Wonderful first half with zero of the tropes usually seen in these types of dramas. The second half made it drop from a 9 to an 8.5 (still very high from me!) but doesn't mean that it's not worth watching. It's still a great drama throughout, it just got a little draggy with a little too much palace conflict I wasn't into.
No cutesy/clumsy females here! Pan'er and San are fighters from the start and fiercely smart ladies. Yin Zhang is young, makes a lot mistakes but unlike other characters like hers, she learns and grows from them to become more like her 'sisters'. The best thing about this drama was the script. It is so rare to see banter between the leads that's both romantic and witty at the same time, not just "a look (I'm looking at you The Heirs) and fall endlessly in love with no real reason".
The romance: Amazing - the leads have so much chemistry and Chen Xiao delivers everything with his eyes and then some. The main leads sizzle on screen together and their love is one of those great loves you dream of, whilst being set in a realistic world.
The sismance: Everything you need for female characters who push each other upwards and always have each others back. The key to their sismance- communication. They fight, but they talk it out always and make up. You know these three friends even if they fallout will always have each other's back. They really feel each other's pain in a way I feel only women can feel for other women.
The social commentary: How awfully women were treated in those days and were only seen as property to be discarded at will. Yinzhang's story showed this the most and that's why she ends up the most cynical (I don't blame her). With everything going on the world today- this drama highlights more than ever how important we keep fighting for our rights, esp as women. Rights that can/are being erased as this drama aired.
Overall - a great drama, don't skip this one. It's everything I have wanted in a strong female character driven drama.
cdramas are known for great kisses? Really? First time I read this. Maybe you mean compared to kdramas? Because…
You can't seem to accept the fact that different people have different tastes and what you like or think is great can't be forced on to others. There are tons of western shows that have stiff/fish kisses too why don't you google that?
cdramas are known for great kisses? Really? First time I read this. Maybe you mean compared to kdramas? Because…
Again- it's a matter of taste. I prefer the cuteness of skinship that is shown in Asian romcoms as opposed to the overbearing OTTP of western romcoms. So for me those are not good/lack chemistry. And people do comment on western shows as well. Like for Lucifer imo the main actress was so wooden and had zero charisma that even Tom Ellis couldn't save their kiss scenes. I thought the show could have removed her and it would have been better. A lot of it comes down to the actors and the chemistry they can bring on screen. I'm not sure why you even want to debate western vs asian???
Was ok, first few eps are cute if super tropey but it as per the usual it starts dragging in a nonsensical way. Like the plot really got unnecessarily convoluted. Acting wasn't great, chemistry between the leads would be built up well but the kiss scenes quickly cut off. In the second half there was barely any romantic scenes between the leads, it was more comedic.
The last 5 episodes were a real drain to watch, I was skipping so much just to reach the end. Like none of the character decisions were making sense and it just got so weird. A shame considering the first few eps were pretty funny.
It's an ok drama but not one I would go around recommending. It's both watchable and skipable. Depends what you are in the mood for.
I want to know exactly what cars allow the two males in the drama to be where ever their respective partners are within 2 mins of them being in trouble. Like they hear she's in trouble, could be on the other side of town and show up whilst she's still in the same scene. Writer and director took a loooottt of artistic license in this one.
The writer took every romcom cliche and threw it at this drama and still....surprisingly it was not bad. It's not great by any standards but it was above my expectations (apart from the last 5 eps which dragged forever). The FL isn't just some dumb dumb girl but can actually stand up for herself a bit and fight back. The ML is your typical bossy president lead but this role really fits Luo Zheng's acting so I'm not complaining. They have great chemistry together and the twin thing only was annoying towards the end. 2 cp was cute if a little too violent.
I actually didn't even skip through as much as I thought I would. Cute watch if you are in between dramas and need a light fluffy romcom with a nonsense plot.
