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Simple, Soothing and Sweet
This was such a good watch - simple, soothing, and sweet. At its core, this is a coming-of-age story about a girl who slowly learns to find her own voice and the courage to step beyond the boundaries of her family. One of the most rewarding parts of the journey is watching her finally stand up for herself—speaking honestly to her domineering mother, who in turn begins to recognize herself in her daughter. That emotional shift felt quiet but powerful.Her first love unfolds with the same gentle sincerity. Their relationship is a pleasure to watch because it feels so real—full of hesitation, awkwardness, and that tentative vulnerability that comes with young love. Both leads are introverts who gradually find their way into each other’s worlds, and despite a few misunderstandings, they move toward each other slowly but surely. What stood out most was how surprisingly mature they are in handling their relationship, even at such a young age.
The acting is fine, especially considering most of the cast are newcomers. Some viewers might recognize the male lead from Shine on Me and the female lead from The Best Thing. It’s nice to see them step into leading roles—they both show a lot of promise and potential.
Overall, this is a non-toxic, enchanting short drama that I would not only recommend but happily rewatch.
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What's so good about being normal?
"Unless it's something bad, it's better to be weird than ordinary"To write a review on the School Nurse files is to imply I have somehow grasped what the School Nurse files is all about. The show's glorious acid trip weirdness defies analysis and yet feels deliberate. After all - as our male lead says as we head into the plot's explosive denouement - "it's better to be weird than ordinary". And the School Nurse Files definitely walks its own talk.
At a Korean highschool where the kids recite cult-like verses on happiness every morning, an emotional whale floats overhead and ducks follow the leader through the school randomly. The children *appear* happy, according to our school nurse, Ahn Eun-young (Jung Yoo-mi). But when it comes to life - and especially to adolescence - it's what's under the surface that matters more.
Since birth Eun-young has seen 'jellies', a kind of supernatural human residue that grows and forms into different shapes. Armed with a toy gun and rainbow toy sword she fights the jellies that have grown so big as to be a threat to the humans around them. In this she is aided by Hong In-pyo (a Nam Joo-hyuk who is finally living up to his potential), the grandson of the school's founder who has a disability following a motorcycle accident when he was young. In-Pyo has a powerful aura that acts as a supernatural shield and Ahn Eun-young is able to recharge by holding his hand.
But this school is no ordinary school, it was built on a pond of emotional residue that a cult hopes to harness for its own advantage.
The School Nurse Files is a crazy ride of symbolism and metaphor and I'm not sure to what extent we're supposed to take it literally. But the show is unconventional and original and flat out weird. A celebration of weird where everyone is encouraged to let their freak flag fly. The show's aesthetic leans deliberately away from kdrama gloss. The kids have acne. The adults look real. Nam Joo-hyuk's model looks and height are transformed into a gawky, clumsy awkwardness that is 1000 times sexier than the usual sanitised gloss..
The only reason it's a 9 - and the only real issue I took with it - is that it's packed into six episodes like a pocket rocket ready to explode and it really needed at least one or two extra episodes to make the whole thing feel less rushed. But in the final estimation that's not a huge problem. I'll happily take another season - hell another three seasons - if I can see Eun-young fight evil while holding her adorable boyfriend's hand.
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casually sweet
In all, the storyline and characters are ok. Cute, kind and honest FL off the streets caught by her father the Prime Minister, and suspicious handsome ML hunted down after the war with every reason not to trust her.It’s not too silly or ridiculous, but it’s not too dark and ‘martial arts-y’. It’s sweet — maybe not the best, but I enjoyed the music. My favorite character would probably be Prince Jin’s guard Nan Bo.
Anyways, It’s worth the watch if you’re looking for a relaxing and casual drama, not too spectacular but not too boring, while you’re waiting for a highly-anticipated new drama to come out. (I highly recommend the 2023 hit drama ‘Mysterious Lotus Casebook’ starring Cheng Yi and Joseph Zeng, if you haven’t yet seen it :)
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This review may contain spoilers
May contain little spoilers, and it's just my opinion..I just finished the last episode, and I think it's a first time when I skipped almost all MAIN LEADS scenes in it..! Well, usually it doesn't get to this point, because I simply drop the drama if I feel this way.. But this one was such a hit, plus I was watching it for a long time, and it was kinda nice.. Maybe till 14th episode.. Or maybe till 10th..
