Reviews

Empty vessels really do make the most noise

Just for my edification, I need to know who signed off on this. I would then like to snack some sense into them by travelling to a time before they agreed - and this stupid setup I've come up with is aces better than anything they did.

Who? Who thought this was okay? This is a masterclass on how to create lackluster hype and somehow ruin the lowest of expectations anyone has for you. Because even the combined forces of over ten seasoned professionals could not save this sinking ship.

The non - existent plot follows Tae San, who is the incarnation of the tiger zodiac. You may be wondering why I say that when the show is called Twelve.
Let me explain.

The story is mostly about Tae San, while the other seven zodiacs are basically reduced to his rag tag bunch of followers. And there are only eight zodiacs! Because the very first scene introduces us to their backstory, but we're left wondering for over two episodes why there are only eight of them.. when the show is called Twelve. This is because their absence was explained in a truly blink and you'll miss it moment. Seriously, blink and you will miss it.

Thereon, the entire setup of the show is that the Zodiacs were basically guardians of the universe, who are now living without their powers after they saved the world the last time around, which they lost when they sealed all the evil in something called the Hellmouth. So now all they do is lend money and eat. They spent more time eating than they did saving the world.

Of course if you have heroes - you need villains. Here it's a group of evil spirits who want to awaken the spirits of two ancient evil beings. I say evil because if you look deeply enough, you could argue that they were more than just villains. But the show didn't care to be anything more than superficial and I don't care enough to be dissecting their past and personalities.

The two evil spirits they want to awaken are Ogwi and Haetae, the crow incarnation and some random name they pulled out of a hat for reasons. Basically, they free Ogwi and they need to collect some soul stones to free Haetae, so they can all be evil again. Avengers knock off but not really so I'll forgive them. And they do it! All while our heroes are powerless and of course, they take over the town! This is six episodes by the way, this is all that happens in six episodes.

Then we find out that Ogwi was some angel adjacent and involved in a random soulmates storyline with Mirr, wanted to become a zodiac adjacent, couldn't for some unknown reason and chose to become a demon instead! Someone call the Academy, man, what a brilliant plot! You have conveniently thrusted every Kdrama trope into your trash narrative only to wrap it all up in the name of.. love?

After all that, we got the actual backstory in the final episode (which true to form made no sense), a bunch of corny and senseless fights and a return to mukbangs. It was all so bad. And if they were setting up a sequel with that, just ask them to read my review, because IT'S NOT NECESSARY.

This is an incredibly basic plot - and they couldn't even execute this properly. Episode after episode is spent watching our heroes eat, while our villains stand on rooftops sporting red eyes. They pretend like there's some plot - we have a bunch of moments where Won Seung (Monkey), Mal Sook (Horse), Kang Ji (Dog) and Jwi Dol (Rat) go on random side quests as debt collectors, to show off subpar fighting skills and terrible editing, Doni (Pig) and Bang Wool (Snake) are used as comic reliefs, and Mirr (Dragon) is straight out of a melodrama, like she transmigrated from some other series. None of it makes sense together, they're all in their own worlds, painstakingly held together by Marok (Manager) and his magic staff.

Episode after episode these people stand by and watch as Tae San attempts to deal with his emotional baggage, as Mirr deals with hers and Marok runs around trying to get them all together because some pendant they have notifies them that evil is back. Kind of like when your food is out for delivery, but you can't really track your driver because the app is broken. Their app is also broken because their powers are non existent, so they spend six episodes running around aimlessly and causing more damage than they repair stuff.

This may as well be the worst thing I've ever watched. You wait.. and you wait.. and you wait for the story to pick up.. and you'll keep waiting. All the episodes are spent setting up nothing, it's the continuation to a story we don't know because apparently we all had the script beforehand and knew the entire story, introducing random plots and characters like we're supposed to know who and what they are.

And I will complain about this, because this is one of the reasons I don't trust K Dramas, why the hell do you need romance??! Like this didn't already have ten thousand other genres to cover, romance?! I don't understand this obsession with forcing romance into a plot that has no substance, for what? To create some emotional connection? To make me feel for the characters? If anything, I felt more distance after that reveal, because on what level did they think romance between Ogwi and Mirr, two characters who had twenty minutes of screentime combined would be something enjoyable? STOP. FORCING. ROMANCE.

