Hyukfied

This is your typical kind of school related cdrama but with a slight twist of wuxia snippets. The main female lead tend to write about a wuxia fantasy world of her crush and herself and those around her. - All in her diary.
The main story does not revolve around this though. Again, its your typical school idol drama - recycling the smart, no.1 male lead Zuo An and a not academically talented female lead, Xiao Man.

Another thing that makes this drama different from others is Xiao Man can defend herself whether it be verbally or physically. However, when it comes to emotions, she gets tossed around a lot and is gullible to the antagonist's antics.
This drama is easy to watch because the main leads knew who they love and fought hard to be together despite some family and friends' disapproval.

I like the character of Zuo An, he likes Xiao Man for who she is despite her being the total opposite of him. He's very chill and reasonable. He definitely puts Xiao Man first despite what everyone else says. However, the actor playing him wasn't strong. He seemed awkward at times.

Xiao Man's character is strong and sometimes she speaks with her emotions instead of being reasonable (which is usually where Zuo An comes in to help.) Although she's not smart academically, she still managed to become one of the smartest of all "smart male, dumb female leads" dramas I've seen so far. The actress Lu Zhao Hua who plays Xiao Man isn't an amazing actress, however, one of the scenes in the final episode really showcase her potential in acting. I was really surprised by her emotions there.

There are some characters that were very irritable; the characters Su An Ning played by Han Xinyu and Shen Chen Yang played by Xie Zhi Xun. I must say Han XIn yu played Su An Ning very well especially during her psychotic moments. Shen Chen Yang and Su An Ning are both irritiable because they wouldn't stop bugging the main leads and wanting to break them apart. Su An Ning is your typical jealous, female friend while Shen Chen Yang is just that annoying, very irritating, non-stop smiling as if he can get his way kind of character. I did not like Shen Chen Yang's character at all despite he has something that I'm able to relate with. However, I had no sympathy for him because he still plays around and uses it to his advantage. At least, Xiao Man wasn't 100% clueless about his antics.

Story starts from high school, college then short and quick adult life.
Recommend to watch if you like this genre, otherwise skip if you're picky about the acting.

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Recommend to watch!

This web drama has to be one of my top favorite c-dramas of 2018! Its plot is quite deep if you understand the characters. The storyline, the characters, the settings is just really nice. I grew to love all the characters, except for one toxic guy. However, each and every one of the character had major character development especially Qiqi - the main female lead! Her smart and sassy mouth was what kept me watching cause she can be quite hilarious even when she's serious.
One of the aspects that drew me into this drama is that Qiqi has depression which is usually misunderstood by the rude and rebellious behavior. You would think she being rebellious because she's spoiled but in reality she has issues of her own. Qiqi is always alone, she was an orphan but is currently raised by her adopted, rich yet estranged father. You would think she loves to be spoiled because she had everything a girl would want, However, she wasn't happy at all. Loneliness is what she always felt, and it made her very depressed. She didn't trust people because she knows they are temporary thus she didn't have friends. Its because of the lack of parental love from her father, she tries to make a huge noise by always running away from home multiple times or leaves without telling her dad and she tends to act very rude and mean to others.
The drama revolves around Qiqi and how she met her new friends. These friends are the ones she met while running away from home, as usual. In the beginning, she decided to renovated these new friends' bar and house without their permission = basically flaunting her money, etc. You would not like her yet but again her lines are the best in the drama. Within these group of friends came her character development in learning to be friendly, passionate, and finally open up. She found love, she learned to help her friends a lot. Eventually she learned to talk to her dad more and develop a good relationship with him. Of course, not everything went smoothly. It was a bumpy ride.
Enough about the main character. The drama also focused on the main lead/supporting characters' lives as well: the main lead Li Nanyi is a singer of the band. He is a composer; he just had to learn to go after his dream instead of holding on to the past. Another friend is actually really nice to Qiqi whom she opened up to first. There is a couple.. let's just say their relationship was toxic and it was hard to watch the girl keep crying over boy. But of course, there is some development there.
I really recommend this drama, maybe you guys are able to relate to one of the characters, I know I did. It was very touching.

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This drama was awesome! The cast were great, handsome and beautiful!The story is okay - it was a mess because all characters are related somehow and it really was too much in my opinion. Although, most dramas have all characters with relation to one another. So it's normal I guess. As for the antagonist acted really well to the point that I want to slap her and another family member of hers. There was one plot of a illegitimate child, that story was interesting  - I was quite excited for the part where someone was exposed. hahaha. There's a lot of drama in this show so the main couples are on and  off a couple times due to secrets, threats, and bribery. I do not know why I continued with this drama even though it seems cliche. However, it did kept me wanting more and waiting for the next episodes to air. It was that good. Although towards the end it got a bit draggy and it was weird that one of the antagonists got off the hook and all of a sudden became nice. Overall, it was a nice drama. One of my favorites but I wouldn't re-watch it due to all the dramas between family members and rivals, etc. It's too much.