Ok, when I started it, it was very fun - the humor was great, the leads looked great together ( there was never doubt about this), and everything seemed new and fresh.. I don't even like romcoms - too much cheeseness is not for me , but I started it because I like PMY and PSJ, and well, needed something to watch :) So for a first episodes I really enjoyed it- it was a good office comedy with very attractive leads. Then, after the story from the past started to unfold, it was fine by me too - I know,many complained about this, but for me it was ok - as long it added something to the story, and we had actual plot.. Then - in pretty early stage I'd say, the mistery was resolved, and for the rest of the episodes it was nothing but romance.. First, how they got together, then how they managed to be together etc... There was never any serious fight between them, never any obstacle - it was all ''cute'' romance with small talks and yes - great looking kisses and glances, but nothing more! I know, most people are actually looking for this stuff - many sweet moments between the leads - but is it really enough, when there's nothing more beside this?..
Don't get me wrong - I love romance too, but for me to love the couple I need to wait for them, to miss their moments, wondering what will happen to them - then ,when I finally get what I want, my heart flutters when I see their scenes! I even may skip other scenes to finally see my otp! But here, in the end I skipped the leads... No matter how explosive their chemistry was and how stunning they looked together, but I still got bored..
Now, what I really liked and enjoyed, was the office team - they were adorable and cute, every each of them! I liked how united they were, and both office couple were great! At least it was fun to watch them after same repetitive scenes of the main couple!
It wasn't the worst thing that I watched , but I think it's very overrated! I'm not hating - as I said, I like both lead actors, but it was my opinion about the plot of this drama..
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Another overhyped netflix drama with no substance.
It's basically a take on all annoying cliches from the kdrama world - chaebol guy with a traumatic family childhood meets a lively, poor girl who turns his whole world upside down. Plus, there's the chaebol's family going against the relationship (what a surprise). An annoying love triangle exists too.If you're like me, an avid long time Kdrama fan who's fed up with these cliches, you really should avoid this drama if you don't want to feel annoyed. I always crave for dramas that are realistic and relatable, and sadly this isn't one of them.
A lot of people also mention the chemistry between the leads as their favorite, but honestly, I didn't feel any spark at all. The acting was also too bad. The male lead was trying too hard to replicate the main lead in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (with the countless hair touches) and it really din't work for him. (heard the webtoon really portrayed this but come one guys) I hope he gets a better roles next time cause he's actually good.
The only plus side I found was the female lead's job of being a product researcher. I often find it amusing how kdramas can romanticize jobs that often go unnoticed. This drama amazed me only in that aspect.
Really, skip it. They keep saying that this drama did all the cliches right... It honestly didn't.
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1She's just not into you anymore.
The Luo family is in gentle decline as the second generation is unable to match their late patriarch's illustrious career in civil service. They look towards the complacent and entitled third generation to revive the family's fortunes with a growing sense of anxiety. It is to this backdrop that Luo Yining returns from the family's country villa to celebrate her ailing grandmother's birthday after falling out with Luo Chengzhang and concubine Qiao as a child. Chengzhang is a frustrated and resentful civil servant of middling talent with a very small heart that only has room for Qiao's children. Yining is appalled to find her "third brother" Shenyuan shunned and bullied by the family and as unfavored children and they become fast allies. They are both not who they appear to be and gradually they uncover and keep each other's secrets as together, they navigate treachery both within and outside the Luo household.This kind of saga that depicts the rise and decline of a family has been a popular genre since the 18th century classic vernacular novel 红楼梦 Hónglóumèng/Dream of the Red Chamber resonated deeply with its philosophical questions and social critique of feudal patriarchal society. While the narrative unfolds around the main protagonists it is not just about them; it explores broader social themes through related character stories and sub-plots told from their point of view. Every character has their own cross to bear. Chengzhang for example, is at surface a bad dad but he was also someone whose ambitions never materialised and who twice had to marry a woman not of his own choosing. Yining's return ruined the three people who meant the most to him. Maybe he gets off lightly or maybe fate was already unkind enough to him.
This drama gives the strong impression that it is a lighter, more accessible version of The Story of Minglan (SOML). The production quite cheekily acknowledges this by installing Yining in Haitang Pavilion and naming her mother Gu Minglan. Many of the main character blueprints of the Luo family down to the costumes and styling and the plot arcs around the inner harem rivalries and the mystery of Yining's mother's death smack of SOML. As someone who didn't enjoy SOML, I don't have a problem with it. Even though SOML is undeniably a more sophisticated and culturally impactful production, I found the pacing and the narrative approach suffocating. Even though it is less well written and not that original, The Rise of Ning is a more enjoyable watch overall. The biggest difference for me is Shenyuan is more interesting, better written, better portrayed and more empathetic than the male lead in SOML. Zhang Wanyi never disappoints in delivering yet another immersive and complex portrayal of this seemingly mild mannered and humble unfavored son with hidden depths. His strength is in being too casually overlooked and underestimated by his enemies. The story's biggest drawback is the romance is held back for so long that Zhang Wanyi and Ren Min's chemistry as a couple is under-explored.
