Reviews

Favorite cdrama in years

I've been watching chinese dramas for YEARS (probably over a decade), and this is the only cdrama I've watched on repeat ever. The characters are well written, the romance is believable, and there's also an endgame/political setup that is emotional and worth cheering for. The female lead's setup is already intriguing, since it involves a female lead that has to (re)navigate her life decisions in a a thought-provoking way, and generally a male lead that is supportive of her throughout this navigating of the court intrigue/personal relationships. For me, the elements that make a truly wonderful and rewatchable drama are as follows:

1) Strong female lead - the female lead has to be written in a way that I want to cheer for her. There are a lot of characters out there, but the female lead has a strong drive/ambition and has a reason for wanting to accomplish her mission that to me reads as noble and worthwhile, while also being spunky and fun (and I absolutely love Bai Lu's acting, she is perfectly cast for this role). It's just super fun to watch a female character acting in her own agency and trying to navigate life

2) Excellent chemistry between both (all?) leads - really good believable chemistry always gets me. enough said here, their scenes speak for themselves :) this also links to that I want both leads to be believable in their chemistry. Good acting to me is where I forget they're an actor, but truly believe they are the character they're portraying, which is definitely done by both here!

3) Good pacing & political intrigue - love me some plotting for the dramatic tension in the storyline, and I think dramas really shine when both leads have a brain and work together, and get to know each other over a shared interest/smarts rather than just a love at first sight. the dramatic tension of first life vs. fixing things in second life also drives the plot and kept me on the hook; when I watch a drama, having it be interesting and an easy watch is v important

4) good quality costuming & scenery - I hate when other historical dramas look cheap or over the top, but I've aesthetically loved the costuming here :) one of the things I appreciate is seeing Chinese-style costuming and scenery, love that aspect of cultural exchange.

The whole support cast is excellent too, hope all the cast members get lots of awards for this show!!

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Story: In all honesty, I wasn't expecting much going into this. The description given made it seem like the main role was getting plastic surgery for the sole purpose of getting the guy. It was really about much more than that.
After finally being pushed to her limit, and after more than one failed suicide attempt, she does the last thing she feels she can do to live a happy life. The story following the surgery is about her journey to accepting her new self while not completely forgetting her old self.

Acting/Cast: I loved the acting and the cast.

Kim Ah Joong did an amazing job of portraying an overweight person, and an amazing job of portraying the skinny person she becomes. In most shows/movies like that, the girl is instantly 500% more confident, while Kim Ah Joong still had to get used to people not gawking at her for being the "ugly, fat chick." Even little things, like learning to walk in heels, were a joy to watch.

I'm still unsure about Joo Jin Mo's character. He seemed to have two different opinions depending on who he was with, so I wasn't really sure what think about him. I suppose, if I ignore the fact that his character confused me, I can easily say his acting was amazing.

Music: Loved the music throughout the movie.

Rewatch Value: I could definitely see myself rewatching this movie often. Definitely. The last 10 minutes or so of the movie (mostly the speech in particular) had me bawling. Just full-on bawling.

Overall: Overall, even though I loved the movie, I had to give it an 8.
While the character herself makes it known that the surgery is for herself, and not for anybody else, it doesn't erase the fact that, ultimately, this was a movie about a person who's life becomes better only after becoming pretty in society's eye. It's just not the type of message I enjoy seeing in the media.

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This is a drama that does not fit simply into one category. I'd say Padam Padam is equal parts love story, tearjerker, crime drama, and supernatural tale. It combines all four genres seamlessly, and every moment of it felt genuine. I think much of the credit should go to the outstanding cast. I also liked that the director made some interesting storytelling choices that kept me engaged. This drama may not be fast paced, but it's originality stopped me from ever being bored. It was also consistently good. Not one of the 20 episodes felt like filler/unnecessary to me... and I think that's rare.

I can't think of one bad actor in this cast. Jung Woo Sung, as Yang Kang Chil, was intense, and very moving. Han Ji Min, as cool/controlled Jung Ji Nah, was his perfect counterpart. Their relationship had all the familiar elements (opposites attracting, destined path crossings, and family disapproval...) but without simply relying on clichés. My only small criticism is that they had some of the worst onscreen kisses I've ever seen, though the rest of their romantic moments more than make up for it. It could be argued that their awkwardness fit the story, but I just found it distracting. Their romance was portrayed as much deeper than a few cute moments, so I do have to give them a lot of credit for that.

