Reviews

Horribly xenophobic and manipulative...

Oh god, where do I even begin???

Girls Planet started off very strong. My friend convinced me to watch this show and I immediately fell in love with all the girls and their talents (Hikaru in particular ♡). The performances began like any normal show, but this time with the unique premise of cells. One Korean girl, one Japanese girl, and one Chinese girl in each. Seeing them work together with their cultural differences in how they were raised and trained was a joy to watch...at first.

See, the thing about Korean shows is well...they're Korean. That's mainly where the problem stems from. As the episodes progress, you begin to get the feeling that something feels a bit off. That's because the show is wildly xenophobic. Once you reach a certain point in the show you'll begin noticing some key patterns within each group: the Japanese member is obsolete. Who even is that??? The Chinese girl is terrible. She has an absolutely AWFUL attitude or she's so overwhelmingly unskilled and selfish. And the Korean girl is AMAZING!!! She's so talented, she's final-group-ready. She is even skilled enough to help the Chinese and Japanese members, how kind of her!!! This is an ongoing "storyline" in each group. It's not even something that happens once or twice, it's ALL THE TIME. Not even exaggerating. I think it was the same exact thing for two entire episodes.

In that xenophobia lies another problem: voting manipulation. You may be wondering "how could they possibly have voting manipulation when they were caught from the Produce series???" and you're right. They probably didn't have direct manipulation, but oh man did they have MANIPULATION. Take the above scenario as an example. You now have a Japanese girl you don't know, a Chinese girl you hate, and a Korean girl who performed perfectly. Who are you going to vote for? Not only do you have that form of indirect manipulation, you also have screen time. Whenever I voted, I swear to you I recognized ALL the Korean girls and maybe 3-5 from Japanese and Chinese. It was no coincidence. Every scene, every praise, every moment was Korean! Korean! Korean! Don't even get me started on how the final votes were 50% KOREA, 50% THE REST OF THE FREAKING WORLD. YEAH, IT REALLY WAS. It's almost unbelievable how much they were able to get away with. It's actually offensive tbh.

So what about other aspects of the show besides the xenophobia? The mentors (or "masters" as they like to call it). Useless tbh, besides the dance instructors. However, other than choreographing for some songs (that they could've done without mentoring), none of them ever did anything except sit there and critique them. How come they never got up and gave them pointers??? How come the dance instructors never showed them how to perfect a move??? How come the vocal coaches never showed them how to sing properly??? Instead, you get a girl who practices to the point of straining her voice and the vocal coaches complain about her not being able to hit a high note :/// Sunmi and Tiffany were also just as useless. I enjoyed Tiffany's critiques, yet she barely got any screen time for some reason. Yeo Jingoo was the saving grace of this adult side of the cast. He did well as the MC and oftentimes made jokes with the girls, trying his best to genuinely bond with them. Even if the masters and the trainees bonded off-screen, how come they never give us a tiny glimpse of that?

Okay so xenophobia, useless mentors, what else? One of the most important parts of a survival show: personality. Yeah...little to none. They barely have any games, bonding exercises, or activities. There are a few more later on with less girls, but still the bare minimum. I could not tell you what most of the personalities on this show are like. Unless they're very expressive, like Wen Zhe or Hikaru, it's next to impossible to really know. You barely even know which members are close friends unless you stalk social media feeds. You should NOT need an outside source to be able to recognize friends in a survival show. One of the absolute worst offenses they committed on this show was not showing any of the eliminated girls. They never asked about their thoughts, showed the girls crying or hugging, or showed their wishes for the future. As sad as it is to see girls go, I usually enjoy getting to see their emotional final moments with their friends. It's touching to see them loving and supporting one another until they later show up in the finale. In this, I legit had to look online to see which girls got eliminated because they didn't give any of them screen time whatsoever. That's insane.

The last thing I wanted to talk about were the songs. This is one of the best parts of the show. They had quite good song selections (besides the sexual ones they made minors sing) and their original songs were pretty good. Snake was a real banger. The uniforms were super pretty as well, along with the sets and stages. Overall, the performances were really really good. Some are super memorable like Yes or Yes 1, Snake, Ice Cream, etc. Basically, anything with the girls themselves was fantastic. Everything else was big yikes.

And I am not blaming any of the girls at all for how poor this show is. All of them are extremely talented, hard-working, skilled, loving, sweet, gorgeous individuals that deserve to debut somewhere or some time. MNET just needs to stop. Someone please stop them for the sake of all Chinese girls who have a dream ://

In conclusion: save your precious freaking time.

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Despite its silly actions, "not-so-horror scenes" and childish problems, this drama has outstanding humor and exquisite point of view. Kyohei and Sunako are so much alike. Although Kyohei hated himself because girls fell in love with him for his looks only and Sunako hated herself because her first love told her she is ugly, both characters wanted people to look at their hearts. This silly drama has demonstrated a HUGE worldwide problem. Even though our wronged opinions are based on people’s appearances, we are striving to find someone to accept who we are and our true nature. The second point of view that this drama shed a light on is, if you want to be loved, try to become the person you love and try to love yourself. I don’t mean you become cocky by the way, but try to see that you are special or else why would you be born?. By the way, this drama isn’t ment to be serious as it is adapted from a manga, thus don’t expect the actors or even the problems to be serious

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So this beautiful Romcom has finally come to an end. What can I say, I'll truly miss it and I know some of you will too.

