Moonstruck

You remind me of my wishful thinking 10yrs ago, the only difference is I didn't believe enough in myself to translate my imagination into words. I'll check your works also, I had a point in my life where authors are my rockstars!✨

Your comments made me curious about this drama. We have the same taste with authors, they are the classics. 💕 Nowadays, it's hard to find books with the same vibes, I find a lot of romance novel now relied so much and just saturated with graphic sex rather than investing on the plot and emotion. It felt like everything is the same and formulaic.
I suggest also looking into asian light novel, there are some that are translated online, it's a refreshing change from the usual reads.

will Liu Yu Ning be a sad boy here? haha
I love Gong Jun but hope they don't hurt LYN much here

Yeah, this is what I kept mentioning on my comments for Part 2 (though some could not accept the criticism lol). The editing was off and not delivering the same quality as Part 1. Part 1 was so perfect and I had such high expectation they would be consistent with the quality. You can tell everything was acted very well, it's only the editing that's disrupting the story flow. I hope what you say is true, that we get a reedited version. Maybe cut some of the long cringey dialogues and add more scenes that will ease the audience into the plot.

Just finished, my honest opinion :

1) Part 1 was perfect and set the bar too high for me and Part 2 didn't live up to expectation. Still good but not on par with Part 1.

2) The story pacing in Part2 is not very well done. The flow was not natural. I know they could not show all scenes happening, but I feel a lot of times surprised with events happening out of the blue and consequently the emotional flow in between events is awkward.

3) Most of the time LBY's revenge arc is going over my head because of audience lack of connection to the Gu City/Huo Clan. Leo is such a good actor but sometimes it's hard to empathise on what he's fighting for because we were never really introduced to his family (apart from the stories relayed by the Empresses and the Emperor). After finishing the story, I finally realised it's tricky for the Director, he cannot give us a lot of scenes on LBY's backstory without spoiling the whole plot.

4) Some of the lines are way too long and cringey. It gives this theatrical play feel, when 2 characters are giving out their lines and the rest of the characters are just standing quietly in the background.

5) The ending is kinda cliche and cheesy. The villains are cartoonish, and how the solve things are too convenient for the plot it's almost embarrassing. LBY always arriving and saving the day at the most critical moments makes me giggle. It's truly cliche, but hey I'll take it.

6) If you watch the full trailer, there are a lot of 'cinematic epic scenes', however, in reality most of these were downplayed within the drama. Again I blame the editing for not building up thse scenes properly and instead they relied more on long dialogues.

I know these things sound critical but I wanted to be honest with those who will start it, I would say despite all of this it is worth your time, and if only the things I mentioned above are making you feel bored or lose interest, I still suggest to carry on and continue because in it's entirety the show is still very good.

The positives :
1) PART1 - absolutely perfect!
2) The acting is on point, Leo really does only pick good shows. And LuSi, I've always admired her from the Long Ballad, such a versatile actress.
3) The cinematography is great. The comedic aspect is also excellent, it funny in a strange subtle way. And on scenes where it makes you cry, it really does can make you cry!
4) All supporting characters are great, the Cheng Family, and the people at the palace, LBY's two sidekick.
5) it is refreshing to see such harmony in the palace with good nature and well intended royals. It's not perfect, but it is far from the miserable politically driven plots they have on other period dramas.
6) I like how they added scenes on how brutal LBY can be and how love DOESN'T IMMEDIATELY conquer all.
7) that 5 year silent montage is beautiful

After P1 I expected this to be above the Long Ballad, but because of some setbacks I mentioned in P2, I would say this is on same level as Long Ballad.
Both shows are great!! It's rare for me now to find dramas which I do not drop and this is really something that I enjoyed watching.

My BigMouse candidates : Room Leader, Jerry and the Mayor.
The writer is very bold in playing with our theories on each episodes.
If writer could pull this off, this will be one of the best written mystery drama out there (along with Flower of Evil).
However, I am worried that they are making it way too complex and when we get the big reveal, it will just be meh and full of plot holes and inconsistencies.

This show deserves a higher rating. The synopsis is there, and if you can't take fictional work with this premise, why even bother watching it and rating it unfairly just on that context? Story, tone, production, acting wise, it deserves higher rating.
I was expecting a cringe fest (as how I normally feel with majority of Jdrama), but surprisingly, I did not find this cringey at all. UNCOMFORTABLE is the more proper word, I did not cringe, but I felt uncomfortable for most of the time that I had to pause and look away for a bit.
What made me continue watching is that this drama did not pretend to be anything else other than what it is. Right off the bat, you know they are not selling an anti-hero or yandere love story, Aida was really shown as deranged. You do not continue watching because you are rooting for a love story and happy ending or hoping he will change, but you continue because the twist and twist and after twist and the stretch on how disturbing the plot can go keeps you interested.
I think it was perfectly executed, it is not too unhinged that you stop watching in disgust, but at the same time you will feel creeped out for most time. The contrast of the reality of the story combined with the soft glow camera effect + romantic instrumental OST, makes it even weirder.
I gotta be honest though, the major factor why this worked is because of Yuki Yamada. Given the whole plot, this would have been a no-go if the actor was not attractive, the whole thing would have been like clips from a crime documentary series.
But again I am not saying that it is now being romanticized because it's Yuki. As I have repeatedly mentioned, luckily the script did not push that. I only say it works with Yuki because he's a great actor and he knew how to keep the balance between Aida's normal and disturbing side.