Of the exceptional supporting cast, I have 3 favorites. Na Moon Hee, as the mother, was a really great character, and expertly played. Choi Tae Joon, as the son, was the only character that made me actually cry. Kim Bum, as the charming yet odd Lee Gook Soo, was my absolute favorite. His character's journey was so awesomely unexpected, and he did an amazing job with it.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a tearjerker, but there are plenty of funny, sweet, intriguing, and inspiring moments too. Some aspects of the story are left open ended, but that didn't bother me at all. I thought the end episode was beautifully done, and gave me all the closure I needed. I can't agree that this drama is perfect, but It is certainly better than most, and not to be missed.

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For clown and country.

Fighting For Love is a drama adaptation of a novel with the same Chinese title Ā Mài Cóngjūn/阿麦从军 or A Mai Joins the Army. The novel enjoys an impressive 8.6 score on Douban. It is a female centric story about A Mai, an orphaned noblewoman who seeks justice for her family's betrayal. She joins the army and works her way up to become a fierce and undefeated general. She discovers a greater purpose along the way, which is to defend her country. This takes place during the Northern and Southern dynasties, a period of war, chaos and political turmoil. It is not a romance and there is no real male protagonist; it is about one brave and patriotic woman's awesome journey. I abandoned the book because of its intense and graphic focus on war.

Clearly the original story does not fit with the typical male-centric costume drama formula with plenty of romance tropes. What a breath of fresh air, right? Wrong. In the adaptation, Shang Yizhi is elevated to male protagonist and his story arc is as central as A Mai's. Which in and of itself, is not a terrible thing. Like A Mai, Yizhi has a hidden identity and was a victim of foul play. His cause becomes hers as she rescues him and helps him outsmart his enemies. She discovers her military prowess, forms life and death bonds with her troops and finds meaning in defending the citizens of Nanxia. They have a shared purpose and are catalysts for each other's growth. It is natural for attraction or feelings to develop between them though it does not need to be romantic.

The critical fail in the adaptation is they wrote Yizhi as a kind hearted and playful anti-hero character. While some of his comedic scenes are witty and funny, this diminishes him into a parody role. This should be a complex character who does consequential things; a once carefree young nobleman whose world changes overnight. Instead, the writers stuck him with a love brain and Peter Pan syndrome until the final arc. As he is pushed first to survive and then to reclaim his birthright, all of his motivations continue to simply revolve around A'Mai. A character that chooses each time to save the girl and let the world rot does not deserve to end up where he does! This devalues A'Mai and the Zhenbei army's achievements and sacrifices into a fight for clown and country. Even though he becomes morally ambiguous and utilitarian at the end, this evolution is too abrupt. His character progression should have begun well before he returned to the capital. Zhang Haowei did his best with this role but the character is just too poorly designed.

A Mai is quite consistently written throughout even though it is difficult to connect with her feelings for Yizhi. Even though she is too lovely to ever be mistaken for a man, Zhang Tianai does a wonderful job with the role. Her mannerisms are very masculine and she literally shakes with rage and hatred in her scenes with Chen Qi. Best of all, she is no Mary Sue in need of constant rescuing even though all the men fall for her. She just has terrible luck with men; she gets involved with a backstabber, a clown and an enemy with a choking fetish. The one good man she meets is brother-zoned, father-zoned and what happens to him is definitely over-kill. Chen Qi is the most interesting and conflicted antagonist and his and A Mai's story is really sad. Wang Ruichang is very charismatic and the fan favorite but his Chang Yuqing has no development and no real story arc. He just pops up whenever something needs to go wrong for the leads.

The first few arcs of this story are quite good and the cinematography and action scenes are pretty awesome. The story falls apart mid-way and snowballs downhill into the palace arc. It is yet another perfectly good drama that is ruined by ignorant and silly romance writers who can't write palace intrigue (i.e., Destined, Legend of Zhuohua, Wonderland of Love etc etc). This arc is ridden with predictable villains, plot holes, clichés and a flabby dancing emperor who looks like a sloppy fashion mistake. To my surprise, the story comes together again in the final episodes to end fittingly and on a strong note.

