The beginning of the show was really cute, and Yoon Eun Hye as Shin Chae-gyung the leading lady role was just funny. Her character was a normal teenage high school girl who was clumsy, a bit stupid, always smiling, getting into tons of trouble and yet has a pure heart. Her life drastically changed after meeting Shin, the crowned prince and over hearing him propose marriage to a girl. Then she was thrown into an arranged marriage with the crowned prince after finding out the marriage agreement which was done by her grand father and the king's father when they were born.
This is a show where I started liking Eun Hye as an actress. Joo Ji Hoon who played as Shin, her leading man was also gorgeous for a Korean guy, although his eyes is too squinty for my taste. I still liked his character, the seemingly uncaring guy, but deep inside he just thinks too much of others.
Kim Jeong Hoon who acted as Lee Yul (Shin's supposedly cousin who wants to take his throne away) was cute and my heart went out for him as he was that guy who had to endure an unrequited love when all he wanted was for Chae Gyung to love him back that's why he wanted to be the crowned prince. Lasty Song Ji Hyo who acted as Min Hyo Rin was just perfect. She was the girl that Shin first proposed to before getting married to Chae Gyung, she seems to be the cold girl who acted like there was nothing that could ever bother her, but deep inside, her heart is crumbling to pieces as she watches Shin fall in love with Chae Gyung little by little.
As the story progressed, there where some draggy moments that I have overlooked because the setting and music was just beautiful, and I can't just help my self but watch it even if the lines have been too redundant. The ending was gorgeous for me because of the setting once again, but story line wise it was quite bland for my taste and went way off with where the whole story was really supposed to be. It gave me a sense of confusion which I didn't really like. Although I felt this way towards the ending I am still giving it a 9 for compensating with other areas in the drama that I have already mentioned which is also essential for making this a top rated Kdrama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Love doesn’t conquer everything in this world and that's okay
April 3, 20222521 is a tear-jerker full of life-lessons K-drama. I know people have been disagreeing and disappointed with how the ending went. But I think, the 2521 ending fulfills the original story that they were trying to convey. The emotional attachment I developed to this drama is unbelievable. I love everything from how the characters develop and seeing how they flourish into their adulthood. Maybe it’s because I am now a college student and that is why I greatly relate to this drama. Yes, it is true that we took high school life too easily and for granted. Yes, it is harder to meet up with friends now that we are old. Yes, people grow apart and that's okay. Yes, it is okay even if you don't meet your friends often. As long as you have each other, you will always find time even if that means every 6 months or so.
!!! MAJOR SPOILERS WITH DETAILS!!!!
- I am happy that Baek Yijin did not die or experienced some catastrophic event.
- I am happy how the girls are still supporting each other even though they have their own lives.
I think I am happy that everyone got the ending that they deserve including Yurim and Heedo's mom. I also think it is appropriate how Minchae's dad is never revealed nor is present-pandemic adult Yijin. I know I may be the minority but I think everything from this drama is just good. I may have bawled my eyes and wished for Heedo and Yijin to be the end game. But given the circumstances of how their relationship has gone down, it is much better for them to go their separate ways. Very realistic and has a bittersweet ending. I also think that Yijin and Heedo's endings is happy to some extent. Yijin is able to revive his family back and has a stable job. Heedo is happily a mom to Minchae, though I can't really say anything about her marriage to his husband as he was not shown in the story. This makes sense because this is about first love and their early adulthood/youth days.
I think 2521 set the standards for 2022 Kdramas. I know the ratings have gone down due to the ending and I understand that people are very frustrated with the ending. But I definitely think it is not rushed, and that it perfectly fits the overall narrative of the story.
So for those who are watching 2521, I hope you learn some lessons and learn to enjoy your youth. Happy viewing (maybe) and prepare some tissues by your side. I may or may not have a breakdown watching episode 16 and while writing this review...
Cheers 🥂
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This review may contain spoilers
A decently entertaining drama despite its undeniable plot holes. The drama is the epitome of a drama where objectively, is probably not the greatest drama out there, but subjectively, could become your guilty pleasure. You should only check out/watch this drama if you:1) Are a fan of one or both of the lead actors (Yang Mi and Huang Zitao)
2)Like noona-dongsaeng romances
3) Are interested in a brainless drama to watch to pass your time (I used it as a brainless stress-reliever in between studying for midterms, which was fun)
Story:
It tells the story of Xie Xiaofei, a seemingly bratty, annoying and childish young man. However, he turns out to be someone with a good heart and certain opinions/ideas that you may agree with. However, he is quite bratty, although also likable, but also annoying. He's quite bipolar, and a very conflicting character. I had an intense like/hate relationship with his character. However, after the big thing with his family, he kind of starts to mature, so there is change. May not be the amount of change you’d wish he had, but decent enough.
