First the things that I liked... I really enjoyed the relationships that developed between all of the main characters and the staff at The Most (yes, THE Most). Ha Ri and Hye Jin are adorable together. While Ha Ri does have some demons I really do feel like the girls authentic friendship was delightful and not something I see in many dramas. The main couple were cute together but SIWON WAS AMAZING. If it were up to me, his character would be the lead of a spin off show. Also shout out to Shin Dong Mi as the Fashion Director. It was a minor role but she brought a lot of heart to it and was one of the main reasons that I loved The Most staff.
Okay, now despite all of that... the story was pretty superficial and a bit of a mess. We had these beautiful characters but their stories didn't really come together to tell anything meaningful. Hye Jin as a young girl and Hye Jin as a young woman have a lot of similar interests but virtually no personality traits in common with each other. One is elegant, the other goofy and the story never explains how just because she ran into hard times a person could change so much. This is just one example of MANY where the plot details are thrown in but never really integrated into the story. The Management Team, Sung Joon's weird eating/zombie habits, Hye Jin's sister, Ha Ri's bizarre relationship with her parents and step-parents, (which had oddly both too much and too little detail)...and don't get me started about the CEO's son mystery. In the end all of these things just felt like red herrings thrown in to fill time around the central love quadrangle.
In summary, I really, really enjoyed parts of this show but, despite the show being about the importance of what's below the surface, as a cohesive drama She was pretty lacked a lot of depth. Watch it for the cute fluff but don't expect much more.
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This review may contain spoilers
Have you ever asked yourself what's more important in a drama? Plot or acting? Can a good performance turn a mediocre plot into something unique? Fated to Love You answers this question with a decisive Yes.
Let's have a look at this plot. Aside from it being a remake of a popular Taiwanese drama, this is a collection of old clichés: doormat girl meets obnoxious rich guy, an incident of some sort occurs and compels them to live under the same roof, meddling – and maddening – relatives, random humour, misunderstandings, birth secrets, the 'other girl' and the 'other guy', all spiced up with a lot of noble idiocy (although this might be one of the few cases when the noble act is frustrating but comprehensible). It's not hard to see why I treaded on this very makjang field on tiptoe.
Therefore, my overall 9 has to be ascribed entirely to the impeccable acting and one of the best thought of OST of songs I've come across. Try out the first 10 minutes of this show, and you'll have no doubts the whole thing is going to be played on style, rather than plot substance. The performance of the whole cast is brilliant, but the two leads manage to outshine everything and everyone.
What could have resulted in two trite, annoying characters in lesser hands, becomes one of the best matched couple in melo/romantic comedy. Even when their plot-line drags – and it does, here and there – they are both able to sustain the silence and make it resound.
Jang Hyuk… wow, the man can act. Yes, I suppose this is a very superfluous statement for the many of you who know him, but this is my first time and I was enchanted. The character he creates here has no grey areas: Gun is so over the line he goes from hysterically funny to heartbreaking in the space of a few minutes. At times the two aspects are interwoven, and the viewer gets glimpses of his pain through his laughter. But his best trait in my opinion is that he doesn't give a dry fig about what people think of him: he goes on doing what he believes is right in the craziest of manners.
It doesn't hurt that the actor is seriously hot. Seriously. When he cuts his hair – this is not considered a spoiler, is it? - I was so distracted here and there I forgot to watch the drama and just watched him.
This said, Jang Na Ra is downright brilliant. For the first time in my drama addicted life, I loved a 'weak' heroine. There's a special quality about the rendition of her character that turns her weakness into strength, and her compliance into endearing sweetness. One can see why Gun falls in love with her, because the viewer experiences the same. Possibly, we all know from the start that Kim Mi Young will eventually change, and yet she keeps her true, generous nature intact. With her beautiful, huge eyes she speaks volumes and her chemistry with Jang Hyuk on screen is tangible.
Notable mention for Song Ok Sook, aka Mi Young's mother. I enjoyed every minute of her antics and rejoiced in her relationship with both her daughter and her son in law.
I already mentioned the music. As a rule, I only like instrumental pieces in dramas. I'm making an exception here not only because the songs are beautiful, but because each piece is chosen with the utmost care, emphasising in turn the fun, the suffering, the romance, the absurd. Isn't this what an Ost should do? Perfect score from me.
Because I believe the plot to be absolutely secondary in this drama, I'm sure it lends itself very well to future re-watching.
