a minute)
I think the most captivating story line is the of the Jung Jea Hyuk - his mental illness, the role that toxic parents play in their children's lives and the lasting impact and ultimately how he comes to deal with it - it was well done. You start out hating him - but as you learn his story, you just west to give him a hug and are so happy he gets the help and recovers.
While I like the FL - she was also one of the most frustrating characters - she was probably the one who could have used seeing a therapist the most and never does. She is that overthinking, eat/drink my emotions, pretends everything is ok until her world falls apart, cant be honest about her feelings and the only resolve they give to her emotional mess is that 'love' heals her - just, no, no, no.
I am also soooo over the - I am afraid to tell my mom/dad I am dating - I mean I get it on the one hand - this is culture where the parents are waaayyy too involved in their children's lives (especially as adults) and their are not boundaries - which is why their children dont want to tell them things. On the other hand - she is a grown ass woman in her thirties (although just rife with emotional issues)
I liked the ML - had only ever seen him in Black and a more recent sci-fit drama - he is good and I hope he does more rom-coms in the future - you could feel his angst and pain when his mom dies.
The older couple romance was just devine - love both these actors - always a joy to watch.
One of my other least favorite characters was the cousin/friend - was the total enabler because he just wanted everyone to not be upset. Always called when he shouldn't and was just generally not helpful.
That all being said - was worth the watch.

i mean, it wasn’t horrible - I have definitely seen worse - but noticeable and distracting enough - I just had that constant urge to want to fix it - lol!! And, yes, rest of styling was great - i especially liked it when she wore her hair down (most cottage scenes) - she just looked so stunning

thank you for the explanation - that helps!

One of then better xanxia's out there. Definitely worth the watch.
Really, REALLy appreciated having two adults as the main leads as apposed to the idol boys and childish girls - you can really tell the difference in the depth of character and acting.
Their banter and chemistry was off the charts
And, a huge kudos to the writers on the perfect timing of the comedic relief points - they were so well done - just perfectly sprinkled in to make you giggle or out right snort with laughter.
The only negatives for me were that I didnt quite understand all the time spent in the last episode on Ms Jin and her wedding, some distracting makeup choices on FL, Demon Lord and ML (like, I seriously wanted to constant grab a makeup sponge and fix her lipstick and under-eye makeup on FL, the weird green dot eyeshadow on the demon lord and the heavy, heavy, oily makeup on ML that I constantly wanted to wipe his face) - but these were all pretty minor overall.

it makes sense at the beginning whey they first meet and get together - but she never moves away from that look and so I never felt she looked at him as a lover or even as an adult.
The cooking and the VA industry stuff and the travelog - were interesting - to a point - it just go so repetitive.

How was what I said age-shaming? Saying that I didn't think a 37yrd old woman could pull of playing an 18yrd old is not age-shaming?

I wanted to really like this as I enjoy both the main leads - but, in the end, its just did not work for me - on so many fronts.
But, lets start with the good - the show performance were the best and I wish the had done more of these
Now - what is wrong of rme:
Primarily, the main relationship, I had so many issues with this. Starting with the very idea that a man who is a cardiac surgeon, a famous voice actor and gourmet chef (they seriously made him too perfect) - would be interested in a college student - I just found a bit creepy. Besides the singing/music - she was kind of bland.
It didnt help that they completely infantilized her character (and this is completely on the writers and directors - NOT the actress) - dressed her like a small child (dear lord - those white socks all the time just made me want to scream), had her behave like she was a teenager and she was just never really comfortable around him (I put some of this on the actress herself as its clear she is still not comfortable in these roles).
A good example of the actress not fitting this role was how she always stared at him like a fangirl instead of someone who is in love - the actress herself is young and couldn't pull off the difference - which then made it weird, cause it just always made it feel like the teenage fangirl who has this crush on her idol, instead of an adult relationship.
Then there was the whole 'she's just shy' narrative - , but that only works for so long and after a certain amount of time -this just doesn't fly.
Then there was the weird moments in the kitchen (of which there were way too many) - where she stood there awkwardly and just watched him while standing way too close - it was bizarre.
I also get that is just a weird asian obsession to have submissive women - but this was a bit much. It honestly bothered me how much he behaved more like a parent, than an equal partner (telling her how to dress, gently steering her into things and the final kicker was the photo shoot at the end where he picks everything out and arranges without telling her).
And, that right there was my biggest issue -they were NOT equal partners in any-way-shape-or form, there was a HUGE maturity gap between them and it just was awkward, cringey and a bit uncomfortable in places.
As for the rest of the drama - I suppose, if you like slice of life dramas - you might like this - but, man, this one is draggy and, honestly, kind of boring. I could only take so many group eating/cooking scenes - it was just this on rinse and repeat.