Yes, for these things it's almost always their parents or managers who mess things up. So many idols have money issues cause of the people around them. :(
I think cause he has a "pretty boy" image so that's hated on. His acting is hated on though I think he's pretty good considering other idol actors, it was hated on to the point where he said he wouldn't touch a romcom drama ever again (but Mary Stayed Out All night was so good for me!).
There are some real issues with him (tax evasions) which are legitimate reasons for netizens to be angry...but cause he is a "pretty boy/idol actor"....no...
Also if you are going to play the will-they-won't-they game- give the audience more than 5 mins of the couple being together. It's annoying when kdramas pull this + n number of years apart and only give the last 5 mins of the couple together in a ROMANCE drama.
What a waste of a great cast. I hope they two leads can come back for something more substantial. This drama is visually great, but has one of the most tired story lines (a truly dapttaphae friends to lovers plot). The writing was meh, the ost plain (expected better music from something where the characters are in the music industry). The cast was great, but there's only so much you can do with meh-writing.
Everything just felt so....unremarkable, except maybe the cinematography. It's a good thing this was only 4 eps- I was already fast forwarding towards the end because it was becoming too will-they-won't-they.
You know, I watched this when it first came out and at that point I thought it was cute but not that great. Now l when I look back at clips of it on YT it makes me smile so much and feel so good. This was really a great drama! I judged it too harshly when it first came out. JGS and MGY made such a cute couple, I wish they would reunite in another drama. But I think JGS is never going to touch a romance drama anymore :(
No cutesy/clumsy females here! Pan'er and San are fighters from the start and fiercely smart ladies. Yin Zhang is young, makes a lot mistakes but unlike other characters like hers, she learns and grows from them to become more like her 'sisters'. The best thing about this drama was the script. It is so rare to see banter between the leads that's both romantic and witty at the same time, not just "a look (I'm looking at you The Heirs) and fall endlessly in love with no real reason".
The romance: Amazing - the leads have so much chemistry and Chen Xiao delivers everything with his eyes and then some. The main leads sizzle on screen together and their love is one of those great loves you dream of, whilst being set in a realistic world.
The sismance: Everything you need for female characters who push each other upwards and always have each others back. The key to their sismance- communication. They fight, but they talk it out always and make up. You know these three friends even if they fallout will always have each other's back. They really feel each other's pain in a way I feel only women can feel for other women.
The social commentary: How awfully women were treated in those days and were only seen as property to be discarded at will. Yinzhang's story showed this the most and that's why she ends up the most cynical (I don't blame her). With everything going on the world today- this drama highlights more than ever how important we keep fighting for our rights, esp as women. Rights that can/are being erased as this drama aired.
Overall - a great drama, don't skip this one. It's everything I have wanted in a strong female character driven drama.
I'm done with this conversation now so bye.
And people do comment on western shows as well. Like for Lucifer imo the main actress was so wooden and had zero charisma that even Tom Ellis couldn't save their kiss scenes. I thought the show could have removed her and it would have been better.
A lot of it comes down to the actors and the chemistry they can bring on screen. I'm not sure why you even want to debate western vs asian???
The last 5 episodes were a real drain to watch, I was skipping so much just to reach the end. Like none of the character decisions were making sense and it just got so weird. A shame considering the first few eps were pretty funny.
It's an ok drama but not one I would go around recommending. It's both watchable and skipable. Depends what you are in the mood for.
I actually didn't even skip through as much as I thought I would. Cute watch if you are in between dramas and need a light fluffy romcom with a nonsense plot.
I love her too, she's my new girl crush, esp after My Name. He's ok too but she's definitely on her way to be a really great actress.
There are some real issues with him (tax evasions) which are legitimate reasons for netizens to be angry...but cause he is a "pretty boy/idol actor"....no...
Everything just felt so....unremarkable, except maybe the cinematography. It's a good thing this was only 4 eps- I was already fast forwarding towards the end because it was becoming too will-they-won't-they.
Reply 1997 did it better.