From the scenes of Cuba to South Korea, episode 1 to 16 were well exicuted. Big props to the writer and the cast that brought this lovely story to life. I loved it very much. That ending was everything a Romcom suppose to be in correlation to the plot, so subtle and romantic.

WHAT I LOVED

1.THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

It was very steady and not forced by both Ms Cha and Jin-Hyeok love relationship. I really liked that alot, I've seen many times the love was force and prematurly occurred but in this case it was not. They both got to know each other first hand.

2. EMOTIONS

Showcasing emotions In films plays a big part in how well an individual can act, how well we as the audience/viewers can connect with what is being portrayed in an emotional standpoint. Both Soo-Hyun and Jin-Hyeok did that, as a matter of fact the whole cast did that. I was able to connect with them and to be honest I even shared a tear which is not quite often ????. Big thumps up.

3. CINEMATOGRAPHY

I know the majority of the scenes took place in South Korea but the scenes in Cuba were breathtaking. I don't know if is BEACUSE I'm form the Caribbean so I'm being a bit bias or what but those scenes they captured were supercalifragilisticexpialidocious lol it was wonderful.

4. OST
Easily rated at a 10. So soothing yet catchy. My favorites are the day we met, don't hesitate love and that night. They go so well with each scene.

5.LESSON LEARNED

All dramas give out a different vibe and sometimes the vibe might be similar to another drama that you may have seen. Now this drama I've learned alot of life lessons but there is one that stood out most to me is that sometimes you have to stoop to conquer. Both Jin-Hyeok and Ms Cha could have just gave up on their love for each other because of the obstacles that stood in front of them.
Yes one might say Ms Cha was a bit coward and let go a bit but the most important thing is that she never gave up and her man stood by her all the way and in the end, both hand in hand conquered the obstacles and their love were able to flourish.


WHAT I DISLIKE

There were not so much major things that I could actually say I disliked but there was one thing. Ms Cha took so long to stand up for herself and allowed herself to be battered by family that was no longer family and at times I was becoming upset with her, but in the end it all turned out great. Patience is surely a virtue, something I wish I had lol.

MY RATINGS

As Jin-Hyeok rightfully said "don't be sorry, thank you for being brave"
There is hope in Love so with that being said my rate is ;
10/10.

This was a well put together drama and I highly recommend it to everyone. ????

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One of the best thai bl this year

This was a journey, an experience, that will forever stay with me. I absolutely loved this series. The cinematography, directing, production level, acting, story - marvelous, beautiful and stunning.

STORY:
This series is a fiction, subtly yet un-subtly, calling out all the problems and flaws in the BL industry from toxic tropes, stereotypes, overcontrolling script writers to the cruel treatments of their casts, amongst other things. The story is about Gene, a professional BL writer, desperate to break out of the BL genre and try writing something else for a change. But his overbearing publisher refuses him to do so and downright coerces him into writing yet another BL story following his last successful novel that's in the process of being produced into a series called 'Bad Engineer The Series'. Sitting through the audition for Bad Engineer is where he meets Nubsib, who's apparently a sheep in wolf's clothing. Nubsib is auditioning for the series and manages to snag the main lead role. It seems to be Gene's and Nubsib's first meeting, but apparently not because they actually met as children around 14 years ago. They've got history, but it looks like Nubsib is the only one who remembers.

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I have watched a lot of Thai BLs to last me a lifetime (not really, it's never enough) so I know if a series was going to disappoint me halfway into it. Lovely Writer did not disappoint. At all. What got me into the series was the plot. If you've got a good and interesting plot, trust it to grasp your attention. Add to it a well-acclaimed, accredited and well-loved director to the mix? It's bound to be good, like really, really good. And then of course, you have the actors and actresses that brought their characters to life like no other; their emotions, personalities that was made their own... it was /chef's kiss/.

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INCOMING SPOILER ALERT!! EPISODE 9 (i can't stop talking and thinking about EP 9. It's a masterpiece in all sense)

Episode 9 was too good. It was downright cinematic. The blockings for some of the scenes were amazing - it was art at it's finest, in just one episode. Storyline was on-point, characters well-portrayed, cinematography a masterpiece and a rollercoaster of emotions! There were no dull moments or awkwardness in between~ It was all amazingly done!

The way this episode showed how problematic homophobic norms were passed down from one generation to the other, that living as a gay person means living in fear and judgment, that accepting oneself as being gay is not "normal"... It needs to stop. This episode also showed how it's all funny and amusing until one of your children is actually the one being called funny and amusing. It's interesting and nice to see how they showed the parents being entertained by the gays on-screen but when it's someone from the family, the table's suddenly quiet and all hell breaks loose. Not many people could fully understand how heavy and nerve-wrecking the scene at the family table actually was, because I could never. But the emotions that ran through each and every one of the characters, I could at least dare to slightly fathom the weight of the confession scene as well as the confrontation scene later on. I am genuinely impressed and touched with each character, and letting the characters to freely speak their minds without inhibitions. It's a wake-up call, and it's about time.

