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This review may contain spoilers
A Very Clever Chess Games Between Brilliant Players
Seriously the best Cdrama of 2021 for me. I personally feel like the episodes are too short despite it being 38 episodes. Everything moves so fast and there are a lot of things happen at the same time. It’s one of the drama that you feel that you can watch hundreds of episodes of them since it is simply entertaining and intriguing, and believe me, 38 episodes of this is not enough at all. It is cleverly written with well-developed characters and most of all, I love the message that the author wanted to deliver in his story.One of the greatest premises of the drama is the well planned and clever schemes that took decades to materialize. I love how Xu Xiao is like a master of chess that no matter how Fengnian tried to break away from his plans, he ended up following exactly what his father has set for him. It just made you shudder on how Xu Xiao has planned for literally everything and how even when Fengnian did things opposite of him, he ended up following his father's plans again. It was cleverly written with so many interesting details.
Aside from that, I love how they cover the details and address the seemed 'pretentious' act that many leads like to make in historical dramas. Like one of the Lady pointed out Fengnian's hypocrisy of saving the whole Wang family at the expense of killing his army. The way he answered it holds so many truths as soldiers are different from innocent civilians. Their job is to protect the civilians and he is with them fighting the bad guys all the way at the expense of his life as well. Or the motivations of his mother not revealing the assassination attempt on her and his father's choice not to wage war with the royal family for personal vendetta is handled really well. Everything made sense, with no plot holes and every decision holds true to every character's motivation even when they only appear couple of minutes in the drama. For someone who appreciate details and bullet-proof story with no plot holes, this drama is a total joy. I also appreciate how the schemes are done with basis and very detailed preparations and it is not like they are solely predicting the enemies' moves and actions but they are actually geared the enemies to move according to their narrative. This is the brilliance of Fengnian and how he is as dazzlingly intelligent and probably smarter than his father or his teacher. That’s is why when he said he will get ‘both’, I believe him since he has the brains to get all the things that he wants without compromising either one, whether his beliefs or morals.
Zhang Ruoyun did amazingly in this role. I think the brilliance in his acting is how he separate Fan Xian and Fengnian completely despite both characters are very similar in many ways -- extremely brilliant & intelligent, talented at martial arts, unpredictable, loyal, warm-hearted, funny, playful, full of love but underneath all that, both are a reluctant hero who just wish to live a happy and untroubled life with their family. Both have 90% traits similar with each other but there are not 1 ounce of Fan Xian that I see in Fengnian. Fan Xian seemed like someone who didnt care about anything at all while Fengnian is someone who cares so much -- so much to a point that even his enemies can know and predict his moves. Zhang Ruoyun handles Fengnian delicately and proved again how he is one of the best actors of his generation.
The last episode pretty much very satisfactory and while I can predict why Fengnian wants to make a do with XuanXuan family for the water routes, I never thought it is for his mother's revenge, I thought it is to bring his siblings home. I was intrigued to know who is his accomplice at the court and everything is answered with many hints of secrets lurking at the background. I know it will be gazillion years before we can watch the 2nd season but I will wait patiently. Great dramas are not made in one day and this is the case for this one.
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The budget for this drama is definitely on the high side. The sets are beautiful and expensive and the costumes are definitely one of the best parts of this whole drama. I love the coupling costumes that Long Yue and Ju'er always wear after their marriage. :D This is the first time that I've seen a couple in historical drama that done this and I super love it! Their flowery black hanfu is my favourite which followed with their blue coloured hanfu -- they are so so pretty!
The Longs household is definitely a nice place to live in. All the 3 brothers are lovely and their relationships with their ladies are healthy and balanced. Long Residence is such a beautiful and serene home and you somehow get the feeling that it’s gonna be a happy home for everyone when they live there. A residence in dramas usually didnt give this vibe to viewers but the Long Residence definitely gives you this happy and comfortable vibe and I love all the scenes that are shot in there.
I really love if Zhaolin keeps taking this kind of role in the future. His portrayal as Long Yue is hilarious here. He loves for money, being a profiteer and most of all stingy, despite all of these negative traits, he made it very lovable somehow. I keeps laughing how calculative he is even with the Dowager Empress to how petty he is in everything from borrowing his brother's army just to mess with rivals' business to his stinginess with his younger brother -- its all done in hilarious way that instead of being turned off, you will laugh at all the scenes instead. And most of all, I love how intelligent he is, he had his flaws and likes to do things his own way but you gotta admits that most of his plans worked and he saves his loved ones again & again. I think the plot that I love the most is most probably how far he is willing to go to save his personal servant; Li Ke. Dramas usually like to take the female leads as hostage where the male leads need to make impossible choices but here, it was his servants. He has a heart of gold and I love him for that. Long Yue is definitely one of my top 3 Zhaolin's best characters to date.
Shane Xiao as Mu'er definitely one of the highlights in this drama. She is strong, lovely, very opiniated and she definitely has what it takes to take on the rather wild Long Yue. I love how savage she is and her; '2nd Young Master, you are hungry? Aren't you already FULL with jealousy?' and her follow up; 'Chicken soup? I rather not take it or else it will heated up my passion' -- it is a brilliant remarks to deal with a rather jealous husband haha! And Ju'er's fashion is definitely the best. Her costumes are like expensive rags sew on together and it comes out funky and elegant at the same time. Her hanfu itself shows how different she is from other girls and the way she thinks as well is different that set her apart from other people. I love how details the production team in writing and making her character.
I also love how they dedicate the whole 1 episode for the ending. I always have issues how C-dramas like to rush their endings but here, the last episode has everything on why I really like the drama and why it is such a stress relief kind of story. From how the brides do not want to be seen as too eager and acting all demure despite being very excited themselves to Long Fei having to wear recycled Long Yue's wedding dress to how the Dowager Empress trolled Long Yue into paying for the very expensive wedding to Long Yue giving the key to Longs' Treasure Room to Ju'er is the icing on the cake. I like how both of them always smiling constantly thorough out the drama especially when they are together and that’s the very reasons why it is such a joy to see their scenes as a couple.
Rewatch value is definitely 100%. I started the first episode again after I finished it and that’s how I love this drama as a whole.
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But despite that, I found that the things I love the most about this C-version is their original scenes. I especially love the imaginary conversation Jiaxin had with Xiyi in her head and all the underlaying depth of that conversation. I love how the script pointed out that 'the path they walked together is too short, yet the regrets they left behind is too deep.' Or the scene where Xiyi hugs Jiaxin for the last time and tell her not to blame herself over Xiao Ximi's death and his 'I love you' one last time while shivering -- how come anyone not breaking up watching such scenes? ;_;
Even if they took the original scenes, I personally think they revamp the whole scene to a new height with a better script. The birthday scene was done really well in which Xiyi confessed without knowing it was Jiaxin in the bear costume. Or both of their conversation after the kiss at the hotel are especially brilliant. I love it when scriptwriter wrote this touching and creative script that touch the deepest of our hearts. It is simple yet can highlight their deep regrets and sadness.
The C-version definitely has the most good-looking main couple of all the versions. But funnily enough, Jiaxin looked the most hideous in her nerdy look though -- my goodness, those glasses need to burn in hell lol. I thought both Xing Zhaolin and Liang Jie did really well in their respective roles despite their young age. This is the first time I'm seeing them in anything so I can’t believe how young is Zhaolin (he is 22 years old here?) and he played this role of heartbroken and sad husband and father amazingly. I adore his subtle expressions and the way his expression change from happy to hurting in split seconds are especially amazing -- that you know in that moment, his everything was shattering in the inside. And Liang Jie was great at emotional scenes! Girl can definitely cry and looking pretty while doing so.