Even though the narrative does incorporate a few interesting and new ideas, they are not fleshed out properly and are bogged down by lazy writing, shallow character designs and logic that does not hold up to close scrutiny. The main romance is weighed down by the fact that Yining and Shenyuan remain "siblings" for almost three quarters of the drama. I understand this was so she could remain in the Luo mansion but I think that the truth should have been revealed to both Shenyuan and Yining at the same time. They could keep it from everyone else while they try to solve the mystery of her mother's death and figure out who she really is. This would allow their romance to progress earlier on in the storyline and not leave the audience with such an entrenched impression of their chemistry as siblings. Another better approach could have been to skip the boring, tropey harem squabble arcs and move up the reveal because the characters in the Wei manor are more original and engaging. This would have also allowed a fuller development of Yining's relationship with Wei Ying, who is such a fantastic and memorable character who is both funny and moving at the same time. None of the women in this drama, nasty or nice, are prone to shrill, ear-piercing screeching, which was what I found most off-putting about SOML. In fact the smart, sassy and sarcastic Lin Hairu is one of my favorite characters and a huge upgrade from SOML.
Even though I enjoyed Ren Min's charming portrayal of Yining, her acting is still a work in progress. Her lines are too tentative and lack the depth of expression needed to capture the maturity, sensibility and intelligence of the character. Her voice is so distinctive that I also didn't for one moment buy it that Lu Jiaxue did not instantly recognise her as Meimei. I think she could have credibly dubbed herself as Meimei but when she grows up to become Yining, a more nuanced professional voice actor should have taken over. Her character is also not that consistently written. She indulged in a reckless and inappropriate dalliance with a much older man but showed enough good sense not to tell him who she really was. It is a relationship that mortifies and haunts her and when she encounters him again, she clearly fears and loathes him. What is not well conveyed is how he may have still occupied a space in her heart. This didn't come out until the end; which made me wonder why she never gave Lu Jiaxue a chance to clear up the misunderstanding or severe past ties with him neatly. The way she handled the situation was very immature and not like the Yining who faces her problems calmly and frankly. As a result, she never gave him or herself closure and in this, she was also not fair to Shenyuan.
As a villain, Ci Sha's portrayal of Lu Jiaxue deserves top marks. He was almost too powerful, seemed to answer to no one and was able to walk prisoners in and out of jail and cut down his enemies in plain sight. He was so intensely menacing and brutal that every time he showed up, my throat went dry and I felt a knot of fear in the pit of my stomach. But the character is too one dimensional and not well written. It is difficult to reconcile such a heavy handed portrayal of an irredeemably cruel and callous bad guy with someone even a pubescent Yining could have fallen for. It is equally disturbing and difficult to understand a grown man's obsession such a very young and very naive girl. The "she's not into you anymore" trope is one that should win audience sympathy because it is much easier to get over unrequited love than it is once-requited love. However, the portrayal of Lu Jiaxue as a love rival missed the mark and completely alienated me. It was nothing short of offensive to watch him paw Yining and manhandle her time after time. That is not the way to woo a girl, nor is openly trying to kill her favorite brother! These are not the actions of a character that is allegedly cunning, manipulative and smart. I would have liked to see a more multi-faceted, subtle and refined love rival, one that actually is a credible challenger instead of one that is so obviously beyond redemption. This tiresome obsession went on for too long and overshadowed the development of Yining's feelings for Shenyuan.
Even though the plot builds to a satisfying ending climax, I rolled my eyes at how how the final episodes descended into a Phantom of the Opera like theatrics. I didn't think Lu Jiaxue got his just deserts and found everyone's willingness to forgive baffling and out of character. But overall the storytelling and pacing was consistent and engaging throughout and the supporting cast really pulled their weight. I enjoyed the second couple and many characters beyond the leads. Overall a very solid and entertaining watch that I rate 8.0/10.0.
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1A well-made drama
The story is quiet refreshing and engaging to watch. I watched this drama as it dropped episode by episode and it felt a little disjointed so I rewatched it for that continuous feel, which made me appreciate it better.Many actors in this drama played their roles really well. The main leads, Gulinazha played Rong Shanbao really well and Huo Ming Hao as Lu Jianglai actually brought more life to those moments with Rong Shanbao with his micro-expressions. He is a really good actor and I enjoyed his acting.
The set and the costumes are well-thought of. The tea plantation scenery are very scenic and indeed.