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Non-traditional wuxia strikes again!

My Journey To You was an amazing drama to watch from beginning to end; There was suspense, thrill, hints of romance, and sibling bonds with a touch of comedy from a specific character I adore so much.
The cinematography was very movie-like and I don't think we see this in a lot of dramas. That's fine, it just sets this drama apart from others. The martial arts choreography was very AMAZING TO WATCH! I was floored, especially how Yun Wei Shan, the female lead, attacks her opponent so graciously.
Each and every character within this drama were multi-dimensional hence I was very touched by their back story. Each character had something they loved and lost at some point in their lives. Some other characters work hard to make their parents feel proud. It was quite relatable!
The acting was phenomenal especially from Esther Yu, who typically plays very naive, cheerful characters. Here she plays a demure, strong, protective spy, Yun Wei Shan. Despite her cold demeanor, she can be quite emotional, and vulnerable when Gong Zi yu (male lead - Zhang Ling He) shows how much he cares for her. Although Yun Wei Shan is a spy, she actually yearns to be freed from this lifestyle and Gong Ziyu tries his hardest to make it come true for her. As a character, I really enjoyed watching her use her brains - how quick witted she can be to get out of difficult situations - albeit it's not always going to work. As aforementioned, I really enjoyed watching her fight because it was very elegant and gracious, granted it seemed she wasn't as strong as she looked.

Moving on to Zhang Ling He who played Gong Ziyu. A young man known to be the crybaby and naive kid of the family because he doesn't want to take on the responsibility of being a Gong. Turns out he is quite the grown man we would expect from Gong family. Very observant, seems to have photographic memory, and quite intelligent in his own way as well. I know a lot of people disliked him for being oblivious to his surroundings but I'm sure we're all surprised because it was the total opposite.

The second female lead, Shang Guan Qian, is what you would call a scheming two face b*tch. Boy, she played her part extremely well! Someone needs to give Lu Yu Xiao an award for her acting! The way she played Shang Guan Qian makes you think TWICE about her intentions every single time! It's the way she acts with her voice and the micro expressions! AMAZING! Albeit, she can be quite nice when she needs to but only for a price.

Have I mentioned the amount of eye candies in this drama? There's a lot of handsome men and women in this drama, but mostly men. LOL Eyes candies are great but, "Can they act?" is the most important question. There's many handsome actors I can name off the top of my head who are just strictly handsome with no acting skills whatsoever. However, in My Journey To You, there is no black sheep.

Let's begin with Gong Shang Jue played by the actor, Ryan Cheng! This man is handsome, but he supports it with his acting very well. On the surface he is seen as very cold, hot tempered man. Known to be one of the best martial artist in the MJTY universe, even Wufeng is afraid of him, however he is quite the opposite of what he portrays. He has a very gentle, and caring side - truly loves and cares for his family. His backstory was very tragic but it didn't change him completely. He is very intelligent and capable of leading the Gong Family. I loved his micro expressions as well, you can tell when he's in disbelief, or suspicious of someone. And despite of his cold demeanor, his secretive smiles just makes my heart flutter.

Gong Yuan Zhi played by the actor Tian Jia Rui is the "younger brother" of Gong Shang Jue. He can be very cunning but unlike his brother, he is not trusting of others. His ability to create unique poisons makes him an asset of the Gong Family. A prodigy if you will. Although his personality seem to be cunning, and hateful of others -with good reason. He is an orphan. His history with Gong Shang Jue was a bit emotional to watch because Jue is someone he looks up and cares for deeply. He loves the attention he gets from his brother, it's rare to see brotherly bond like this in dramaland. I like it because it showcases what Yuan Zhi lacks prior to Jue and how much Jue means to him now and vice versa. Yes, I would love to slap the grin off his face sometimes but that just proves the actor did his part very well. Props to Jia Rui!

Young Master Yue played by the actor Zuo Ye, quite handsome and great acting as mature elder. Albeit, maybe too mature because it seems he aged 50 years after his backstory was revealed. :( Zuo also uses micro expressions, his tears were real and convincing. The way he speaks was filled with sorrow, it's difficult to explain without spoiling his plotline. Best to watch it with your own eyes!

Notable actors would be Gong Zi Shang played by Jolin Jin. Oh my lord, help me..girl gave me laughs for days with her exaggerated and dramatic acting. Lmao She was definitely the comedy relief within this serious, dark concept drama. I typically do not like overexaggerated acting but it grew on me in this drama - just a tiny bit. Gong Zi Shang is the way she is because of the lack of parental attention. Hence, she acts dramatically in front of others. When someone shows her care, she will care and side with them. I feel like she should've been with Xiao Hei, another mysterious character in the drama, because of how his energy matched so well with hers. They're both quite hilarious to watch! Then again, their backstory were quite similar and it's understandable why they got along so well. I wish Zi Shang knew how much he cared for her.. :( Justice for Xiao Hei!

