sulkytofu

I'm surprised at the criticisms towards Bai Youning — I love how she assists with cases and provides information specialized to her profession (which she is incredibly passionate about.) I have a feeling much of this might be coming from expectations, as I can see the setup between Lu Yao and Qiao Chusheng being ripe for a BL narrative, and it also seems like in the comments this was the impression many people initially received.

Personally, I do find the relationship between Chusheng and Lu Yao very interesting, and I think the show may have been better if they had decided to focus on this as the "main line" instead. I think there's a lot of material that can be done by focusing on their bromance or brotherhood (and the "queer undertones" of this relationship IF this were meant to be a BL series). That being said, I think Lu Yao and Youning do have chemistry, and so far I'm liking their banter and their bickering with each other even if I do find the relationship between Chusheng and Lu Yao more interesting.

If there's any complaint, I'm not a fan of back-to-back cases, and wish that cases were stretched out across several episodes, and/or past cases link to a broader conspiracy. I'm still early in the show, but it's unsatisfying seeing the resolution of cases so quickly. I am however pleasantly surprised by Hu Yi Tian's acting — I generally find anything with him in it difficult to watch, and I think that so far he's been quite competent especially in conveying Lu Yao's personality. But for me, the star of this show really has to be Chusheng, who is so far my favourite character and I'm very interested in seeing more of his personality!

To be honest, I'm now rather nervous about Feiyu being casted for Immortality, especially considering the comments on his acting in this section. He really had the look for the character, but I think that strong acting will be absolutely necessary considering how Immortality is a BL drama (and therefore the acting will be central in conveying elements in the novel that will be censored in the drama). I was thinking of watching this since I have yet to see some of his works, but am now more cautious and may be thinking of holding off after reading this!

I'm really surprised at all of the great reviews for this drama. I love fluffy romances, and I thought this would be a great pick, but I find Zhang Jiong Min's acting to be quite hard to like?I'm also finding a lot of character inconsistencies with the ML (first cold, then becomes nagging, then becomes warm, then becomes cold again). This may be because I'm skipping through the drama, but I had a hard time seeing the romantic progression of the relationship. I think it started off really well, but then all of a sudden they become lovers very quickly, without really showing how they both grow to rely on and care for each other.

I also find some of the edits to be really difficult to tell apart (sometimes I think it's a flashback, but then I realized it's a cut that's meant to show a transition to the next scene.) I may be being harsh, but I didn't enjoy this very much even though this drama had all of the elements of what I'm looking for, and have dropped it since I haven't really found the storyline to be cohesive and the main pairing to have enough chemistry for me.

The one character I did not expect to love so much was our quirky, clever, and loyal Taoist priest. He had a wonderful arc, and I really loved how Lu Yi saw him as an equal and as a true brother and friend (especially as someone who has a lot of enemies). I think it's great his characterization developed immensely through the drama, and he was very memorable despite being a support character that only emerged halfway into the series. His death was very painful to watch, and I did not expect to get so emotional over his character while watching.

Most frustrating character to me, however, was the Emperor. Not only was he so incompetent, but it was so difficult to see how he wasn't dethroned or poisoned earlier considering just how he seemed so invested in himself. Perhaps this is historically accurate (the self-centered nature of the ruler instead of working for the people), but it was frustrating to see him be so useless where there were huge factional wars amongst his ministers.

I did like, however, and was very impressed by how much Lu Yi changed. Alan Ren did an incredible job acting, and I loved how his moral beliefs were often brought into conflict with his much more conservative and cautious father Lu Ting.

To be honest, I think this drama did a lot of unique things, and also a lot of things that were similar to other dramas. I would probably recommend Arsenal Military Academy (2019) for sure, which has a bickering couple set in the Republican Era, who work together to unveil a broader conspiracy during the Japanese invasion of China. There's a lot of bromance here and like a "close friends main cast," moreover Xu Kai and Bai Lu have a lot of chemistry (although there is no kiss scene in the drama!)

Some other good ones include Sound of the Desert (2014) for the same balance between military and romance, and The Untamed (2019) for a murder/conspiracy story if you're into BL/Boys' Love.

To be honest, the ending is happy, but it's not strong enough for me personally considering all the angst that happens in the last 10 ~ 15 episodes (it's like a 5 minute "happy scene" and then the series ends). Xie Xiao doesn't really get better, until near the final last half when he collaborates with Lu Yi. I agree with your thoughts, because it's disappointing that he's actually very smart and competent, but he's written as if all he cares about is Jin Xia. I also skipped a lot of scenes with Shangguan Xi + Da Yang as well, but they do get A LOT of screentime.