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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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The plot lines may hardly be original, but the complexity of the main characters gives the old stories a freshness and power they would otherwise lack. Song Il Guk does a fine job as the young prince destined to found an empire, but my favorite actors (and characters) were Hu Joon Ho as the grizzled veteran Haemosu and Jun Kwang Ryul as the tormented king Kumwa. Hu exudes presence every moment he’s onscreen, and Jun’s portrayal of the king’s increasingly conflicted and destructive loyalties is devastating. The show also uses its length to draw us so completely into its web of relationships that many of its most powerful scenes are not the giant battles but the quiet moments where a truth is revealed or a lie is told or a heart is broken.
Does everything work? No. The plot meanders in the final third, with wild goose chases down narrative lines that seem designed to kill time rather than actually deliver meaningful revelations. I could have lived without the saccharine pop ballad love songs on endless repeat and you could get rip-roaring drunk in no time if you took a shot whenever someone stages an ambush, falls off a cliff, discusses an evil plan around an ornate wooden table or survives getting shot by multiple arrows. However, if you’re looking for ridiculously immersive popular entertainment and don’t mind sleep deprivation, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Just be careful – this whole drama thing can get addictive . . . .
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Every episode of Hotel del Luna is amusing, captivating, intriguing, stirring, and thrilling due to the perfect balancing of humour, fantasy, myth-making, drama, romance, and horror further enhanced by the gorgeous costumery of the female lead, visually-dazzling production, heartstrings-tugging soundtrack music, cameo roles, and socially-relevant sub-plots that tackled: molka epidemic; prevailing patriarchal assumptions; and toxic netizen culture.
Two of the most popular young actors today, Lee Ji-eun or better known as IU and Yeo Jin-goo exude palpable chemistry in their memorable lead performances as Jang Man-wol and Gu Chan-seong, respectively. The accursed millenium-old Man-wol is the alluring, chic, ethereal, luxurious, and petulant chatelaine of the mystical and marvellous Hotel of the Moon while the dashing, dutiful, empathetic, and courageous Harvard graduate Gu Chan-seung serves as the hotel's 99th or current human manager.
Veteran thespian Seo Yi-sook leads the trio of superb supporting cast as the mysterious deity with several identical manifestations. She is joined by Shin Jung-geun who plays the 500 y/o untimely-killed Joseon top scholar-turned-hotel bartender and by Bae Hae-sun, the 200 y/o grudgeful murdered daughter-in-law of a privileged clan who is the hotel's meticulously efficient room service supervisor. Also starring are promising actors Lee Do-hyun and Lee Tae-sun; idols P.O and Mina; and Cho Hyun-cheul and Park Yoo-na. Jung Dong-hwan as ex-Manager Noh and Kang Ho-seok as Grim Reaper are also endearing in the portrayal of their special characters.
Hotel del Luna, although a fantastical drama, is actually a foray into the reality of life. It teaches among other things: that like flowers from the moon tree, life is beautiful yet fleeting - and so, we must make the most out of it; that humans are endowed with the ability to make choices and are consequently tasked to bear responsibility for the choices they made; that life is not always easy or fair - as such, we must learn to play the hand we're dealt with much courage and grace; that if the past is a source of suffering or ill-feelings, we must learn to let go and make peace with it and with ourselves if there's nothing anymore that can be done about it; that our way of thinking and feeling can have a powerful outcome or influence; that revenge is sweet for it provides an outlet for pent-up aggression and wounded feelings, but, at the same time, it is also burdensome and masochistically painful for it recoils and does not diminish with time, thus inflicting endless pain on the person who exacted vengeance; that forgiveness has a rending and liberating power; that love has a transmogrifying power which can contour our character - either for the worse or for the better; and as Gu Chan-seung has perfectly shown us - that true love is self-abnegating or it makes you forget yourself and seek the welfare of your beloved.
Unfailingly riveting until the end, Hotel del Luna will for sure hold a place in the hearts of many of us. A big kudos to the writers, director, actors, and production crew for making this drama an enjoyable and worthwhile watch.
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Drama hangover
Like many reviews here, if you’re looking for something funny and light hearted. This is it. The plot is not too complicated. The romance between the leads is through the roof. And the actors were simply awesome.Personally, I really like YBY. I’ve watched Listening Snow Tower, Love and Redemption. I can say I’ve seen her improved with each drama. And in My Sassy Princess, she has exceeded my expectations and I’m so proud of her. Every glance, small smile, smirk, raised eyebrow, tear was on point. She captured Liu Ling’s emotions really well.
