lilybit

One of my Favorite Dramas of the Year

This drama was pretty much exactly what I've wanted from all of the historical/fantasy cdramas that I've watched (and not always finished) in the past.
It has smart and good characters, who go through an actual journey and have growth throughout the show. I also liked the fact that the writers never sacrificed how smart/cunning Li Ni and Cui Lin were for the sake of the plot. Things went wrong, but not because they were stupid and made poor choices.
The story itself was really enjoyable. It held my attention and had good pacing (something that lacks in a lot of cdramas imo). I also liked that while main story points were finished off and new ones took their places, it never felt forced or weird.
Even though I liked the tone of the show (it was light and serious when it needed to be, with just the right amount of angst) I do wish that characters/plots were allowed to be a little darker than they were. For example, I would've liked to see Miss Gu be more sinister and cunning to get her way. Same for the main villains--let's see them being more EVIL!
Lastly, while I really liked the ending, I do wish the climax was a little more intense. I wish that we'd built up to it more so that I was on the edge of my seat, but for what it was, I did really like it and how it played out in the end!

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Smart Character(s) and Plot

This drama was such a pleasant surprise. I started it without any expectations and was quickly sucked into the plot and characters. The plot starts out small, but quickly grows until the audience is getting more and more pieces of the puzzle.
I'm a fan of Smart Characters in general, but Yun Xiang has to be a new favorite of mine. A big reason for that is because of Chen Xiao. He was a standout to me. He was able to make us root for Yun Xiang, who's the type of character that can come off smug and annoying. One of my favorite parts of his character is that while he's constantly outmaneuvering every single character in the story, he can't save his own life when it's being threatened by martial artists. Which is where the love of his life comes in to save him. Their romance was lovely and was the perfect amount of longing/angst with happy moments throughout.
Overall this was such a wonderful surprise for me and while the filming/editing wasn't anything special, I really ended up enjoying myself a lot.

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not the best, but mostly enjoyable

I had basically no idea what this drama was about when I started it, and ended up having a fun time with it, even if it's truly not the best. In my opinion, the main problems are that the writers had a hard time balancing the quirky idol plot with the Evil One plot. They underdeveloped both plotlines and ended up not giving the viewers enough of either. If they'd managed to find a better balance with incorporating the Evil One stuff into the idol plot, this would've been better. Also, they should've cut way down on the second hand embarrassment of Rembrary not knowing what he's doing as an idol. It was funny at times, but I started to skip through a lot of that because I can't handle second hand embarrassment very well.
The very best part for me was Rembrary, Dal, and the Grim Reaper trio. They were so much fun all together!

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Funny drama, but loses any driving force towards the end

This had a strong start for me. I loved the characters and how funny it was at times. The plot was pretty simple and straightforward; it definitely had elements that pulled my interest and kept me watching, but around episode 12 after pretty much everything had been solved I got SO BORED. Not even my love for Seo Joon could stop my from skipping massive parts of the last few episodes, and based on what I saw during my skipping, I wasn't missing much. There's basically no plot after episode 12. Barely any conflict, which means there's nothing driving the story anymore. Anyway, a good time for a little while, but I'll likely forget about this one quickly.

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Went into this with no expectations and left disappointed

Man, I really wanted to like this drama. And for a second I did, but then somewhere during episode 2 I started to get so fed up with the plot and characters. That annoyance only grew the more episodes I tried to watch, and I ended up skipping through most of 4 and then dropping it entirely.
The production value is really good and while the concept is wild, it could've worked if handled better, but it ended up just being a mess.
First off, there were way too many characters. The show spent so much time trying to give each one a little bit of air time, but all that did was succeed in not giving anyone enough. If we don't have one solid character to root for, with good side characters, then why should the audience bother watching? People were dying right and left and I didn't care. I did like the platoon leader, but he seemed to be the only one with any backstory and depth.
Beyond not really caring about anyone, the plot was just ridiculous. Like, I get it, the whole idea is ridiculous, but the choices being made by the characters, specifically the military, made no sense.
I was trying to push through to the end because there's only 6 episodes, but there are better things I could watch and I don't want to waste my time anymore. Maybe I'm giving up too quickly and when/if I come back to this, I'll change my mind, but at this point, I doubt that'll happen.