It is not easy to rate this because there are many good parts. The first 12-15 episodes and the ending is good and worth ~8 but the middle and dreadful palace arc are only worth ~6+. I think ~7.5 overall is fair but I am only going to call it a 7.0 because the production deserves to be spanked for desecrating a fantastic novel.



Scroll down for SPOILER ending thoughts.







ENDING SPOILER

The final showdown between A Mai and Chen Qi is exciting and moving and it finally gives her closure. Poor Chen Qi is such an interesting, conflicted and ultimately tragic character it is a shame he was not better fleshed out. In the end he probably loved A Mai best.

I don't believe it is in character for A Mai to go off with Chang Yuqing at the end. His feelings for her are not better developed than Yizhi's and at least in the drama, they are one-sided. He is a rising star in Beimo and if A Mai were to marry him, she would have to defect to the enemy to be another caged bird as the wife of a Marquis. After just escaping the terrible fate of being the favorite concubine of an emperor?!? As advisor Xu points out, the countries are at perfect stalemate because their top generals A'Mai and Chang Yuqing don't really want to fight each other. There is peace with them glowering fiercely at each other across the border. A Mai is simply setting off for a well earned 3-year vacation while Beimo's internal palace politics play out. It is a perfect, strong independent woman ending in the spirit of the original novel; one that says A Mai does not have to be someone's arm candy to have a meaningful life.







X

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I've read some people calling this drama "life-altering". Perhaps it is so. A million stars falling from the sky is a journey into the darkest depth of the human heart. What you see there is not at all pretty: it's disquieting, clouded and unsettling.

I consider Eriko Kitagawa one of the best drama scriptwriters. She has the ability to pick up an ordinary event and make it into an unpredictable twist, all with a subtle calm pace which makes you restless. This plot is made of little hints: a word, a glance, a brief scene. There's no abundance of words, each line carries its meaning into the silence that follows.
And the actors get inside their roles brilliantly, creating around them an aura of mystery which makes you grope in the dark as to who did what and why.

The cinematography is scanty and sober, totally devoid of gloss. With the exception of the very effective close-up shots of the characters and the use of the light, it doesn't rely on beauty. Oh, the actors are beautiful all right. Kimura Takuya and Fukatsu Eri in particular are wonderfully intense, together as well as individually and play their part so well I was left speechless more than once.
The same scantiness applies to the music. Used with economy and without much variety, it manages to create the right expectations at exactly the right moment.

When all this is said and done, I am left with only one question: did I personally like this drama? The answer is: no. Did I fall in love with any of the characters? No. They intrigued me, fascinated me even, but I didn't like any of them, and felt somehow totally detached, despite the high-voltage chemistry between the leads.
I marathoned through the drama in 2 days, which is proof of its being a very well built thriller. Once started, you want to know. However, because I felt neither identification, nor true compassion or love for these people, it's as if I had read a very interesting and brilliantly written essay on human nature but was happy to see it end. The ending came to me as the only possible solution: a destination this journey was destined to land to.

Therefore, I recommend this drama to only a few people. Forget brightness, sunny love, suspend judgment and value this for its intrinsic quality and you will appreciate it. If you're not ready for a trip down dark lane, I suggest you stay well away from it.
I am certainly not going to repeat the experience.

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The breakthrough Japanese drama of 2018 Spring Season. This drama's creators pushed the envelope of LGBT shows by tackling the BL genre the way they would a hetero romantic comedy. You will see the characters go through the same problems most of us experience in love: age gap, divorce, unrequited love, secret affairs, exes, break ups, marriage, you name it! Not only did they show sensitivity toward the LGBT issue, they made sure that a common individual will be able to empathize with the characters. This is most likely the reason why this drama was the constant top trending topic in different social networking sites, particularly Twitter and Line, during its run.What I love the most about this drama though is the choice of actors. Most of the BL fans will agree when I say that a lot of BL productions feature newcomers or less known actors/performers. So it was quite a shock to me when the first trailer came out with Hayashi Kento replacing Motoki Ochiai and new characters were added in the mix like Otsuka Nene, Kojima Kazuya of Unjash, Mashima Hidekazu and Uchida Rio. If you are a Japanese entertainment fan like me, you surely know who these actors and actresses are. Don't even get me started with the main actor Tanaka Kei and the resident "Ossan" Yoshida Kotaro. I mean, this drama has a star-studded cast! I will forever be grateful that the producers got people who not only look the part but can, without question, act. They totally did not waste a beautiful and funny storyline.