There are even lessons about tea at the end of some episodes. As a non-chinese watcher, I learned something as well. Kudos.
Overall, I enjoyed this drama and would recommend it to others.
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Queen Mantis
53 people found this review helpful
1This review may contain spoilers
More than a remake. And more than a thriller.
A woman locked away because she dared too much. She is called “Queen Mantis,” and the name itself is a portent—or a threat. The praying mantis, after all, is known for devouring the head of her mate once he is no longer useful. A provocative metaphor in a society that prefers to see women as victims, but not as avengers.The Korean remake of the French La Mante transplants the original plot into distinctly South Korean terrain: abandoned mining towns that lie across the country like open wounds. Places where children once grew up, only to become perpetrators or victims later—or both at once. Here, the hunt is not only for a serial killer, but also for a social catastrophe: domestic violence so widespread in South Korea that it has become almost invisible. The police, who should protect, look the other way.
The women in this series are no saints. They are opaque, contradictory, dangerous. Go Hyun‑jung plays the Mantis with brilliance—her presence both magnetic and repellent. A woman one is not meant to love, but impossible to forget. The other female characters, too, are layered and elusive. By contrast, the men appear as clichéd shadows: policemen, perpetrators, fathers, all in familiar costumes.
Perhaps this is deliberate: a reversal of the usual roles, where women are mere decoration and men drive the plot. Here, the crime drama is solid—its subject matter not entirely new, but its execution striking.
Queen Mantis is more than a remake. And more than a thriller. It is a mirror of Korean contradictions: between victimhood and vigilantism, between patriarchal violence and female resistance. It shows that murder—even as revenge—does not lead to justice, but only opens new abysses.
The series poses an uncomfortable question: when institutions fail, when private violence goes unpunished—does vigilantism become a crime, or a necessity? The answer is as clear as it is unclear: murder remains murder, even when disguised as justice. Yet viewers are invited to linger at this moral precipice, to look into it, perhaps even to understand.
At the heart of Queen Mantis lies not only the pursuit of a serial killer, but also the fractured relationship between mother and son. Jung Yi‑shin and Cha Su‑yeol meet like strangers—bound by blood, yet separated by silence and guilt. Their conversations are less investigative work than tentative steps through the ruins of a shared past.
The series reflects this damaged bond in other parent‑child relationships as well: fathers who could not protect, mothers who wounded while trying to shield, children who inherit not only trauma but also silence. A web of reflections emerges, showing how violence does not remain isolated but travels through generations, warping love and corroding trust. Queen Mantis offers no solution, but leaves viewers suspended—between closeness and repulsion, between connection and rupture.
One thorn remains: the portrayal of a trans character, framed in proximity to mental disorder. In a country where trans identity is already marginalized, this feels like a relapse into old patterns. A small but not insignificant shadow on a series that otherwise illuminates social fault lines with such precision.
Overall: Remarkable, and worth watching.
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SIDE NOTE: The End of South Korea’s Mining Towns
Until the 1970s and 80s, South Korea had numerous coal and ore mines, especially in Gangwon‑do (Taebaek, Sabuk, Hwangji) and Chungcheongbuk‑do. With economic restructuring and the move away from coal energy, many mines closed in the 1980s and 90s.
What remained were “ghost towns”: half‑abandoned settlements, decaying workers’ housing, sealed shafts. Entire generations crumbled along with the homes they once inhabited. Alcohol, violence, loneliness—the social aftershocks were as reliable as the tremors that once shook the ground.
Some places, like Taebaek or Jeongseon, later reinvented themselves as tourist destinations (ski resorts, festivals). Others remained melancholically hollowed out. These towns carry an aura of social trauma: unemployment, out‑migration, fractured communities. That is precisely what makes them so charged as settings for thrillers and dramas.
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1This review may contain spoilers
A charming ghost romance buried under WAY too many subplots
Ok SO I'm gonna keep this brief because I genuinely do not have the words to describe what this drama did to me, but I'm gonna try anyway.Idk if they put somehting in the Kdrama water or what but this show had the absolute audacity to give me a ghost seeing heiress solving murders with a stubborn prosecutor, complete with fun ghost mechanics, AND A genuinely interesting supernatural mythology… and then spend half the runtime making me watch people argue about corporate share percentages and board meetings. I ONLY HAVE TWO EYES AND TWELVE EPISODES!!
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GENERAL REMARKS:
• Initial Impressions
First things first, the premise is good. Ghost-seeing heiress, persistent prosecutor, accidental supernatural entanglement, murder cases solved through dead people's testimony. This should have been an easy home run. A layup. A gimme. And honestly, the show starts STRONG. Episode one gave me Yeo-ri finding a dead body in the woods, immediately getting into a physical altercation with Gang-uk because they each think the other is the murderer, and then casually chatting with the dead man's spirit afterwards. I was ON MY FEET. Then episode three gave us the fake relationship setup and I was fully gone. No thoughts. Head empty. Only these two!!