Tong Wei, is a closed-off, serious, strict, career woman, whose life is turned upside down when Xiaofei enters and causes a series of funny and not funny mishaps in her life. However, the pair is very likable, and probably the only likable parts of the drama. I know that most people were kind of put off by the age gap, but they do mention it in the drama that the woman is older.
What I liked:
1. The main couple is very cute (until the last like 3 stressful episodes)! Especially if you like noona-dongsaeng romances.
2. The drama is pretty well-paced. Despite the plot holes, I still found myself wanting to watch the next episodes.
3. Yang Mi’s fashion/clothes in this drama is A+++!! Literally loved most of her outfits
4. That it kept itself together (for the most part) longer than Les Interpretes. It got extremely frustrating for the last 4-5 episodes, but hey, at least not the entire latter half of the drama like Les Interpretes
5. Tong Tiantian was annoying as hell in the begining but redeemed herself about halfway through
6. There were some decently funny parts!!
7. I really like the OST songs
What I disliked:
1. The supporting characters my goodness. Most of them were annoying for a large portion of the drama (although Tong Tiantian and Shang Bichen were more bearable as the drama progressed and Tong Wei's aunt had a reedamable moment LOL)
2. Tong Wei selling her house to make money to help pay Xie Xiaofei's mom's medical bills??? Like girl......I wouldn't do that if this wasn't dramaland
3. Lawyer dude Qin Tianyu was annoying as hell sometimes. Like Tong Wei told him quite a few times that she didn't like him, yet he was still so persistent LOL
4. Zhao Chenxi............my goodness where do I start with this annoying supporting character!!
5. The story did have its plotholes throughout, and were quite bearable most of the time. UNTIL the last like 5 episodes I was basically riding on the wildest rollercoaster ever I was so confused and frustrated lmao.
6. Tong Wei's best friend was such a hassle and obstruction sometimes LOL. Plus she is the kind of women I would NOT want to be.
7. The whole Tong Wei and Shan Shan's tragedy thing in the last few episodes.......I won't say more because that would be too spoiler-y
8. The drama is called "Negotiator" but there really wasn't THAT much negotiating LOL.......maybe they should change the name.
Acting:
So I would say that the overall acting was okay by the entire cast. Many of you may have seen Yang Mi in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, where she showcased brilliant acting. Her acting in this one was okay. The character itself is very serious and work-oriented, but her character livens a bit more as the drama progresses. I liked a lot of her crying scenes, but even those, she didn't cry like crazy because of how reserved her character was. I especially liked her crying scene when she was arguing with Xiaofei in front of Chen Xiaoxi's house, as well as that scene where she found out about Shan Shan's fate.
As for Tao, he posted on Weibo when the drama just started airing that this was the first drama he's ever filmed (even though his other drama aired earlier) and I feel that as a debut drama, he did pretty well. I do think his emotional/crying scenes were better than his angry scenes. He makes me laugh when he's angry LOL but his crying scenes were actually pretty good.
Setting aside how annoying their characters were, the supporting actors in this were actually okay too. I must say, Dylan Kuo being the only Taiwanese-accented person in the entire cast threw me off a lot at the very beginning because his pronunciation was SUPER obviously different LOL but I guess I eventually kind of grew used to it. The guy who plays Sun Hao......does not sound like he was dubbed.......his voice sounds really raspy(??) and kind of annoying LOL or maybe that's just me but he's not in the drama that much so it's okay.
Also you may be annoyed by dubbing at times (I thought it was fine since I love dubbing lol). They had issues passing SARFT the first time, so their characters were all dubbed after stuff was changed. The English dubbing might feel kind of whack too since the actors were saying Chinese and then they were dubbed over with English. But I mean......at least there wasn't TOO much of those parts, and it's not like the actors can speak English very well LOL.
Music:
The instrumental music was sometimes quite bothersome….they were kind of too loud at times (which is why I docked off some points)?? But the OST songs I really liked!!! I listen to a lot of Chinese music, so I really liked the opening and ending theme songs, as well as the other OST song sung by Yisa Yu. I have all 3 of these songs on my phone and have been listening to them quite often these days.