The writer made everyone kinder in this version especially Xiyi. He almost made all the right decisions despite how tough it is. People aren’t black and white and it’s fun to see how he struggle to come terms with his feelings. It wasn’t easy but when he chose Jiaxin, he never rethink his decision and he never waver. She is always 'the one' for him. Like all versions, I guess it’s important for us to realise that Jiaxin never has to change in order to be worthy of his love. She is always the one since the beginning and I love that this is the main theme that this drama and all the versions has always pointed out again and again.
And Jiaxin truly change into a new woman as Elaine. She made a mistake by kissing Xiyi at the hotel but after that, she told herself she can be 'weak' but can never give in to her 'vulnerability'. Can anyone do that especially in front someone that the once deeply love and still in love? Only a strong person can do that and that is Jiaxin. She only chose him in the end when she knew he is genuinely a good guy who always chose her and never abandoned her. However, this version Anna is absolutely the worst though. Until the end, she never knew the impact of her decision did to both Xiyi & Jiaxin. But I'm not gonna ruin my review by mentioning her and getting frustrated on how she ruined the story for me. :P
Lastly, I love like the fact that this drama highlighted a few of important theme of the whole story:
1) How it’s not easy to come to someone life and change their lives but Jiaxin did exactly that to both Xiyi and his family with her kindness.
2) Xiyi constantly ask Jiaxin to believe in herself in the short time when he was with her because he believes in her and her capabilities. That her alone, just as it is, is enough for him.
3) Xiyi realised how broken he made Jiaxin and his inability to protect her made her change to Elaine. It’s not a bad thing but she lose her innocence and he knew he is the reasons for that.
4) The loss of Xiao Ximi, no matter how hurting it is for both of them, but it made Jiaxin can meet Xiyi as an 'equal'.
5) Xiyi realised that he is the cause of Jiaxin pain and literally, literally anyone can be Mr. W as long as it is not him. Thus, his decision to let her go despite how painful it is for him.
All the OST in this drama is amazing though. I can’t get over how the BGM always always make the scenes even sadder. And those lyrics, how it fits all the characters like a shoe.
The story is not perfect since I have my problem with the way some of the plots are handled but overall, this drama is a good adaptation. I thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up becoming a fan of the actors.
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The movie started of with how our two main leads falling in love. At this time, A-Side of the story was told in 'Her' perspective thus you see all those sweet and beautiful romance between the two of them. What I find amazing is that despite how cliche many of the scenes are, it wasnt eyes rolling worthy since the director shot it beautifully that you ended up just simply enjoying those scenes. I already love the movie from that moment on as it portrayed their love story in 'innocent' way and the lighting and pastel colors were used very effectively to make everything more beautiful and dazzling.
Then, the B-Side of the story happened and this is where the plot twist was revealed. The same story was told in 'His' perspective and this is when the story just got a whole lot more interesting and engaging. You started to see the same scene in totally different light and everything clicked from over the top romance to his side of life that we didnt know before. It was refreshing to see the exact same scene reenect with little extra details and it feels like its a totally different story all together.
Mark Chao really delivers in this role. I didnt know he can sing and he is actually pretty good at it. From his rebellious personality to his vulnerability, he fits Gong Ning to perfection. Out of all his scenes, I find the confrontational scene with his father in the rain to be the most heartbreaking. Gong Ning was sweet, tender, funny and most of all very dreamy and Mark fits this role like a glove.
And I cant believe how impressed I am with Angelababy. It does seemed like she is like this in real life as well with how natural she is in this role. Shiqiao was kindhearted and full of life despite death was at her doorstep everyday. I love how romantic she was despite never being in relationship her whole life -- from the glow in the dark messages, to the flavour of sweet to saviour the moment, to the raincoat to the quilt she sew for Gong Ning with scene when they danced to the Latin song -- I love that most tug-to-your-heart romantic stuffs are done by her. It was nice to see a balanced relationship that both of them make efforts in the relationship.
I also love the fact that we are further will be surprised with how the story developed later which revealed another 2 plot twists. So do watch until the end past the post credit as more thing will be revealed later. The ending was done brilliantly and I like how she doesn't need words or explanation to believe in their love. Its rare and due to that will always remain special than any other love stories out there.
Hat off to Han Yan for written and directed this masterpiece. I'm not usually like to watch romance movies or dramas since I always find them inadequate but once in a while I will fall in love with the story when it is done right and I believe most of it comes from him as he found the right formula to blend cliche and heartbreaking story and make it memorable. 9.5/10
Rewatch material: 10/10 as I already rewatched this movies like 5 times lol in a matter of 3 days.
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“How often can life’s pleasures be enjoyed? Shi Yi, alone, is all that I ask.”
Forever & Ever ruined romance dramas for me in general since it is so beautifully written and acted. It is just very rare to find romance dramas that do not have stupid misunderstandings, petty games of push & pull, breakups and just about love, trust, loyalty and absolute understanding between two people in love. I can never stress out how wonderful and fantastic this drama is. Zhousheng Chen & Shi Yi’s relationship is really beautiful -- I rarely use this word to describe relationship in dramas but they have ‘soulmate’ kind of relationship since they can see deep into each other's souls where no words are needed to be spoken. I never seen a drama where the leads actually smile at each other as much as they smile to each other here -- they look totally in love, smitten and extremely blessed to be at each other's company. And this drama is actually better with each rewatch since the love & romantic details in it are really amazing.THE LEADS’ PERFORMANCES
Ren Jialun is truly fantastic as the awkwardly shy Zhousheng Chen to the point I really thought that is his real personality. His awkward body movements, the way he will lick his lips when he's nervous, to those blissful and shy smiles -- the attention to details when he is playing the character is just magnificent. And I love how Zhousheng Chen handle his toxic mother with such a grace -- never disrespecting her but also never allowed her to mistreat his wife as well.
And Bai Lu as Shi Yi in Forever & Ever is just beyond awesome. I really think they need to write more amazing FL character like her -- bold, straight forward and just full of love. The way she comfort her husband, understand him like no one does, all the sweet little gestures, or the way she laugh at him are just fantastic. She is perfect but at the same time appear very humane and approachable. Plus, she did all the first moves, how awesome is that?
BEAUTIFUL VISUAL DIRECTING, CINEMATOGRAPHY & COSTUMES
I love how the Director using frames a lot in the drama to display characters’ thoughts and distance and how when they are shot in the same frame, its to show how both is at the same state of mind. And I also notice the drama used a lot of earthly colors like yellow, white and brown for soothing and warm effects and that is why you will feel the drama is very relaxing and healing. Or using shadows when the couple had their first night together which is one of the best directing I've seen for this kind of love scenes.
I also love how this drama will be using characters' outfits to tell a story or their motivation. I like how Zhousheng Chen & Shiyi will always wear same color with different shades before their marriage while same color with same shade (coupling outfits) after their marriage. Or how the antagonists in the drama will always wear black, literally, black all the time. Or grey character like Weixing will always wear black & white.
THE ESSENCE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP
I love that the essence of their love did not change at all despite both of them has different personalities than their previous life in One & Only. Shi Yi will fall first and Zhousheng Chen took time but when he did, she can feel it in her bones despite his love being silent.
And the most important of all, they found calm & tranquility with each other just like in One & Only -- the same calmness and safety. That is why when everything else is failing him (like his family), he always find her, since she gave him the comfort just like Shi Yi found the comfort in Zhousheng Chen in One & Only. They are still one heart and mind -- in fact stronger since now, no explanation needed as they trust each other unconditionally.