At where you are right now, I think you'll probably get to the scene in which they both become a couple maybe around somewhere from episode 30ish? If you're finding it hard to finish this, maybe it is time to drop the series, because some of the problems you've mentioned don't really go away until much later.

This drama is so good, and very difficult to put down! I'm not completed yet, but I really love how healthy and gradual the romance is. You really see how both the ML + FL not only trust in each other completely, but also change and grow stronger together. I also especially like how the drama not only has a relatively large cast, but makes sure that characters don't just drop off after a case (which I find is a problem with many dramas that incorporate many little cases into one series). People that were introduced in one case not only become relevant in later cases, but many also experience interesting character growth and development.

If there are any complaints I have, it's that the main villain is really so hateful (which obviously means that the actor Han Dong is doing his job), and perhaps that the loveline between Shangguan Xi and Yang Yue is much less interesting to me. I also find it frustrating sometimes how the second male lead Xie Xiao often gets in the way of completing and solving cases. Beyond some of the production issues (i.e. the CGI) this is definitely a solid watch and there's no filler in the series, and it maintains its crackly and tense atmosphere throughout the series.

They were actually my favourite couple next to Yanzheng and Xie Xiang! I absolutely loved how Tingbai seemed like such an impressive and dangerous character, yet became completely obedient when it came to Manting. I do wish more time was actually spent on their love line (although I really do think Manting needed to have romantic affection for someone else such as Yanzheng to realize her true feelings for Tingbai). At least we got one kiss scene in this drama, and it was through them!

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I agree that in some dramas, it's really obvious when they decide to use dubbing. Yet other drama do a really great job (i.e. The Untamed, especially as the dubber was also the voice actor for the audio drama.) I understand that because of all the dialects, sometimes dubbing is used, but I'd much rather they keep the original voices. In this drama too I liked how you can hear second male lead/Li Chung Lin's Taiwanese accent and am glad that they kept it in! Hopefully they continue to use the real voices in the future!

I know this is an odd thing to focus on, but I LOVE how they didn't dub the voices in this one. Gala Zhang's voice is much deeper and assertive than I expected, but coupled with the fact that his character often speaks more passively and/or constantly doubts himself, it created this really nice effect which I thought made him even more attractive. This is the first of his works I've seen, and I think he did an incredible job as a very unique main lead who is not only very swoony, but is in fact especially charming because of his flaws and his worries.

I really came in with no expectations, and I'm still in the first half of the drama ⁠— but one thing I really liked is how much like a "second lead" the ML is. Gala Zhang did a great job at creating a lead who was insecure of his talents, who isn't great at what he does right away, who doesn't always want to take the lead or is "specially talented," and undergoes a lot of hard work to become a competitive archer. He and Ireine Song also have so much chemistry, and overall I love their childhood "enemy" relationship. If there's one complaint I have, it's that the FL's "fantasy" about "having a perfect family" doesn't seem realistic considering her age. In any case, however, this is one of the rare dramas where you see a ML who really isn't perfect, and in fact in many cases can be quite unsure of himself, which I've found to be so refreshing.

I feel like before watching this drama, people should be warned - there definitely is romance, but it's a drama that is quite depressing at times and messes with you psychologically, emotionally, and mentally. It's like you feel as if you're being manipulated as well, because of the way that edits are made (which make you suspicious of everyone) but also because of how the sinister tone is maintained throughout the drama. The colour palette is quite bleak, and I feel very unsettled while watching because of the excellent pacing of the drama. This isn't a thriller, but it's an emotional human drama which can sometimes be very sad and heavy.

Surprisingly, the relationship between Ha Jin and Jung Hoon is so healthy, despite the fact that in real life such a pairing would not only be impossible, but psychologically very difficult. They communicate really well, and the acting is so well done that you really emphasize with everyone's pain - especially Tae Eun, who cares for both characters deeply. My only issue is that there are a lot of bad guys in this drama who are bad in the sense that they seem to lack a moral compass. The characters in the drama also have A LOT of emotional baggage, which can be distressing but also incredibly heavy and tiring, especially with the way that their storylines are intertwined. I think this at its core is a story of healing and recovery from immense pain, but as a viewer, the drama really makes you have to experience that sadness first before seeing the sweet parts with our main couple.