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Story: This series is a legend by itself. There are many movies and dramas out there on this classic story of the 'Three Kingdoms' but none had truly captured the entire novel, page by page, as this 2010 version. With 95 episodes, it is one of the lengthiest series I'd followed but also the most satisfying to complete. Admittedly, I watched this in 2010 when it was airing and has recently re-watched it to remind myself parts of the Three Kingdoms' story. This drama is like reading the novel itself. Each character is depicted accurately - from their behavior, aspirations, thoughts, speech patterns to looks. The director certainly selected the perfect cast to act in this series. Many would say 95 episodes is plenty but in actual fact, there are little side stories in the novel that were excluded. Otherwise, this would turn into a 100+ episode series.

Acting/Cast: If you want to know what is professional, solid, honest-to-goodness acting, watch this. The actors and actresses will make you feel as if you are watching history unfold before your screen. They will put all those idol actors to complete shame! Everything was to the dot - from settings, costumes, etiquette to speech...they all accurately depicted the correct era in Chinese history.

Music: If you are expecting great OSTs, you will be disappointed. But if you are expecting music that accurately reflects the music of the era in the 'Three Kingdoms', you will be delighted. During those days, ppl compose music to be sung as a poem with accompaniments from traditional Chinese musical instruments. The words sung are very meaningful. Even the OST at the start of each episode adequately summed the entire novel in eloquent words. This is a story about war, the end of a dynasty, ambitious men, heroism, political plots and personal struggles set in an era known as one of the bloodiest in Chinese history.

Rewatch value: I set the re-watch value as low because of the 95 episodes. However, most ppl I know who had watched this series would usually re-watch the parts they like; eg: Diaochan's plot to bring down Dong Zhuo through Lu Bu, the appearance of Zhuge Liang (Kongming), the battle of the Red Cliff, Liu Bei's marriage to Sun XiaoMei and the ensuing struggle to establish his own hegemony at the south, Zhuge Liang vs. Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang vs. Sima Yi etc. It also helps that wikipedia breaks down the series' episode based on the book chapters it covers - making selective re-watching easier.

Overall: A perfect series with perfect actors and actresses. A must watch for lovers of chinese history and literature. The only complain I have is the length but then again, it cannot be helped considering how this series follows the novel closely.

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I was bored one day and started making a list of dramas to watch on summer and well, Two Weeks definitely made it as soon as I read it had action (yes, I'm an action lover). Anyways, one day, after being emotionally ruined by You're All Surrounded, to clear my mind and ease myself I decided to start watching Two Weeks. Jesus Christ! What took me so long to actually start watching this drama? I should have started it when I found it! Such an amazing drama, I totally recommend it to you all. The story, God, the story. The way it starts and develops oh God, everything about this drama it's amazing; the story, the cast, the acting, E V E R Y T H I N G! Don't think about it and give it a try! So worth watching & I'm totally thinking of RE-WATCHING IT! Oh God, the characters and their own background story is amazing, totally loved it. Amazing and heart warming, that's all I have to say about this drama. If you're an action lover, don't think twice about watching this one and just watch it!

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I think it's fair to say that this drama was good overall: the story is intriguing, well written for the first 10 episodes and it made me curious.
If I can say something bad about it, I'd have gone for a shorter version. 20 episodes are too many, since part of the story (expecially from episode 14) was just fillers.
I'd rather watch 10 very good episodes than 20 just for the sake of carrying it on.
The ending it's not that bad, but it's way too predictable: if you're not into open endings, just forget about this drama.
Onto the good stuff:
- Lee Seung Gi is just gold in this series, I cannot think of anybody else for the role of Son Oh Gong. Same goes for Cha Seung Won (Ma Wang) and Sung Hyuk (General Frost).
- Soundtrack is Bomb: "Let me out" is a hit, was stucked in my head for weeks, as well as "If You Were Me" and "When I Saw You".
- I loved the fact that supernatural elements, history and human nature are intertwined in the love story: it makes it really special.
- I don't particularly like Oh Yeon Seo, but i loved the first 5 episodes because of the tension between the two leads.
- Lee El (Secretary Ma) is one of the most underrated character, imho, but I loved her a lot.