Aside from the heavy scenes of this episode, there were the soft and steamy ones that I, not gonna lie, ABSOLUTELY loved! There were so many of my favourite scenes in this episode, and of course, many domestic ones that I've embarrassingly found myself squealing to. No regrets though 'cause SibGene are so adorable and beautiful together.

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Also, in terms of my fav characters in this series, it's got to be Gene, Nubsib, both their parents, and Hin. First off, kudos to Gene. Absolutely loved his character development. He seemed so unsure of himself at the beginning of the series but after knowing who he was, he chose to accept himself and face it head on. I'm amazed at how brave of a man he was. He was the epitome of confidence, being honest to himself and choosing not to be a coward, even from his own family. He knew what could happen if he admitted to his relationship with Nubsib but he still did it anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do, and he wanted to be honest with both himself and his parents. Really, Gene deserved the world, but the world didn't deserve him. And Nubsib, raising standards every step of the way. He's the consent king and nobody can tell me otherwise. Always making sure he's not forcing Gene to do anything he didn't want to do and telling him he's willing to wait for him if he's not ready... where do I get myself a Nubsib, huh?

Gene's and Nubsib's parents, who would've known they would be the most supporting people in those two men's lives? Especially Gene's father. He really wins best father of the year. I love this series for not only showing the main lead's story but also the supporting characters so we could understand each one of them, at least a little bit. Gene's mothers are besties for life, their fathers are best bros, their brothers are bffs, what more is there to ask for?

And then we got Hin. Hin, the character we thought was going to betray Gene but pulled a 180 degree on us and called us stupid by actually sacrificing his passion and love for writing to protect his friend. You can't find a more genuine and honest friend than Hin. We all wished we had a Hin in our lives.

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Starting from the first episode, each and every scene were played and directed so well, I wondered, "why was this so good already from Ep 1?" Was it the unique plot, the well-known director, the amazing actors, or all of the above? Fyi, it was the latter, just in case someone was still wondering. But what I especially loved was the shade thrown on the BL stereotypes and all the other toxic labels. This series was not following your typical BL from the get-go and I loved it. This mindset carried on, and it didn't stop until the end where they performed short plays from famous Disney fairytales. It was their way of saying, BLs are fantasies too, don't mix fiction with reality. And also that two men can play these cheesy fairytales perfectly well. And they killed it, too. It was 10/10!

And the chemistry, you can't NOT talk about the chemistry between Up and Kao. It was phenomenal. Everyone knows this by now, and even if you don't like either of them (i don't understand you), you can't deny their chemistry. Up is an exceptional actor. His portrayal of Gene was splendid, especially the way he shows every emotions through his face expressions and body movements. Every little movement or gesture had a meaning, a purpose behind it. That's how much of an amazing actor Up is. And Kao has improved SO MUCH from the beginning. He's done so well with Nubsib and brought his character to justice. The way he looked at Gene with love, respect and fondness is out of this world. The way he showed his frustration, anger and jealousy was so strong, I felt it too. His feelings for Gene was unrivaled. A serious round of applause for the both of them!! There's no Gene without Up, and there's no Nubsib without Kao. Up was the perfect Gene, and Kao was the perfect Nubsib.

And of course, another round of applause for the rest of the cast and crew! The beauty of this series is that no matter what is talked about, no matter the difference in pacing, mood, purpose, and TEA, it still fit perfectly in their world called Lovely Writer. And as many people have said, this series has raised bars and standards for any BL drama. They've all made something top-tier in this industry, and they deserve all the love and admiration.

I love how Lovely Writer depicts the good side of LGBT relationships, but also the cruelty of society that's against it. LW does not only show the joys of being in love but also the struggles. This series is a fukken masterpiece, exquisite in every component. I can't praise this series enough. I don't think I can enjoy a BL series with a weak plot anymore. Back then, I'd watch anything as long as it's BL but now...

So far, to me, it's one of the best BL this year. No, dare I say, it's the best BL I've had the pleasure of watching in my entire life.

There are a few people out there who dropped this series after watching the first or second episode. Trust me, I was dumb enough to have thought about dropping it too, but I pushed through and look where we're at now. Watch the series guys, give it a chance.
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when the pre promotions of this drama started, they used keywords like "mature", and in romcom world that just means more skinship and a few "Steamy kisses" here and there, so I was skeptical, but no this went beyond that~
both main characters were so smart, levelheaded, understanding, sweet, vulnerable, and yet they were so confident and they never put the other's needs before themselves.. love is great, but self love is important? love doesn't mean "devote your whole existence to the other party"?

I'm worried I'll never watch another "similar" romcom again ;) this is not "original", but it's literally the only acceptable way to deal with cliches... a character driven story...