Towards the last few episodes of wrapping up the drama, it felt like I was watching Twilight where everything was a lie. LOL But at the same time, a relief that the characters weren't as bad as they portrayed to be.
How was the ending of the drama? It was ambiguous. Hoping for season two because that was just a cliffhanger at this point. There's so many questions left unanswered.
I'm not disappointed entirely because wuxia are typically like this - albeit this isn't traditional wuxia but when you watch a lot of wuxia dramas - you shouldn't expect a happy ending. It can be an open ending, sad, or even ambiguous ending. And I'm glad it ending very enigmatically because there's a possibility of a season 2.

Might have to wait 3-4 years like I did with Joy of Life unfortunately. :( But overall, amazing drama definitely a must watch if you want some martial arts action, thrill and suspense!

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Forbidden love, strong-willed characters, amazing sisterly bond, what more can you ask for?

The Starry Love was a phenomenal xianxia with multiple twists and turns. The cherry on top is the strong sisterly bond between Qingkui and Yetan. Even if the world turned against them, they still have each other's back.

I went into his drama not knowing whether it will be this amazing because I had watched the main leads only once before - wasn't a huge fan of Landi's acting before but I must say she has improved a lot in The Starry Love! it was a huge rollercoaster of emotions honestly. Prepare your issues, prepare to laugh your ass off, enjoy the bond between the characters, and you might also want to stab some characters along the way.

The story revolves around fraternal twin sisters, the older twin Liguang Qingkui and the young twin, Liguang Yetan.
I don't want to spoil much, but do pay attention to the first few minutes of the first episode. It is very imperative to the last arc of the drama.
Liguang Yetan is a very outspoken, domineering female lead. She is also an aspiring Void Queen and ruler of the four realms. Or so we thought..
Yetan's (played by Landi) character development over the course of the drama has been poignant to watch. She went from being arrogant, and indifferent to others other than her sister and her childhood friends, to extremely caring and kind to those around her. I believe this is the influence of not only her sister but her love for Youqin. She grew up treated like a pariah, jinx, and evil being because of the royal officials' influence on her father due to the state world during her birth. Her father was always absent and indifferent towards her and it affected her personality greatly. Without her sister, she wouldn't even know how to care at all, but she truly cares for her sister and that's what I love about this drama. Typically dramas don't allow sisters to care about one another even if one screws up, but this shows unconditional love through and through. Landi's acting has greatly improved in this drama, I had previously watched another historical drama of hers and she was extremely cringey to watch there. However, it felt natural here- especially her cries, and heartbreaks really hit me.

Qingkui (He Xuan Lin) is the most caring, kind, and selfless character you would encounter in this drama. She cares deeply for her younger sister, and while everyone else hated Yetan, she was there for her no matter what. She's essentially Yetan's pillar. She would share her hobbies, books, and gifts with Yetan, Protect her even if Yetan was wrong, she would stand by her sister no matter what - after reprimanding Yetan of course. You would think Qingkui is a doormat due to her selfless nature, however, she's able to stand on her own, she's caring, protective and intelligent. She is not a damsel-in-distress, she is also very strong-willed like her sister. Despite the mix-up of carriages, she made a place for herself in the void realm and found her one true love. Qingkui is the definition of unconditional love because even if one of her loved ones made a mistake, she will forgive them. She believes they can do better and that belief inspires them to be better people. The acting by Xuan Lin is very natural, I haven't watched any of her other dramas before so I don't have much to say but she acted well overall!

Shao Dian YouQin (Chen XIng Xu ) was Initially a stoic, socially anxious empyrean but grew to show more emotions and love after a very important event happened. He was raised somewhat similarly to Yetan because his father expects him to have no emotions to prevent any distractions from protecting the world and becoming the heavenly ruler in the future. He volunteered to isolate himself in order to train a perfect celestial body. In doing so, he would be able to protect the world against the chaos, Guixu. Youqin is another character who defines unconditional love, he does protect the world but he also wants to protect Yetan against the world. He showed empathy and care for Yetan and it was just so sweet to watch! Especially when he learned of her past, and took a small revenge behind her back. I had watched a drama by Chen Xing Xu before, and he did act well there and it was the same here. His acting is quite versatile, I quite enjoyed watching him act like a primitive human. It was adorable. haha

Chao Feng (Luke Chen) was also raised somewhat similarly to Yetan - he had no fatherly love, and was a pariah because of his birth mother. With that in mind, he is still the third prince but is treated less than a prince. He initially fought really hard for the crown just to get respect and better treatment from his clan. He would do anything to get the crown even if that means hiding his motives from Qingkui. He was the reason for the carriage switch-up because Yetan witnessed what he did before the day of the marriage. However, despite that, he found care and love from QIngkui and eventually learned to deviate from the crown and would prefer to settle down peacefully. It was a difficult task as someone is always on his ass, trying to assassinate him. He, like Youqin, would do anything to protect Qingkui even if it means defying his father. Chao Feng was definitely not a good character initially but his character development definitely redeemed him. I like that he and Youqin banter with one another like brothers. It's quite fun to watch opposite realms interact like family. I have not seen any of his other dramas but I think Luke Chen did pretty well here needless to say. Although, in terms of crying, or sadness - I feel like he was missing a bit of emotion honestly but other than that his acting was pretty good.