I don't think I'd rewatch this, cause it's too painful now (i didn't enjoy the ending) and also because of the dragged out part (13-17), but It was definitely worth my time.

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Not an episode went by without me screaming in front of my screen

'Only friends' is a messy yet intriguing series and no the plot isn't the mess in fact the plot execution is really good, however the characters are absolutely messy and the whole plot revolves around these very messy characters. Red flags here, red flags there and I am honestly not a fan of red flags but this series had me ever since the trailer. One of the most striking elements of this series is the undeniable chemistry among the actors. The emotions, the tension they convey through the screen are palpable, tugging at my heartstrings and making the characters connections and conflicts feel all too real. I am so invested.

Not an episode went by without me screaming in front of my screen, be it in excitement or frustration. I had to pause from time to time to take deep breath and to calm down because honestly this riled me up, made me swear and scream and I was still enjoying it.

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead!!

Starting with Sand because he is my favorite. He is sassy and has his own ways- both good and bad. He is confident, charming, mess with him and be ready for a payback. And he has my heart. I really can't see him getting hurt. He is so freaking precious and honestly I just want to throw some punches on Ray but then again I can't do that. One glimpse of Ray crying and my anger is all melted but then he does some shitty things again and my anger, my frustration is back. Ray, he is alcoholic, kind of lonely, one hell of a selfish prick, and I am so freaking mad at him or I am not. Honestly I don't know anymore. Also, he is such a tease. He says Sand isn't my type but then he is flirting with Sand every single second of every single minute Sand is around him. And yeah they were 'ONLY' friends even after all the smoke kiss and the nights and what nots and he liked Mew and he messed up a big time but call me color blind I still wanted to see Sand and Ray happily together. However, that doesn't change the fact that Sand deserves so much better.

Moving on to Nick, he is such a cute baby but a big no he ain't innocent. He is so certain about what and who he wants which is a good trait but he is suffering and I just wanna go and punch Boston but then again I can't do this either. I am a softie for them all. Sorry not sorry!! Honestly, Boston is a hot manipulative mess and a major major red flag. He's using Nick and I hate him when Nick is hurting, more so when he screws things up but guess what I still can't hate him completely. I don't even know if I hate him at all, he just gets me screaming in front my screen in frustration. Also, he and Nick were friends.. 'ONLY' friends after all the nights and sweet talks and what nots and Boston was playing around but call me crazy I seriously wanted them to be the endgame even after all of that. And trust me what Boston wants he gets it by hook or by crook.

Then we have Mew, the said nerd in the friend circle and the innocent yet not so innocent guy. He is into Top but he plays hard to get. Talking about Top, he radiates the vibe of a red flag but trust me he isn't the first one on the list. However, it's clear he does want Mew at the moment and I think he really does have feelings for Mew or am I just being clowned? I still don't know honestly. Okay so they had a thing going on and they too were 'ONLY' friends and then boyfriends for a tiny while and then they- aaaahahjahdahsjd- watch it yourself to know.

See, mess! mess! the head throbbing, heart wrenching mess they created!!

The most sorted relationship in the friends circle is of Namchueam and April and they don't really have enough screen time. It might look like I am complaining and yes I am because I was losing my mind and I was on the edge every single second while watching this. But damnnn the chemistry they have. I can't unsee it and I am so invested. Also, none of the characters are bland. There's Dan, who is hitting on Nick and his chemistry with Nick is no joke. Then we have Boeing, my god, this guy is the real deal. He made his entry like a tornado, shaking up the already messed up relationship equations and damn his charm is irresistible. Also, Yo and Plug they had minimum screen time but they ate up their scenes.

To add up the osts, the sound tracks, I love it mahn and even the lyrics of the osts. Honestly this series is a mess and it triggered my trust issues. I couldn't and I still can't trust anyone of them not even my favorites and still this is so worth it. Highly Highly recommended!!