Not much of a rom or a com.
You dont really get any of the rom until the last 5 episodes and i dont find any of the trope antics comedic at all (of which there were way too many and just not done very well).
I know most people thought the ML was rude in the beginning - but he just wasn’t into her and she kept being weird trying to pull of the ‘frail princess’ act - I would have kicked her to the curb as well.
Another FL that I didn’t get why everyone likes her - she is kind of toxic and exhausting in that she gets mad every 5 seconds, jumps to wrong conclusions and doesnt listen.
Annoyed me when they finally do get together and he is constantly apologizing for stuff that wasn’t even his fault just cause she got mad.
If you are into gaming - you might like this as the majority of the story is about developing this game.
They squeeze in some rom and corporate intrigue at the end
And, for the love of god - can we stop with the ‘let’s date, but not tell anyone, except we aren’t very discreet and everyone figures it out pretty quickly’ trope - its just stupid in this day and age

I always have a hard time with a drama that tries to gaslight me into believing one of its main characters a a bad person when they haven’t actually done anything wrong. We are supposed to be mad at the ML for breaking up with the FL - but it just doesnt work given that she has lied about who she is from the beginning. This is our setup.
And this just wanted some small white lie - it was a whopper. She then claims to have ‘tried’ to tell him multiple times and he just wouldn’t listen. Meanwhile he really finds out at the 11th hour and from someone else in a pretty awful way. He tells her to get lost, has a medical crisis and they part ways. She finds out after they break up she is pregnant and doesnt let him know. Which, under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have a problem with - but the child is born with a heart condition he inherited from his dad. FF 4rs later - they happens to meet again and she still doesn’t let him know. Now, he is still pissed about the big lie and then later discovers he has a son - soooo, now two pretty big lies - yet, somehow, he gets portrayed as the bad guy because he was ‘mean to her’
FL turns out to be another, horribly insecure woman and they dont really give anough background to really understand her trust and insecurity issues - and she get a bit unreasonable about it all - but, if I had been given some understanding of why she was this way - it may have helped - maybe.

If an historical mystery/thriller is your thing - this one is pretty good. Good production quality and the story stays on track and has a good pace. Definitely worth a watch.
While I loves me some Wang Yibo - really felt Huang Xuan really carried this.
As for our two main female characters -not so much.
I had trouble with both the Siyue and Liu Ran characters.
While i loved how kickass Siyue could be - turns out she wasn’t really all that good at her job - it really was the boys who mostly figured everything out and she just kind of showed up. She was supposed to have grown up in the guards unit - but she was kind of clueless most of the time.
And they just do her WRONG at the end - so not ok.
But, the worst of it was the Liu Ran characters - dear lord - I don’t know who thought this was a good idea - but if I heard her screech out ‘Erlang” one more time - i was gonna break something. It does temper out towards the end - but it was such a distraction to the story and show. I just hated that they made her so clingy and childish - it was just such a drag on things whenever she was in the scene.
And, what was probably the most completely useless character - Liu Ran’s brother. Complete plot ploy. He shows up halfway through, no backstory - he’s just kind of there and then his weird obsession with the childhood friend - just this weird side-story thst isn’t really connected to anything beyond to serve as a plot point for the last episode.

Just finished that I honestly cant give it that high of a rating - good it short and if you enjoy the domineering CEO, contact marriage, poor girl who makes it story - then give it a go.
BUT, if you have an issue with poorly written FL characters - this one might just annoy you too much. This is not on the actress at all - but purely a writers/directors issue (as is all to often the case in these dramas)
They made her clumsy (seriously, how many times did she trip and fall - it got ridiculous), while clearly creative - not very bright, horribly insecure, completely clueless about stuff around her (myopic vision to the point of annoyance), horrible fashion sense - compounded by the fact that the character is a fashion designer - she spent way too much time in poorly fitting jeans and t-shirts and big bows in her hair (seriously, is she 12!), overly stubborn, jumps to wrong conclusions, gets mad easily, doesn't want anyone's help (this whole narrative just drives me bonkers in general - this idea that getting/asking/receiving help in anyway is somehow a bad thing). She had a very low EQ, couldn't be honest about her own feelings until pushed past the wall and REALLy hated that you had this already stick-skinny woman and they had her constantly talk about being fat and crash dieting (to the point of becoming physically ill). And, finally, start her out as 'tough' to just devolve her into this childish, damsel in distress character at the end
On the ML side - the cold CEO - what killed this for me was how verbally abusive he was - if her called her stupid one more time - I thought I might throw my screen against the wall. He was manipulative and controlling to a level that was not ok and to somehow try and romanticize this is just not cool.
This drama clearly had a low clothing budget - while I do appreciate seeing characters wear things more than once - this got a bit much - the SML literally wore the same tie the entire show, the villain childhood girl wore the same green Chanel outfit wya too often, the bad jeans for the FL and someone how a very disturbing obsession with big bows
Weird hair and makeup choices for some of the male characters - his secretary looked like vampire and his friend/coworker looked like he just got electrocuted (the hair frizz, mop head was awful) - and can we PLEASE stop with the bad red hair dying jobs.
And, last but not least - if you are going to make your FL a fashion designer - dress her better to start with (its was the bad cross between frumpy and teenager). And if you are going to do a fashion show - do some fashion - most of those dresses looked off-the-rack.

