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Intriguing plot with a mediorce romance

This is one of the few times where i was more invested in the story rather than the romance. I liked jiang xuening, i liked xie wei, as separate characters, not together.
It doesn't help that zhang linghe is just not as good of an actor as bai lu, like he did well mostly but any time the story demanded more emotion he failed to deliver
also this drama was released in 2023, why do we still have the forced kiss trope, it was really horrible to watch. i couldn't believe that ning'er would actually like him either, it felt abrubt and all over the place.
but the actual core story? was pretty interesting
i honestly liked the other mls more too, both zhang zhe and yan lin were pretty great(but also not suitable for ning'er as well, just in a different way)
i was hooked into it at the time but thinking back there were many weird elements

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The best marriage of convience drama out there

Probably one of my favourite dramas of all time, I love the marriage of convienience trope but the way BTIMF tells it puts a new spin on the cliche. I feel like this drama changed my perspective on marriage when i first watched it, and every time I rewatch it,(I've now seen BTIML 3 times) I've cried.

Spoilers ahead:

The only negative about this drama is the last 2 episodes. I feel like screenwriters or directors of kdramas are allergic to having a story that doesn't contain some twisted misunderstanding. I really do not understand why they had the see-hee and jihyo break up and give jihyos reasoning as something super wishy-washy as needing an intermission. I feel like if they gave the simplest reason of her insecurity over his ex gf it would have made infinitly more sense.
Like the fact that he hid the fact that he used to be previously engaged and even had a child on the way, but the miscarriage changed everthing? The two leads having a heart-to-heart about jihyos own insecurities in marriage and see-hees reluctance to open up and love after that would have genuinely been wonderful. The other couples endings made more sense than how the two leads ended up. Like why have them move out? it just felt like drama for dramas sake
also they fully misunderstood the message of to room nineteen as well. its about how you need your own space in relationships, and opening room nineteen is bad, but the drama talks about how jihyo wants to see see-hee's room 19, which is weird?
either way though i still love this drama a lot, see-hee grew on me and his more subtle way of loving was sweet. jung so min's acting as jihyo was steller and this drama has made me a fan of her work.

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What happens when two gorgeous people who cant act take up the lead roles?

A surprisingly decent watch is what
maybe it was just the fact that both of them had excellent chemistry or the fact that i was in the mood for something lighthearted at the time, but you are my glory was a lot better than I thought it to be
but it does have to be said that both dilreba and yang yang are very much boring actors.
what made this show a good watch was just that it was low conflict and a reasonable relationship build up
it did feel a bit like a long advertisement at points though, especially with the e sports plotline
i'm reviewing this now but i actually watched this summer of last year
for what its worth both lead actors are incredibly beautiful, so if you turn off your brain and think of it more as a model showcase its enjoyable.

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Star-crossed lovers

I'll keep this short and major spoiler free, a little word of advice I can give is that if you want to leave this drama with a happy ending, end at episode 35, if you would like to see a tragic ending, watch till the end
All in all this is a very well acted story with intresting twists and turns, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to rewatch it since its a little bit predictable. I heard they cut down the episode length of it, which makes sense considering how slighly weird the editing can be at points. I think that its initial premise is good, but it unfortunatley fails to fully deliver after the halfway point. That doesn't mean its bad perse, but that it falls victim to the typical issues that plauge many c-dramas, misunderstandings for misunderstandings sake. Even when the characters are intelligent and could just clearly ask, they just don't because the writers need to prolong the story somehow.
The chemistry between the leads is good and is worth the watch, but the story can hold it back at points. Thats why i'm rating the plot 7 and the rewatch value 5, because while its very well produced, i can't ever imagine someone going through this again.
I already knew that it wouldn't be a happy ending, but I wasn't expecting it to have such a non-ending as it did. Like really? thats how you're going to make use of the final moments of the show?

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A deeply intimate movie

In the mood for love is a wonderful movie that showcases a deeper level of intimacy without ever having the lead actors kiss, and honestly it works very well.
The story is simple and delivered in more of a show not tell method, and the emotions of the characters are felt more than any thing else. Its very mundane in how it shows day to day living, showing a bit of realism in the story.