And both of them really gets each other. They really knows and understands each other in some fundamental ways. For Shi Yi for an example, all Zhousheng Chen's socially awkward and shy personality to his weird antics -- are the aspects that made her love him because they're what make him who he is. She doesn’t want to change him as she love him just as he is and vice versa. Their relationship is not just about physical beauty but they're about really seeing deeply into each other’s souls. Their attraction is based on trust and understanding. I love that their internal monologue would be like; 'I should hug her. She would also want me to hug her' which I find interesting since Zhousheng Chen completely understand what Shi Yi wants. Even when they moved to Xi'an, the house that he bought and the furnitures in it are based on Shi Yi's preference even when she is not there to tell him. They have this 'Us against the world' mentality so adversities only make them closer instead of the other way around.
THE FUNDAMENTAL OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP
"Most people see the skin and not the beauty of the bones." – and their relationship is not just bonding on the physical aspect but bonding of the soul.
Both One & Only and Forever & Ever explored both Zhousheng Chen & Shi Yi’s relationship with this fundamental core. The 'bonding of the soul' -- something that can’t be seen from the surface but both of them see each other’s' soul for who they truly are. That’s why when some people complained that they couldn't understand why someone as gorgeous as Shi Yi could be attracted to someone socially awkward and nerdy like Zhousheng Chen, it is exactly what the drama wants to achieve -- Shi Yi sees his beautiful bones instead of his skin and see the beautiful man he is from the inside and fall in love with that part of him. It was meant to be portray that way.
Lots of people just see the drama from the surface, thus passing it merely as fluff but once they actually see each scene on what the writer actually intended to tell, they are just gonna be surprise with how full of depth is their story -- whether in the past or the present.
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PAST & PRESENT
I also love how the writer connect the past and the present -- from something simple as drying of Shi Yi’s hair to helping her changing shoes which both happened in One & Only and Forever & Ever.
To the part where Zhousheng Chen taught Shi Yi Guqin in One & Only and gifted her the Guqin factory in Forever & Ever. Or he gifted her tea all over the place in One & Only and gifted her Tea House in Forever & Ever.
Or something big like he guard the whole city for her safety in One & Only and he sent someone to protect her when she went back from Germany in Forever & Ever.
ZHOUSHENG CHEN’S SILENT LOVE
One of the greatest thing about Zhousheng Chen is his silent love. Like he will always do things silently -- never expecting anything in return but Shi Yi could always feel his love despite he never mention it -- whether in this life or their past life. For an example, a simple scene like showing him paying their dinner together with his student at Xi'an where no one know except his assistant. Looking from the surface, it seemed like a filler scene but its actually to show his selfless and sincere personality since everyone in the room thought it is his assistant who is treating everyone to dinner.
I love how the writer and director chose to portray Zhousheng Chen’s love that you can truly passed it as something insignificant because Shi Yi didn’t even know most of them. Like him calling her taxi at Xi'an -- even when he could tell her that it was him who did it, but he didn’t when she thought this nice gesture is from his assistant and not from him. Or how he helped the injured delivery guy -- he could tell her how he helped him (in the later episode) which will expose how he drove all night just to see her that day and again, he didn’t. Or the pomegranate scene that he passed as something he found on the street when in fact we as an audience knew the length that he go through for something that she said in her sleep. Or something big like how he sent someone to protect her when she went back from Germany since he feels she is in danger to asking Xiao Ren to accompany her at the Old Town – both instances, Shi Yi never knew.
She once asked him how would she know he did all this if he never tell her but he said he simply did it out of love so it didn’t matter whether she know it or not -- exactly just like Zhousheng Chen from the past. This is not including the one that Shi Yi can see like the wedding cards or the wedding lanterns. I think no other drama actually show this much romantic details in their story -- I find it truly captivating.
SHI YI’S LOVE & AGENCY
Some people misunderstood Shi Yi since she seemed to agree with everything when it comes to Zhousheng Chen. Its not that she didn’t have agency but she understood him to the core. Like she didn’t have to protect herself or fight for her rights, because she know he will do it for her -- since he will never ask her to do something that she didn’t like or uncomfortable with. Like she know she didn’t have to move for him after the wedding, since he will move for her. Their relationship is actually rather fascinating in this aspect - a complete trust and understanding of each other.
He can’t come home as initially planned, she totally understands it. Need to leave early while they are in the middle of dating, she's cool with it too. Not because she's a pushover, but she knows that despite of anything, she is #1 in his heart -- a real mature understanding that reflect her state of mind.
CONCLUSION
Zhousheng Chen may not remember anything (unlike Shi Yi) but everything that he did in Forever & Ever is the things he regrets and couldn't give her in One & Only. That is why, he is my favorite romantic lead in any drama because his love is sincere, pure and did not ask anything in return -- its okay if she never knew what he did as long as she feel his love and that is all matters to him.
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The Best Kdrama for Year 2021
The best Kdrama for year 2021 without a doubt. The story is extremely hilarious and the politic is just as tight and awesome like other serious sageuk dramas out there. Both Shin Hye Sun & Kim Jung Hyun did great in their respective roles. The ending is very satisfactory as well.WHY MR. QUEEN'S ENDING IS A SATISFYING ENDING
There are a lot of audiences that are not satisfy with the ending, I think partly because they missed the various hints that the writer keeps throwing to us since the beginning of the drama which is, So Young has always been part Bong Hwan since the very beginning -- which influence both his behaviors and actions. And her presence is more apparent when she fainted and fell into vegetative state. So all the romantic actions we seen later are all her own doing and not Bong Hwan. You see Bong Hwan being confuse and hate those actions since it was always been So Young's doing. Bong Hwan just always tries to justified himself everytime he does something against his will to console himself since he can’t understand his action either (like imagining Hong Yeon when the Queen and the King had their first night together and any other various instances). So Young's memories, So Young's feelings, So Young's sync actions with her father, So Young's music ability, So Young's embroidery skills are the many hints that the writer throw to us.
The biggest hints:
Hint #1 - When Bong Hwan left the Queen's body in Episode 20, So Young knew he was gone since she cant felt his presence anymore -- she wasn’t ecstatic to get back, but she just felt he is gone since she never left her body in the first place. This indicates that she always there in her own body influencing all Bong Hwan's sub-conscience, behaviors and actions and do things against his wills.
Hint #2 - Bong Hwan was revealed as someone who never do justice (based on his conversation with Secretary Han on the balcony). This is the biggest hint that show us that all the helps the King received from the beginning from the Queen has always been So Young's doing. He influences Bong Hwan to do that way and in the end, Bong Hwan benefited from it as well and he become kinder and more towards justice and changed his destiny as well in the future.
Hint #3 - So Young never revealed to anyone that someone took over her body. Why? Because she know that she was always there in the beginning influencing Bong Hwan's behaviors and actions. Bong Hwan started to get So Young's memories one by one and can feel her emotions (thats why he knew that the Queen loves the King since the beginning and never love Byeong In). This later intensified when even when the Queen think, it was in So Young's voice instead of Bong Hwan. And later, the kiss, the first night which was done against Bong Hwan's will further proves this. And when we reached the end of the drama, we started to see less Bong Hwan and more of the Queen in term of action and decision makings. The personality of the Queen might be Bong Hwan, but the sub-conscious has always been So Young. Thats why she didnt feels guilty towards the King as well since she knew it was her that the King falls in love with.