The best drama I can compare this to is actually Beautiful Mind - while this is definitely not a medical drama (some of the medical practises in this drama absolutely constitute malpractise) the constant "unsettling" feeling and a focus on character growth before the development of a romantic relationship are quite similar.

This is surprising to me - I personally feel like Xu Kai is definitely the PERFECT casting for Hua Cheng, and not Xie Lian. Many of his past roles really embody Hua Cheng's playfulness and his puppy-like devotion (The Legends) as well as his more serious, "dangerous" personality (Arsenal Military Academy).

I really can't think of who would be the perfect casting for Xie Lian. I would love to see Ding Yuxi potentially (especially as my previous pick, Luo Yunxi, is already going to be in Immortality). Can't wait to hear about the finalized details for casting!

To be honest, the start was very crackly and full of chemistry, and there was a lot of potential. I really liked how it was the ML that fell for her first, and how our FL really stuck to her decision about dealing with her ex-boyfriend. I think where it started going downhill was that they didn't maintain the sparkly chemistry they had in the beginning. I feel like their relationship development got cut off by some of the other side couples, and didn't really get the time to develop before venturing straight into dating and then contrived heartbreak territory. Instead of wasting time creating angst, I really wanted to see more of the fluffy banter and relationship development between the two.

I honestly had really high expectations for this one. It really filled a niche for a sweet and fluffy drama that I was looking for. Moreover, I can even tolerate a middle and an ending that gets draggy over time. But when the drama loses the spark it created in the beginning, it's difficult to watch, and is the main reason I went from watching without subs to almost dropping entirely.

It's really hard to say because this drama is quite rare I think... it did a lot of things that were very different from general Japanese dramas (which usually focus more on plot and character development, which is why it's rare to see a really solid fluffy and non-comedic romantic drama).

You might find better luck with Chinese dramas, because they make so many fluffy romcoms that are more similar to this than Jdoramas. I think the strength of this one was in the chemistry, lack of filler, and the relationship growth between the main couple, as well as the fluff. I'm thinking immediately of Love O2O, Go Go Squid, Lucky's First Love, The Love by Hypnotic, Dr. Cutie, Skate Into Love, Le Coup de Foudre - all of which are pretty fluffy Chinese dramas that have sparkling chemistry between the leads, who go through different challenges together.

omg these are amazing recommendations! I've seen Love Better than Immortality, The Love by Hypnotic, The Eternal Love, and The Romance of Hua Rong, and those were definitely dramas similar to what I was talking about and looking for! I'm excited to check out your other recommendations, and thank you so much for introducing me to such great picks!

I started Girlfriend last night and binged it without subtitles. I think the beginning was better than the end, but it did satisfy my craving for something sweet and fluffy. Will be interesting to hear what you think after completing it!

Agree with you, I love historical and especially Xianxia dramas. Fantastic Mrs Right sounds right up my alley, and I'm absolutely positive that I'll love some of these!

So glad to hear that it's a solid drama, especially because I was kind of wary about being 36 episodes? Will definitely be putting on my watchlist ^^

This made me laugh haha! So disappointing to hear :'( I wish more dramas tbh made second leads get the girl, or second leads have their own love line :'(

Thanks for letting me know about this! This was definitely what I wanted to see (something obviously super fluffy and light) and not a bunch of pushing and pulling and contrived problems made up just for the sake of causing issues between the main couple. I'm sad since other adaptations of older works (like Fated to Love You) have done really well, and so it sucks seeing that this one just didn't work out.

Thanks for also being so kind to provide me with recommendations! I love Chinese dramas that are pure (unrealistic haha) fluff, with basically really strong chemistry between the couples. Some recent ones I saw which were really good include Dr. Cutie, The Sweet Girl, Lucky's First Love, Love O2O, Go Go Squid. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I also have my eye on Girlfriend (not the one with Timmy Xu, but the one that's currently airing!) since it really sounds right up my alley!

Oh no! I'm so disappointed and yet so glad that I read this before making the jump. I'm really sad because the original Taiwanese drama is very famous, and I had been wanting to watch it - except b/c some of the sets are rather outdated, I was so excited when I heard this was coming out.

Definitely sad that this is the outcome and that honestly this drama sounds like a huge trainwreck (or maybe the original was just done better or there were less expectations towards it). Sorry that you had to go through the entire thing, but from what it sounds like I don't think I'll pick this up since chemistry is really important to me!