I’ve not watched many of ZYC’s shows but in this drama he is cute, so cute. The action scenes were really entertaining and smooth. I enjoyed every second of it. And his chemistry with YBY is very sweet. I’m all smiles whenever their scenes come up.
The downside was how some scenes were edited. It felt quite rushed and some parts didn’t make much sense. But this did not take the joy away of watching this drama.
And I just love how this drama can make me cry and laugh at the same time. All in all, a very entertaining piece. Looking forward to the actors future dramas!
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First problem, and I think many who have watched it will agree, that Wild Romance seemed to have lacked a little in the romance department let alone anything "wild". I WISH WISH WISH, there was more romance between the main characters, because I absolutely adored them! Lee Dong Wook and Li Si Young did an AWESOME job in their roles and I have become a fan of both of them because of this drama! :D This is actually rare for me to say but...I WANTED MORE LOVEY DOVEY SCENES BETWEEN THEM! Haha. But I did enjoy the few cute scenes they did share. LDW and LSY are what drove me to finish this drama and they never failed to make me laugh with their silliness. :DDD
Second problem, and I think I will gain a few haters by saying this, but the amount of air-time they gave Jessica (from SNSD) was just...too much. I mean c'mon... side characters are just...SIDE CHARACTERS! It really frustrated me on how much of the drama was focused on her. I have nothing against Jessica of course...I think she's a very cute girl. But like I said, it was just too much for me. But to those of you who are huge Jessica fans, BY ALL MEANS this is the drama for you! :P
As for the story, I thought it was exciting,suspenseful and mysterious and the plot was very good for a such a short drama and I did enjoy some of the songs in it as well.
Overall I think this drama is very underrated and deserves much more praise than it seems to be getting. :)))
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Total run-time: 2 hours 34 minutes over 8 episodes, so each episode is around 20 minutes long. Get this, the intro is 1m 45s, and the credits are 2m 30s! Each episode has more than 4 minutes of bloated credits! Cut that out and the whole show is probably only 2 hours long!
ACTING/CAST: The cast are all very attractive, and play their parts well. I totally loved the part played by the doctor.
MUSIC: Standard drama music. Nothing stood out for me.
REWATCH VALUE: Yes, this is a neat series. Gonna watch with a friend.
OVERALL: Fun series, with cute guys and it's also short. Binge on!
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DEFINITELY worth giving a try
This is probably my favorite MaxNat series they've done so far.The main concern I had going into it was the confusing plot line from the trailer but watching the series there is little/no confusion for the most part. After setting things up in the first two episodes with explanation of the two parallel worlds, the rest of the series is pretty straight forward. The pacing could've been better and is probably my biggest complaint, especially in the last episode, I felt this series needed two more eps because I feel we didn't get much time with the second couple and some other things could've been a bit more fleshed out.
I was a bit hesitant about how Nat's acting would be with this new partner but Nat and Gun's chemistry is great to start out with, not awkward at all; very well done. There are some moments where Nat falls short in certain scenes but overall I see great improvement with him especially in later eps. On the other hand I wholeheartedly enjoyed Max as W1 and W2 Tai and would definitely like to see him play more diverse roles like this.
I loved the gradual build up of chemistry between Max and Nat's characters Tai and Kram. Those two are absolute sweethearts and a couple worth rooting for a happy ending.
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I enjoy this drama so much, always keeps me excited for the weekends.
i laugh hard and i cry even harder till my head and eyes hurt, in almost every episode.
So much feels when I watched this drama, and so much life lesson learned.
Makes you think of future life, what will i be when i get older later and cherish our time even more.
Every time i finished watching each episode, i miss my mom and feel like calling her.
I can say that this drama has taken a special place in my heart.
This drama is beautifully made, i can feel that there's so much heart has been put into it.
Hats off to all senior actors. Everybody did a great job, I can't even find any flaws to be complained about.
Oh so much things to say but i can't put those into words..
I'll be re-watching this soon while waiting for writer Noh's next drama for sure :)
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A Masterpiece of 2021
You are my hero is a well-written C-drama complemented with amazing casts. It is such a sweet and heart-warming drama. It was not boring at all. It has no unnecessary love triangles at all because it has 3 couples. I first started to watch this drama for Bai Jing Ting. I knew and become his fan in variety shows. I didn't really watch his dramas or movies before. I'm so impressed with his acting talents. He is like someone who is good at everything he does.For the main characters, Bai Jing Ting's character, Xing Ke Lei is the captain in special police team. I'm sure everyone will fall in love with Xing Ke Lei and also Bai Jing Ting in this drama. He is so dreamy, handsome and charismatic captain who is also shy when it comes to girls.