I'll just describe the characters a little more.... ryan... he's confident, maybe even arrogant and cold, but I love that he shows duk mi his "vulnerable" side.. and he doesn't "push her around".. he asks, he doesn't demand.. he apologizes when he's wrong, and he's not "above making a mistake"... and you can tell that he still wonders "am I asking too much", but she doesn't say no because he isn't asking for something grand, and she's just so precious and I LOVE a confident female lead... strong doesn't equal to mean or a bully, and sweet doesn't equal to a pushover who cries while apologizing for nothing...
also, his goofy playful side... I LOVE that side~ unlike dominic, he only wants "duk mi" to see that side ;)



ps, my rewatch value is just a 1 or a 10, so for this, I'll definitely rewatch it one day. just not the last 2 eps ;)

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My first Thai drama and it was FANTASTIC! Personally, I think the acting really made the difference for me. The chemistry between the leading couple (Mark Prin and Yaya) was off the charts! Yaya was great at the emotional scenes, not just the crying but the ability to really project the emotions. It was captivating. As for Mark Prin, he is great at the subtle facial expressions. The attention is in the details and he nailed the subtle emotions each time. As a viewer you definitely get more invested in the characters and the story if the actors are able to elevate the story and the depth of the characters. They both did it for me. The story itself could be deemed somewhat cliched but what made it was the nuanced attention by the actors and the director. The conflicts, the emotional complications, the internal struggles all seemed very realistic and understandable. Each episode wasn't drawn out without reason, each had a purpose for adding to the layers of emotional complexity and the turmoil the characters were feeling. I LOVED it. I usually watch K-Dramas and Taiwanese or Chinese dramas but I have to say, this drama really impressed me and blew my perception of Thai dramas out of the water. I will be watching a lot more Thai dramas and now, I'm a huge Yaya and Mark Prin fan! Oh yes, a shout out to P'Suki - Jee's gay manager in the drama. He is arguably the best gay side kick I've seen in any drama! AWESOME!!!

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"Grooming" has never been more romantic.

Do not take the title of the review seriously - taking it at face value would be as misleading as the premise of the show, that sounds so wrong, but the drama itself feels so right. I truly hope people won’t get discouraged by the student/teacher relationship and give it a chance, because this is so much more than just romance. It’s a weirdly heartwarming story of two people healing, learning about each other, but also exploring their own thoughts, feelings and ideas they hold.

What truly makes it work is how self-aware the writing is. For every flirting attempt and stalker behavior, we get a witted call out. All presented in the best dry humor I have seen in dramas for ages. Many scenes that would give you butterflies in your stomach end on a joke and it works so well. I’ve got a sense of: we know it’s wrong, we trust the audience knows it's wrong, but just watch and enjoy how cute they are. And I’m totally fine with it.

As I said though, this drama is more than just a romance. Every scene is drenched in hard hitting topic - suicide. Personally, I think the writing around this issue was done masterfully. Heavy issue presented in such a light manner. Quirky humor that made it more approachable, but never felt disrespectful. For someone who at some point in their life struggled with suicidal thoughts, many of the jokes felt just right. Not once have I thought they are not taking the subject seriously or just using it to make the romance more “angsty” (as many other rom-coms do). The story kept the heart and sincere tone, while also giving me some laughs . It felt refreshing.

The performances were what built the drama though. Hashimoto Ryo perfectly captured the idea of those who smile the brightest are the saddest - no matter how happy-go-lucky Haiba Jin might have felt, you could always sense the hesitation, unsureness and not yet completely healed pain. Takaishi Akari was able to somehow mix innocence with a strong personality and it created a cohesive persona that was Ochiai Mikoto. Both extremely loveable characters portrayed in a perfect manner.

Overall, surprising on so many levels. Completely flipped my expectations of what I’m about to watch and made me fall in love with the characters. Not only the drama is worth a watch, but also a rewatch once in a while.

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GREAT DRAMA , HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.ALLEN REN & SEVEN TAN DID BEAUTIFUL IN THIS DRAMA

i just finished this drama two days ago, and this drama really gave me a very deep impression. AN AMAZING AND VERY BEAUTIFUL AND DEEP DRAMA FOR A LOVE STORY BETWEEN LUYI AND JINXIA. The perfect storytelling has brought this drama to be so exciting to watch and I spent it in just over a week.

This drama has a very good story development from action, stories about how they work together to solve cases that have involved one of the sons of royal officials, to the deep feelings of love that are built between the Luyi royal guard and Jinxia as an assistant to the Liushanmen government office. Their struggles touched my heart and I cried very sadly in the episode towards the end, and I was very satisfied and happy that they were finally able to meet again and have a happy ending, even though I actually wanted the director to add a little more to the end by letting the enthusiastic audience like I can see that finally Luyi and Jinxia can get married and have children ... but well I am quite satisfied with the end of the story ....This drama has a lot of spices from sweet, funny, action, mystery case solving and there is also a very sad side that can make you cry deeply when enjoying this drama.

and ... of course this perfect drama does not escape the good acting of our main cast "ALLEN REN and SEVEN TAN" who brought their characters as "LUYI and JINXIA".
this was the first time I watched a drama that Allen Ren played, and to be honest the first time I was a little hesitant to watch it, but luckily I started, otherwise I would be very sorry for having missed such a good drama, and I have to admit Allen Ren is an actor who has very good acting skills, he portrays the figure of luyi very perfectly.
I was not a fan of Allen Ren at first but after this drama ... I really liked him, and became one of his big fans ..

I decided to start this drama because of Seven Tan at first, because I really like this actress, she is very clever, sweet and always successful in bringing her character very well in every drama that she carries. I also really like her acting which is very natural in every drama that she brings ... she is a very funny, cheerful and sweet artist.

Allen Ren as Luyi looks very handsome and dignified in this drama .. I am really fascinated and captivated by his character who is very cool here. especially when he wore his royal guard uniform, really very dignified and handsome ..

