Kate

I get it. I gonna think about this show for quite some time myself... 🙂

The term I used was trauma not torture (being a horror movie fan, there is a huge difference 😅) but the meaning in here kind of the same...

Nothing much. She is still a doctor in Eastern Country. Last scene we see her in the bar alone after the war ended

My feed posts about the drama:

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/NqwykSZ
Initial thoughts and my instant love for Ben.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/8X7wVf6
4 eps in, loving Ben more.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/8X7zBu6
How my love for Ben and Sa Xin started.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/leA33Te
Going full Delulu.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/VxdR7f5
Going full Delulu pt. 2

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/8X7WBt6
Emotional reaction to episode 12

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/8XLAZU6
Episode 13-14 and how I appreciated the psychological aspects.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/bjzVAue
Full on rant about episode 15-16.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/oz5dXS0
More Delulu thoughts.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/J4V1KHR
Just me loving Ben.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/J4VdDsR
Trauma porn post - it started to get exhausting.

https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/feeds/A8qQrSA
Eps 25-26 - a lot of emotional delulu reactions about Ben and Sa Xin.

I did not even think about the chemistry lol But you are right, it was not really there. I was so focused on the trauma, I did not pay attention to their romance tbh 🤣

As for PTSD... not everyone gets better. People who suffer from it have 30-40% higher mortality rate. Obviously not all of this is connected to suicide, but the life quality overall with PTSD gets worse and not everyone is able to heal for various reasons. So with that I was not even mad. They should have just made the drama shorter, so the repetitiveness would not be this exhausting for the viewers. We would still get the message with how hard it is to heal.

Final rating 8/10. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Anything below feels wrong. But I also don't think 8 makes sense. It's all feels and vibes, no thought behind that number. For the thoughts you can read the review 🤣

Going by good and bad points with no context:
🔥 Ben and Sa Xin forever. Love them. Bless them. How did this pass censorship?
🔥 Ben's existence changed my life. I'm a whole new woman now.
🔥 This was the best performance Chen Zhe Yuan ever gave, probably best performance I have seen in any chinese drama ever. Saw fucking raw and so perfect. I am speechless.
🔥 Solid representation on how serious mental health issues are and how there is no quick fix for them. Sometimes, there is no fix at all.
🔥 Amazing soundtrack! Remove that do re mi fa sol la song, and it's 10/10 easy.
🔥 Surprisingly good practical and special effects.
🔥 Ending that makes sense.

👎🏻 Kind of a trauma porn if you ask me.
👎🏻 Because Chen Zhe Yuan did such a perfect job, even though everyone did amazing job too, they still felt flat next to him.
👎🏻 Some issues were dealt with questionable resolutions.
👎🏻 Should have been shorter - 30 episodes would be enough to present the same story with the same depth, with less repetitiveness.

Review: https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/reviews/429898
There are spoilers in the review, it's rather long-ish analysis of the show.

The drama had great highlights, but overall, majority of it seemed like a filler episode 😅

Also, thank you so much for telling me you read some of my other reviews, this is honestly a big compliment for folks like me who write these 🥰

Perfect ending would be honestly all the main youngsters leaving the town and going their separate ways 🙂

I was in love with episodes 1-6, fine with episode 7-10, and insulted and gaslit by episode 11-12 🤣

🔥 Kang Hui is such a well written female character. It was her solo show. Everyone else is just the background for her journey tbh. She was so complex, so flawed, so refreshing to watch.
🔥 Lee Se Young's performance was stellar. I can officially say I moved on from my dislike.
🔥 Hated Chun Pil as a character, but Choi Min Soo's portrayal of him was PERFECTION!
🔥 The whole drama is STUNNING!

👎🏻 Except from Kang Hui everyone seemed quite underdeveloped. Seok Gyeong is one of the most underused second male leads in the history of dramas, and dude had great potential.
👎🏻 That fucking ending just makes me angry. I was shocked scene after another. The fuck was going on 🤣
👎🏻 I just want to say... not every fucking character has to always end up in a relationship by the end of the show 🤡

For more in-depth ranting about the ending, you can check my review 🤡🤣
https://kisskh.at/profile/theKate/reviews/429558

I loved the whole journey, except for the destination. I just cannot take seriously the whole: everyone lived happily ever after, everyone was nice and all traumas were healed 🤡

Great review tho! Congratz on your first one! 🔥

I love when the drama write serious problem, and then by the end pretend the problems were not that serious and one talk can fix it all 🤡

and also thank you so much for your nice words 😭 It truly means a lot to me to know people enjoy muy reviews, especially even they actually disagree with the takes.