Spoilers:
At first i was disappointed that the leads never got a proper conclusion on their quasi affair, but it also felt exceptionally fitting for the type of people they were. It was realistic.
Ultimately I think that it made a lot of sense and while I as a person was sad, from a writing perspective I admired the story greatly.
I watched this in summer of last year when i was looking for older romance movie recommendations, and was floored by the fantastic writing

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walking the line between friendship and romance

I watched this while in the mood for the friend's to lovers trope, and it does deliver on that well, in a way that i haven't actually seen many other friends to lovers stories address, which is the transition is normally painfully awkward. I like how even though both leads do realize how they feel its very difficult for either of them to act on it, as seen by the constant almost kisses we got before they finally actually kissed.(Though the almost kisses were so painful to witness because of how many times it happened)
But the major issue is that the episode length is far to long for this kind of melodrama, especially when the business plot was not extremely engaging. Had this story had a more developed supporting cast i wouldn't be as dissatisfied, but the other two couples were not interesting to me. If anything the streamer and tech guys relationship would have been better if they did something with it, but they kind of didn't.
Its interesting because the acting and gradual process of realization is the best part of the story, and had it been 24 episodes instead of 30 i think this would receive a higher rating from me.
The music wasn't especially memorable, but i did like the main opening theme.
Also i give extra points for not doing the standard men and women can't be friends, it was really refreshing to see that they had to convince the people around them that they were dating. the set up of their friendship being something that neither of them questioned was very well done, also the fact that neither of them regretted not acting on it, but instead felt fulfilled by their choice to start it now.
I wouldn't recommend this honestly unless you like really slow paced romance stories and the friends to lovers trope, but for what its worth i don't regret watching it, even though it took me a few weeks to actually finish the show.
Additionally the leads being actual childhood friends in real life is a sweet touch, really does make the dynamic believable.

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Horrible plot with sizzling chemistry

The only thing that saved this show for me was the chemistry between the lead actors, otherwise its horrible
The ML grew on me over time but man was he a horrible guy at first. The FL also had practically no agency as well and barely got any chance to make her own decisions. the love triangle was terrible also, unless you like two shitty men fighting over you.
this is one of those shows where being half the episode length would have made it more bearable. The second couple was genuinely grating to watch.
I mainly watched this to get over my till the end of the moon sadness, as i'm assuming a lot of others did, but honestly for those looking for more of lyx and bl should just watch an edit of them instead from this show.

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Comedic and Heartfelt-with a mixed feeling ending

LGIEF is a show that i watched for time pass initially that quickly became a show that I fell in love with. I'm familar with the acting of both lead actors so I knew that it would at least be a fun watch, but I wasn't expecting to actually like the characters as much as I did.
It has a strong and fun first half. and a kind of midling to week last half, with the final episodes feeling rushed. The 2nd leads being fairly bland didn't help also when the story shifted to them. I liked them sure but they felt underwritten. The last episode though i would say is great, in terms of the commentary about stories and writers and how fiction can help people get through some of their roughest times.
In a sense it lacking kissing scenes between the lead actors fits the overall story, with the ending message being the only way to love others is to truly love yourself. Also if you want to see them kiss they have in their previous drama together moonlight so its not the end of the world. Additionally the leads had a fun chemistry that ventured more on being cute than being especially intimate.
i think the acting prowess and ost remain to be a strong point of the drama, i hum the ost here and there because its very catchy. Ding yuxi plays mu sheng excellently and his layered acting made him a joy to watch. yu shuxin also won me over a bit too. while i never disliked her and her acting i could understand why other people did, her voice can be grating and she tends to be type casted into similar roles quite frequently, but here the cutesy and comedic character really works well, miao miao is an energetic character thats wonderful to watch, and her growth through the story felt pretty real. also her playing miao miao, lin yu, the possesed miao miao were all distinct which is a testement to her acting ability.
overall though id say the story in the final episodes being kinda mediorce and rushed is what makes me give it a lower rating, even though i was invested at first. the world also didnt fell that fleshed out(and while you could say its flat in reference to the complaints miao miao had of the story in the first place its somewhat true...but the point of the story was miao miao fixes it and brings the characters to life, which felt only true for the first half and then the second they introduced her losing her memory of the real world, which made her more npc like, doesnt work anymore)
i did have issues as well with the memory loss plotline here since it felt contrived to not have her know some plot twists before they happened.
but nonetheless, love game in eastern fantasy is a good watch thats more heartfelt than one might think
also keep an eye on ding yuxi, hes sure to get even better roles after this considering how wonderfully he played mu sheng

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