Rewatch:
I would rewatch the parts with the main leads!! I really thought they were cute, and I’ve already rewatched quite a few of their scenes. But nothing else aside from the main leads LOL I watched this drama because I’m a big fan of Yang Mi and I often times enjoy noona-dongsaeng romances (thus fulfilling the two bullet points I had listed at the beginning of this review).
Lastly:
I used to think Huang Zitao was kind of annoying (me being a semi-kpop fan and all) but throughout the past month of watching this drama and scrolling through Weibo, my view of him as turned from annoyance to neutrality and a bare liking. His Weibo stories of him watching the drama were quite funny.
I'm hoping Jaywalk Studio can pick better modern cdramas for Yang Mi and her talents in the future.......I feel like they always pick up awful modern cdramas LOL it really wastes the potentials of their talents!! ://
In essence, a guilty pleasure drama XD
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Now another reviewer expressed much of the drama’s problems quite accurately and I have to say that I’m glad I’m not the only one that felt its many shortcomings. Let’s start with the plot…
Story:
As someone who has previously played MMORPGs, I was excited to watch this one. And I actually enjoyed the first 1/3 of the series. But it must have been around the 11th episode or so where it all went downhill for me. One of the huge points that bugged me was that just because you marry someone in the game, you are automatically dating? Not in my book! (And as someone who has married my characters in an online game, this is ridiculous to assume). What would have been great to see was their interest in each other develop and grow over time. Otherwise it just looks like they are in love with each other’s characters. This was also around the time when the story shifted away from college life. As a huge fan of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo and her college experiences, I was really disappointed that Love O2O completely moved away from that setting. While some parts of the story were an alright watch, others were downright boring, slow and lacked depth.
And before some of you jump up and down saying that it is based off a novel and they were just trying to stay true to it, I wish they had not. Many series divert from their original stories and this should have been one of them.
Acting/Cast (with a focus on the main two leads):
So our main female lead, Bei Wei Wei, seemed to be a strong female lead who stood up for herself, but was very quickly shown to be a dull, simpering girl who could never best her boyfriend in anything. I found her admiration for the male lead irksome, thought she was full of herself (not in an endearing way), and really was not all that likable. She did minimal things on her own and more often than not she needed her boyfriend to pick up the slack and come to the rescue. Though this may be popular in dramaland, I felt duped that she ended up being weak like so many other leads. The actress was also waaay too skinny, to the point of looking unhealthy, and was far from the beauty that the story depicted her as. Not that she was unattractive, but I was certainly expecting more. In fact, I thought her best friend, Er Xi, was prettier.
As for the other lead… Xiao Nai must be the most overrated male lead I have ever seen. The only thing that was alright was his appearance, and even then it wasn’t earth-shattering. He was stiff, incredibly boring and had NO personality. I mean, none. You could have placed a cardboard cut-out of him on the screen and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. And it was very irritating how he was good at EVERYTHING. And not in a cute I’m-good-at-lots-of-thing-but-I-still-have-flaws kind of way. In a perfect, inhuman kind of way. I could not relate to it nor could I enjoy it. One of the best parts of watching characters in a drama is to see them learn, grow, fall, and pick themselves back up again. I experienced none of this while watching Xiao Nai and even when the bad guys tried to fight back, they were easily overcome. Made things very anticlimactic.
Now put these two boring characters in a relationship together and you get one tiresome series. The boyfriend is always better at the girlfriend at everything they do and she just smiles like an idiot. He didn’t come across as this “sexy wolf” that they try to make him out to be, but rather forceful, arrogant and robotic. And their chemistry was really lacking, such as the number of awkward kiss scenes. I couldn’t wait when their screen time was interrupted by any of the boys at the office, or really any other character in the show.
So why keep watching it? Aside from not wanting to leave a drama unfinished when I had already seen so much, I really only wanted to see my OTP in the series, Hao Mei and KO. I was pleasantly surprised to find a BL pair in this drama (though we only get hints of it). Between their sweet interactions, sulky behaviour, and protective moments, I was completely hooked. My only complaint was that they didn’t get enough airtime.
Music:
There was maybe one song that I liked. They weren’t particularly memorable nor did I find myself rushing off to YouTube to listen to the OST.
Rewatch Value:
If it wasn’t obvious already, I would not watch this drama again or recommend it to anyone. If I could give this section a zero, I would.
So even if you decide to watch it don’t believe everything that others say about it. There are many flaws that should not be overlooked. Go into it with your eyes wide open. Or better yet, steer clear of it altogether. Really wish I had.