I think one of my favorite characters would be Man Man played by Wang Li Na, she's like the comedy relief in the drama, her expressions and sarcastic replies are hilarious. haha

How was the ending? It's a bittersweet ending. The last 10 episodes were a huge emotional ride, so prepare your tissues.

The Starry Love teaches you a myriad of things like don't judge someone by their appearance, don't judge people by their lack of education, and don't judge period. LOL, Another thing I learned is OPPOSITES ATTRACT IMMENSELY! Even if you don't have the same initial beliefs, there are some things you can compromise for the sake of love. You can also learn from one another despite different beliefs.
Again, I truly enjoyed watching this drama because of the comedy initially, the strong and unbreakable sisterly bond, the wonderful character developments, of course, the husbands' love and protectiveness for their wives. AND the friends and family who supported them, even the worse parent redeemed himself!


I would definitely recommend watching this if you like twists and turns, comedy, and historical fantasy dramas. There are definitely some characters that would pull your hair out, but other than that a phenomenal drama to watch!

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Perfect Off The Path Drama From Your Typical Idol Drama.

if you're serious about acting, non-idol dramas, and slice of life genres of the old days, this is the drama to go for.

Romance in the Alley focuses mainly on two neighboring families through hardships and growth. Personally, this is my cup of tea, albeit the 70s-80s Chinese household policies were quite confusing to me.
With that aside, I love watching what the 70s and 80s of China would've looked like, and loved it when they gave us a glimpse of the 90s. The hairstyle, fashion, and environment change tickled my brain. ^^

The acting of the veterans were superb.Everyone felt natural and embodies their characters well. I particularly really enjoyed watching Song Yi and Ms. Ling's sisterly bond. Also how realistic they were towards certain neighbors LOL.


Initially, Zhaung Tu Nan(Fan Cheng Cheng) had a more reserved, studious role as the eldest in his family. I thought Fan Cheng Cheng's acting was quite good because the actor himself is typically loud mouth, and unserious. The actor's personality is the exact opposite. Suddenly, he brought back a bit of Fan Cheng Cheng in him in Tu Nan's adult years and it just threw me off course. This wasn't the Tu Nan I watched growing up. o.O Granted, people can change but I can see the awkwardness of Fann Cheng Cheng in the character, Tu Nan. It's difficult to explain, but it eventually felt like Fan Cheng Cheng was being himself and I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. Overall, his acting was passable, this was my first drama of his. He just needs to work on it imo. Unfortunately, his love line was pretty short and it really disappointed me. I was expecting more between Tu Nan and Li Jia (Lu Yu Xiao) but it just didn't go the way I was I hope it'd go.

Wang An Yu's character, Lin Dong Zhe, is for comedic purposes and boy was he a rebel kid and annoying. LOL At around 8-9 years old, the kid wouldn't stop complaining, butting himself in places he shouldn't be, or crying. I was so fed up with him. Wang did a great job maturing his character into a more responsible adult. He still embody the mischievous personality of his character and acted quite well. I believe this was my second drama of his and he improved a lot.

Zhuang Xiao Ting played by Guan Xiao Tong. Tong acting was okay. For a child actress, I kind of expected her acting to be really good but her crying scenes were cringe if I'm being honest, but other than that everything else was pretty good. she also embody her character quite well, there was a smooth transition between her and the child actresses.

The connection between Zhuang Xiao Ting and Lin Dong Zhe was adorable. Usually people don't like it when two characters grew up to be together because of the sisterly-britherly bond. However, the gradual feelings for one another was very natural that you can not help but be supportive of the childhood sweethearts.

Li Jia (Lu Yu Xiao) is a confusing character. one minute she likes Tu Nan then she flakes. Understandably, she believes that she needs to find a specific significant other and Tu Nan wasn't checking it off. Granted, all of it was due to family pressure and it is quite relatable in Chinese society. This drama didn't really showcase Lu Yu Xiao's acting ability as she's barely in it so I don't have much to say.

Speaking of Chinese society, this drama touches upon many Chinese family topics that we suffer from today. The eldest baring all the responsibility, and being expected to take care of all their family members disregarding whether or not it's a selfish request. The expectation of being the perfect child, studying well, having a good future is what all parents expect.Of course, not all kids ended up following what their parents expected of them and I like how realistic it is. Some kids weren't able to fulfill their wishes because of the financial status which was disheartening to watch.
The youngest being in the shadows of their older siblings. Favoritism.
Family drama always end up spreading everywhere nobody how low your voice was.
The acting kind and polite but is the opposite personality really speaks to me because I don't like those kind of people. And I've experience these kinds of people in my own family.