Besides that, the chant that is inserted into this drama is also very beautiful. I almost like the whole soundtrack in this drama, especially the one entitled "wish / yuan" the lyrics and rhythm of the song are very touching and it seems that it fits perfectly with the scene at that time. The soundtrack by Allen Ren "Heart Wall" is also very good.

the whole of this drama is very perfect and beautiful, and of course for the rewatch value and overall I also give 10/10 points.

for those who are about to start or are thinking about starting this drama .. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS DRAMA ..

At the end of the review I would like to thank all the producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses who have perfected this drama, and of course the crew too ....

excited for Allen Ren and Seven Tan, hope to see them play another drama. because their chemistry is very good and strong in this drama ...

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It's quite shocking, yes, to watch a drama where a woman of 32 falls in love and starts a relationship with a young man of 15. I thought to myself "Maybe I shouldn't watch this" and "If this was a reversal story I for certain wouldn't watch this", but I did it anyway and there's hypocrisy there somewhere.

I guess I just couldn't drop it. This is the most beautifully shot drama at Netflix this year (and I watched "The end of the fucking World"). The color palette is lovely, and there are some truly inspiring scenes. All of them related to the sea, some of them part of a mini film inputted in the drama. Besides, a 12 episodes drama with ~25min each seems like a pretty tight story - and it was!

The story flows in unexpected ways, and it carries you seamlessly. There are many things going on with this drama, and not superficially. You will wonder how it was able to show so much, to affect so much, and be so short.

It's less than 6hours in total, but I couldn't binge watch it because I kept stopping to ~think~ about what was happening. It's not tragic, it's not violent (in the strict sense of the word), but it is a very ~heavy~ drama that makes you question your morals, society, pressure in women in particular, infidelity, and also how naive teenagers really are. Not light themes, eh?

Although the drama doesn't shy of showing the main character sexual relationship, never for once the drama will try to normalize it. Sometimes it can even be uncomfortable. And not only between her and the teenager but between her and the man as well.

In the end, I felt like I was following the life of a lost woman, a naive woman, maybe a good woman (?), who is passing through the single most important months of her life. Independent of agreeing or not with her, everything will be affected by the choices that she makes here - and she has just started to realize that. You don't find much stuff as interesting as it is going on here.

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There's a reason why You Who Came from the Stars had fans watching each episode while sitting on the edge of their seats every week and peeking out their windows after the show aired, hoping for their own personal alien invasion. With Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince references woven here and there throughout the story, this drama has everything you could possibly want. It lacks for nothing! Charismatic, believable leads; romantic storyline; and an incredibly evil/creepy villain. ALL the actors brought their A-game to this one. It was one of those rare gems where they must have all just clicked and it translated to the screen. I loved everything about this drama- even the intro scene that shows the passage of time. You can tell that great care went into the making of drama right down to the smallest detail. I loved the flash backs that filled in the backstory. I loved the documentary feel when they interviewed the characters. I loved how the second male lead actually helped move the story forward and wasn't clueless/innocent and certain aspects. That was refreshing. I especially loved the fact that Jun Ji Hyun was secure enough as an actress to really show different aspects of her character and let you see the vulnerability and human-ness while still being egomaniacal and exasperating yet sweet and even goofy! I loved the internal/external monologues she would have with herself. I loved how the male lead's class lectures were tied into that episode's storyline. I loved his wild jealous imaginings. They're the most adorable kdrama couple I've seen to date and the comedic timing on the facial expressions from the two leads was perfection. The clothing/costumes especially the female lead's was perfection. Can you tell I have a lot love for this one yet?

Seriously though, I'm re-watching this show for the 3rd time now and enjoying it immensely! Even though I know what's going to happen I still have nail biting moments and I've noticed very small details that I believe I missed the first two times. It speaks of the universal search for your person or people. The ones who when they're around you, no matter where you are it becomes home. If you watch it you won't regret it.

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A story that may check the cliche boxes but stands up n shines on its own by being very grounded, relatable and eveb sensible unlike many of its peers. One may be tempted to include it in your usual romcoms and sometimes rather frivolous plots of youthul romantic C dramas. I was pleasantly suprise by how well written the characters are. And its focused on sinplicity of a relationship despite cohabilitation, contract aggrements hijinks.
Male character isnt a typical tsundere. He doesnt mingle much but isnt a complete recluse. He has his principles in life and is focused and perhaps a little rigid at first. Yet when taught and exposed to things he is perceptive and willing to learn and see things in different perspective. Even as it dawns to him Bei Er Duo draws him in and first time in his life another human being's emotions coiud affect his, hes mature in dealing with his burgeoning feelings. That's such a breath of fresh air in a male lead character..who is perceptive, observant, and helps out the female lead in meaningful ways.
Bei Er Duo is equally well written because they dont dump down her character. She may hav financial difficulties or difficult mother but she doesnt whine, begrudge ohers or dwell on the negatives. Instead shes hardworking and persistently strives to fulfil her dream. Her mostly cheerful demeanor puts you in good spirits everytime shes on screen.
Although the intial set up was typical.. the subsequent interactions felt very natural. The pace and flow was nice and did not felt forced. The leads communication and sharing of thoughts and dreams were also highlights that i enjoy.
Although im not that critical of my rom coms..i want to state that theres alot out there full of fluff, sometimes too cheesy or not believable. This drama was sweet in a palatable and soothing way. Even the second leads were good.
I felt this drama warrants more viewers. Do give it a try

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Just Skip the Normal Ver. and Watch the Special Edition! Especially Season 2's!!!