I guess it comes to the question on who the King really fall in love with. The King starts to waver when the found out The Queen's grace behind her actions. She appears as someone arrogant & unruly (Bong Hwan) but she did something that help him with his dream of creating a better Joseon (So Young). So it was always been So Young's grace that made him fall in love with the Queen while Bong Hwan's un-princess like behaviors are the flaws (as he mentioned during his confession) that he accepted once he knew he had fallen in love with the Queen. In the end, it was So Young, the same little girl that he met when he was at his lowest point of his life -- the one who moves his heart -- the girl who fought for justice when she doesn’t need to considering the high status she’s in. But the writer did point out in the end that the King felt something is missing (Bong Hwan) when he looked at the Queen's Dictionary which I personally think is a nice touch to indicate he also appreciate Bong Hwan as well.
There's no injustice was done to Bong Hwan as once So Young is gone, his feelings towards the King is gone as well. His loves for the ladies didn’t fade even when the Queen finds himself falling for the King in the later part of the drama indicating the real Bong Hwan has never been gone -- he just co-exist with So Young at the same time. He still feel excited when he sees pretty women and wanted to be close to them even when he already accepted his confusing sexual identity. So now So Young is no longer part of him, he no longer feel attracted to the King anymore as can be seen at the end which he appears to happy & contented. Now So Young is no longer in his body, he just return to his former self.
And So Young has always had part of Bong Hwan's personality as well since in the beginning. Remember when she was called 'witch' by the court maids? When the King saw her terrorizing her court maid, it didn’t feel weird since she was like that as well before Bong Hwan entered her body. But after that, like how she influences Bong Hwan's to be more kinder and towards righteousness, Bong Hwan also influences her as well like how she can expressed herself more (through swearing) and now she can expressed more radical idea like court maids can get married at the end of the drama.
So due to this, I feel its truly a great ending. Everyone got what they want at the end and no injustice was done to any characters. They could go through the route that Bong Hwan accepted his fate to be in the Queen's body forever or Bong Hwan is the reincarnation of the Queen from the past life (which explain why his feelings to the ladies and the King legit as they are the same persons) but the writer chose this route which in my opinion is great as well.
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Very interesting & enjoyable drama. I really like it a lot. I personally think the synopsis was kind of misleading since the drama started with both of them having a good relationship with each other before the tragedy. And I like how Arthit is the only one who can relate to Paeng and her mischievous way of trying to get the attention from her parents. We understand where she's coming from and why she's behave like the way she did.Arthit is a really great guy. I dont know how he does it but Mark somehow de-aged like how he looked in My Husband in Law that's why he still can passed as a college student here (lol). I always thought he's an amazing actor and very expressive since he can emoting really well -- when the script is ambiguous, I always rely on his facial expressions to relate on what his character supposed to be feeling. In heartbreaking scenes, he didnt need to shed tears but I know his heart is breaking just from his facial expressions alone. I found it really amazing as when you look at his face, his facial muscles barely moving but it showed a lot of emotions at the same time. And he does hating really well like he did in Kleun Cheewit. I literally can feel his anger and hatred. He really excel in this kind of role I must say. But at the same time, he smiles a loooot in this drama so its really a plus.
Kao as Paeng is hilarious, lovely, feisty and a fighter. I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for her but I ended up laugh out loud everytime Arthit had a fight with her. She maybe remorseful but she aint gonna accept everything without a fight -- thats why all her banters with Arthit is such a delight to watch. And I looooove how she is the one who always cornered Arthit when it is supposed to be the opposite. She's amazing, really. She did many first moves and I always enjoy this kind of characters where the female is the one in charged of their own destiny. There's a couple of dark episodes where she is not herself but when she's back, she's back and the drama becomes lively again.
Mark is a King of Chemistry in my book so his chemistry with Kao is engaging and a delight to watch. Their banters are lovely, fun & hilarious and they did emotional scenes really well. Aside from the chemistry, I love Arthit's bestfriends and all his workers. They're such great people and they're hilarious -- mostly all of them are funny which make the drama fun most of the times even during the sad times. And I love the houses, the farms and all the greens in the drama. The story is mainly not in Bangkok so its really refreshing to be surrounded with trees and flowers for a change. And the cinematography is really beautiful -- they went to many different places so its such a treat to the eyes.
I love that the drama always explore the meaning behind the title 'As Long as the Sky Has the Sun' / 'My Forever Sunshine'. Arthit has always been like a sun to Paeng whether the bright, warm or the hot sun to her. And the evening sun (sunset) is the Arthit that Paeng loves the most thus they are many scenes of them watching the sunset together.
This is one of the better drama for Year 2020. I hope to see this type of drama more in my life without a doubt where both the male & female leads are likeable.
What I love the most about this drama is the great ending! Truly great ending in my book:
- Paeng's 'Love Actually' apology
- Paeng's kiss attempt to win Arthit back
- Paeng's broadcasted love confession
- Paeng's marriage proposal :D
- Their disaster wet wedding
- Arthit wanting to skip the wedding and go straight to their bridal chamber and Paeng agrees without hesitation (lol)
- Paeng kissed Arthit first at their wedding
- Wet and very handsome Arthit (haha) 8D
- Lots of smiles and kisses!
- It is such a refreshing and great ending -- sweet, fun & full of heart.
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An epic and entertaining tales of demon hunting with intelligent script that trust the audiences.
Everyone must question how on earth a drama written about demon hunting can be so engaging and compelling? Then give this drama a try. Everything about it will defy what would you might have an impression of the genre. While the story is about Xuanye, the Demon Hunter and Banxia, a girl who happen to have the ability to see demons, what spiral from this story goes beyond layers and depth and in the end gave us an epic love story that defy destruction, fate and destiny.THE ACTING
One of the strongest aspects of this drama is the stellar acting from the casts. Ren Jialun impressed me so much with his portrayal of Xuanye, a demon hunter with a tragic past. The way he dressed down for the role, you can’t see him but his character. His dedication to be the character is simply amazing – his mannerisms, his sarcastic smiles, or his soft way of talking totally sold us as a demon hunter with a heart of gold -- ferocious against his enemies but delicate towards his love ones. Then we have Song Zu’er as Banxia. I personally think this is Song Zu’er best role to date -- she is beyond amazing in this drama. She got to play 3 different characters here and she played every one of them perfectly. And those never-ending tears? How can one person has so much tears?
THE DIRECTING
Since this drama is directed by the famous female director Lin Yu Fen, you can see how the directing really elevates the whole storytelling. The effective use of camera frame & angles, with clear artistic vision and adding a lot of originality and imagination to tell a story that is not only well written but very entertaining as well. For an example the whole Painting Demon arc in the drama -- when everyone entered the painting with different personalities, is an effective way of telling a story that highlight the abilities and range that the actors’ possessed without relying on the usual ‘amnesia’ plot. While delivering an out of the box storytelling in the same arc, the Director deep understanding of the narrative structure (repeated day), character developments (even when the characters are not themselves), pacing (linking each day to another), and how to evoke emotions through visual language are used effectively to the fullest. And the way she captured all the emotional scenes, she knows what to emphasize, what to highlight, and how to build tension and create impact. A lot of highly emotional scene in the drama wouldn’t be as impactful as we felt if is being shot from another director’s lens.
Also, worth to point out how detail she made the drama’s overall world-building. When they entered the Mirror Demon's world, the sky is the reflection (mirror) of the town. And when they entered the Painting Demon's world, the sky is a painting. I love how the nature of the demon reflected in the sky -- they cant really create a completely real world so the flaws can be seen in the sky. Or how she shot the underground city where it seemed like the characters are really underground was shot stunningly. Or the bustling town of Guanping, it was such a beautiful sight to behold and the colors and different architecture of the houses made the whole town colorful and very lively.
