launev

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

just finished this and was going to add comments - but the reviews by PeachBloosomGoddess and Enigma05 pretty much nailed it on the head.

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.