What's the difference?

Everything!

Unlike the Special Edition for Season 1, Season 2's Special Edition is worth the money!
I'm not going to list all the differences, but I will say there are a lot of scenes that are extended that add more depth to the story and characters. For example, if you think Yu Zhen Xuan was annoying in the normal version, there are quite a few extended scenes with him that make his character more lovable and you get to understand his character more.

Also, the biggest difference is episode 4. We get 3 extended scenes.
1. Gao Shi De teasing Zhou Shu Yi immediately after they make up. It's a lot longer than the original cut and shows the extent of their relationship.
2. The whole argument between Zhou Shu Yi and his father.
3. In the office where they are talking about Gao Shi De's lost emails we get to hear about Zhou Shu Yi's feelings toward Gao Shi De in Japanese.
(I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get to hear about Gao Shi De's step-sister being the blonde in question since in the deleted scene we get that part during all of this, but at the same time I do understand why they cut it. Gao Shi De and the audience need to know more about Zhou Shu Yi's feelings towards Gao Shi De more than we need to know about the blonde woman. Gao Shi De explains his feelings about Zhou Shu Yi numerous times throughout the season, but we never got to hear Zhou Shu Yi's feels about him at all until the Special Edition.)


Should you watch the Special Edition if you've already seen the normal version?

Absolutely!!! You'd be crazy not to. While the Special Edition for Season 1 isn't drastically different, Special Edition for Season 2 is. There are so many scenes that are extended or added that really change your opinions of certain characters. Not only Yu Zhen Xuan, but the extended scenes made my love for Zhou Shu Yi and Gao Shi De grow 100 times more. They are definitely soulmates and couples goals. I can't get over the chemistry between them when they fight then love in the extended scenes. You'll see why if you watch the Special Edition.


Should you watch the Special Edition first or watch it on the re-watch?

Just skip the normal version of Season 2 and watch the Special Edition. It's like knowingly buying a kid's meal when you know you're going to be hungry for more. Just skip the questions and watch the Special Edition.

But if you want to watch the normal version and Special Editions then... How do I put this... Watch both normal versions of Season 1 and Season 2 then watch the Special Editions on the rewatch.

YES - Special Edition S1 → Special Edition S2 (Skipping the Normal version is okay)
YES - Normal Ver. S1 → Normal Ver. S2 → Special Edition S1 → Special Edition S2