THE WRITING
As someone who is after good writing in dramas, this drama meant a world, A WORLD for me. The writing has been really fantastic with intricate details and planning that you can see how it spanned over several episodes before the event actually happened. The characters were written with their own personalities and motives that you can basically predict what are they going to do with how well written they were. I find the script to be one of the strongest reasons for the drama's popularity. Instead of aiming to shock in the first few episodes, it actually took time to take off. But while doing it that way, they properly wrote the introduction and set the stage and later you can see how one case and another case woven together beautifully like a flowing water.
I love like how the demons who masked their true forms to fool and mingling with human, the leads as well started with a different presentation of their true self. Xuanye looks like an earnest demon hunter initially during his first introduction to us until when we reached the next arc of the story when we finally figure out that he is actually nonchalant and pretty apathetic due to his past. Then we have Banxia, which seemed a little slow and dim-witted until she stopped taking the calm medicine then we started to see the colorful girl that she actually is -- brave, kind and adorably naïve and lovable. Its the same with the demons -- with each case, we supposed to see these different perspectives of them -- are they all bad or there are some that are good? And while the first case seemed to gloss over the demon, we got more of them in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th case. Each one of these cases started to give us different narrative of their true self and nature.
Script that ‘show’ than ‘tell’ - The writer also using some interesting writing choice to present us the plot without appearing that they are spoon feeding us the information which I enjoy. For an example, we didn’t know some information about these demons and their power but the characters do, so what the writer did is having one of the characters reading the book loudly to us to give us the plan and information then later having Xuanye getting annoyed on why they read it loudly -- thus passing it as quirks of the characters.
Interconnecting plot where everything seamlessly woven with each other, effortlessly - Everything, literally everything has reasons. And I love the fact that the writer always established the plot first in different stages before the revelation, so you can feel the gravity of the matters in hand when you remember when it all started. And instead of creating something new to move the romance, she always used these existing plot points to further it. For example, Banxia repeatedly walking in the forest alone (part of her personality which is brave and also to show her desperation and isolation for having that curse), well that lead to our leads' first romantic encounter with the firefly. Then the tied-up hands while sleeping, the first stage was established way before in Episode 1 on how the sword has different effects – when Xuanye ate 10 bowls of foods. So now, the writer used one of the effects (sleeping) as a reason for Xuanye to tie his hands with Banxia. Then comes to the white hair, which is also one of the effects of the sword which his life span will shorten everytime he used it. Then the writer used the same excuse of the white hair for the dyeing hair scene -- which another romantic moment for the couple. And what’s more amazing, we also established this fact that Banxia didn’t do that out of the blue but she offered it because she done it for her Dad's before so it wasn’t out of character but more like innocent take on that matter -- since she didn’t realize that she likes him too at that time. I love how everything seamlessly woven with each other, effortlessly. From the demon storyline (different take on themes, type of love and perspectives) to all the leads' interaction with each other to all the mysteries behind everything.
Script with nuance and subtext - This drama has a lot of subtext that you can only know the real layers of the script if you pay enough attention to it. For an example, the Cat Demon case. In this case, the Cat Demon which is called 'Nine Lives' is selling his lives so that he can gather enough money so that he can hire Xuanye's Demon Hunter fee. The script didn’t feed up and tell us this out loud but it is implied throughout the story on how he went everywhere selling his lives. The script did tell us on how desperate he is when he is saving Xuanye's constable friend life for $200 -- ''Traded his life for merely $200? Is it worth it?'' -- and we only get the heaviness of that sentence after his death. I also love when we dwell more on these demons and their back stories. Like the Mirror Demon, it is such a good revelation that he has been with the dancer probably hundreds of years which explain the love and obsession.
Effective use of red herrings - For a mysteries drama, the usage of red herring is an effective tool for excellent storytelling and this drama excelled in this tremendously. There are a lot of false clues to mislead us so it becomes a good guessing game while we are watching the drama. Like the Puppet Demon case, everything and everyone is suspicious in the early stage. The red herrings are effective as which you can feel everything is wrong in that place -- everything look suspicious yet you still have no idea who and what to point out since everything look right and normal at the same time.
Deceptive storytelling - In one of the case, which is Puppet Demon case, the writer opt to do deceptive storytelling with this case as this is all planned by Xuanye to lure the demon out. This is one of my favorite writing methods as the Director will show us one 'narrative' on screen in order to fool us BUT at the same time give us many hints on why we should not trust that 'narrative'. And what I find amazing is how effective is the directing & acting in this particular arc since I can catch something is wrong with some out-of-behavior things that Xuanye did. First, with the eyeballs, ever notice why he brings them everywhere without reasons? Then when consoling Banxia's cousin, he actually touch his hand which is such an out-of-character thing for him to do, then we know why later. 😉 Then, when he take Banxia hand and say thank you to her with that long smile and her awkward expression -- that again was weird and I was taken aback and I'm glad that there is actually explanation for it as there is no way both of the leads are doing bad acting for that scene. I love how effective those are since now everything I questioned in the plot actually have reasons and make sense.
Script that want the audiences to participate - One of the facets in the drama that I immensely enjoy is that it actively asking the audiences to participate when discovering the mysteries together with the characters. For an example, during the Painting Demon arc. It is indeed a good and unexpected revelation on who is the true mastermind. The whole writing in this arc had me in awe on how they asked us to guess together with Xuanye who is the real mastermind and lay all the clues for us to do it -- its not something that Xuanye pulling from his ass since he is the only genius one in the room.
Mindblown details in the script that traced back from the beginning – This is one of the detail in the script that completely will blow your mind over. Remember Xuanye draw the Cause-Effect Sword in order to save Banxia? The effect of the sword is that they totally erased Mr Cui (Xuanye's Dad worker) & Mrs Cui from their lives that is why Mr Cui missed the recruitment notice in front of Xuanye's Dad shop. And now, Mrs Cui doesn’t have any memories of Banxia saving her or memories of Xuanye as well since her husband didn’t work there. So, it meant that her husband is still alive and now a blacksmith and her, since Banxia didnt interfere with her fate in this new timeline, will probably die as no one going to save her this time around. And what makes the writing so amazing is that they have set up this Mrs Cui in earlier episodes when Xuanye visit her house when she's sick -- it wasn’t a filler scene but an important one to show us the severity of using this sword. So, the writer already planned for this arc to happen since early on and have set the stage for it. Also, point to notice how since Banxia will no longer have White Crow curse on her as Xuanye already killed it (the cause), so the Mirror Demon also didn’t exist and that’s why we can see Banxia dancer friend is eating a pear after that. Also, the night when Banxia forgave Xuanye when she's sleeping holding his hand and they made up -- it also didnt happen that is why when Chi Zhe asked them if they made up, she said 'No' and she is still grumpy a few days after that when the marriage date announced since technically, she and Xuanye never reconcile properly. So, the heartwarming proposal that Xuanye gave her is the point that they are together again.
No plot armors or holes - I also love how everytime you question something and point out plot armors or holes, the drama will address it later. Like the conversation Xuanye had with Banxia to keep pretending to be a married couple and then Wunniang knocks the door right after that -- she must have heard the conversation? But it soon revealed that you can barely hear from outside since even when Banxia is saying something alone in her room, Xuanye can’t hear what she said as well.
Thought-provoking script with lessons – Since this drama handles with different demons, themes and situations, it comes with heavy lesson in each arc stories. I also love the question that they posed on whether to leave the junior monk keeps living in this painting or bring him out where he will be an old man with no youth left in him -- there is no right or wrong answer for this question. Also the part of living each day happily without having to worry about anything – only to discover the day keeps repeating itself would you consider it as heaven or is it hell on earth?