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Bad acting from FL and BAD STORY
I am very surprised that A LOT of people object to this drama's love triangle. After watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, there shouldn't be any surprise about the love triangle being part of the plot.Although I am not against the predictable love triangle story, I find myself concurring with the majority in objecting the love triangle for a few reasons:
1) the FL is really not a good actress. She cannot emote feelings through expressions and eyes acting. Her eyes and face are expressionless, not because she's a stoic character, but because she cannot express her character's emotions. She's supposed to be a complex person: she has been abused by her mom, she's poor, she wants to get ahead; on other hand, she has feelings for the ML. She's not supposed to choose love and yet she did!
I tend to feel sorry for this type of character; and yet, I don't feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for the MLs though ... because they act out their characters convincingly. So far, she's not convincing.
You can do a comparison (for example the scene where she is being harassed by the gangsters) ... observe Tae Oh and her ... what a big difference. His face, eyes, and body are natural. Hers looked unnatural ... I couldn't tell what she was feeling.
2) There is so much going on with the MLs and their backgrounds that the writers didn't spend enough time to develop the FL's story. The blending of her into the team is not smooth. Maybe they should have let her join the team in a capacity of a smart girl who has some skills to help out. And then the romance starts to develop as the guys understand her better.
Instead she is reduced to being a cliche female in a love triangle ... It's ridiculous that in 2024, women are still being treated as a sidekick ... she's attending the best college in Korea, she's smart ... I don't see why she is being typecasted into a plot of a love triangle.
And I don't see why she has to depend on a man to move up to a better life???? Unless Korea as a society doesn't give women opportunities.
Disney should re-examine what they show on their channel! So much for their support of equality. The cinderella story is still being perpetuated in 2024!
Eps 3,4
Ep 3 is confusing ... things are just presented like a bullet points ... The whole episode is set up so that they can show the machinations of the stepmother and son #2 ... and how ML choreograph the take over step by step. Surprise surprise ... the FL continues to be a bad actress.
Ep 4
I don't like the way the story is presented. The viewer is tricked into believing a bad scenario only to be surprised that there was a plan that made everything ok again. You can only do this trick once ... They employed a couple already ... made the story flow confusing and disengaging.
Now the surprising conversation reveals the ML#1 cares so much ML#2 ... maybe something is lost in the translation ... "You are the reason ..."
If I were ML #2 I would be asking why ????
Ep 5-6
Story is getting predictable. Plot of double-crossing is getting old. Inha's father gave the biggest clue of all: Inha is like his father. LJY is a very good actor in this drama. His eyes ... wow ... show the psychotic and unpredictable tendency. It's easy to act as a straight good or a bad person. But harder to act as an evil/amoral person. He almost gives that Anthony Hopkins vibe in the Silence of the Lamb.
At this point I am indecisive as to continue to follow this drama any more ... It just doesn't make sense to me about the FL's fear of her mom. Maybe I don't understand Korean culture.
I don't feel the relationship between the ML1 and FL is logical or emotionally developed. There doesn't seem to be chemistry between them. I feel it's contrived.
7-8
OMG, I couldn't imagine the story could get any lower but it did. Nothing makes sense. Everything is contrived. Going to drop it NOW.
FL continues to be a drag. The only good actor is the 2nd ML who acts his role so well.
8-9
At this point I am just FF through to see how bad it can get. OMG, the actress is so bad at acting that I couldn't tell if she was hurting or happy when she discovered HTO had escaped the prison ... I thought ohh, maybe there's something there ... NOPE, just bad acting!
As predicted from last week, the Chairman came to the rescue.
My prediction this week: the chairman will wake up ... he's has 9 lives!
10-12
Sorry I had to go back and lower the score to 6 so that I can save some people from watching this ridiculous drama. I just saw the last 2 eps and omg, don't these writers know how badly the story is written? I hate it. It just doesn't make sense ... Yeh right ... like the heir miraculously turned to be the hero who is not related to the Chairman by blood. When does that happen IRL? NEVER! We are talking about Korean family run business here! And then that CM lives on forever... he has 9 lives ! As predicted (and this drama is so predictable) he wakes again!
FL remains the sore point all the way to end. Not sure what her role should be? Why do women always have to focus on themselves and stay lonely to get to higher places??? OMG, we are in 2024 right now and still have to choose either career or love???? This doesn't make sense and so outdated!
Another thing that's wrong with the ending is the suicide of the ML. Korean society already have one of the highest rate of suicides. Why put this in the drama ending to emphasize that dying is the only way to redemption. NO! Redemption is done through serving time in the prison!