Anyhow, I love that the drama showcase their financial struggles, and difficulties caring for their children, and juggling crazy family members. Extremely relatable imo.

Overall this drama was one of the rare dramas that's off the beaten path, a drama not many cdrama fans would enjoy or look at today because it's not xianxia, wuxia, modern romance, nor is it historical romance.
Its a historical family, and slice of life drama.
if you watched The Bond, which I have thoroughly enjoyed and one of my favorites, then this drama is for you!

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We all know the story of Itazura Na Kiss so I'll cut to the chase. For a 2 hour movie, they did their best with the storyline. It was nice, cringey, comedic, and cute!

The actor Wang Da Lu was quite stiff in this movie? It felt like he was a robot when he walked around. Although, his smile will always be the death of me. You could totally see his various expressions of care and love for Xiang Qin just by his actions and face expressions.
Jelly Jin, the main actress did a great job on her role. Yeah, I have nothing more to say about her. She embodied the character well. As somene who watched the drama since the OG Taiwanese version, its nice to see how well Jelly did in her version of it. She seems a lot more braver than the OG.

One thing that I really love about this was that we didn't have to deal with another love rival - even the girl he was suppose to be married to didn't feel like a love rival to me. At least when I look at it from Xiang Qin's point of view. It's like Zhi Shu like Yang Qin all along.
THE ENDING WAS A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E! The way he set up those posts all about her while she over here like "Who the hell is this new gf of his?"

Overall, this movie may have similar story to the manga but the adaption is quite refreshing to watch.

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This is my first season of Legend of the Condor Heroes. I seen Return of the Condor Heroes back in 2006 or so and Romance of Condor Heroes but never the first season of the series. I must say, I really liked connecting the Guo family with Yang Guo in ROTCH. Its quite fun. haha Surprisingly, Huang Rong is one of the best characters I've seen, she don't need a man to save her but she does do it on purpose just to get her man. However, she still has the skills because she was taught but one of the best martial artists, Meanwhile, Guo Jing is a bit on the slow side, so he can get hurt quite easily since he reacts slow. Huang Rong and Guo Jing travels around to find shifu to teach Guojing some martial arts, etc. Its an overall fun storyline with some interference from villains and the Mongolians. One of the villains is Guo Jing's sworn brother Yang Kang, whose fathers were also sworn brothers. I love the Beggar Clan Chief's crazy brother. haha He's hilarious Huang Rong's father is a Hong Kong actor, it was nice to see him in this version of the series. I love his strong character, quite powerful. Haha Definitely recommend to anyone who is starting out on wuxia dramas, :]

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Unskippable Kdrama of The Year!

Kang Bitna had me enthralled into her demon eyes, and sassy personality. The Judge from Hell is one of the kdramas that I couldn't skip nor drop. It's extremely rare for me to truly love a kdrama in recent years because the acting is just not for me, or the storyline seems to fall short, or it just drags on and on. The Judge from Hell is an exception.

I love the special effects in this drama, as well as the character growth of Kang Bitna. Honestly, she carried the entire show for me. Han Daon was just a cherry on top.

Park Shinhye's acting has captivated the audience, me included and I'm glad she has improved in the past 15 years that I've been watching her.

I would highly recommend if you're new to kdramas.

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Keeps you on your toes!

From the very first episode, it was extremely confusing initially, but it makes you want to understand more. My curiosity grew each episode to the point I wonder which character is trustworthy and which is not.

Needless to say, the drama kept me on my toes, it is definitely like a chess game. Every single character is involved in each scheme. Whether good or bad, betrayals by blood, trust, friendship; even as a viewer you can't really trust anyone.

Each character/actor/actress was amazing in this drama!

This was my first Cheng Yi drama, he plays Qi Yan.
Let me just begin by saying, he is an AMAZING actor, I was blown away by the way he acts in subtlety. Not many actors can act the way he does. They can get away just acting cold, emotionless but that's just boring to me. That's not acting to me, Cheng Yi was able to use his facial muscles and give such minuscule expressions - the pain, hurt, happiness, sadness - in subtle ways that I'm basically his fan now. Haahha Moving on, Qi Yan as a character was interesting. At first I didn't know which side he stood, he basically put a lot pressure on himself, refusing to believe anyone because everyone just wants to betray one another except for Cheng Ruo Yu. She is the only person he trusts in the end, therefore he has tried many times to save her despite him being in danger. Its clear he cares for people he loves, even if they do not have good intentions he still cares and that's very kind of him. He's been used like a puppet, but eventually grow to become a true king.

Chen Ruo Yu played by Zhang Yu Xi - her acting didn't bother me much, there are definitely parts where I felt it wasn't natural "acting" but otherwise I'm pretty satisfied with the way she acted here. The character she plays is basically like a passive character, she does not exactly take sides unless she was betrayed. She was appointed the Sword holder of the King, basically a body guard with top martial art skills. However, she doesn't kill unless that is the last option.. Also another selfless character, being used by certain people in this drama. She doesn't really remember her childhood with her sister until the last couple of episodes. She's a fast learner for sure. very good in knowing what to do in a quick, unpredictable situations.