THE ROMANCE
What always gets me about how the romance is filmed in this drama is how it’s the perfect mix of actors' chemistry, acting and writing. Especially the writing which sets up why they would be so drawn to one another since their relationship started with trust and understanding and how the depth of their feelings impacted them and their actions throughout the drama without having to rely on many kissing scenes or anything overtly sexual. And they also have these dynamics of Poor ML and Rich FL which one of the rare combinations in Cdramas. And it makes them so refreshing to watch.
Both of the leads are also really convincing in portraying a couple in love with all those expressions, tiny gentle gestures and their concern with each other. It’s the combination of acting as well as writing on how their love story, despite being brief in each episode, yet so unforgettable. Notice how the writer always interlaced their interactions with funny moments? That light, tender and funny moments add depth into their relationship and you can see the progression of their attraction to each other. And when Banxia explained to her friend why she loves Xuanye, it is because he makes her feel safe, you totally get it too since thats how he always been with her, even when they are strangers.
Plus, the lead has this calm chemistry that I really dig. He hesitates in confessing his feelings due to their status yet you can see how much he loves her in everything that he did. It’s in the little details on how he recognized it is not her with just one sentence when a puppet demon took her face and he also recognized her by touching her tiny lil hands even when her face is covered -- these little details that speaks thousands of words. She is demure and gentle yet she is assertive when it comes to him. She didn't hide her feelings and wore her feelings on sleeve that everyone can see them clearly.
And one of the aspects that I love about this drama is that they are written as pillars to each other. She is written as someone actively helping him and not someone that he constantly need to save or protect -- they are not written as weakness but strength to each other. When this kind of writing happen, you know you are watching a good story.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watch this drama knowing it would be good, but it never crossed my mind that the story will totally blow my mind away. I love almost everything the drama has to offer; the mesmerizing leads, excellent written script, brilliant directing, beautiful cinematography, heart-wrenching soundtracks, deep and angsty storyline, mind-blowing on-screen chemistry, and most of all the moving and pure love story of the lead characters.Park Shi Hoo and Moon Chae Won shine brilliantly in their award-winning performance as the star-crossed lovers. Who thought that they will be such a beautiful and unforgettable couple to watch? Park Shi Hoo portrayal as Kim Seung Yoo totally take my breath away. He left me in awe for his amazing portrayal of Seung Yoo: from a happy and full of life noble man with witty personality, he changed into a bitter and revengeful young man after his family was killed and later into a charismatic leader with big responsibility on his shoulder. This is no doubt the best performance Shi Hoo has to offer to date – he is the gem in this drama and his character is the drive that carried the drama forward. While Moon Chae Won is dazzling as Se Ryung. Who can hate this character when it is full of love, courage, honesty and justice? It’s actually painful to see her dilemma of wanting to protect the one that she loves in the expense of going against her beloved father. But I don’t know how she does this, but she remained innocent and noble right until the end. She never makes one single questionable action that can question her loyalty to his family and the man she loves. The rest of the cast also played all their characters excellently. Hong Soo Hyun as Princess Kyung Hye unexpectedly gives a very good performance as a bitter princess and both of the second male leads; Song Jong Ho and Lee Min Woo done their part to give the drama overall good performance. 8 of the drama’s main and supporting characters were nominated for acting awards and 3 of them ended up winning so you basically can know how this drama is backed up with unprecedented quality of good acting from all the actors involved.
The main reason that makes the drama special is the pure & innocent love story between Seung Yoo and Se Ryung. Honestly, I have watched tons of K-dramas love stories before but I have to say that this one is one of the very best ever written. It is so well developed right from the start; their sweet and beautiful courtship, misunderstanding, reunion, betrayal, and their heartbreaking sad fate and longing to each other is just painful and agonizing to watch. You can truly see why they fall in love and remain devoted to each other no matter how cruel the circumstances between their families. It is so well told and beautifully portrayed by both of the leads -- their exceptional and explosive chemistry is absolutely compelling with unparalleled eminence that for the first time in my life, I actually feel heartache watching a love story. No matter whether it is happy or sad scenes, watching the two of them just breaks my heart. Kudos to the writer for writing such a memorable love story, I’m expecting it to be good but I got more than what I asked for. There’re plenty of romantic unforgettable scenes between the two of them. I find myself watching them over and over again since they are beautifully shot; be it their first meeting, the date at the market and river, the horse ridings, the sudden confession, the hug scene in the shack, the kidnapping scene, the romantic scenes at the forest (honestly, the most romantic scene in Kdramas history ever ♥) nor the marriage scene in the hut (I can’t believe they pulled a Cold Mountain here XD). The two of them really look like they are deeply in love with each other just by the look in their eyes or how they touched -- it is just simply beautiful yet heartbreaking to watch at the same time.
- Childhood story: It is usual for period piece dramas to start the story from the leads’ childhood years. While it is important for us to understand the background story, I always find it is a struggle to finish the childhood parts. But here in this drama, it went straightly to their adult years which is a very refreshing and revitalizing change.
- Mortality aspect: It always annoyed me to no end how the bad guys in historical dramas always seemed to have 9 lives while the good guys always die just by one strike. And it also annoyed me how the good guys will never have the balls to kill the bad guys, which resulted with more blood spills because of the hesitation of the good guys to do what is right. But in this drama, you going to be surprised how there are no such elements making the storyline more justified and believable between the good and the evil people.
- Extreme actions: Usually in Kdramas, good guys have always known to have this reputation of not taking things to the extreme. They are known to always forgive, let go or given light punishment to the bad guys -- they basically are known for not taking things to the max. But the drama surprised me on how often the good guys took matters on their own hand. Seung Yoo startled me on how far he can go as far as kidnapping Se Ryung, shoot Soo Yang and Myun with arrows, murdered the bad guys one by one, go to the dangerous enemy den to save his friends and Se Ryung and etc... It’s nice to see that for once, good guys actually do all these kind of extreme things and gave good fights to the bad guys that actually satisfy the viewers.
- Promises: Another one aspect that extinguished this drama from its counterparts is the promises made between the characters. Usually in Kdramas, it is almost certain that once a character made promises, they almost never fulfilled it -- they either die or decided to break it. But in this drama, all the 3 promises that Seung Yoo made to Se Ryung, he fulfilled them; one by one. I was being skeptical at first, but the writer surprised me since Seung Yoo stick to his words right until the end.
- Blood aspect: It is known that Korean people have strong value and emphasis on their blood line. No matter how evil their fathers/relatives, just because they are related by blood, they will stand by them although they know it is wrong. In this drama, I love the fact that Se Ryung never attempt to go against his father nor decided to go against Seung Yoo. She just did what she thinks is right -- what her heart told her and remain loyal to both of them. She always asks her father repeatedly to repent while supporting Seung Yoo from the back at the same time. And I’m expecting that she going to choose one of them in the end but she never did. She also never ask Seung Yoo to choose her or her father or asking him to forgive her father’s sins but instead, she let him to choose what he wants to do without subjecting her opinion like what other Kdramas like to do.
- The ending: Korean historical piece are known to have bad and unsatisfactory ending. Hell, most of them have crappy endings to be honest. But this drama actually different and managed to give us a good and very satisfactory endings to all the characters. Most of people already predicted from the start how the story gonna end. Both of the main leads’ families are enemies to each other, no matter what happened in the end, there’s no way the story going to end happily since it is too tragic to begin with. For all the responsibilities that people put on Seung Yoo’s shoulder, it is almost certain that either him or Soo Yang will live, and of course luck doesn’t seemed to be on Seung Yoo’s side. But I was proven wrong! Ending Soo Yang’s life is seemed to be only a light punishment to him for all the sins that he has done. Leave him living his life seemed to be more cruel since he will never be happy and ridden with guilt for all the blood that he has spilled -- his only son died, his daughter left him, his wife hates him, he will forever feel afraid of the day someone going to take the throne away from him, and he also suffered from incurable disease and spending his life regretfully.