• Chemistry & leads
I LOVED the chemistry between Yeo-ri and Gang-uk, and I want to be very clear that these two actors are working HARD to sell a romance that the script keeps interrupting with increasingly unrelated nonsense. The glove rule!! The accidental kiss!! The fake dating turning devastatingly real!! Gang-uk lying about still seeing ghosts just so Yeo-ri would keep talking to him and immediately getting caught because she tests him on the spot!! The arcade and Han River montage where they actually get to spend time together like a normal couple?? THAT was the show I wanted to watch!! Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong are carrying this drama across a river of mediocre plotting and frankly deserve hazard pay!!
• Plot bloat & pacing
Unfortunately, the show has a severe case of "what if we also added THIS?" By episode seven, we're simultaneously dealing with the ghost-of-the-week procedural, a corporate succession battle, a 300-year-old Joseon cold case, a fake relationship, a money laundering scheme, a jealous grandmother and her shaman, an overseas business trip, a transfer threat, an art fraud case, corrupt prosecutors, a heart transplant mystery, an imprisoned ex-boyfriend being weaponised by the villain cousin, AND Min-hwan's increasingly obvious secret. THAT IS NOT A DRAMA. THAT IS A CURRICULUM!!
The biggest crime is what happens to the supernatural premise. The ghost-of-the-week format that makes the early episodes so charming basically disappears by the back half, and we're suddenly spending twenty minutes watching people discuss shareholder votes. BOARDROOM SCENES!! In my ghost romance!! Unacceptable!!
• The Joseon cold case
And the Joseon cold case with Dowon and Hwagyeongdang?? FASCINATING. Easily one of the most interesting supernatural storylines in the entire show. And what does the drama do with it? Resolves it in approximately two episodes and then basically never mentions it again!! Why introduce a 300-year-old mystery with that much emotional potential if you're going to toss it aside like yesterday's newspaper?!
• Villains & stakes
Min-hwan, meanwhile, is possibly the least surprising villain in the history of television. This man is suspicious from approximately episode two. He takes the necklace from the paramedic at the scene of his brother's death. He bribes shareholders. He manipulates prosecutors. He arranges Gang-uk's transfer. He buys out share transfers behind Yeo-ri's back. He lurks around her with the energy of someone who has definitely committed several crimes and is currently considering committing several more. The red flags weren't flags. They were a full parade. And somehow the show spends SIX EPISODES pretending he might be a genuine romantic rival before revealing his true nature in episode eleven. I was not shocked. I was waiting for everyone else to catch up!!
• The heart transplant & Ji-hwan arc
The heart transplant connection, however, is brilliant. Gang-uk has Ji-hwan's heart. Ji-hwan is Yeo-ri's dead friend whose death caused her to see ghosts. Min-hwan let Ji-hwan drown and has spent twelve years carrying that guilt into increasingly unhinged behaviour. THAT is the emotional spine of the drama. Grief, guilt, love, death, and the strange connection between the living and the dead are all right there. And the show somehow decides to cram most of it into the final stretch alongside approximately four other climaxes happening simultaneously!!
The Ji-hwan spirit realm sequence is genuinely beautiful, though, and I will give the show that completely. Yeo-ri surrounded by all the ghosts she helped over the years, Ji-hwan sending her back to the living world while he gets on the boat, and Gang-uk simultaneously learning that Ji-hwan was his donor?? I WAS SOBBING. That scene is the drama at its absolute best. Which honestly makes the rest of the plotting even more frustrating because you can SEE how good this could have been if the writers had trusted the central premise and simply removed half the unnecessary machinery surrounding it.
• Third-act breakup
And then we have the third-act breakup, which is the most pointless obstacle this show constructs in a drama full of pointless obstacles. Yeo-ri calls off the engagement because Gang-uk hid his heart surgery and because his grandmother scared her. Emotionally, I actually understand why she's upset!! But the execution is so rushed that it feels like the writers needed something to happen in episode ten, threw in a breakup, and then immediately remembered they had to reunite them. Less than two episodes later, it's basically over and neither character has meaningfully changed. That isn't storytelling. That's stalling. And I noticed EVERY SECOND OF IT!!