Just wrapped this up and its was just ok
I want to give props for the creators of this drama for trying to tackle any sort of mental illness in a drama - given how pervasive of a taboo this is in most asian countries.
That being said - unfortunately they did a big disservice to people dealing with acutal deperession - cause that is NOT what this woman was suffereing from. I mean, it would have been enough to just tackle the horrendous pressure and unrealistic work/family expectation that exist - so much so that one gets burnt-out, has anxiety and suffers from low self-esteem - cause that is what was going on here, not depression (and I say this having grown up with someone who actually suffered from depression). I was also really bothered that they really failed to address, what was essentially her biggest issue and where it started it all - her unhealthy obsession with studying. She developed this unhealthy studying habit at an early age - which is really what led to most of her issues - and that was really pushed aside. I mean, she was physically harming herself in order to study so much - this is not ok.
The other issue really never addressed is this mindset of - I must suffer alone, not get help (super-happy that they do show her getting mental help from a therapist - but won't get help from anyone else around her or for anything else)
Her friend was kind of pointless -as a character - didnt add much to the story besides helping with the 2nd lead pairing and trop - beyond that she kind wasn't that helpful and more often than not gave really bad advice (this is common in these dramas and annoying af.)
SERIOUS issue with the amount of alcohol being consumed - bye EVERYONE - especially her family. Again, not a healthy relationship with alcohol in any-way-shape-or-form. And, even worse that someone who is taking depression meds would be drinking this much is just wrong. And, the biggest issue with all the drinking is they all mostly did it as a way to deal with emotions and drank in excess - it was kind of disturbing
SOOOOO do not get the obsession with HS - these are grown adults in their 30's and still obsessed with stuff that happened in HS
While I mostly ended up loving her mom - she did have a moment that bothered me - FL has just been diagnoses with depression, quite her job and mom thinks - yeah, this would be perfect time to set her up on a blind date. Luckily, she learns from it all and this is what I loved about this character - thought she was actually the one character that had the most growth.
On the flip side - his mom - JUST. THE.WORST! and I am so glad there wasn't a reconciliation here.
And, can we please stop having the FL go running off with the villain to confront them by themselves - its just getting to be a really bad cliche.
I love the ML - but the decision to have him play this character that was a mix between his Heirs character and his SWDBS character - when he should have been more like his Happiness or Soundtrack character, I thought was a poor decision.
The fl character was a toss-up for me - mostly because its clear they dont what depression is - so the character doesn't work because you are saying she has one thing, yet she is not behaving that way.
Their relationship was just ok - it worked in some place, but not others - mostly because they overplayed his childishness and her lack of social skills.
In the end - if you like this genre - its worth a watch, but dont have high expectations.

Learning to lower my expectations of drama’s that I have been waiting for - this was no exception.
I was so excited for this for DXY and the whole cat thing after Love you Seven Times - but, have to say, it was a huge let down (except for him) - man does he have the cat mojo down (and I wish they have played with that more). Also need to see him in more white hair!
As for the rest of it - I found it quite boring until the last 10 episodes.
The relationship between the ML and Chen Shi is good - but the rest of it was just - ‘meh’ - the rest of the characters where just not that interesting
Kind of sad with how they wrapped up the WZM character - could have doe better here
DID NOT get the whole Alibaba character AT ALL - and almost felt insulted by it - almost
Weird that they didn’t bring the Ren Min character back at the end - while she wasn’t a central character - it was weird to just ship her off and never bring her back
The other stragenge piece was the the whole empress character - they tease early on about her agin backward (which plays into the whole bone and blood stuff the Yong’an old farts were doing) - and then dont do anything with it.
Over all - starts off fun, then gets REALLY boring through the middle and then more interesting towards the end when we get back to the ML’s story and mystery