I will forever grateful for the clever and brilliant ending the writer has to offer. I come expecting they both will die in the end but the writer instead give us a very surprising happy ending and a justified one too. I never being so nervous in my life watching the last episode of a drama since I pray hard that the production team will give me a good and happy ending since I really feel attached to both of the main characters. Although I know it will probably end tragically right from the start, there’s a tiny little hope in my heart that wish it will end up differently. In the last episode, when Se Ryung figured out that she is pregnant, I know for sure that Seung Yoo will die since it is typical for a story to end one life with the gift of life to another. My expectation on how the drama going to end were in motion right until the last moments of the drama, however, the writers surprised me with a twist they have in store for the drama’s ending.
A great Korean drama will never be complete without an awesome OST. What the drama surely promised us is the heart-wrenching soundtracks. Queen of K-OST; Baek Ji Young provides us with the title track; ‘I’m Loving You Today’. Everytime the song is played at the background, my heart ache because of the song’s yearning and sad melody. While Seung Yoo theme song was sung by Park Wan Kyu which heart-breaking lyrics portray his longing for Se Ryung which he can no longer see. This drama great OSTs also provide an amazing duet between Ha Dong Kyun & Lee Jung which gives us a very powerful ballade that totally took me my storm when it is played in the drama -- who can overlook those powerful vocals which is full of passion and emotion? And Yoon Hwa Jae In provides us the theme song for Se Ryung character titled ‘Longing’ which was superbly sung by her to reflect the dilemma that Se Ryung is feeling inside. Overall, the soundtracks basically make the drama more alive and vivid -- it is simply exceptional in bringing the drama tragic atmosphere feel more real.
In the end, what hold the drama together are the strong value about life and death, doing what is right, fight for right reasons and remain true to your hearts. The drama got many other reasons to make it stay high in my list but the glorious ending makes it even more memorable. It’s no doubt this piece has become one of my very personal favorites. Seung Yoo once said that forgetting everything and living happily faraway with Se Ryung is only a dream for him. I’m glad in the end, he’s living in the dream life he yearned and desired.
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First, I like that Xia Ke has always likes Xing Yun since the very beginning. It’s just that, he didn’t realise it since they have a very close work relationship. It’s the same with Xing Yun, we thought that she's the type who just went along with everything but then we are given the many little hints here and there how she has always like him from her phone case to how she concern to every little things involving him -- all of this contribute to the fact that she always had him in her heart without her realising it as well.
Second, I like how Xia Ke is just naturally a very nice guy and an amazing boss. His kindness is not only limited to Xing Yun but his other employees as well. He pretends to act cold (tender heart, cold exterior), but he cares for his employees deeply with a pretence that when he do something nice for them, it is not from him -- so in a way, it’s actually more genuine since when he did something, he didn’t ask anything in return.
Third, I like the background story that they give to Xing Yun. We can’t deny that she's really lucky and the reason why Xia Ke treasure her so much -- everyone in the company knows it and acknowledge it too. She's there from the beginning and the reasons behind TIG success as well. Xia Ke has groomed her to be a planner as well so when she finally takes the challenge, for him, it was worth the wait since he always know she is capable of it. Her getting 4 freaking increments in 2 years are just part of the many things that shows how much Xia Ke appreciated her.
Fourth, I love the relationship of everyone in the drama. From Xia Ke good friendship with his 2 collage friends to Xing Yun awesome friendship with her two best friends. Not to mention Xing Yun's parents’ relationship to Xing Yun relationship with them. No wonder she has so much kindness and happiness as she being brought up by 2 awesome parents. But the relationship that takes the cake for me is the relationship between Xia Ke and her sister. Zhaolin surprisingly has the most chemistry with her sister Shen Ying in the drama. From the way her sister likes to troll him to his sacrifices for her -- his love is genuine and for once, I thought it makes since for him to hide the fact about her ex-hubby (noble idiocy that I agree lol) since by the time she learned the truth, she already finds love again and won’t be dragged by the bad memories.
Fifth, I really love the progression of the love relationship between Xia Ke and Xing Yun. It just progressed naturally instead of being shoe-horned to us. Their spending time together just naturally happen or merely a coincidence. Xia Ke tries to protect her from bad relationships but he didn’t cock-blocked her and he is not doing things just out of jealousy. I love that for the fact, he's not jealous (since he didn’t realise his feelings yet at that time) so many of his actions are not resulted just because Xing Yun is in a relationship. He only learns his feeling gradually when he realised how he just always wanted to have her around him all the time. It’s funny how all the people knew that he likes her but he himself isn’t aware of it. It makes sense as they started their relationship as a boss and an employee so for them to realise the attraction very much later makes sense. I also liked the fact that how Xing Yun teach Xia Ke to have more trust on people and stopped taking and controlling everything himself -- for him to break that thinking wasn’t easy so from her sister's ex-hubby, Xing Yun & Chu Nan relationship & to the investment fiasco -- Xing Yun teaches him to stop doing things that he 'thought' are good for them but instead having more trust on people. I'm glad that after the long journey, he finally gets it.
Such a fun drama. It definitely makes a good re-watch. And I would recommend as well to people since it is after all a good office romance drama. The one where all characters have their own lives and challenges and their lives are not centered on love alone but other things as well.
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I love how the heavy atmosphere can be noticed since in the earlier episodes with the way the Director shot everything and doing the lighting that matched the tone and seriousness of the whole topic. And these heavy feelings will keep following you despite the drama are filled with really fantastic relationships between all the characters at the Royal Mansion. The flashback scenes are also done marvelously to portray the happiness and regrets and why those relationships are fantastic since it was backed up with strong history of kindness and thoughtfulness of the ML -- thats what his students remembers him and why he is so treasured by everyone.
The pining and yearning and the silent of it all really makes this drama a really heavy watch. The fact that both leads barely do anything even a simple thing as holding hands yet you can still feel the electrifying chemistry and agony are just testament on how great both of them at conveying their characters. I will never recover from this one. My heart hurts just when I think about their ill-fated romance.
I love this drama to pieces since the acting in it is really amazing, both of them at the top of their game in this show. Ren Jialun with his micro expressions that kind of pierce through your heart and Bailu's with her amazing portrayal of the mute character and her crying scenes are probably one of the best I've seen in Cdramas and we do know Cdramas has really a lot of amazing crying scenes.
Zhousheng Chen is mesmerising to watch. You can actually understand what he's thinking. You can follow his dilemmas and engage with his feelings, even though you can barely see any expression on his face. Ren Jialun is really good at this. He is supposed to be this cold general but despite he is not very expressive, you can understand and feel the torture his character is feeling. All these are achieved from small change of expressions, how the eyes move, or how his lips will trembles. All these are very small and micro but very effective at conveying emotions. There is one scene where people are questioning his manliness for having no attraction towards women (due to his vow) and while on the outside you can see he is trying to be unbothered, you can feel how his inside is crumbles due to that comments -- and the way he acted coupled with the way Director shot this particular scenes clearly demonstrated that. It was really excellent.
The yearning and unspoken love are the main theme of their love story. The way they communicate to each other using their eyes speaks volume than words could ever say. The big sacrifices and grand silent gesture only happen in the later episodes. And those scenes are so impactful, heart wrenching and the reasons why the drama are so unforgettable to many.