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Compelling Court Drama

This review is way too long, but I have a lot of thoughts.
The first 25ish episodes were fantastic! They were compelling, twisty, and smart with morally grey and interesting characters. There were several times that I stayed up too late because the plot took off and I had to see how the Emperor was going to get out of the trap laid for him.
But then we hit a lull and for like 15 episodes Qi Yan was suddenly sidelined because he got stabbed like 5 times and was apparently dying. He moped around in his flowy red robe like an ailing Victorian child practically the whole time. Not only that, but for these stretch of episodes he seemed to get kinda dumb (as in: his plans weren't well thought out and he was being fooled by everyone else), which really undermined the character he was presented to be at the start of the show.
Also, I'm not sure I understood why he was dying. Maybe it was the translation, but when the doctor was like, "You may die in five months or five YEARS," I was lost. I don't understand the huge time gap there. I thought he was only stabbed? Did it get infected? Was it poisoned? Am I actually too stupid to follow what was going on?
It was at this point that I started to skip because they felt like filler episodes. But I kept going because I was already invested in the plot and the characters.
The romance didn't really work for me, but I didn't hate it. I just thought they had no chemistry, and no offense to the FL, but I didn't think the actor fit the the part or played it well.
The Duke was a good villain (I think this is due to the actor), but there were times that it felt like he wasn't as smart as we thought and was mostly just lucky and too firmly rooted in his position to give it up easily. I also wish that he and Qi Yan had more time to stew with each other. I wanted to know more about their relationship before it went sour. Also! Completely unrelated, but when the Duke goes feral at the end and whips off his robes and his hair goes crazy, I died laughing. Which I'm sure wasn't the intended reaction.
Lastly, I'm not sure what to think of the ending. There seems to be some confusion about whether Qi Yan is alive or not. To be honest, I assumed that he'd faked his death, but we didn't really get that much of a confirmation, so I'm not sure. But in either case (him dying or pretending to fake his death to live as an ordinary person), I don't really like it. I know that he didn't want to be Emperor and it brought him nothing but pain, but at the same time it felt a little cheap for the audience to sit through almost 50 episodes of him STRUGGLING to hold onto the throne only to give it up (or die) in the end.
I'm complaining a lot, but I actually really liked this drama. It's one of the few cdramas to hook my attention and hold it through almost the whole thing. I tend to give up somewhere in the middle, so the fact that I finished this is amazing for me. Which really speaks to the plot and characters of this drama. I just wish that the fat had been trimmed story wise and that the Emperor had actually been allowed to be the MAIN character throughout the whole thing.

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an absolute delight

Such a delight to watch. Loved it so much. The crime solving trio was amazing and so much fun to watch (especially Yi Yong and Guang Yan. They had me rolling with laughter so many times). The balance of comedy and heart wrenching drama was perfect and the ending episode had me at the edge of my seat. The only thing I would say is that, while well done, I don't really like episodic shows. Though this one did tie all the stories together nicely at the very end.
And even though it doesn't need it, I would love to come back to these characters with another season, but as it is, I'm content with how this ended.

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Mostly wasted potential, but not a bad drama

Not sure why they decided to release this drama in the same year as Weak Hero season 2 AND Study Group. Because all that did was make me think about how much better both of those dramas are.
Which is not to say that this drama is bad. It's not. It has some elements that I liked and wanted to see explored (namely the family drama. aka the root of Eui Gyeom's trauma). But this is, at it's core, a school fighting/bullying drama and while some of the fights were pretty good, most of them didn't really feel earned.

Eui Gyeom was a character that didn't always make sense to me, but I liked and wanted to see overcome his trauma. It was fascinating to see him constantly toeing the line of going a little too far with each fight. And then he does.
I thought this was such an interesting choice.....that they don't really do anything with other than attempt to set up a second season.
Speaking of, I can't believe the adults in Eui Gyeom's life took one look at him after he stomped on that kid in the end, and were like, "Hmm, I know what he needs! A prison school! Where he has to fight all the time and where even the teachers beat the kids! That'll help him get past his brother's death and his father's abuse!
Poor kid needs therapy, not a fight club school.

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Season 1 is still superior

This season was a step up from season 2, but still nowhere near as good as the first season.
I did enjoy this season for what it was, even if the final few minutes were rushed and didn't fully explain what needed to be about neohumans and what happens to the main trio.
I do have some issues overall. Mainly, the plot. Season 2 built up so many random characters and plot points, seemingly for nothing because almost all of the new characters introduced were killed off and plot points disappeared.
Maybe I'm just dumb, but I guess I didn't fully understand Lee Jinwook's character and what he wanted. I thought that he wanted to find more special infectees, but then he killed all of them. So what was the point of him as the main villain? This leads me to my second main issue, which is lack of payoff. I think we all expected Hyunsu and Jinwook's character to have an epic final showdown, but we were denied that. The whole ending battle was lackluster. Not only that, but I thought that Hyunsu's ability to turn monsters back into humans was leading up to him kicking Jinwook from Yisu's head, but he spent all of a minute in there. It's weird. We're told that Hyunsu is special and we kinda see that, but not really. Really frustrating for someone who is suppose to be the main character.
Okay, so all of that to say, I did enjoy the first half of the season. It was fun to see the main trio back together (even if, as much as I loved having him back, bringing Lee Eunhyeok back didn't serve much purpose). I also really enjoyed Monster!Hyunsu. He was a fun change and the scene where he and Human!Hyunsu talk and become one was well filmed and cool, but perhaps should've bee longer and more built up.
Ultimately, both this season and 2 don't hold a candle to the first season, which had a focused plot, good character arcs, and more importantly HEART.