NO - Normal Ver. S1 → Special Edition S1 → Normal Ver. S2 → Special Edition S2
(You won't understand why they extended some scenes)
NO - Special Edition S1 → Special Edition S2 → Normal Ver. S1 → Normal Ver. S2
(The rewatch will be boring. Especially Season 2's rewatch. You'll probably claim that you wasted your time watching the normal version since you watched it the Special Editions first.)



~~~~~~~~~~ We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd Review ~~~~~~~~~~

This is the perfect BL. It encompasses everything that is BL. Season 1 has the whole student/university innocent love story while Season 2 has the adult angsty drama. It's the whole package.

STORY:

You're going to either love it or hate it.

This is a continuation of Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi's story set five years later. While Season 1 was all about the innocent student love story, this season is all angsty. Gone is the innocence and here is the pain. Season 2 does a 180 and is no longer the We Best Love that we know.

This season deals with betrayal and miscommunication. Because it is completely different from the first season I can see why some people may not like this season. Some people just don't like drama, plain and simple. Some people will also that the story is weaker than the first season therefore that this is the weaker of the two seasons, but I disagree. Yes there was a plot hole, who the blonde was, but it didn't take away from the story. (She is his step-sister, it was explained in a deleted scene that isn't even in the Special Edition. Why???? Anyways, you can find the clip on youtube.) The story wasn't focus on who she was or if Gao Shi De cheated. The focus was on the fact that Gao Shi De didn't tell Zhou Shu Yi about his father's interference and flat out left him in the dark. Even with this plot hole the the drama was amazing. This is the season where Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi shine!

If there is an issue with this drama it would be with the secondary couple. They brought back Bing Wei and Zhe Yu from the first season, but our secondary couple was Pei Shou Yi and Yu Zhen Xuan. This second couple got a lot of screen time, but no one was interested. Yes Pei Shou Yi was in the first season, but who is Yu Zhen Xuan? The issue with having them as the secondary couple was that the first season had built up Bing Wei and Zhe Yu was a couple and they were given a decent amount of screen time in the first season, but they barely get any in this one. Pei Shou Yi had his share of screen time in the first season, but there was no mention of Yu Zhen Xuan. It's unfortunate because they had an interesting storyline, but because there was no build up to couple, and because Yu Zhen Xuan's character is either a like him or hate him type of character, this storyline fell flat. Even so I think Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi carried the entire drama on their shoulders without this couple.

Gao Shi De & Zhou Shu Yi

Set fives years after Gao Shi De left for America, Zhou Shu Yi is now helping his father run the company business. He hasn't heard from Gao Shi De in years, and on top of that when he secretly went to America to surprise Gao Shi De, he saw his boyfriend picnicking with a blonde woman and has a baby in his lap. While it's safe to say they are no longer together, Zhou Shu Yi is still bitter about everything. When his company acquires Hua Cing Technology he is shocked to find that Gao Shi De is the CEO of the company. Zhou Shu Yi greets him with a fist to the cheek, but it's not over. They still have to work together.

Meanwhile, Gao Shi De isn't over Zhou Shu Yi. He hasn't been able to contact Zhou Shu Yi in years and is more than happy to see him. He wants to pick up where they left off, but Zhou Shu Yi doesn't want to. He won't give Gao Shi De the time of day and it hurts. It doesn't help that Zhou Shu Yi's father is meddling in their affairs and his family has issues of their own.

As I said earlier, Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi carried the entire drama on their shoulders. Their chemistry from the first season improved in the second. Every time they were on screen you could feel their emotions. While the miscommunication storyline isn't new, how the actors portrayed the angst and longing just overpowered it. Just the way the actors looked at each other and their expressions was so powerful. You could watch it without sound or subtitles and still understand what was happening, it was that powerful. Just looking at Zhou Shu Yi screaming he hates Gao Shi De, but his eyes saying I love you is heart wrenching.

The best part about this couple is that after they get over the miscommunication, you can already see that they are going to be a couple that stands the test of time. If Gao Shi De loves longer, Zhou Shu Yi loves harder.

Pei Shou Yi & Yu Zhen Xuan

Pei Shou Yi is a school doctor that has affective disorder which makes it difficult for him to understand emotions, even his own. Yu Zhen Xuan is the CTO at Hua Chin Technologies with paranoia and aspergers, When Yu Zhen Xuan was in high school, Pei Shou Yi helped in out of a sticky situation after which he fell in love with Pei Shou Yi. Seeing Yu Zhen Xuan's growing attachment towards him, Pei Shou Yi quits his job as a school doctor leaving Yu Zhen Xuan heart broken. Still in love, Yu Zhen Xuan continued to search for Pei Shou Yi for 12 years. Now Pei Shou Yi is stuck because he often thinks about Yu Zhen Xuan, but he doesn't know his own feelings.

With both characters having mental disorders, this is definitely an original and interesting plot. However, it falls flat because Yu Zhen Xuan wasn't introduced in the first season, nor did they outwardly refer to him in the first season. They gave small hints here and there, but the hints were so small it's only barely noticeable when you rewatch it and look for it. For example, in season 1 Pei Shou Yi keeps a ramen pack in his office and gets mad at Gao Shi De for eating it. How would we know it's a remembrance to Yu Zhen Xuan? For all we know it was his emergency food.

Also, let's address the elephant in the room. Having characters with mental disorders is a big risk, especially when they are a couple. Most people are accept that there are people with mental disorders around them, but at the same time they don't want to associate with them. This is the reality. Unfortunate as it is, very few people can accept and understand people that have mental or physical disabilities. Most people turn the other way. One of the main reasons this couple flopped isn't so much that their storyline is terrible, it's more that they don't understand, nor want to see a couple with mental disorders. I can guarantee you that if Yu Zhen Xuan didn't have a mental disorder, then there would be more people talking about this couple instead of skipping it.

Bing Wei & Zhe Yu

I want to write a synopsis for this couple, but I really can't. They are just very minor characters here. They don't have much of a storyline. After college they began to work for Zhou Shu Yi's company. They helped Zhou Shu Yi through thick and thin when Gao Shi De wasn't there and are his best friends. They are still dating and Bing Wei is considering marriage.

Honestly, they should have been the secondary couple. There was so much build up to this couple in the first season it sucks that they are still in the limelight. I think the worst part is that when they finally get their time to shine, it's literally the last 3 minutes of the last episode. Just hand the ring to Gao Shi De and let him propose instead.

Overall:

I prefer the second season to the first. Both seasons are great, but I prefer more adult and angsty storylines. That being said, the actors really shined with their performances in this season. I can't help but rewatch this season over and over again because I can't get Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi's versatile acting out of my head. It's a must watch!