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In my opinion this drama was more characters driven than plot driven, and the cast did an awesome job in portraying a plot that was unnecessarily over complicated. The writer took us on a very long detour to keep us engaged but at the end he failed to delivery the “twist plot” we all were waiting for.
When you take down one enemy after another, but there are still episodes to air, it is very easy to see, between the suspects, who is still standing.
I really would love to give this an 8 but despite the great acting, the wonderful soundtrack and some thriller/dramatic moments, I didn’t appreciate how the writer play with us.
Plot: unnecessarily complicated, full of thrilling moments strategically placed to grab the viewer, but the overall consistency of the story was lacking, the ending was predictable. Most of the plot focus on the corruption within the police/justice SK society.
Characters: well-written, the story was characters driven, each member of the team has his own story, all of them show the true colors of human kind, the trauma they suffer affected them not only psychologically but also physically, and bring them to make decisions that not always are the rightful one.
Acting: superb, the cast did an awesome job and save a lot this drama.
Soundtrack: wonderful and perfect to give the thriller vibe and dramatic vibe when necessary.
Personal opinion: I am more into pure thriller where the enemy is a psychopath than into corruption plot, but this can definitely be added in the OCN best work.
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Who needs a plot?
There seems to be a spate of plotless Thai BL dramas. There's really not much to say about this series - the author apparently couldn't think of anything to write so she just used whatever she did that day. Everything that happens in this is mundane day-to-day activity - largely eating snacks and bubble tea.There is zero romantic chemistry between the leads - it's not clear what their age difference is, because they're both children at the same time, but later Park is a doctor, so that would put him in his late 20s, while Tin is either in high school or maybe college - it's hard to tell because he never seems to go to class. I was surprised to hear he goes to school when it was mentioned in the finale. Tin behaves like a small child almost all the time, so there is something kind of creepy about their relationship, only saved by the fact that the actors are similar in age.
Since there's no plot, there's no dramatic tension - and it looks like the writer realized she'd reached the conclusion without any drama, so she threw in a long series of fights over absolutely nothing between Park and Tin - which likely cemented the feeling the audience had that they really shoudn't be together. Except as parent and child, maybe.
There are lots of side characters, but they're all pointless and their stories never go anywhere.
I didn't think it was possible to have less of the story than Physical Therapy, but apparently it is. I rated this a 3 because while it's a total waste of time, it's not aggressively awful.
I'd skip it.
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This is the perfect Japanese drama i have ever watched. Now i am not sure if there's any good stuff out there.
Scale of 1 to 10...10.5
Rewatch value.....perfect score
I highly recommend this for someone looking for something sweet and fluffy. Thank me later.
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Surgeons actually follows a pretty standard "format". You have the established specialist, perfect in every way, return from the US to work in his home country as our protagonist Zhuang Shu, the idealistic but highly-talented surgeon who is oblivious to everything outside of work as our heroine Lu Chen Xi, and other side characters whom you can find in practically every other medical drama. Some people call this the modern version of Nirvana in Fire, since Zhuang Shu, like Mei Chang Su, returned to seek vengeance on his enemies. I think the similarities pretty much stop there though (but I never finished NiF so I won't know).
The main plot isn't really prominent in the drama until the later stages. Surgeons actually focuses more on doctor-patient interactions. I don't think it's anything to shout about, but I think the script is pretty well-written in the sense that the dialogues were great. The characters were also designed well, none of them are completely evil, or completely good (other than LCX). Acting wise, I'm not too impressed with Jin Dong. I think he was serviceable, but he didn't come across as an elite surgeon. Imo, LCX is the true protagonist since she is the one who "changed" the most throughout the drama, from someone who is borderline annoying because of how stubborn and unmalleable she is to someone who is, well, a little more flexible and understanding. I was never a fan of Bai Bai He's acting because I think she's herself in every project she stars in, but she was good in this drama. LCX and her buddy Chen Shao Cong showed most growth in the drama (probably because they started out at lvl 0). CSC is freaking hilarious and I think Li Jia Hang played the role well. My favourite character is Yang Fan though. I think you just can't hate the character because Liu Yi Jun is so awesome with his portrayal. You can really see the difference in just acting and good acting when you watch dramas like Surgeons and In the Name of People. I was blown away by the veterans.
Also, kudos to the scriptwriter for making the female characters likeable and "aggressive". LCX and Yang Yu are just kickass when it comes to dealing with their boyfriends. LCX's responses when asked about ZS were so freaking funny as well. The two couples had good chemistry too. I think they did a good job with the romantic development in that it was a slow process but you can see how they come to like each other. Much better than other dramas where you have no idea why they are falling in love with each other, or the dramas where the main couple lacks chemistry so badly (yes, I'm talking about O2O).