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Needs another season

I thought that this drama handled such a wacky idea (the fake meat thing) pretty well, and I liked that it turned out to be something much bigger than that. I also really liked the main characters and thought they had EXCELLENT chemistry.
I'm just getting really sick of these 10 episodes seasons where we have a somewhat complicated plot that's condensed so much and then doesn't even finish up the story. For instance, Grid was like this too (I only bring that drama up because it's written by the same writer and also on Disney+). We have a really interesting idea that kinda just ends while leaving some major loose ends. I'm not sure about you guys, but I'd rather 16 episodes with a complete story rather than 10 with the possibility of a second season.

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Heists!

I ate this show up. After a handful of episodes, I decided it was the best cdrama I've seen. Mostly because this has some elements that are Very Specific to my interests (heists, thieves, family drama) so obviously, I loved it.

Also compared to other cdramas the pacing in this show was the best I've seen (again I've only seen a few). It had really tight storytelling that kept my interest throughout the whole series, though some of the cop stuff got a little boring (I get it! You don't have to keep going through your deductive reasoning again!).

I also really loved the characters. Especially Wenjie. I liked how smart he was and how, while he was still struggling with morals, he ended up making the right choice in the end. His relationship with Captain Luo was also really nice. I'm a big fan of father/son or mentor/mentee relationships.

Also season 2 when????

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Worth the Watch

Yoo Ah In came and he ATE. Every scene he had he was doing the very most and totally outperformed everyone else. I mean damn.
Now that I have that out of the way. This drama had such an interesting premise that grabbed my attention from the start. Plus, the production value was really, really good (especially the scenes in the past). I will say that I started this, loved it so much, got to episode 10 or 11 and got really bored with it. I put it aside for months and when I came back to it, it sucked me back in. I think having that break was helpful and made the story feel fresh when I came back to it.
As for the drama itself: the past storyline was heartbreaking and the present was interesting and fun. I actually almost liked the past versions of the characters better than the ones in the present. I think that might be why this drama is lacking a little. It's almost like the past storyline didn't quite blend correctly with the present one, or maybe it's that the past was a bit more interesting to me.
Not really sure what I'm trying to say, but this is definitely worth a watch!

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Solid Mystery/Thriller

I really enjoyed this drama! It was engaging with an interesting story and good characters. I liked the mystery a lot and thought they did a good job of giving us lots of twists without getting out of control with them. However, while I do think 12 episodes is the sweet spot for most dramas, this one felt like it rushed everything in the last episode. There were a few things that I would've liked to have had answered (mostly what actually happened to some of the major characters that were either about to die, apparently terminally ill, or in jail). But I definitely enjoyed it from start to finish and would recommend it.

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a surprisingly good time

I think the current overall rating on MDL of 7.8 really isn't fair, but to each their own I suppose. In my opinion this drama was a good time and honestly surprised me by how much fun I was having with it.
I thought the pacing was well done and it kept up the momentum throughout almost the whole drama. I do think the first half was more exciting and fun, but I did enjoy the second half too.
I liked the role reversal of Taehyun being the sort of helpless one and being the one insisting on forgiveness while Yeojin was the one who wanted revenge. I also liked that all of Taehyun's acts of kindness came back to save them in the end.
I think that while this drama was really fun and enjoyable, there's also a drama that is ACTUALLY about a gang doctor in here. I think that would've been an excellent drama, and it's too bad that we didn't and won't be getting something like that.

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Only watched for Yoo Ah In

Here's the thing, I can see why people like this drama, especially if it's a nostalgic thing for them. Unfortunately, watching it now more than ten years later with no sentimental feelings towards it, it really does not hold up. It comes across as janky and low budget and barely held together.
Okay, so I'm going to sound like a hater, but let me vent here for a moment. I really hated the FL and ML. They both had the personality of mayonnaise and were about as interesting (more so in the case of the ML, who was not a very good actor). Due to this, I actually skipped most of their scenes, which surprise surprise is almost the whole drama.
But on that note, I weirdly really liked Song Joonki's character. He's not an actor that I typically enjoy, but he was really great in this drama and I finally understood why people liked him. He was probably the strongest actor here (sorry Yoo Ah In, I love you, but this is early days for you and you clearly hadn't reached your final form yet). Yoo Ah In, while not as strong as Song Joonki, was still good too and I really only watched both of their scenes throughout the drama.
I'm definitely hating on this a lot, but I did finish it because it does have that "something" that a lot of the classic kdramas have.

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