• Villains & Motivations
Gye-hee and her children as antagonists are so cartoonishly evil that they accidentally become comedy. Ha-ri coordinating with her imprisoned murderer boyfriend to destroy her own cousin is the kind of plotting that makes me tilt my head like a confused dog. These people don't have coherent motivations so much as a permanent instruction from the writers saying "be an obstacle for Yeo-ri." By the finale, when they're skulking around prison corridors and embarrassing themselves, I felt absolutely nothing. They were cardboard villains wearing designer clothes!!
• Finale highs & Lows
The finale does have some delicious moments, though. Min-hwan getting exposed at Ji-hwan's own memorial service that he organised himself?? DELICIOUS. Gang-uk showing up with the police right after Yeo-ri plays the damning video?? Extremely satisfying. Yeo-ri becoming Chairwoman and then walking outside Siena Hall holding Gang-uk's hand without gloves for the first time?? Sweet. Earned. I smiled!!
But I cannot let the condition resolution slide because WHAT WAS THAT?! The shaman explicitly says the only way Yeo-ri can stop seeing ghosts is to sacrifice her life. Yeo-ri almost dies. She survives. And then... she stops seeing ghosts. That's it. No explanation. No acknowledgment of the supernatural rules we've spent twelve episodes establishing. No thematic exploration of what losing this ability means for a woman whose entire identity has been shaped by it for twelve years. HELLO??? Did the shaman just make that up??
• Tone & ambition
And that's ultimately why Spooky in Love is so frustrating to me. It's simultaneously too ambitious and too safe. Too ambitious because it throws every possible subplot into twelve episodes and refuses to let any of them breathe. Too safe because after building up all these supposedly dangerous conflicts, it resolves almost everything neatly. Villains go to jail. Couple ends up together. Grandmother apologises. Yeo-ri gets the company. The supernatural condition disappears. Everyone goes home. Nothing that was built up as genuinely dangerous is allowed to have a lasting consequence.
Girl can literally see ghosts but somehow couldn't see the RED FLAGS standing directly in front of her for twelve episodes straight.
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FINAL THOGUHTS::
Overall, Spooky in Love was carried almost entirely by two compelling leads, fantastic chemistry, and a supernatural premise that deserved so much more than the generic corporate drama it eventually became.
There is a genuinely great drama buried somewhere in here. Unfortunately, it is buried underneath shareholder meetings, money laundering, succession battles, unnecessary angst, cartoon villains, and approximately seventeen subplots fighting for oxygen.
I watched all twelve episodes and I would like my hours back. We did not need all of this. We needed the ghosts.
With all that said, I give this drama a 6/10.
Goodbye!! 👻
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This review may contain spoilers
A filmmaker's review
First I'd want to comment on the technical stuff (cinematography, music, acting). As a filmmaker, I gave these ones a 10 because I'm not gonna lie, scenes were well executed and there was never a boring scene. A sign that production is good is when you actually watch everything instead of skipping parts just to watch the story (like what I usually do when watching series, my finger is just resting on top of the right arrow key ready to skip scenes lol)Ok so now for the story, all I want to say is that they missed the opportunity to be one of the first dramas to end up with a second lead where more than 50% of viewers would actually be okay with. Like everything was setup so perfectly for that to happen, sadly the writers didn't grab that opportunity.
When I was watching the first episodes. I always told myself "This might be the first drama I watched where I can't really identify who the lead is" and that's what I actually liked. It's what got me hooked to watch until the end... But where it went wrong is they let Do San shine a little bit too late. By the half of the series, most people have already chosen their bet for Dal Mi and I assume it was Han Ji Pyeong.
So for the story, I'm rating this 7.5. I'm not giving it a very low rating because this series has been very inspiring for people like me who dreams of running a business too in the future. I learned so much especially the part where HJP compared business partnerships with wedding and divorce. It opened my eyes when considering my real life partners.
Thank you :)
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Another unnecessary mystery
Out of all the dramas recently that randomly inserted a mystery/thriller subplot (Cheer Up, Crash Course in Romance), I think this one disappointed me the most. I loved the premise of reunited rivals, and the theme of mental health is one that always tugs at the heartstrings without fail.Instead, I feel like this drama used the mystery as a plot device instead of learning how to develop its characters by themselves, and the mystery itself turned out to be underwhelming anyways. Instead of both our main characters having to deal with life just going wrong sometimes, there was a villain to blame. Everything became a very cliche drama plot, particularly that one already-very-memed trope that I can’t believe they did in 2024.
In terms of the slice-of-life and humor aspect…it worked until it didn’t. I’m actually not a huge fan of this type of “goofy” humor anyways, but at the start it actually worked in the drama’s favor by not treating depression like a life-ending, horrible thing. Over time however, it started feeling like the drama gave up on serious moments in order to have humor.