So yes, I would be rating this higher. This is what amazes me with Asian production, when they choose to go this direction, the stretch in the imagination to delivery something 'different' is commendable. They are able to make you feel a certain way, creep you out, make your skin crawl, feel uncomfortable without relying much on gore, sex scenes and jump scares like how they normally do on western films.
For this level of 'wholesome fckery', it deserves a higher rating.

EDIT : Okay, so I got curious with the manga and checked it. And I can officially say, I am so glad (no matter how many people were disgusted by this drama) that the Director chose to adapt it this way. The manga crossed the line for me and I will not continue reading it.

I know what you mean. I also love it when the plotholes I can think of are answered. :)
To answer your questions :
1) It has been established that the flow of time when they time travel is not parallel to their original timeline. It was mentioned in the earlier episodes that it is likened to a 'dream'. - you can dream a lifetime in one night. Take for example, the first time HYX time travelled, she only took a nap in the bus, while she lived as CYR for a couple of days atleast. The total of the times she spent as CYR would be months, I doubt she'd been sleeping that long in her apartment and no one looked for her.
Same case with LZW, he lived for years as WQS and it has nothing to do with the time his real body is unconscious. It's as long as he enter a dreamlike state, he could have also woken after a few minutes.
This also means that, LZW mental age when he returned to his original body is a lot older than his physical age (add up the time he lived as WQS from the drowning to the plane crash)..

2) This one I guess is partially due to translation. The phone is indeed still registered under WQS. It is the payment method (credit card) that was updated and changed to LZW. In the airport scene, 'young LZW' handed over his phone to 'older LZW' together with all the password. And that is how WQS's number stayed active.

I say the same thing about Ahn HyoSeop haha. I hate what he did in A Business Proposal, which is one of my favorite manhwas, I had to drop the drama because his acting is cringey. And yes, also can't wait for the movie! :)

It's been some time since I watched this, but I do remember giving that scene also some thought. That scene (MJJ holding a shard of glass) did in fact happen in one of the realities/loop/cycle. There is an episode where the older LZW explained that although they are in a loop (or more like a knot), things are happening differently. For example in the airport scene were the 'younger LZW' is contemplating whether to take that flight or not, 'older LZW' said that the conversation he had with 'this' young LZW is not the same as what he had experience 'as' his younger self.
It might seem that they are not changing anything, but they are indeed making alterations within the loop with the slight difference on the actions they take.
MJJ holding that shard of glass is one of those loops before it was altered (thru the combination of HYX going back and forth the past and present and also the different iteration of LZW currently existing on different timelines trying to take different course of action to change the major events). - It was not elaborated, but either he accidentally stabbed CYR, or he was trying to save her , maybe stupidly pulling out the shard of glass and been caught in that unfortunate scenario. I'm convinced it's one of the previous cycle, and we cannot just say 'they weren't able to change any events', because in this story we are only following 'our' HYX, we don't know the actions the previous iteration of HYXs did. And yes, that means the HYX that the older LZW met in highschool is not the same version as 'our' HYX. Because older LZW would relay to 'our' HYX what happens thru his memory, and then 'our' HYX will try to change it when she time travels.

I know it's a bit trippy, but basically, when I think about it, this means the loops had run several thousands or even an infinite amount of times already, with each of their version/iteration trying to do better than their predecessors. However, as fate would have it, none of their actions were able to change major events (CYR and MJJ's death). Because all their other previous iteration would not give up 'having met and falling in love' with each other, and they all think they could make a difference by some other way.
But ofcourse, the version/iteration that we are watching, have figured this out, only by severing their ties were they able to untie the knot/loop in the timeline.

If you watch the Netflix show "Dark" they have the same concept, because it is a knot in the timeline, there is no ending and beginning, as long as the anomalies in that timeline exist, it would continue in an endless cycle, as the reality exist because all cause and effect events have already happened and will happen. There will be variation in events with each cycle but the major events that holds that loop will stay the same.

In this show, the anomaly is LZW and HYZ meeting each other thru time travel, and as LZW mentioned in one episode, the fact that they are existing and talking about their predicament means the loop is still happening. Only when they chose to give up each other (and the endings and beginnings/ all cause and effect dependencies were erased) , their very reality was erased, did things end differently for CYR and MJJ.
I am again reminded how brilliantly written this show was. Hope the Kversion does it justice! <3

wow, this is interesting to know. The book sequence indeed makes more sense.
Because the 'two times' realization by CSS is giving her character some disservice. It made her seem like a fickle character.
Maybe that's why I was feeling a bit off how 'lovey dovey' they are now, because of the flippy floppy attitude I felt a disconnect on CSS's resolve.
It would have been cleaner if she continued to be consistent with her rejection, then comes to the realization, and then we get some transition scenes of them being awkward first then comfortable around each other.