Sandra Ma's character, Mi Ka is a doctor who dreams to become a surgeon. She is mentally strong and independent woman with a kind soul.
I love how the writers know and plan all romantic and career elements in the first place because everything was on point. This drama shows two very different career perspectives which are special police and doctor. Each job has its own responsibility and hardships.
The casts are EXCEPTIONAL. The chemistry between Bai Jing Ting and Sandra Ma in this drama is so amazing. I knew they already appeared in some variety shows together before. So, their chemistry is off the charts.
Second couple and third couple are also given the same setting of the story, but the important ones had their time to rightfully shine and have their own stories and character developments. Casting Team did a great job in choosing the actors.
Directing, music and setting are also very good in this drama. OST are wonderful too. Even the ending was perfect.
I haven't gushed over C-drama in a while. You are my hero is definitely going to be one of my favorites. Honestly this drama gave me beautiful feels.
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The story comes in waves, at times there is a feeling of melancholy and helplessness of the situation while at other times you will be jumping in your seat from excitement!
Intrigues changes all the time, what was once a dear friend or ally becomes an enemy and vice versa. It's a very complicated story with a big cast which might make it difficult for some western viewers to follow if the series is not watched at a high frequency.
Watching the acting in this series is a treat, the characters become very much alive and they are deeply written. You will always understand why a character behaves as he or she does. There are always motives behind their actions, and even if you might hate a character for some action they did, you will often find yourself later also feeling pity for them because you will see their reasoning behind it.
One of the most popular series in China, give it a try you won't regret it!
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To start off, I had no desire to watch this drama. I had heard great reviews raving about the chemistry and how great the story was, but I still regarded this drama with little more than a passing nod. I had never seen any previous works by the leads and clips I saw never seemed to catch my interest. In addition, despite it being a very popular story line, I do not typically enjoy contract relationships (don’t hate me!), business dramas, or incredibly mean and arrogant male leads. However, I was craving a romantic comedy and was running low on options, so I figured I would give it a try. And I am so glad that I did!!!
This drama was incredible. The chemistry and the acting by all the characters, even side characters, was fantastic. The story line was perfectly paced, great soundtrack accompaniment, interesting and dimensional subplots, a romance worth swooning over. I was hooked immediately and binged the entire season in 2 days. No episodes did I feel were just filler, everything was intriguing, and contributed to an all around great story and truly memorable story. I cannot recommend this drama enough. If you have doubts, as I did, give it a two episode try and I hope that you will find it just as entertaining as I did. Happy drama watching :)!
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2Striking.
This drama had been shelved for almost three years and I happened to follow it (along with ‘Echo Of Your Voice’ which is heading towards it's own three year anniversary this year) because of Song Yi Ren, whom I personally find to be an excellent actress.It dropped out of nowwhere and released it's first trailer and episodes. So, I was unaware about anything except the Baidu synopsis that has been here since 2021.
Striking is the only word I could describe Different Princess as because oh boy. This drama surprised me a LOT. It's the perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, romance, mystery, fluff, politics, scheming and poisons - all in one package that somehow managed to not mess up until the very end. It is one of most well paced/written dramas I've seen and I appreciate the scriptwriters and the crew behind this for their effort. I can see their sincerity towards the characters and the story, and despite being not promoted heavily and even unconventionally pushed out after years with no warning, Different Princess is truly memorable.
I'm digressing, so let's cut to the chase shall we? I shall also explain why I rated this a 9.5.
The opening scene is a dramatic one: a Crown Prince and his consort are both killed off by a ruthless villain, who then takes over the throne.
Flash forward following the opening title card, we learn that this tragedy was concocted by a Web novelist Hua Qing Ge in an attempt at being innovative and making her novel memorable… by killing off the main characters. Her idea backfires in a twisted way – the readers are left enraged instead of upset, and promptly trash her for writing a plothole ridden story with no character logic for sheer popularity. She adamantly refuses to change the ending even after being threatened.
What she does not expect is to be sucked into her fictional world as a self-titled canon-fodder character who is killed at the night of her wedding to the villain Ji Chu.
Thanks to her being the creator of the world, she manages to escape with the help of Ji Yun, the leading character and Crown Prince whom she had killed off in her novel. But, as she decides to dismantle Ji Chu’s plans and seek justice for Ji Yun, she starts to realize that she knew nothing about the characters and the world she had created, including the terrifying arch villain Ji Chu, who is hell bent on thwarting her plans.