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Who will spy on the spies?

The Wind Blows from Longxi is an intricate ancient spy thriller that is not for instant gratification audiences. Its biggest hurdle are the first three or four episodes that are weighed down by the introduction of too many bearded and murky characters on both sides of the Shu-Wei conflict. Clearly even Lu Yang couldn't resist romance of the Three Kingdoms lore and goes down the rabbit hole of lingering on defining events and larger than life figures of the day that are peripheral to the otherwise tight plot. Past that, the storytelling simply immerses you in the lonely, tangled, nail biting, heartbreaking, cruel and utterly thankless world of ordinary spies, ants who put themselves in harms way to pave the way for great men to be glorified by history.

Recent adaptations of Mo Boyang's works have been orgies of high speed chases and thrilling action scenes that fall short on suspense and in delivering satisfying and convincing motives and twists. This is very much the opposite. The production values are movie like in quality but due to the shadowy palette, this is best enjoyed on a big screen. The camera is often very still and at times comes at avant-garde angles in low light that accentuates the clandestine nature of the interactions, of opaque motives and conveys a omnipresent sense of alone-ness, tension, ambiguity and danger. The action scenes are signature Lu Yang - impressively choreographed, blood thirsty, vicious and up close and personal in the critical moments.

This drama is set during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions, a period of stalemate between Shu and Wei where neither side had a clear advantage or scored decisive victories. It is an apt setting for this kind of story because when the margins are narrow, intelligence and counter intelligence can tip the scales in either direction. The drama opens with Zhuge Liang's first (of five) Northern Expeditions, which was unsuccessful. This led to General Ma Su's decapitation for his failure to hold Jieting and Zhuge Liang's demotion. It allowed his political rival General Li Yan who advocated a Southern campaign against Wu instead of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions against Wei, to gain power and influence. The Northern Expeditions took place in rather complex geographic terrain, where the timely delivery of military food provisions was challenging and made the difference between victory and defeat. That is broadly most of the historical background that is needed to understand this story. Of course Three Kingdoms buffs will be thrilled by the "drive-by" of many legendary figures on both sides of the conflict but the important characters in Ma Boyong's stories are always the little people or the ants.

The lines between fact and fiction blur as Siwencao, Shu's intelligence agency, suspects that compromised military intelligence had led to their defeat at Jieting. Siwencao hastily concludes that Chen Gong (Chen Kun), a Shu spy code name Baidi (White Emperor) under deep cover at Tianshui (a Wei stronghold) must have defected and sends Xun Xu (Bai Yu), Deputy Chief of Internal Affairs to deal with him. But Xun Xu is not convinced of Chen Gong's culpability; they are intimate friends, related by marriage. Together, they discover that the highest echelons of Siwencao has been infiltrated by Zhulong (Wax Dragon), a Wei spy. They can trust no one and go rogue with a bold ploy to lure Zhulong out into the open with Shu's crossbow design, long coveted by Wei. They are forced down separate paths that are fraught with danger, under resourced and alone with nothing but their absolute trust in and knowledge of each other. But nothing ever goes completely to plan and everyone has secrets. When the rubber meets the road, will they still have each others' back? How well can one really know someone? This also applies to Chen Gong's relationships with both Mi Chong and Guo Gang, which are as riveting and illuminating has his relationship with Xun Xu. After all, this is about two states at war with each other, there is really no good or bad or right or wrong side. All of the characters on both sides are patriots to their own cause; fascinating, layered, suspicious and disingenuous characters practiced in the art of deception. Were it not for an accident of birth, Guo Gang could well have been a Xun Xu to Chen Gong.

The role of such a cunning, duplicitous and morally ambivalent character such as Chen Gong must have been written with Chen Kun in mind. He dominates the screen in every scene and had my heart in my throat at his ability to turn around dire situations and the glimpses of his ferocious, raw pain and rage that is quickly disguised by indifference or conviviality. The wildness and the violence of his emotions when he takes revenge, where his veins literally popped out of his forehead is frighteningly intense and breathtaking. Bai Yu's Xun Xu is Chen Gong's conscience, a sincere and persistent truth seeker whose bottom line is not flexible. Xun Xu's most consequential mis-calculations are with those he loves best and his regret and unspeakable guilt and sorrow are among the most moving performances I have seen from Bai Yu. While Chen Gong and Xun Xu don't actually get that much screen time together, their screen chemistry is tangible and conveys a bond that transcends dialogue with undercurrents from their body language and their unguarded manner with one another. When Chen Gong starts to play a lone hand, Xun Xu senses it and their dynamics shift and become subtly more stilted, again showcasing the sheer virtuosity of their performances.

The most outstanding aspect of Longxi's storytelling is how masterfully the narrative builds up to the plot twists and the reveals. It is so insidious that by the time the reveals happen it is already sitting on the edges of my mind and thus seems to be organic. This is very compelling because I feel that I am part of the process, and underneath all the surrounding complexity the solutions are rather straightforward and should have been obvious. The characters are so fully actualised that their decisions are characteristic and the outcomes are inexorable. Unlike many other conspiracy heavy plots, this does not succumb to too many twists with overly convoluted or illogical outcomes.

The ending is gut wrenching and yet oddly triumphant and fitting. What is clear from the get go is that Chen Gong and Xun Xu are just expendable pawns caught in a high stakes game where they are besieged by both the enemy within and the enemy outside. As a result of serendipity and his own deviousness, Chen Gong is able for a moment, to seize control of the chess board. He plays the White Emperor's gambit, trading one life for three, empowers a righteous man and writes his own ticket home. His decisions are completely in character and in doing so, he finally articulates his own bottom line. But I won't lie, my first reaction to the ending was ".And that is why those dumb f*cks lost the war!" Because I am not sure the greater good was served. While one traitor is felled, the other villain with equally dishonourable tactics gets off largely unscathed and Siwencao remains a weapon that can be both used and abused. The age old question - "Who will spy on the spies?" remains.

While the start is dense and lacks finesse and the dialogue is on the heavy side, this is a drama that rewards the patient viewer. It is not a masterpiece, indeed many of the criticisms about accessibility and the dialogue that is heavily littered with modern phrases are more than fair. Yet I find the immersive storytelling, the suspenseful plot, the stellar acting and the unconventional camerawork immensely enjoyable. This is not something likely to enjoy mass appeal but for me, I would be surprised if I watch a better drama in 2022. I can happily give this a 9.5/10.

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