Wish Upon A Star

The drama transcends the novel, by focusing on the story, plot, and themes on found family, good vs evil, weak vs strong, and hypocrisy of noble clan. Such a pity that this drama is BL hyped just because it is adapted from a BL novel, when what is portrayed is trust and support that the two MLs had for each other, as they stood up for the weak and fight the noble-evil.

The ghost/demon thing is the use of unorthodox cultivation to control people. Try starting from the end of episode 2 where the story starts chronologically and you will understand better. A lot happened in the past (lasting 30+ episodes) that led to the events in the first episode. The CGI is the worst aspect of this drama, but the story, plot, character development, themes on found family, friendship and good vs evil and strong vs weak and OSTs are commendable. It's a drama that touched me immensely so I hope you can give it another try. Can drop me a note anytime you need help with the drama.

Truly disappointed that the standards of Baeksang have dropped year on year.. Still do not know what's the glory of a story on the FL who is actually no different from her school mates who bullied her when she revenged mercilessly on all of them, nor what's so extraordinary of the story of the FL whose only purpose is to inject elements of autism-cuteness into a court room drama when her struggles in her life and profession are only superficially dealt with. Whereas, the story of the Queen who rises to be the pillar of strength for her husband (the King), her children and other Princes, and the underprivileged is the extraordinary drama that deserves more recognition and glory, but was neither nominated for Best Drama nor Best Screenplay.

and 727 reviews!

I've watched Princess Agents only last year, not knowing it was only half done. But no regrets - the plot, pace, stunts, cinematography, costumes are all good. It is a drama I'm actually not looking forward to a second season, to give the 2ML the possibility of becoming good again!

WWX committed suicide because he had lost his will to live as all the people he had cared for had died:
(1) Clan Leader Jiang who had raised him as his real son;
(2) Jin Zi Xuan - his brother-in-law who presumably died under the hands of his right hand man Wen Ning on the day of his nephew's one-month celebration (He (WWX) was so looking forward to join the celebration to see his nephew, and painstakingly made a precious gift to present to his new born nephew during the celebration);
(3) Wen Qing, Wen Ning and the Wen remnants whom he had fervently protected at the expense of cutting ties with the Jiang Clan; and finally
(4) Jiang Yan Li - his martial sister who was both a sister and a mother to WWX who lost both parents at a young age.

It is such a shame that many are just swooning on the gay relationship, which is really only in the novel and the animes. There are so much depths in the story and the powerful messages conveyed on good vs evil, the ugliness of society and hypocrisy of the nobles that were so unfortunately overshadowed..

Thank you - Could do more in an editorial vs forum and I learnt interesting details on Bad Buddy OSTs and the poster for The Broken Marriage. Arghhh.. I totally missed the faces in the leaves and messed up who's who in the poster.. Is the drama as interesting as the poster?

Thank you and well done for the Bingo! For me, working on this editorial helped me uncover dramas and interesting details I would have otherwise missed. And from the drama synopsis and poll results, Through the Darkness seems to me to be a drama that probably need a certain mood (🙌) and a little patience to get into,,

Glad you enjoyed the articles :)

I hv not watched yet, but it seems to be a drama that probably need certain mood and a little patience to get into?

Thank you. I had fun doing the polls and analysing the results. And no bingo for me too though I have watched a few more 2022 dramas. Hope the 2022 dramas you will be adding to your ptw list will not disappoint you :)

Thanks and yeah I did a few rounds of "publicity" via feeds..
Hopefully, this article raises awareness of such EOY polls and there will be more votes for the 2023 Edition if it happens.

I was surprised too.. maybe the poll is more for those who watched BL - even in the 2021 Edition, BL dramas received pretty high votes.

I was in a drama slump and Season 2 of AoS and AiB (J-drama) that I was looking forward to, only had me dozing off. Only Under the Queen's Umbrella can sustain my attention, and I'm glad you are considering it for your second attempt.

Other Kdramas that I feel that are less commercialised (i.e less violence, gore and sex) you can consider are:
1) Move to Heaven - Episodic cases to ponder on like Juvenile Justice. Both male leads were great too as the autistic trauma cleaner and his estranged uncle.
2) Racket Boys - Love the camaraderie of the badminton squad and the growing fondness of the city boy to the countryside and finding renewed passion for the first sports he adored.
3) Once Upon A Time - Currently watching and so far, it had been an easy, comforting watch, of a city guy tricked by his grandfather to take care of the vet clinic in the countryside.
4) Crash Course in Romance - Currently watching; gives me the ABP vibe and the FL is awesome.

Since your post for 3 days ago, you should have voted before 15 Jan 2359h (UTC). If KinnPorsche appears on the top right under "My votes", then your vote would be in already. The list is updated approximately every 5 mins, so may not appear immediately after you voted.

Hi, yea, polls have ended.. currently still in the midst of compiling and analysing the results. Hope to get the article out soon.

Nice one - I always have problem with tagged genres in MDL and was wondering how you would wrap up by genres, and you actually did for every single genre in MDL. That's a lot of work!

I think it may make more sense to list genres based on the following 4 aspects to better describe a drama:

1) Time: Ancient, Modern
2) Feel: Laugh, Cry, Scared, Excited (i.e. Comedy, Melodrama, Horror, Thriller), etc.
3) Relationship focus: Romance, Family, Friends, Colleagues, etc.
4) Setting: Wuxia, Life, Political, Law, Medical, Sports, Business, Youth, etc.

There was never a love triangle for the 2 MLs and the 2 FLs, and yes the 2FL's malicious deeds are very trying for me. Overall, it is a drama that touched me.. for the steadfast love and respect from the Zhou Emperor, the admirable love and loyalty from Xiao Dong, and the grandmotherly love from both grandmas, towards the FL.

No worries. Yea, it will be good and interesting if the poll can list Characters. Some dramas have many interesting characters, besides the lead characters. And thanks for indicating your fave Character in the comments.