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a must watch series

Overall: this series is unique and beautiful and I hope to see the leads again soon. 10 episodes about 35 minutes each, aired on Viki (cut movie was in theaters in South Korea)

Content Warnings: see my comment with a spoiler

What I Liked
- chemistry and tension
- sweet moments
- how Ji Hyun is inexperienced/timid but goes after what he wants/takes risks/stands up for himself
- supportive people: Ji Hyun's roommate (who is oddly not listed on the MDL page), Ae Ri, the restaurant owner, Yoon Won & the therapist
- production style/value
- that we actually see therapy (gone to voluntarily) and medication however, it still felt like a fictional "love cures all" by the end
- characters discussing how respect is earned not deserved due to age (which is only 3 years difference anyway...)
- that the co-writers/co-directors were trying to solve copyright issues with social media posts promoting the series

Room For Improvement
- I wish they had lit the actors' faces a little bit more during the night scenes, sometimes it was so dark that I couldn't see what was happening
- I believe they purposefully went for a choppy vibe but it came across as jarring instead of artistic, one example is the beginning of episode 3 did not pick up where episode 2 left off, they should have re-shown a few seconds of episode 2's ending and then gone from there
- unless it was a translation error misleading the audience for half of episode 7 was not needed and felt like a betrayal instead of a neat plot twist
- Eun Ji was a cliched evil ex character who was not needed at all, they could have cut that character and that other dude and then spent more screentime in other areas
- not everyone deserved a character redemption, sometimes a person does something so bad that no apology can absolve them and they lose friends, two characters should have had this happen to them instead of the happy/ish endings they received
- we actually never got the entire story with Jae Won
- odd things, a bar owner can't speak Korean in Seoul? there wasn't a swim test? odd conversation in ep 3 about kissing and consent (you don't have to ask but it's nice/a good idea to get verbal or non-verbal consent), Ji Hyun says he'll stop prying or leave Jae Won alone but then doesn't do that, the joke about Halloween/Itaewon was in poor taste as was people laughing at the guy cross dressing
- that the production crew still does not have an official release for SE Asia 3 weeks, and that those in South Korea only had access to an apparently a very choppy movie

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Story: Long long ago, there lived two clans of humans - those who can fly and those who can't. The winged clan was considered more superior to the earth humans due to their flying ability and possession of flight technology. For centuries, earth humans and the winged humans battled for supremacy. After centuries of animosity, a fragile peace existed between these two clans in order to end all the deaths and losses both sides suffered during the wars. What is the reason for the winged clan's ability to fly? It is the existence of a goddess who is reincarnated every 100 years. This goddess possesses the power to grant wings to the winged clan and the aura emitted from her powers all the flight technology. Envious of the winged clan's ability to fly, the queen of the earth humans started to plot for the re-incarnation of the goddess. The queen wished to have the reincarnated goddess under her control and to provide the power to fuel her grand plan for a sky kingdom in preparation for a war against the winged clan. As predicted, a baby girl was born and she was the reincarnation of the goddess. However, the queen missed her opportunity to kidnap the baby girl and the child grew up peacefully in anonymity, not knowing that she's the goddess reincarnate. To the humans and the winged clan, the goddess was born to grant the winged clan the ability to fly, but in reality the goddess is born every 100 years to reunite with her lover and even in this reincarnation, she was fated to meet and separate from him. What is the fate of this pair of star-crossed lovers? Can they consummate their relationship in this reincarnation after so many centuries of missed opportunities and what of the impending war between the two clans?

This is an original fantasy, wuxia drama featuring many new faces in the entertainment world. The CGI is wonderfully done. In fact, I will go so far as to say that the CGI in this drama exceeds those of Ice Fantasy. It is not overly done and the scenes moved fluidly without any odd pauses when CGI was used; lending it a more believable air for a fantasy drama. The story is wonderful and it keeps you wanting more at the end of every episode. My congratulations to the author!