All the characters were terrible, just FYI. I hated all of them and for having actors with such name brand recognition, not a single one of them acted well. Half of them did not move their face muscles and the other half went to extreme levels of overacting.

If they'd spent just a shred of the budget they did on the cast on good writers, editors, costume design or VFX, this could have been watchable. There's no way I say it would have been amazing because this was rock bottom, but I genuinely believe there was a levél below they would've hit if it went on longer.

Do yourself a favour and do not go anywhere near this - it is irredeemable levels of terrible and even Seo In Guk couldn't do anything for me in this. And if you're watching for Park Hyung Sik, he had 10 minutes of screentime and his character is so forgettable, just do yourself a favour and stay away.

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Attentive drama needs to meet people who know how to taste.

This is not just a drama that simply catalyzes sweetness. Under the vast background of the sea of ​​stars, it restores the ordinary face of life, but creates a romantic atmosphere, adult love is not only sugar, but also insurmountable helplessness in life, and it also comes from hormones. Impulse, and love and pursuit of ideals. All these sentiments are presented in the passionate interpretation of the two leading actors. The ingenious combination of lighting and space scenes pushes the delicate expression of emotion to the extreme. This kind of drama in which all members are devoted. It is worth savoring carefully, 10 points of great drama in my mind.

The leads Just played Their characters perfectly. Chemistry, romance, emotions every single thing was perfect. Absolutely Best modern Romance Chinese drama of This year so far.

Love Yu Tu the most. He really showed us the realistic things in life. Yu Tu represents not only aerospace workers, he represents thousands of ordinary people. Qiao Jingjing showed us the purity and sincerity.

As an a brilliant aerospace engineer, the male protagonist Yu Tu struggled between reality and ideals, and at this time he got the star heroine’s favor. Love and encouragement, and re-enter the path of the stars and the sea. This process is the core of glory and the concentrated expression of the "drama" you said. Compared with the common derailments, births, misunderstandings, childhood sweethearts, and glorious romances in current romance dramas The plot is obviously more realistic and advanced, and also more romantic. A large number of life and supporting role plots also make the influence of stars and astronauts fuller. In short, compared to the classic and excellent TV series with high tide, you are my glory closer to the healing anime.

Finally, I would like to confess that Chen Xueran's "Born to be an Eagle" is very well written.

Also, Yang Yang is the YYDS!

People who seek for true real life dedicated drama, it's one of the best one.

Must Say greatly done every single thing in this drama.

Can’t get out of the glorious world, I believe there must be a parallel time and space. This beautiful story continues. Never going to forget Yu Tu .

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The most realistic love triangle you will ever come across

No matter what way you think the show is going to go, it will pull you in the opposite direction. That, my friends, is what I enjoy most.

I'm going to start with the cast. Don't listen to anyone who says they appear robotic, it's garbage. If you take the time to realize what wars go through Daon's eyes or the way Shinwoo silently looks at TaeKyung with longing, you'll know what I'm talking about.

TaeKyung is made to be a bold, forward character who will always say what he is thinking. He used to be a loner before he decides it's time to make some friends. Once he makes those friends, his life spirals out of control. It's new for him but in the best way possible. I love Tae as a whole, I want him protected at all costs. There is so much I can say, like how well he deals with so many situations. He was written so perfectly.

Daon is a people pleaser which has come to be my biggest issue with him. Not only that, Daon seems to think he can decide when to pick TaeKyung up like he's some used toy. I adore Daon, but not for TaeKyung. Daon has far too much development to be done, that's that. Regardless, I do enjoy his character because I relate to his backstory the most. We all have pain we hide and we make mistakes we don't realize. Therefore, I will never hate Daon but only see that he is perfectly human.

Shiwoon is the best boy outside of the love triangle. There is never a moment where you will question if you love this character or not. He's the best wingman. The Best friend. The perfect addition to the show that we didn't realize was needed until we met him. Shiwoon has an obsession with phone games and a whirlwind attitude that is playful and joyous. No matter what scene he is in, you'll find yourself excited he's there.

