Thanks for writing this article. After watching almost 400 dramas I have learnt to keep away from dramas I know I won't enjoy (unfortunately sometimes also if they have actors/cast of which I am fond of). However I do still make mistakes now and again and start a drama that I realize is not for me almost straight away. Sometimes I hold on for 3/4 episodes in case it's a wrong first impression, but that is as far as I will go with something that either bores me, or upsets me or is not my cup of tea. Once the magic is gone I almost never go back to it.
I have reached Episode 17 and I am enjoying the drama so far although I am finding it rather slow. I understand from reading the comments below that the pace will pick up as the story progresses. At the moment I really have no idea of how the leads will get together as the writers are pointing to a different OTP so it will be interesting to see how everthing will unfold. I have to say that as far as looks go I prefer Yuan Ruo to Second Uncle but I still have to figure out their personalities as they are not so clear up to now.
Thanks for this article. My favourite 2018 dramas were Mr. Sunshine, Life on Mars, Misty and Prison Playbook (shown between 2017-2018). As far as 2018 Chinese dramas go I highly recommend The Rise of Phoenixes which for me has surpassed the Nirvana series.
I decided to watch this drama thanks to all the positive reviews and opinions I read about it. I have to say that it didn't disappoint me as it was pleasant and fun to watch in an interesting and realistic office setting. What I appreciated most here was the (not so) hidden message in between the lines of the plot as it would be wonderful if time could be really turned back to correct our mistakes. Kang Ji Hwan has chosen another good drama yet again.
I started watching this drama mostly because of the positive opinions I read about it but I was very skeptical as I generally don't enjoy palace harem dramas. I have to admit that this time I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it wasn't as chovinistic as expected (Ruyi's Royal love in the Palace comes to mind) because of a very strong and clever female lead who could overcome most of the challenges that came her way. I was also pleased with most of the emperor's choices and common sense decisions which are rare features for emperors featured in these type of dramas. I appreciated many side characters in this drama as well. On the whole it was a pleasant watch although I found that the story dragged a little and suddenly became nonsensical in the last couple of episodes.
Thanks for all the hard work. As far as I am concerned The Smile has Left your Eyes was good but not as good as to deserve to win all of these awards. After all it was a remake of a Japanese drama so the plot wasn't even original. However I respect everyone's choices and maintain my own favourites for 2018. ;)
Wow, thanks so much for this comprehensive and helpful article!! I plan to watch Touch your Heart, Big Issue, I Love When I'm Sad and Haechi. I am open to other dramas when reading good reviews or opinions.
With Park Bo Gum and and Song Hye Kyo I was really expecting a very original and special drama. What I got was a romcom with a quite flat and clichè plot. So what kept me going until the end was indeed the talent of these two great actors (and the great photography) as I would have otherwise dropped it after the first episode. I hope to see them soon in much better projects.
I was skeptical when I first started watching this show as I am not a gamer and I don't particularly enjoy fantasy type dramas. However I was pleasantly surprised at how involved I soon became in the story as the writers were able to mix perfectly reality and virtual world. Yes the whole plot was rather unsettling for me and I agree with everyone about the fact that the ending wasn't properly explained as many parts remained unsolved. On the whole an original drama, very well acted (strangely for me also PSH was not bad here) and produced extremely well. I am very happy for Hyun Bin and hope he will carry on choosing projects like this.
What a great drama which I missed watching last year when it aired. Extremely good acting, a well written story and a great OST as well. It really shows what difficult decisions need to be made in the medical world.
Thanks for this helpful article which is a great reminder for all of us drama watchers. I generally only watch one/two episodes at a time (never eat whilst watching but keep a bottle of water or herbal tea besides me) and then get up walk around the house or generally do other activities like reading, knitting or cross-stitching in order to stay away from screens as much as possible for a while as my head/body make me understand I need a break. Unfortunately something I do too little of is exercising which I generally hate although I realize is good for me, but I don't have space in the house for a treadmill or elliptical in any case.
I enjoyed your article...I only tried once to convert my daughter into Kdrama watching with Coffee Prince. She appreciated it at the time but never continued with Kdrama watching unfortunately so I just enjoy reading and commenting about dramas here on MDL. ;)
So far I am only interested in Touch your heart and Hot Blooded Priest. I will keep an eye on ratings and reviews to pick up any other ones that might spark my curiosity.
Great article with which I fully agree!! I also can only remember these actors for these characters which they played beautifully. I recently really enjoyed Kang Ki Young's performances in Terius Behind Me and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim as they were both funny and quirky characters and I wonder if I would appreciate him in a more seriuous role or if he would forever remain with that type of personality for me.
However I do still make mistakes now and again and start a drama that I realize is not for me almost straight away. Sometimes I hold on for 3/4 episodes in case it's a wrong first impression, but that is as far as I will go with something that either bores me, or upsets me or is not my cup of tea. Once the magic is gone I almost never go back to it.
At the moment I really have no idea of how the leads will get together as the writers are pointing to a different OTP so it will be interesting to see how everthing will unfold. I have to say that as far as looks go I prefer Yuan Ruo to Second Uncle but I still have to figure out their personalities as they are not so clear up to now.
What I appreciated most here was the (not so) hidden message in between the lines of the plot as it would be wonderful if time could be really turned back to correct our mistakes.
Kang Ji Hwan has chosen another good drama yet again.
I was also pleased with most of the emperor's choices and common sense decisions which are rare features for emperors featured in these type of dramas. I appreciated many side characters in this drama as well.
On the whole it was a pleasant watch although I found that the story dragged a little and suddenly became nonsensical in the last couple of episodes.
On the whole an original drama, very well acted (strangely for me also PSH was not bad here) and produced extremely well. I am very happy for Hyun Bin and hope he will carry on choosing projects like this.
I recently really enjoyed Kang Ki Young's performances in Terius Behind Me and What's Wrong with Secretary Kim as they were both funny and quirky characters and I wonder if I would appreciate him in a more seriuous role or if he would forever remain with that type of personality for me.