Acting/Cast: The hero in the acting cast is Zhang Ruo Yun who acted as the male lead, Feng Tian Yi. He's relatively new to the entertainment world but those of you who had watched Wuxin: The monster killer, Legend of Green Hill Fox and Fifteen Years to Wait for Migratory Birds would have noticed him. In Novoland, his acting is considered the best amongst the leading cast. His leading lady, Guan Xiao Tong (as Yi Fu Ling) may have acted in more dramas than him, but her acting left much to be desired. She's not very good in expressing herself and often have a rather stiff face; giving her acting an air of immaturity. The second male lead, Liu Chang as Bai Ting Jun was equally bad with expressions and together, they form what I called "The Frozen Faced Couple" in this drama. Ju Jing Yi from SNH48 surprisingly acted well in her role as the jealous rival of the female lead. Despite her first time acting in a notable role in a drama, her acting surpassed that of the female lead. Chen Ruo Xuan as the bumbling genius inventor Yu Huan Zheng is another good actor, providing the much needed supporting role and the unexpected heroism for the drama. The mature actor who acted as the Regent uncle to Feng Tian Yi is also another actor deserving kudos for his acting.

Music: Good enough but I'll go out in a limb here by saying that I am not a fan of TFBoys and their songs.

Rewatch value: I find myself absolutely sucked in by Zhang Ruo Yun's strong, obsessive, brilliant and assertive character in this drama. His love for Yi Fu LIng/goddess is so all encompassing. The way he looked at her, the way his lips briefly lifted at the sides as he considered her, the way he 'tortured' her, the way he literally inhaled her and wish to possess her.....Zhang Ruo Yun had created a very sensual and possessive chemistry based on his acting alone! Thanks to his acting, it made the sub-par acting of the female lead more tolerable. I would re-watch all the parts in this drama where he interacted with the female lead.

Overall: In summary, this drama would have scored a higher rating if the role of the female lead and second male lead were given to more experienced actress and actor who can actually act. However, the unique story keeps you wanting for more and managed to grab the audience's attention until the end. A good production that deserves more recognition than the other bigger budgeted fantasy-themed drama featuring big names such as Ice Fantasy, Legend of Chusen and Demon Girl that were airing at the same time this drama was aired. If you are hesitating which one to go for, I recommend that you give Novoland a go!

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A story of love and acceptance even in the worst of times.

Story: I’m writing this as a lesbian who experienced the same events as Cairo within this drama as I can understand and appreciate the plot in a different way because of this. I also struggled with my sexuality the same as Cairo, and was outed when I was still not ready. I (like Cairo) was outed by my now ex best friend who I thought would accept me, but turned completely against me. Being outed by the person you thought was your best friend completely breaks your trust which explains why Cairo is so closed off. Dealing with the burden of such a huge secret weighs you down and having friends by your side is the most important thing you can have when you’re struggling with your own identity. The way Cai also handled it, when she apologised he accepted her apology but did not forgive her yet, made me happy. When someone hurts you that much, especially a close friend, it’s almost impossible for your friendship to go back to the way things were before, so I love that they didn’t make what his best friend did as a minor issue and showed the consequences of her actions both for him and her. The slow but quick progression of their relationship was fast but also felt quite natural in some ways. When they finally met you could see so much love in their eyes I actually teared up when I saw them crying. This was not just a story about a simple internet romance during the Covid-19 pandemic, this is a story of love and acceptance even in the worst of times.

Cast: Elijah Canlas as Cairo- At first I did think Elijah’s acting was a little awkward but as the series progressed we saw an actor who took on a role giving it his own interpretation and completely taking on the role of Cairo. It wasn’t even the big things, but the most subtle actions made his role so believable. When I first realised I was interested in woman the term ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ felt so foreign, so when I finally confronted my sexual preference I remember getting choked up and it took me a few seconds to even say the word ‘gay’. When Cairo did the same when talking to his mum I had to pause the episode and breathe because of how emotional I felt. I can officially say that Elijah as Cairo is the best actor to have played such a role in order to represent the fear those of the LGBT community still face even to this day. When he portrayed his father dying, it wasn’t the case of quickly moving on, but it also wasn’t portrayed as him being constantly depressed, it was more he was sad but wanted to continue living his life and carrying on his father’s memory which I loved.
—Kokoy de Santos as Gavreel- Kokoy created a character for Gavreel that was more than just the simple playboy he may seem on the outside. He created a confident but secretly insecure character who always wanted the people around him to be happy. He was a character that was pushy in some ways, but also understood when Cairo needed space and would back off but still show and send his love and support throughout all the tough times he faced. Gavreel was also just as prone to jealousy as anyone would be, and although he clearly struggles to communicate he does try and we watch him grow through the series.I really loved the character of Gavreel and I think describing him as “boyfriend goals” would be especially fitting.
—Adrianna So as Pearl- Wow, Pearl was literally my favourite female character not just in this series, but possibly ever. She was the shipper female friend that was there for the couple, defended them, but also knew when not to interfere with their love lives. She had a strong sense of right and wrong and would even argue with her best friend on Cairo’s behalf if she thought he did something wrong. My favourite quote of hers is “if you did something stupid don’t use mental health as an excuse, own up to your mistakes make up for it and don’t do it again”. She even drove all the way out to help Gav and Cai meet for the first time, and left as soon as they were together so they had chance to be alone as if she knew how important this meeting was. She’s someone that seems like she would be easy to make friends with and talk to when you go through tough times. I can’t wait to watch her own series when it comes out.