Why I Think You Should Give this Drama a Chance.
*THE CHARACTERS*:
The drama has several important characters - the cast has both long time and new actors, but never once did I feel that anybody was miscast. Even the ML, despite of being a newcomer, fit his role well, and did not try to overdo it. Nobody seemed unconvincing and it looked closer to certain serious dramas, rather than an obscure 36 episode drama that decided to drop its trailer and episodes within the blink of an eye.
This is probably the first time I'm seeing a Chinese drama where all the main characters are smart. (Particularly the royal siblings - Ji Yun, Ji Feng, Ji Chu and Ji Wan’er. May it be EQ or IQ. There was tension that could be cut with a knife in scenes where the four of them were together, but there was an unshakeable bond within, whether they admitted it or not.)
Pretty sure that this is what makes the plot move quite quickly and had me on the edge of my seat, because Different Princess does not run out of plotlines to explore.
There are plenty of characters and plotlines. But, I'll start write off with Hua Qing Ge, our eponymous female lead/writer of the novel.
Being a long time reader of novels, I've heard a lot about techniques that writers adopt during the process of outlining a story. I'll give points to Hua Qing Ge for managing to squeeze in plot threads (that she openly admits, she had written to fill up the word count), but I can see that she had zero sincerity towards what she was writing.
It's evident that she has a rich imagination, but within the first two episodes, it's clear that her reviewers were not baseless in their criticisms.
It looked like she wrote the fan favorite male lead Ji Yun with the intend of getting him killed off – and for that to happen, she randomly threw in a villain with a backstory that is gleaned over.
(I know an author who told how hard she cried while killing off a character and realising that there was no other choice. Qing seemed quite happy with the ending, indicating that she had pre-planned it quite earlier, but lacked the patience to execute it well.)
Moreover, she never concentrated once on the process of the story or ‘why’ the villains existed, but rather the ending and perhaps the leading characters, Ji Yun and Xiao Yao.
She ‘is’ smart, but unfortunately for her, the villain is smarter. And she is straightforward, thanks to being thrown from the modern world to the ancient one, bringing hilarity at the least expected moments.
I loved how she tried to maintain her composure and accept her fate.
Ireine Song is perhaps the most apt actress for such a role. I know that most people will skip over this drama, but personally to me, she can pull off any character with ease.
She managed to turn even the most emotional scenes into comedy - - her modern background was never really tamped down, her inner monologues and sudden bursts of hilarity at the most unexpected times made Hua Qing Ge alive.
That gets us to Ji Chu - the villain of Hua Qing Ge’s original story. How she managed to tangle him in a love triangle in her original plot, I have no idea. Because within the first episode, the dude was plain terrifying.
He was an excellent schemer, making back up plans and taking risks, making Qing question his decisions and constantly on her toes. [Different Princess also has one of the most comedic first meetings ever. EP2 will remain my favorite because of this very reason.]
The way he outsmarts Qing in the first few episodes had me laughing.
One thing that is consistent throughout the drama is that Ji Chu ‘is’ not a fairy, although his actions are justifiable. He is ruthless in his quest for revenge, making radical decisions that plays with the life and death of people.
He was a very clear-headed character from the opening scene to the very final shot - the writers clearly knew what they were doing.
To support him, there exists Gong Ye Qi, a physician whose entire family was wiped out by the Liang Royals. Both of them made a dangerous duo and I liked their brotherhood snd sincerity.
Thus is Ding Ze Ren's first drama as a leading character, and although it's evident that actors for Ji Feng and Ji Yun have much more experience
with emotional scenes, he was perfect as the cold-faced and enigmatic Ji Chu, whom no one really knew well. Seeing him genuinely smile was a delight since he was almost always sardonic.
"A person can't be everyone's dream man."
That brings us to the intended male lead of the novel - Ji Yun, the Crown Prince. I can understand why he was the leading character in Qing's story. Or atleast in the rewritten version. He was one of the most genuinely nice character on screen, but his very loyalty to his blood is his Achilles Heel.
The drama does not lack female characters either. Ji Wan'er, described as the smartest character out of everyone by Qing, was surprisingly strong girl. Her scenes with Gong Ye Qi, particularly one at the end of EP28 was one of the most emotional ones I've seen to date.
Xiao Yao (the Crown Princess/Coroner aka the FL of Hua Qing Ge's novel), was the perfect counterpart for Ji Yun. She was calm and perhaps the wisest character. Some of her speeches and dialogues, particularly in EP36 were noteworthy.