As the drama progressed, however, it became pretty clear that they didn’t know how to move the plot forwards in organic ways. It became super repetitive with the characters drinking every episode (and yes social media has already called out the fact that they’re not supposed to be drinking while on medication!), and side characters constantly leaking information by accident. Both just feel like really lazy ways to get the characters to talk.
Now — the romance. This is what I was looking forward to the most, but it wasn’t really written in an interesting way. There’s a sort of tension that rivals-to-lovers promises, but with Haneul and Jeongwoo it all felt too easy. Aside from a few reminiscing scenes, the fact that they were rivals ended up having little impact on the plot or their romance.
Even with so much focus on the mystery, it still felt pretty underwhelming. The motivations are weak, there’s no tension in it, it ends really early, leaving you wondering what the rest of the drama is even going to be about.
In terms of the mental health theme, I also just think it ended up not being very deep. There were some well-written moments where it talked about burnout, the stigma of antidepressants, parental expectations, or toxic workplace culture, but the drama never took it one step further and gave it the seriousness it deserved. There were moments where toxic positivity was treated as a funny moment instead of describing its dangers, for example, or how the FL’s brother was a bum and it was mostly played for laughs when it really just felt frustrating since the family theme could have been fleshed out more.
Overall, I know our leads our top-notch actors, though this drama doesn’t really show it. The comfort vibes are like, three-quarters of the way there — it could’ve been helped out by much, much better writing.
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This show was just meh for me. Yes the acting was great and Woo Do Hwan's emotional journey was something to behold. However, it was just another, childhood trauma series that really wasn't resolved. That's fine but then don't take us on that roller coaster ride. Jae Mi's screeching also got on my nerves.
The pluses of the series are Oh Jung Se. He has always been one of my favorite K actors and he was great here as the sort of jilted fiance. I did like that he was able to let Jae Mi go but he still was grieving that. A more realistic approach to a hard break up.
Lee El. OMG! I love this woman. Absolutely fantastic as Bon Suk, friend and mother figure to Hae Jo. Those scenes in the hospital should get all the supporting actress awards.
Kim Min Seok as Ho Ji was such great comic relief but I also really liked the character.
11/24/24
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A MUST WATCH !! Every Female character rocks the show.
Just AMAZING!! Phenomenal!!Story is JUST PERFECT!! It delivered everything to you - Comedy, Mystery, Drama, Thriller, School, Slice of Life.
The script is intense and engaging throughout with many twist and turns. Every second, every expression counts, you can't even look away for a single second coz you may miss minute and subtle details in the story.
It portrays the reality of a very sensitive subject of pressures of Education and its toll on the survival of both students and their parents living in the high society. This amazing series takes you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. One moment you are sad, at others you laugh out loud. One moment you are angry while other moments make you smile with satisfaction. Most importantly, you get to feel all these in EVERY single episode.
The main feeling you get The MOST is the angst you feel while relating to situations of many characters.
You get to know why the person is behaving a certain way and the reason is no nonsense. All characters are multi-dimensional and the actors who performed it are Just FANTABULOUS! Never felt a drama can be this good after My Mister.
I won't go into details about characters coz it will be difficult to describe them in a single word and there are too many characters where I can't decide who did better. But every single female character has STRONG presence in the story. But that doesn't make male leads weaker. They are perfectly blended into the story.
Music is GREAT! Loved almost all the OSTs.
Another plus of this drama is the Cinematography and body language of every single character.
Rewatch is a MUST! I rewatched many scenes even many eps. again because every bit is WORTH it!!
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Purple Rain
Dusk settles with a tinge of red bleeding into the darkening blue skies, and purple rain weeps over the hilly, undulating landscape—foreshadowing bloodshed. On this rainy jiāng hú night, dangerous men seek libation and shelter from the storm at a remote inn, apparently at ease but with weapons close at hand. A harmless exchange rapidly escalates into violence—the loss-of-life-and-limb kind of violence—in the blink of an eye. Linglong, a young lady fleeing marriage and thirsty for adventure, bravely intervenes to rescue a mute boy and my dog. An inscrutable lone swordsman, his chiseled features half-hidden by a dǒulì (斗笠), watches impassively. When he enters the fray, he is at a disadvantage—injured and far from invincible. Yet the lithe, latent power and efficiency in his motions convey that he is still not to be underestimated. The stage is set, and the stakes are real. I was hooked—and not just because my dog opened the show.Zhan Zhao Adventures is a thrilling and atmospheric old-school mystery wuxia. The melancholic, rain-swept opening reflects the Chinese title 雨霖铃 / Yǔ Lín Líng (Rain Bells), a classic Song dynasty ci poem about Emperor Xuanzong's grief-stricken flight during the An Lushan Rebellion—of mournful carriage bells ringing in the rain, reminding him of his beloved consort Yang Guifei. In the context of the drama, it evokes the political intrigue and struggles Zhan Zhao faces as he weighs justice for his lost friend against duty, and the cost of being a hero in a flawed system. The drama is adapted from fanfic writer minifish's reimagining of the beloved classic Qing dynasty wuxia The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (七侠五义, Qī Xiá Wǔ Yì), featuring the core heroic ensemble that helps Judge Bao fight corruption and solve cases. In minifish's alternate universe, Judge Bao remains firmly offscreen; the story hones in on Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's famous rivalry, sidelining and friend-zoning Ding Yuehua. The female lead, Huo Linglong, is a minifish creation.