Music: It was pretty enjoyable with some good backtracks and sound effects, but nothing I thought was incredibly memorable.

Rewatch value: I can definitely say as soon as this series ends I’ll straight away be rewatching it, and I can imagine that I’ll go back to this series many times.

Overall: I’m so grateful for this series and I believe this series alone will help so many people in Cairo’s position. This is more than just a simple BL series and I can’t thank The IdeaFirst company enough for creating this. This will definitely be a game changer, not only for Filipino BL’s, but the representation of gay characters as a whole. I’m so glad I was able to watch this series when it first began.

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Okay!… but a little disappointed

Cha Eunwoo is one of my favourite celebrities, and I was no doubt excited for this drama ever since it was announced. However, as a reader of the original webtoon, there are a few issues I had with the drama.

I’ll firstly start off with the many things I enjoyed about this drama:

The first few episodes were genuinely interesting and executed the story in a fun, witty manner. The production quality was top notch and the mix of CGI and real life action for Haena’s dog form was hilarious! The pacing for the series was engaging and I even rewatched the first few episodes while I waited for new episodes.

While people like to complain about Eunwoo being typecasted, he played his character very well and it remained true to the original character depicted in the Webtoon. Actually, I was surprised how he managed to make Seowon cuter! But I guess that is very possible when played by Cha Eunwoo hehe. And don’t get me started on those kissing scenes !! Hoyyy do you want me dead, Eunwoo!?!!?

Park Gyuyoung has become one of my favourite actresses after this series! She was very funny. It was a bit of a 180 compared to the last time I saw her in Celebrity. But she looked so warm and amiable in her light brown hair!


Now… while I did enjoy the series for the most part, I must now complain.
As I had been anticipating this drama for over a year before its release, I was not happy to hear that it would only have 14 episodes. And even worse, they were going to air once a week.
Um… Okay. Can’t be that bad right? Wrong.
I can imagine it would be much more enjoyable to binge this series, however, watching it while airing was exhausting considering the first few minutes of each episode would be a recap of the last. Like thanks! I totally forgot what happened during the single episode you gave me last week.

And to make matters worse, there was the repetition of the typical Kdrama MONTAGE! That’s right. They did it almost every episode to remind you that indeed the main characters looked at eachother 4 episodes ago. And yes.. they KISSED 2 episodes ago… Oh and remmeber that time they went to the park!??.. SUCH A WASTE OF SCREENTIME. It is just such lazy storytelling.

In the Webtoon, we got more insight to Seowon’s family, yet in the drama we literally don’t know anything about him. No, seriously. Instead we got almost 2 whole episodes of the most BORING historical backstory flashback in the history of fantasy Kdramas. The romance was cute between their past lives.. But I can’t believe they decided to change Bogyeom’s character that much… He was so irritating here.

The last 4 episodes of this drama were a snooze feast. I literally used to rush to watch this every Wednesday night as soon as it was released but there came a point where I dreaded it because I do not wanna know about some petty God’s tragic love story…

Basically. If you’re gonna make a Kdrama adapted from a Webtoon, don’t make it worse than the original?! There were SO many opportunities to make it better, instead we got the same montage over and over.. ITS TIRING.

If I wasn’t a Webtoon reader I’d probably be okay with this drama. However, having the original plot in mind I had the bar set higher but the drama was just too much of a disgrace for me.

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