Even the Empress and Consort Wei had their moments. You'll have to watch to know why. 😉
*THE PLOT*:
What Qing cooked up, I guess we'll never know. What we do know starts from Chapter 3 of her original novel - where the fictional Hua Qing Ge is killed by Ji Chu.
Qing did plot an excellent tale when it comes to mysteries. She had the key to answers, which gave her the upper hand, but the plot begins to veer off course, and Qing questions if somebody else was writing her story.
What initially begins as a defeat-villain-save-Crown-Prince plot soon starts to pop out hidden characters and plots, before finally terminating at the gates of the Imperial Palace.
The screen time and duration were carefully utilized so that multiple character threads progressed equally well without lingering on anyone in particular.
So, I suggest that you brace yourself for some major fight for power before you proceed.
The last few episodes in particular are plot focussed with no filler, so that might be jarring.
*RELATIONSHIPS*:
The romance was an added bonus and not the focus of the entire story. But, also very integral to it without taking away it's edge.
Ji Chu's budding romance with his ‘victim’ Hua Qing Ge was definitely the other highlight of the show that kept people watching.
Both of them were already a married to begin with, although one of them was trying to murder the other and the victim in question was openly sitting on a throne of thinly veiled lies all the while being directly under her assailant's nose. Ji Chu was not stupid to begin with and I liked how he trapped Qing with her own words. Although, he was dangerous while trying to force the truth out of her.
Their relationship was well paced and made sense.
From murder attempt, plain suspicion, bickering, master-servant, and being fish baited, to finally giving off an old married couple vibes, it's a wonder how they ended up where they are now but the journey there was one of the sweetest I've seen.
Now that I think about it, neither Hua Qing Ge nor Ji Chu ever openly said that they 'loved' each other to their face; rather they were a 'show' not tell couple.
I usually don't feel this way, but I did not want their story to wind up so fast. It was one of those rare 'to infinity and beyond' romances that was worthy of my time.
Gong Ye Qi and Wan'er's plotline was definitely the more dangerous one to me. They had a lot going on and inspite of their contrasting personalities and views, they were sincere to each other.
If Ji Chu + Qing and Wan'er + Gong Ye Qi were a deeply passionate mess, Ji Yun and Xiao Yao were the less lovey-dovey couple. There was an intense understanding and maturity between them. Xiao Yao in particular was exactly whom a character like Ji Yun needed.
The friendships and rapport between several characters, even transient ones did not feel superficial. Xiao Yan, the 24/7 guard of Ji Chu was a scene stealer in this aspect. Mo Yu and Qing's hilarious conversations lightened up even serious atmospheres. Also - the siblings. May it be between Ji Wan'er and Qing, Feng and Wan'er or even Ji Yun and Ji Chu, there was a tacit understanding of each other. T
*COSTUMES:
Ji Chu, the villain had some of the most beautiful costumes and outfit designs I've seen in CDramaland ever. He had both bright and dark coloured clothing and they were coupled with unique head accessories (the star/sun thingy was my favourite) and embroidery that were eye cat hing.
One thing I noted was that Qing and Chu had couple outfits, even though there were not many of them.
Qing had simpler, but elegant attire. Ji Yun’s wardrobe reminded of the Lan Clan from Mo Dao Zu Shi, unfortunately. He was always in blue. Wan’er and Ji Chu had plenty of color in theirs.
*MUSIC:
The opening and ending songs are haunting and foreboding. Particularly the lyrics. They make me feel that I've lost something.
The Soundtrack and BGMs altered, but never overshadowed the scenes.
**FROM THE WRITER'S DESK*:
I can tell that Different Princess will probably end up getting buried beneath the ridiculously excessive number of CDramas released per year. The Douban oage for the drama is almost dead and to top it all off, the very cookie-cutter plotline of a transmigrating writer never attracts jaded viewers.
I did not regret beginning this. Because Different Princess was indeed a different kind of delight. For a low budget, brushed-under-the-rug drama, it has done better than many of the hyped up budget blowers.
The ending is the best that the writers could've given, inspite of all the everything. I know viewers might not be satisfied, but believe me when I say that this is one of the better endings out there. But, the fact that viewers are dissatisfied itself speaks volumes about how much the writers excelled in making us root for the characters.
A 9.5/10 from me.
There are stories that receive a neatly packaged closure - sometimes hopeful, sometimes tragic. Then there are some stories that are just not meant to end. And Ji Chu and Hua Qing Ge's tale is definitely one of them.
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