Qiu Yan Zhi - one of my favorite characters in this drama cause of how intelligent and calculating she is. She's basically living a double life, the adopted daughter of the antagonist. But also spoiler alert sister of Chen Ruo Yu. At first she was just a confusing character because I couldn't tell whether she was a friend or foe towards Chen Ruo Yu, But in the end we found out her real motive was to avenger her grandfather & family. Everything she learned from the antagonist is used against him. There were definitely sorrowful sacrifices she had to make but in the end, she was able to fulfill her own wishes. Her relationship with Chen Ruo Yu was quite interesting because of the way she acts towards the aforementioned character. She's really nice towards CRY, always coming to her rescue along with the king. At first she says she does it for herself, but in reality she did it to protect the one she loves.

The actor playin Qiu Zhi Liang, Mickey He, was great, he just looks 100% crazy every single time he's on, sometimes I wonder if his expression was sarcastic or not. Its quite funny if you don't take him seriously. lol His character is very powerful for a eunuch because of the military soldiers he possesses and he's able control the king like a puppet. Amazing job for an antagonist honestly.

As you watch the drama, there's more antagonists unfolding, especially the characters you didn't expect to become a villain. In the end, this drama is like a strategy game - everyone trying to kill one another, usurp the throne, etc.
There's no love triangle in this drama, which is a plus. But the main characters goes through a plethora of mountains to be together.

The end was ..bittersweet. Definitely recommend if you like strategic historical dramas that keeps you on your toes.

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Life is unpredictable!

Blossoms in Adversity main focus isn't really about the love story, the focus is moreso on the family and their growth through difficulties.

Due to a petty king, Hua Family was exiled and reduce to commoners from their high wealth status.
Their oldest granddaughter, Hua Zhi, eventually becomes the head of the family to take control of their lifestyle. Zhang Jingyi played Hua Zhi quite well and very convincing. I've seen several of her dramas, and honestly she's not phenomenal but she has improved from her early day until now. Hua Zhi is a very strong-willed, independent main female character. She knows what she wants, she holds her family together through difficulties and hardships. She is quite smart and I love that she doesn't care about what the public thopught of her and her family. At the end of the day, what motivates her are is her family and bringing home the exiled family members. I have watched a few of Zhang Jingyi's dramas over the years, I think she's a natural actress, everything she has acted in was quite natural and conforms nicely to the character she plays.

The love interest of Hua Zhi is Gu Yan Xi acted by Hu Yi Tian. Gu Yan Xi lives a double life in this drama, or tries to. Although one would think he's evil to the core but from the get-go you can see that he's someone who stands up for what is right. Unfortuantely, he also has to protect someone because he has no autonomy otherwise he would be slaughtered like most of his family. His love for Hua Zhi was seen from the beginning, you would see it in his actions where he would always be her shining knight in armor.
Hu Yi TIan's acting was quite a disappointment but not a surprise. I've seen him in other dramas, he has not changed from his early years to this drama. Hu does not use his facial muscles like other actors who also plays stoic characters. You would think there's some eye acting, but not really. His face is just.. .BLANK majority of the time. He has three distiguishable faces: pokeface aka blank face, smile happy face, and finally the shooketh face which literally looks like this every time he's shocked O_O. Sometimes when there's something that is shocking, his face doesn't even do anything. It was really HORRENDOUS to watch him. He was the reason why I did not want to watch this drama when it first came out because I would be very annoyed with the way he "acts." At this rate, he's more of a eye candy actor, not an actual actor. Fortunately, the martial choreography was quite nice and the storyline isn't really focused on his character compare to the females'.

A character that stood out to me is Shao Yao (Lu Yu Xiao) because she not only went through something traumatic, it seems she was also on the spectrum. It reminded me of how Park Eun Bi acted as an autistic character. Lu Yu Xiao nailed her role quite well. This is the second drama I've watched of hers, and we all know how amazing she was in MJTY and in this drama as well. I really hope she is one of the rare actresses who is willing to try out different roles, because so far it definitely showcased a lot of her acting abilities. I digress, Shao Yao is such an adorable character, she's also self aware of how her brother, Gu Yan Xi, and Hua family treats her: like a porcelein doll. However, she managed to find a very nice friend, Shen Huan (Biang Cheng), who didn't treat as such, and treated her like a normal human being, a friend. It was very heartwarming to see Shao Yao light up whenever Shen Huan shows up because their relationship was so innocent and adorable. I was rooting for the happy ending more than the main leads. lol

There were several veterans in this drama, most notably Myolie Wu. I honestly thought her character was going to be so annoying throughout the drama. lol The king in this drama was very annoying, he's very paranoid and petty so I will jsut leave at that.
I think the moral of this drama has taught me resilience is the best form of survival through difficult times. There will always be a solution even if you've fallen from the top. Which is exactly what Hua Zhi did to get her family back on their feet.