Yes, your examples are correct. We get scenes that 'starts something' but we do not see how it concludes, then we randomly start again with another thing. It's kinda hard to explain haha. One thing I miss is I would have wanted more scenes between CSS and LBY after CSS realised she also like him. Like I want those awkward relationship phase. But the next time we saw them, they are already comfortable around each other, holding hands and kissing.
Another example, I doubt that either CSS or LBY will let go of what 5th Princess did. But we cut immediately to the Banquet, I guess they get their sweet revenge later on, then I have to remember which event it would refer back on. But I do get that they are preparing us for future event or plot.

I think I just missed how seamless the writing and pacing in Part 1 was. Part 1 for me was more character driven, and I understand than in Part 2 the plot would start to really kick in. I did not read the book so perhaps some nuances are lost to me. The last couple of episodes felt like a crash course of the 'backstories' and the politics dynamics in the palace. I do appreciate it but I felt the shift from how it was from Part1. Like we end with CSS realising how much LBY cares for her after persistently denying him, I expected some sort of more 'relationship transition scenes' between them. But the next time we saw them, they were already like the regular couple. And there is also the angst between the Mother/daughter relationship in the Cheng Family, that also felt like it got cut short for me. Then QiQi and Song being engaged, with no filler scenes after that kiss.
Don't get me wrong, I love this show, and I understand that this is perhaps the best writers could do to keep us within the plot and eventually everything will tie up. I guess I just really felt a sudden shift in the pacing.

I think I just missed how seamless the writing and pacing in Part 1 was. Part 1 for me was more character driven, and I understand than in Part 2 the plot would start to really kick in. I did not read the book so perhaps some nuances are lost to me. The last couple of episodes felt like a crash course of the 'backstories' and the politics dynamics in the palace. I do appreciate it but I felt the shift from how it was from Part1. Like we end with CSS realising how much LBY cares for her after persistently denying him, I expected some sort of more 'relationship transition scenes' between them. But the next time we saw them, they were already like the regular couple. And there is also the angst between the Mother/daughter relationship in the Cheng Family, that also felt like it got cut short for me. Then QiQi and Song being engaged, with no filler scenes after that kiss.
Don't get me wrong, I love this show, and I understand that this is perhaps the best writers could do to keep us within the plot and eventually everything will tie up. I guess I just really felt a sudden shift in the pacing.

Episodes are still not flowing smoothly, scenes are kinda jumpy, don't know if that is on purpose. It felt like they are trying to rush it, yet there are still several mundane scenes they could have cut. But anyhow, I'm glad we are finally getting more ML/FL scenes.

Exactly. Part1 was brilliantly written and made us love the characters as individuals. But in Part2, it seems they did not know how to lay the foundation for the 'backstory' on what happened to Huo Clan and current state of the empire. Most scenes and dialogues are centered on trying to get viewers to learn a bit of the past and the politic dynamics, but it felt unnatural and forced. It was information overload without much emotion. We were left hanging on the relationship development but instead the recent episodes seemed to skim over that. Like they were suddenly casually holding hands and kissing now. And then Qiqi and Song's engagement, I knew it is happening, but I think it deserves more airtime.
Now that we are up to date with the politics matter, hope we get the same seamless writing as in Part 1 again.

Maybe it is just me, but I feel like the recent episodes were a bit off. I think it is the editing and pacing of the story. It feels like I missed some episodes or progress and yet I DID watch all episodes.

Anyhow, I still enjoy this. I came to the conclusion that the Cheng Family scenes are always more fun than the Palace episodes.

I don't think I will be able to live thru Palace politics. It's such a headache trying to figure out people.
It's hard to tell if the Crown Princess is genuine or not. Crown Prince seems a good person but will be a potential pushover. 3rd Prince is sketchy at the beginning, but I get the feeling he is upright, yet I don't know how much his Uncle has influence on him.
AND Ling Buyi himself is sketchy, other than revenge for Huo clan, I can't tell his other motives. He seemed to be working with 3rd Prince, yet I'd like to believe they would not go as far as dethrone the Crown Prince.
P.S. just throwing randoms thoughts. no spoilers from book readers pls. :)

thanks for this.
Where are the others?
is there a separate counting for male and female? like 2nd princess and then 2nd prince.
or is this by order of birth?
and if there are 10 of them, where are the others? I thought 5th princess is the youngest.

I didn't want to open your reply yet.. Is this a major spoiler? haha
I didn't read the books

You can tell that Monarchs who rose to power after war, experiencing hardship and poverty are usually level headed and wise. It's always the children and descendants who grows up spoiled who ruins it. Such amazing Emperor/Empress/Consort combo they have yet some of the children still ended up being brats.

Hmm.. I don't think it's Buyi's mother. Because why would her pregnancy be the current Emperor's responsibility? And as far I understood, General Huo is LBY's uncle, which then I assume is his mom's brother