In short, I think Surgeons is a good watch. It sort of faltered towards the end, but I think it's just me who's a little exhausted because of its length (44 episodes) and how frequently the episodes were aired. I was completely drawn in by the earlier episodes though and so I'd give it a 8.5. The drama is also rated 7.5 on Douban, slightly lower than what it should have been because of Bai Bai He's scandal.
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The Glory — An Extraordinary Journey from Trauma to Triumph
Watching “The Glory” was not just entertainment — it has been one of the most soul-wrenching, eye-opening experiences I’ve had in a long time. Not just because of its intense and gripping plot, but because of the raw, unflinching portrait it paints of trauma — not the kind we casually reference in conversation, but the kind that leaves deep, lasting physical and psychological scars. The kind that reshapes you. That haunts you.At the heart of it all is Zhuang Hanyan — and she’s not just a character. She is a walking wound, both physically and emotionally. A survivor of trauma most people can’t even begin to imagine. This isn’t just a revenge story. It’s not a romantic story. It’s the story of a girl denied the luxury of innocence, forced to survive in a world that offered her nothing but cruelty — and still, she breathes, perseveres, and ultimately triumphs against all odds.
<< A Life Shaped by Trauma >>
From the moment she was born, Hanyan’s world was one of darkness and violence. Abandoned at birth, wrongfully branded a “barefoot ghost,” she was torn from her biological parents living in Ming Dynasty Beijing, and discarded into the hands of cruel, abusive adoptive family in a remote, impoverished village called Danzhou. Her childhood wasn’t just difficult — it was a relentless crucible of suffering: beatings, starvation, humiliation, and sexual assault — all before she even had the words to describe her pain.
Most people would have broken under the weight of what she endured.
But Hanyan’s suffering didn’t end there.
When she was finally reunited with her birth family, clinging to a fragile hope for love and belonging, she was met with more rejection, manipulation, and abandonment. Her biological mother — the one person she had longed to know — responded not with warmth but with cruelty: caning her, starving her, pushing her away with chilling detachment.
And then — the unimaginable. Hanyan witnessed her biological mother’s murder, brutally and mercilessly carried out by the man she had called father. A mother she had only just begun to love, died poisoned and bleeding in her arms. Later, she would learn he had also killed her grandfather, her stepsister, her stepfather, two loyal maids — anyone who dared stand in his way.
How does a person survive that?
How do you even breathe after that?
<< The Messy, Honest Truth About Trauma >>
"The Glory" doesn’t just tell us about her trauma. It makes us feel it — bone-deep, breath-shattering. It doesn’t romanticize trauma. It doesn’t use it as a decorative backstory or a convenient excuse for sympathy. It shows trauma as it truly is — raw, jagged, messy, suffocating, and unrelenting. The kind that reshapes how she sees the world, how she makes decisions, and how she learns to survive in a life that has given her nothing but agony from the moment she was born.
Hanyan’s trauma bleeds into everything: her thoughts, her choices, her relationships. Her coldness, her rage, her recklessness, her mistrust of people, and her thirst for justice at any cost — these are not signs of cruelty or evil. They are the armour she wears to survive.
Yes, she lashes out. Yes, she is messy. Yes, she makes mistakes. Yes, she is reckless. Yes, she breaks down. But how else is someone supposed to respond when they've been told, over and over again, that they don’t matter? When their very existence has been battered, broken, and betrayed?
To expect composure from the shattered is not only unfair and unrealistic — it’s cruel.
"The Glory" reminds us that real trauma is not tidy and nice. It doesn’t produce people who are graceful, likable, or thoughtful. It produces people who are angry, cold, explosive, guarded, impulsive, or volatile. People who wrap love in fear, and safety in suspicion. Underneath it all, is a human being, simply struggling to crawl out of the wreckage with nothing but sheer will.
And yet, Hanyan keeps going — not for praise or pity, but because her pain demands justice. Because her story demands to be heard.
<< Compassion Heals: Yunxi’s Choice >>
And maybe — just maybe — that is healing.
But here’s what we often forget: healing from trauma is not a straight line. It’s not always calm. It’s not always graceful. It’s not always pleasant. Sometimes, healing looks like rage. Sometimes, it looks like destruction. Sometimes, it looks like burning everything down just to prove you still have control over something.