They tried to add a lot of variety of different elements to make it more interesting to a greater audience, and by the end of it all, they did not have time, or skill? to develop majority of plots and characters...

just local delulu analysis of new scenes from Ben and Sa Xin 🤡

I am so impressed and speechless with how well they craft Ben and Sa Xin scenes. They make it so fucking obvious there is a thing between them, but leave just enough deniability so it will pass the censorship.

When they were talking about commitment? FUCKING MASTERPIECE!

The way they were talking about how Ben cannot offer anything more than money to her. And Sa Xin confronts him that money is not what she wants, she wants commitment. To which Ben says that's one thing he cannot give, taking into consideration his situation.

And that's where the conversation shifts. Initially I still thought Sa Xin was talking from the perspective of Ben and Dr Pei:

"Is that so? You knew Dr. Pei wouldn't come, yet you still waited here alone until closing time."

But then...

"You knew joining the special force wouldn't pay well, and you could die at any time, yet you still stayed and became the captain. You never promised Rina to take care of me, yet every time we go on a mission, you shield me from danger, fearing that I might die before you. Tell me, what are all these?"

When did Ben decide to stay in the military? Why did it match exactly the time Rina died, and Sa Xin decided to join? The whole second part of that conversation was not about his commitment to Dr Pei, not even his commitment overall - it was specifically about his commitment to Sa Xin and keeping him safe 😭

His commitment to Dr. Pei is waiting for her for a few hours at the bar.
His commitment towards Sa Xin is literally being okay with dying to protect him.

The way this whole scene was presented from my delulu perspective:

Sa Xin waiting for Ben outside of the bar all these hours screams: wanting his crush to be happy, but also wanting to make sure he does not get hurt. The way he said he would leave if Dr. Pei showed up is basically saying - I can give you up for the person that will treat you better than I do. Another thing - him pointing out how Ben likes Dr. Pei because he waited for her in that bar, while he waited outside of that bar for Ben. Seems like he is admitting to something 🙂

Ben was honestly surprised by Sa Xin outside of the door. He told him he trusts him, but it seems like he now starts to feel like it’s not just him protecting Sa Xin, but also Sa Xin helping and protecting him. Sa Xin shows more of his mature sides, makes Ben confront his past and reflect on his current feelings. The way he called him out on “not being a man who is committed”, by pointing out all the ways he was committed to Sa Xin. I fucking cannot. Ben just gives me a strong: I have a crush on Dr. Pei, but I LOVE Sa Xin, but I also do not want to admit I love Sa Xin, so I'm fooling myself into getting more into Dr. Pei. But when I'm with the two of them, my eyes will tell you the truth.

LIKE SA XIN LITERALLY SAID THAT BEN IS A MAN WHO SAYS ONE THING BUT DOES THE OTHER. And the whole conversation pointed out how his actions are more true and reliable than his words. He keeps saying he likes Dr. Pei, but his eyes follow Sa Xin everywhere, even when he is with Dr. Pei.

He keeps teasing Sa Xin to see if Sa Xin cares. And when it seems like he does not anymore (like when he just left the bar right away when Ben told him Dr. Pei can help him back) he gets disappointed.

Exchange is cool, coz the whole exes in a dating show is a truly interesting bit.
https://kisskh.at/725901-transit-love-2
https://kisskh.at/745105-exchange-season-3
(have not seen season 1)

https://fr.mydramalist.com/710991-change-days-season-2 < this was less dating, since it was about couples who were together but were not sure they want to stay together. Kind of sad, a lot of frustration. But an interesting watch.

i felt no romance on her side, but I did on his 🙂

I mean last date of Sian and Jeong-su and the way he looked at her when she was sleeping - that was romance 😭 why she picked Jun-seo...

Lee Da Hee was so unfiltered with her emotional reactions this season I love her 🤣

someone different.

it;s hard to give equal time, when some people did not really form any pairs, seemed mah about everyone and it was not really working. It's not like I want to watch 2 people with zero chemistry chat about nothing coz "everyone should have screen time". But I think the issue was casting overall. I want more diversity, almost everyone here was one way or another already related to social media and media. I think that's why I like other dating shows more 🤣 Coz they have more "normal" people