This is an action-oriented, largely plot-driven story, and on those fronts, it delivers spectacularly. Zhan Zhao teams up with Linglong and Bai Yutang to unravel a deeply entrenched conspiracy that has spun a vast web of influence across jiāng hú's most influential sects and corrupted the nation's most important bureaucracies. Together, they must discover and disarm the Four Divine Lords, who each spearhead one leg of the conspiracy and operate semi-independently to avoid exposure. While this kind of court intrigue plot has been done before, and the final villain's motive lacks depth and gray morality, his power play is well structured to cover the crucial military, financial, civil, and martial aspects. Though not overly convoluted, some character digressions in the middle arcs distract from the overarching plot.
The action is the drama's strongest feature—old-school, classic martial arts choreography: grounded, fast-moving, fluid, and intense. Everything I expect of this genre and more. The sharp contrast between Bai Yutang's wildly aggressive, hard-hitting, and tricky combat tactics and Zhan Zhao's more restrained, composed, and defensive approach is immediately visible. Yang Yang's prowess and finesse at pulling off fantastic stunts himself in long, continuous fight sequences has won wide and well-deserved praise. I just want to highlight that Fang Yilun held his own in a way that also impressed me. Zhang Ruonan is the weak link, with her heavy use of body doubles and unconvincing, floppy, wobbly fight sequences. Less would have been more.
Where the narrative stumbles is in the character arcs—they are not that well written and weigh on the pacing of the plot. While I enjoyed the camaraderie and spirit of adventure among the trio, Linglong strikes me as a rather aimless character fleeing an unwanted marriage with no goals or motivations of her own. While romance shouldn't drive the plot in a wuxia, I wouldn't have minded if she tagged along simply because both her and Zhan Zhao's hearts were stirred. Bai Yutang is an opposite character to Zhan Zhao, whose core strength and fatal flaw is how he colors outside the lines. His is the more interesting role, and I would have liked to see more of his famous rivalry with Zhan Zhao before they fell into such an effortless bromance. Unfortunately, both his and Linglong's backstories are not that well told and are clumsily integrated into the middle plot arcs. The narrative fails to sell both Bai Yutang's connection to his brother and Linglong's to her aunt/gūgū. The supporting roles were mostly miscast—I could not connect the child actors with the adult actors' grief and devastation. The narrative digresses too long into their moping, Linglong and Yutang's conflict felt contrived, and the twists were overly convoluted in the Jin family/poison arc.
From the start, Zhan Zhao is already a fully realized character, so this is not about a hero's journey. The narrative heavily leans on the Chinese audience's deep familiarity with the character and only touches upon Zhan Zhao's origin story in the final arc, making his ethos difficult for international audiences to relate to. Yet the production's claim that only Yang Yang could have pulled off this role is no exaggeration. Beyond his ability to deliver technically flawless fight scenes, he simply looks the part of that solitary, chivalrous 大侠 (dàxiá)—the knight-errant who sticks to his ideals in the face of grief and extreme provocation. That said, while his acting continues to improve, Yang Yang doesn't quite convey the character's inner layers. This is partly a script issue, where too much lip service is paid to the ideal of legal justice as opposed to vigilante justice. It is all tell, not show. Judge Bao doesn't appear, so we never get to see Zhan Zhao's legal justice actually work onscreen. This leaves the false impression that justice was not served and the bad guys won. In this, the finale message left me even more confused—for it seemed to make the case for street justice instead.
All that said, I enjoyed the action-packed finale. Even though it wasn't the best fight scene, it was pretty damn good. There were some tears, some fears, its share of good and bad deaths, and a thought-provoking kind of justice. Most of all, it respects audience intelligence and is quite clear without quite spelling out everything.
Overall, this is one of the best classic mystery wuxias I have watched in years and deserves an 8.5/10 from me.
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