I would like to highlight how much i LOVE the OSTs in this drama, I haven't been hearing good music from cdramas for the past couple of months and this drama definitely have one of the bests OSTs out there, imo.

Blossoms of Adversity is definitely a must watch if you love 2010s cdramas of focusing on a female character's life through hardships to get to the top of the pyramid. It's a female centered drama where all the men are exiled, and the women needs to fend for themselves lest death of starvation.

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I had to give this drama a second chance because I could not get past the first couple of episodes due to the main girl's personality. The male character, is not as expressive but he is adorable when he smiles or tries to hide his smiles. I love it when he finally open up his love for the main girl and literally force her to do things just to get her back [nothing abusive though its just bossy and force so he doesn't lose her cause she was being stubborn and stupid.] The two main characters are neighbors so they also go to school together. They had many ups and downs, misunderstandings, Especially the girl who always misunderstands the guy's feelings. Mostly because the guy is very quiet about his feelings. However, he does care for her and does things for her without her knowing. Its overall a very cuteeee drama. Reminds me a lot of ISWAK. The girl is not smart in school but she's really good in art. The guy, naturally is very smart and went for the medical route. So yeah its similar to allt he versions of ISWAK. I liked it, I was smiling a lot towards the end. I think you will too.

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Patience and understanding is what everyone needs to watch this drama!

Do you like watching dramas with high school reciprocated crush, years of yearning, angst, and possibly lovingly stalking said crush for years, from afar, just to see how she's doing? Well, this drama is for you!!

This drama teaches you a lot about how your environment and the lack of support can affect your life and personality. It is the total opposite of the male lead's family where he gets plenty of support and happiness compare to the female lead.Trigger warning this drama involves SA, and murder.

The First Frost is definitely part of my list of top modern dramas of all times! Mostly because of how complex Wen Yi Fan's character is. It seems many viewers in the beginning did not enjoy how she is, but in reality this is the result of her environment and you just need to analyze and use critical thinking before saying the character sucks or the actress's acting is horrible.

Wen Yi Fan played by Zhang Ruonan is not your average bubbly, outgoing female lead. She seems like an introverted, awkward, and reserved female lead. Even when she opened up and gained more confidence, her personality is still there - awkward and introverted which is what I like about the character. You do not see these kind of female very often! I wouldn't say she is popular but she is seen as very beautiful that girls are even jealous of her. The First Frost is definitely about Sang Yan's love life, while Hidden Love was about Sang Zhi's. However, to me it felt like the story was about Wen Yi Fan more than Sang Yan. I felt so much empathy, and sorrow for Wen Yi Fan because of what she went through. It is so understandable why she is the way she is in modern times because of how traumatic her past is. In addtion, the one family member that she needed the most in her time of need was not there for her at all! Due to this traumatic past, WYF rarely open up to anyone, never asked for help because she thinks there's no point in it. Until she met Sang Yan once again. Throughout the drama, you can slowly watch WYF gain more and more confidence in herself as well as opening up more than before. It is mostly because of SY, he was always there for her even if they weren't close. Plese give WYF a chance before you say anything negative because I need yall to understand she has TRAUMA! I can't stress this enough! Maybe some of you can resonate with her in one way or another - I know I did. :(

This is my first drama of Zhang Ruo Nan, and I am quite impressed because her micro expressions were so good! Her awkwardness is very realistic, she acts like someone who definitely had hardships and suffered immensely through the years of isolation, loneliness, and trauma. Just one look at her and you can tell that she has gone through something. I am definitely looking forward to more of her dramas from now on!

Sang Yan played by Bai Jing Ting. I'm sure we have all seen many, many dramas of female leads chasing after the cold, stoic popular male lead. This is the reverse!! Except, Sang Yan tries to play it off coolly, which makes his character quite hilarious. Anyhow, The First Frost is about Sang Yan constantly running after and supporting WYF, even if they weren't in each other's lives, he still looked for her because he never stopped loving her since their separation. They had a plan to go to the same college to begin their relationship but due to other reasons, it did not go as planned and SY was heartbroken for YEARS. He is also stubborn, he still looks from WYF from afar - giving me the stalker vibes ngl. I suppose this only works in fiction, and definitely not in real life, but it's prob rare who knows. I digress. Sang Yan in this drama is more "cold" compared to Hidden Love's version of Sang Yan. He does still joke around, he's also pretty clueless to what has happened with WYF, but he's very patient with her. He's willing to wait for her until she tells him herself. He's the type of guy, minus the stalking, that every woman would want because he's patient, he reassures WYF when she feels down, he cooks for her (basically disguises it as he cooked too much lmao), cleans, and very protective of her even if he didn't understand everything. What I like about SY is he has so much empathy for WYF especially when he knows she's going through something. He would feel helpless because he's not sure what's going on with her. I think it's very poignant to see him cry because that just means she loves him so much. :')

There would be attempts of cockblockers, but I wouldn't worry too much about it because the leads would just shove them off honestly. They're very straightforward with how they feel and will not leave the cockblockers with much thought. Albeit, someone was quite entitled and stubborn but he will be gone eventually.