Enter Fu Yunxi — the one person who knows Hanyan’s brokenness most intimately. He sees her pain, has touched her scars, lived through the fire of her fury, felt the sting of her mistrust. And still — he stays. He never flinched, never turned away. He pursued her, married her — not just out of love, but because he believed in her. He trusted her strength. He knew she would protect his family. And when Hanyan prepared a divorce letter on their wedding night — not out of rejection, but a desperate gesture to shield him and his family from the fallout of her dangerous quest for justice — he burned it without hesitation. Not to possess her, but to tell her, in the clearest way he knew how:
I choose you. Even now. Especially now. You are not too broken to be loved.
If he — the one closest to her rage, her sorrow, her scars — could choose compassion over judgment — then why can’t we?
<< The World’s Quick Judgment >>
In the real world, survivors like Hanyan are too often branded with convenient, dismissive labels: “angry,” “broken,” “evil,” “irrational,” “cold,” “reckless,” “stupid,” or “beyond saving.”
But these aren’t character flaws — they’re the visible signs of invisible wounds.
The Glory reminds us of a hard truth: behind every trauma survivor is a story we cannot fully comprehend, pain we cannot measure, and suffering we may never see.
Because there are countless Hanyans among us — bearing invisible wounds from battles we may never fully know or understand. They don’t need our judgment. They need our presence. Our compassion. Our willingness to listen, even when the truth is hard to hear.
Hanyan is not a villain — she is a mirror held up to our society — a crucial reminder that people break in different ways, and that healing isn’t always straightforward. And her story, with all its brokenness and all its resilience, deserves compassion above all.
She isn’t heartless. She’s hurting.
She wasn’t trying to destroy others. She was trying to reclaim herself — to feel safe, to feel whole, to feel human.
Before we judge her for her rage or recklessness, we must ask:
What would you become, if you were taught that love always ends in betrayal, that trust is a weapon, and that your body and voice were never truly your own?
<< A Wake-Up Call for Us All >>
"The Glory" is not just a drama. It is a reckoning.
A searing reminder that real trauma doesn’t get resolved in a season or in a single kind gesture. It lingers. It shapes how you see the world. It stains relationships, and even the good moments with fear and suspicion — because trauma teaches you that every joy comes with a cost.
And that’s a lesson we desperately need today:
• Stop expecting perfection from the wounded.
• Stop demanding grace from the broken.
• Stop measuring worth by how “well” someone hides their pain.
And instead —
• Start creating space for the messiness of healing.
• Start showing up — not with judgment, but with empathy and kindness.
• Start offering understanding, not assumptions.
• Start offering help instead of knee-jerk reactions.
Because real life doesn’t come with dramatic music or scripted redemption arcs. In real life, survivors walk among us — quietly, bravely — carrying wounds we cannot see, fighting battles we may never understand.
So the next time someone seems angry, cold, distant, or hard to love — pause.
Consider what they might be surviving — and choose kindness.
<< The Glory’s Final Gift >>
"The Glory" doesn’t just tell a story. It gives trauma a voice. It gives pain a face. And it calls on us — the audience — to become better people. Not with pity, but with humanity.
Yes —" The Glory" may be just entertainment for some. And yes — the characters are pure fiction. But if, even after everything shown on screen — her backstory, her trauma, her rage, her vulnerability — we still cannot empathize with Hanyan… Then how will we ever truly empathize with a real survivor in real life?
• Let "The Glory" be more than just a show.
• Let it be a mirror.
• Let it change how we see, how we feel, and how deeply we care.
Because empathy — real, honest, uncomfortable empathy — is what makes us human.
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A Dark Painful Story Told in a Comedic Way
“Back From the Brink” is a dark painful story but told in a playful, comedic way. A spirit dragon, Tian Yao (Hou Minghao aka Neo Hou), was conned into a marriage where he was dismembered. Since then, he became an ordinary man, wandering the world trying to find his body parts. In his painful journey, he meets a girl, Yan Hui (Zhou Ye) who falls deeply in love with him and promises to help him in his search to return to his former form again.The tone of the drama is playful with modern vibes. Yet at the same time, dead serious when the antagonists appear. This series has perhaps produced two of the most egregious antagonists in the cultivator sisters. Their obsessions and atrocities make the viewers clenched their teeth and seethed, wishing them die a horrible death.