I think the biggest attraction of the series for me is that the leads has amazing and fantastic relationship throughout the drama -- soulmate kind of relationship and understanding of each other which pretty much unmatched -- since they dont have to tell each other anything but they know each other deep into the souls. It is such a nice thing to watch how that understanding develop into something unbreakable and deep. And the drama as a whole is poetically beautiful that some of the simple scenes have so much meanings and poignant when you understand the underlying message of it. It is really a beautiful drama through and through in my book. And the cinematography is A++ without a doubt.
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Xing Zhaolin did a very good job portraying a peculiar, weird and confused Zhihao who hates touching people due to his germaphobia. But later, all the sweet things he did to accommodate his shortcomings are really nice to watch. And I love it how he didn’t need words or explanation later to understand Shiya's love towards him -- he is the one who felt her sincerity thus other people words didn’t convince him otherwise.
Zhang Yuxi as Shiya is just super lovely! She's pretty, insane, fun, cute and overall just really lovely. I understand why Zhihao falls for her since anyone would. Her imagination, persistence and lack of self-control always made everything more hilarious. The scene that got me the most is the ones where she needs to use children's song in order to stop her sexual frustration lol. And her fashion! My goodness, all those one pieces, dresses and evening gowns are just so pretty. Shiya’s fashion is truly A++ in this drama - the best dressed Chinese lead female actress in my book as for once, a gorgeous person is dressed gorgeously with very pretty hairstyles.
I actually enjoyed a lot of monologue in the drama. The one that I like the most is when Zhihao said that ''He likes being alone where no one disturb him, he has a lot of time to himself -- until Shiya comes into his life and change everything. Then he realised that kind of life actually an extravagant to him thus he dares not to dream about it -- not that he hates it. But now he has felt it, he wants to continue living this new life with Shiya.''
Apart from that, what I love about this drama is the very pretty cinematography and directing. Mostly all of their romantic scenes together are just like a perfect picture with very nice props and background. The drama is like a collection of many beautiful pictures put together. This is one of the dramas where you realise how important is the directing as the director used a lot of props to make everything looks so pretty, beautiful and breath-taking. From the usage of umbrella, hanging lights on trees, lamp posts light at night to theme park or garden backdrop, every of their romantic scenes together are so pretty and perfect as a photobook material. Coupled this with the leads' attractive features and Shiya's great fashion, each scene is like a beautiful photoshoot pictures.
And the OSTs, its really perfect and just beautiful. I don’t know why but C-dramas OSTs are really my cup of tea -- from the sweet melody to the heart-breaking lyrics, everyone seemed to have their own theme song -- even Shi Huan (I didn’t expect the 2nd part ending song is actually from his POV). :D
And the revelation at the end of the drama is really nice and unexpected. Everything makes sense after that -- on why Shiya attracted to Zhihao and why there are always this strange & explanation connection between them. Not only because Zhihao taste delicious but because they are connected together since that day -- as her body remembers his touch and it was his touch which save her from that dark incident. A perfect ending to a complexly fun drama. All around an enjoyable and entertaining production – the one which is perfect for a rewatch everytime you want to have a good and amusing time.
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Xing Zhaolin did a very good job portraying a peculiar, weird and confused Zhihao who hates touching people due to his germaphobia. But later, all the sweet things he did to accommodate his shortcomings are really nice to watch. And I love it how he didn’t need words or explanation later to understand Shiya's love towards him -- he is the one who felt her sincerity thus other people words didn’t convince him otherwise.
Zhang Yuxi as Shiya is just super lovely! She's pretty, insane, fun, cute and overall just really lovely. I understand why Zhihao falls for her since anyone would. Her imagination, persistence and lack of self-control always made everything more hilarious. The scene that got me the most is the ones where she needs to use children's song in order to stop her sexual frustration lol. And her fashion! My goodness, all those one pieces, dresses and evening gowns are just so pretty. Shiya’s fashion is truly A++ in this drama - the best dressed Chinese lead female actress in my book as for once, a gorgeous person is dressed gorgeously with very pretty hairstyles.
I actually enjoyed a lot of monologue in the drama. The one that I like the most is when Zhihao said that ''He likes being alone where no one disturb him, he has a lot of time to himself -- until Shiya comes into his life and change everything. Then he realised that kind of life actually an extravagant to him thus he dares not to dream about it -- not that he hates it. But now he has felt it, he wants to continue living this new life with Shiya.''
Apart from that, what I love about this drama is the very pretty cinematography and directing. Mostly all of their romantic scenes together are just like a perfect picture with very nice props and background. The drama is like a collection of many beautiful pictures put together. This is one of the dramas where you realise how important is the directing as the director used a lot of props to make everything looks so pretty, beautiful and breath-taking. From the usage of umbrella, hanging lights on trees, lamp posts light at night to theme park or garden backdrop, every of their romantic scenes together are so pretty and perfect as a photobook material. Coupled this with the leads' attractive features and Shiya's great fashion, each scene is like a beautiful photoshoot pictures.
And the OSTs, its really perfect and just beautiful. I don’t know why but C-dramas OSTs are really my cup of tea -- from the sweet melody to the heart-breaking lyrics, everyone seemed to have their own theme song -- even Shi Huan (I didn’t expect the 2nd part ending song is actually from his POV). :D
And the revelation at the end of the drama is really nice and unexpected. Everything makes sense after that -- on why Shiya attracted to Zhihao and why there are always this strange & explanation connection between them. Not only because Zhihao taste delicious but because they are connected together since that day -- as her body remembers his touch and it was his touch which save her from that dark incident. A perfect ending to a complexly fun drama. All around an enjoyable and entertaining production – the one which is perfect for a rewatch everytime you want to have a good and amusing time.
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The plot is interesting and fast-paced and the scripts is very simple without over dragging so everything is solved very fast without many heartaches. I really love the first half of the drama since it was hilarious and exciting but the 2nd part couldn't match up the first half unfortunately. But it’s still very watchable and the writers gave us a satisfactory ending.
Aside from that, this drama is pure romance through and through and for once, a married couple who actually behave like a true married couple in love with lots of hugs and kisses. :D The plot centered around the canopy bed but tbh, the only magical thing about the bed is that it increased the lust of people who sleep on it to 9586583% lol
Liang Jie is really good in this dual role as Xiao Tan is both hilarious and shameless so its very enjoyable to watch all her antics since girlie know how to take care of herself while Tan Er is frustrating as a character but very refined and elegant as a lady.
Xing Zhaolin as Mo Lian Cheng is my fave character in this drama as he is full of tease and most of his comments are sharp and savage. I personally didn't find him very handsome but his confidence, intelligent and boldness really make him very attractive. Both Xiao Tan & Lian Cheng have very different personalities but somehow, they matched up with each other to the T as it seemed only Lian Cheng could tame the rather wild Xiao Tan.
In conclusion, this is a good and happy romance drama if you want to have a good time. The very simple plot and script wouldn't make your head spinning and the chemistry between the leads are mesmerizing. Sometimes, you just want to watch a good romance drama that is not tragic or frustrating and this drama is exactly that.
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One of The Best Mystery Dramas
Its been such a looooong time since I've seen a good mystery drama like this! The last time is Maou & Ryusei no Kizuna which is like 12 years ago.The plot is very interesting and the plot twist at the end is very unexpected (kudos to who manage to guess since the writer actually gave us various hints in the script). The leads' sexual tension is great (lol) and I love how despite they are not supposed to love each other, their relationship is not toxic at all. They comes terms to their feeling very early and everything moves very fast.
The girl is so pretty -- honestly the prettiest J-actress I have ever seen in my decades of watching J-dramas. And I have no idea who is the male lead but he emotes really well so all his emotional scenes are great.
I finished the drama in one day since it is that addicting. And those Japanese sweets -- I'm willing to pay good money to taste all of it! 8D
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