I've seen a few of Bai Jing Ting's drama in his early years, and he definitely has improved since then. His microexpressions, THE EYE ACTING!! It was just so good to see how much emotion he can portray with his eyes alone. You can tell someone is a good actor from not just their micro expressions but also the eye acting.
I think both BJT and ZYN nailed it! :]

I wasn't too interested in the second lead so I kind of skipped a lot of it. Their storyline was boring. I do, however, loved it when Sang Zhi came around because I wanted to compare it with Hidden Love and see where the timeline matched. ZYN's family did amazing job at acting though, especially the evil guy. Dude just emanates EVIL when he enters. It scared the crap out of me, even in his eyes it was like WHOA. Even the evil aunt was SOOOO fake from he begining, I could tell from the way she looks and acts - I've seen this in real life before and I hated the aunt for acting so fake and then explodes as if she's right. They did a wonderful job at acting ngl. Applause!

THE MUSIC, my new obssession is from the OST - Silence Wang -Like Sunny Day, Like Rainy Day! Every other song in this drama was amazing as well!!

I definitely recommend this drama if you love angst, melodramas, slow burn, and would like to see a male chasing after the female lead for once.

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A poignant story following the love story of a couple that is always rooting for each other!

I had zero expectations coming into this drama. It was getting popular and my friends asked if I was watching, naturally I gave it a try.

'When Life Gives You Tangerines' gave me the vibes of daily Japanese dramas called asadora(s). They typically follow a female protagonist throughout their life including building a family for themselves or making a name for themselves. That's exactly what we see in this drama but obviously condensed into 16 episodes. Usually I would think 16 episodes feels too short and fast paced to connect and understand each character but WLGYT was well paced and thought out. Every episode just felt perfect, not too fast and not too slow. Just the right pacing for me.

There were many life lessons that everyone can take from this drama.
I think my top three were: 1. Never settle for less and don't put yourself down just to please others. 2. Even if you grew up with nothing, know that your parents tried their very best to keep you fed and happy. 3. Cherish every moment, who knows what could happen. Take care of your family especially your parents. 😭

The acting of each and every actor and actress were amazing and natural. No complaints, just applause especially to IU.

Highly recommend! :)

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This drama is a remake and another adaption of a novel. Although I never read the novel, I did watch a previous adaption. There were definitely some scenes I love here and scenes that I wish they added.

What I like about the drama is the cinematography, the scenery and different palaces and underground caves, etc. Its a huge upgrade from the last 2005 adaption of course. Yi Hua Gong actually looks like a gong for sure - it's so pretty! The two Yi Hua Masters are the same as the 2005 adaption but too bad we don't see much of the The 2nd Master's kindness in action here.

Xiao Yuer is a self-proclaimed no.1 smartest man in Jianghu. His personality is quite fun to watch, he's cunning and is a sweet talker. He's able to get what he wants, although sometimes he makes it a little too dramatic. I initially thought the actor playing Xiao Yuer seemed good but I soon realize there were a bit of over-reacting in some areas. However, he's still young so there is room for improvement.

Hua Wu Que is your typical handsome man in every drama. A powerful one I might add. His mission was to kill his own brother unknowingly. When the two became friends is the start of Wu Que becoming a normal human with feelings - although he likes to hide it a lot. We see Wuque and Xiao Er bond as friends, but we barely seem them bond as brothers. I did not see a connection there. Not even after it was confirmed they were brothers, they didn't even call each other "哥" or "弟" :( There was even one scene I was looking forward to that was in the previous adaption, I was hoping it would be in here as it happens after they found out they were brothers. It would have showcased how much they love being brothers and how heartbroken if one had died. But it didn't happen because in this version, one of them died differently.
Speaking of Hua Wu Que, the actor Hu Yi Tian needs to work hard on his acting. He lacks expressions, and even if he expressed something it always come off as unconvincing aside from his smiles. I don't feel any connection with him and Tie Xin Lan. I always felt like Tie XIn lan loved Xiao Yuer from beginning til the near end of the drama.
Overall, the acting is not amazing, but tolerable.

As for the romance in this drama, there's barely any between the main leads unless you wanna watch angst until the last episode or so. That's when each brother accepted their love for their woman respectively. The supporting characters like Hei Zhizhu and Meng jiu had better love story than the main leads. haha

The way Xiao Yuer and Hua Wu Que found out they were brothers was a bit anticlimactic for me. What if she was lying? You never know from someone who wants all of her former one-sided love's family dead. :/

I would recommend this drama if you haven't watched the previous adaptions, although be warned it can get draggy.

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