Tian Yao the spirit dragon, is a pure man void of evil thoughts. He is kind and upstanding with a mission to protect the world. His journey and determination to find his body parts are painful and touching. As he eventually returns to his dragon form, he becomes the strongest creature there is. I love Hou Minghao’s portrayal of the Tian Yao character here, though the CGI of the dragon is rather poorly done. Hou Minghao is very good looking and cute with an innocent youthful look. Some viewers commented that his acting skills are still somewhat lacking, I find him to have improved greatly since “A Girl Like Me” when I fell in love with this young actor. Here, his portrayal is believable, and his character is very lovable. As Tian Yao, his lack of words hits the viewers hard as he endures his pains silently.
Yan Hui, a disciple of the cultivator sect, is a happy-go-lucky girl who never holds any grudges. Her good nature wins her many friends and helps her become very strong in the end despite having a weak heart at birth. Zhou Ye is beautiful and has great acting skills. Her crying scenes are heart felt and convincing. Most important of all, she has amazing chemistry with Hou Minghao as they make a great matching pair.
Many viewers curse Bai Xiaosheng (Wang Yilun aka Riley Wang), a shadow demon, because he comes in between Tian Yao and Yan Hui in a love triangle. I love the Bai Xiaosheng character and Wang Yilun has given a great performance. The two side couples are entertaining and sweet, forming a great alliance for Yan Hui and Tian Yao. The OSTs are beautiful and soothing. Do listen to them for music lovers.
My Verdict
This is a lovely story with love and hate, happiness and sadness, kindness and atrocities, light and darkness. When one harbors negativities, one is consumed by darkness, as with Fu Yin (Pema Jyad), the Master of dark air. This is a very enjoyable drama for the whole family.
Recommended. Great watch. Don’t miss it.
BRAVO!
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This review may contain spoilers
I feel like they could have done more with the characters and paced the story better.
There were parts that were compelling and gripping, and then parts where the plot dragged like crazy and I could only get through it at 1.5x speed, especially the middle. I think they spent too much time on the townspeople gossiping about Samdal and Yongpil when they had their own lives to live. I also felt like Yongpil's dad coming around was too sudden and we should have seen a gradual change start several episodes earlier. I also think the downfall of the villain was too brief for the grief she caused. Overall I feel mixed about it. I think this story could have been told and been better in 10 eps max. My favorite character is probably the little girl. She was too cute for words but was also the voice of reason a lot. I don't think I'd recommend this for most, there's better and there's worse.Was this review helpful to you?
Asuma Ibuki and Otazawa Mei are Mutsumi's classmates. They've been best friends since childhood, with the tomboyish Ibuki always at Mei's side as her constant protector and savior. Mei is shy to the point of being almost incapable of interacting with anyone else, so the two of them focus solely on each other, rarely allowing anyone else into their circle.
With Mei being so fearful of other people, Mutsumi at first sees her as his ultimate challenge, but as soon as he starts in with his usual tactics to win her over Ibuki realizes what he's up to and fiercely shuts him down.
This leads the undaunted Mutsumi to start thinking that Ibuki herself would be an even more challenging conquest than Mei. He makes a bet with two of his friends that he can make Ibuki fall in love with him, and from there the game begins.
A compelling addition to the series are occasional "self confessional" videos where individual characters sit alone and reveal their private thoughts and feelings. These segments are filmed in portrait mode as though recorded with a mobile phone, adding to their sense of immediacy and rawness. It is here that we learn how troubled Mutsumi really is, and Mei as well. In Mutsumi's case these sessions expand upon his character and make him more sympathetic, and it's through them that we learn that the feelings he's showing toward Ibuki have become real for him.
Ibuki is the most central character to the series, since the other three -- Mei, Mutsumi, and a younger student named Sakurai Nao (introduced about midway through the series) -- are much defined by the ways in which Ibuki has awakened a need in each for a deeper connection with her.
Performances are superb all around.
Itagaki Mizuki impressively navigates the many sides of Mutsumi's character, making us gradually understand why he's become so guarded and hostile, and eventually making us want the best for him. With Ibuki's encouragement Mutsumi gathers the courage to let others -- including his estranged mother -- know the real him, and it's endearing to see how much wonder he feels over Ibuki's sincere concern for his emotional well-being.
Takeda Rena as Mei fully embodies that character's vulnerability, and we cheer her on when she finally attempts to expand her world beyond Ibuki, one tiny step at a time.
Rounding out the main cast, Goto Yutaro makes a perfect Nao, androgynously beautiful and fearless in his own way, not hesitating to make his feelings known to Ibuki as soon as he realizes them.
'Sixteen Shoukougun' ('Sixteen Syndrome') is much more than a high school romance. Its complex characters will stay with you long after it has ended, and if you're like me you'll be returning to it again to pick up on what you might have missed before.
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