Shinwoo is last because I probably have most to say on this character. At first, Daon was my favorite as Shinwoo was kind of a bystander. Then came episode 6 or maybe it was seven--Shinwoo was my favorite character and there was no changing my mind. The way they show you what goes on in Shinwoo's world, down to showing us the different sides this boy has. The growth they put on him was extraordinary and I've never seen anything like it. Shinwoo will always be the best boy in my heart, no matter how this show decides to end. I wished for more scenes with Shinwoo in the beginning but started understanding why they lacked by our current standing. I love the way they built Shinwoo. He's a bit unrealistic, but at the same time, boys like this had to be imagined from somewhere. I'm sure they exist, but so very rarely. This boy will forever hold a special place on my list of favorite characters. They wrote him so incredibly well, I'll never get over it.


Now, onto the story: I happen to think this show isn't exactly what I'd call cliche, more as it's really realistic. It shows not a single character among the boys to be an evil one. They all equally have their problems and they have reasons for the actions they portray. It puts you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what happens next. I committed the sin of watching this show before it was completed, but I don't regret it. It makes you think and the number of theories I have come up with is astronomical. I didn't think I could become so hyperfocused on something again, but here I am, wondering who TaeKyung is going to end up with. Though, as it seems, all signs are pointing to Shinwoo. They do have that one unlikeable character, but even so, she does add to the story. I still want her to be thrown in a dumpster behind her school, but I know that won't happen. They'll redeem here, but I wish they wouldn't.


The music is AMAZING. Stan A.C.E.

I hope if you are reading this, you decide to watch it. I didn't want to give away too much of the story or spoil it while writing this. I tried to leave as many spoilers out as I could.
Enjoy your journey when watching this show, I sure did.
You won't regret it.
You can find the episodes on WETV or Viki.
xoxo
Yoongles.

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my opinion changed

my opinion changed everything about this show was good up to ep 7 any scenes with vegaspete boring yawn last 2 ish eps picked up got slightly better acting was great except for petes character

in my opinion kinnporsche is the best bl that has been made it surpasses every bl ive watched from the acting to the visuals the music everything it's so perfect. they had the best people on this drama from the cast to the crew. vegas defenders/apologists close ur eyes when u read this. <3
(what I liked/praise for the series)

the fact that this is a lot of the actors first acting job amazes me ive never would have guessed it but then again it did take almost 2 years to come out so it did give them a shit load of time to do workshops. the chemistry between all actors is amazing the writing is amazing but the plot felt weak half way. the cinematography is beautiful which is no surprise as they were also the cinematographer for, I told sunset about you which is another beautiful coming of age bl. the best actors in this series for me have to be mileapo they hold so much emotion even in the smallest of glances their acting is so natural. bible is such a great actor no doubt in my mind if an actor can make you dislike a character, they are doing a great job. builds acting needs to improve. As for the rest they did great as well but these actors performances stood out to me more.

When it came to the main couple I never got tired of them a lot of ppl found them boring once they settled for each other but personally they were adorable and had the best chemistry out of all couples. Their love and kiss scenes were so beautifully done the amount of passion and love that came from that. Porsche and kinn come from 2 different environments and I think it's important to understand kinn's pov on what caring means to him and how its very different to what it means for porsche even though they are the opposites of each other they balance each other out perfectly. In the end they trusted and supported each other they had a messy and complicated relationship and was great seeing them continuing to mature together .kinn is an example of character growth when it came to this series. Their relationship wasnt rushed also please watch the side story after ep 6 it helps to understand the shift of the relationship

also the little details in the show if u pay attention to the background you can always find them doing small tiny gestures example would be porsche covering chays eyes when the body bag is passing them and u have to look closely to see this happen.
music is a 10/10 the actors can actually sing ( praise the lord). free fall by slot machine is added to best intro songs the english version being about porsche and the thai version being about kinn im not going to get into the meaning but if you look at the lyrics for each you would understand. jeff sounds like an angel anytime why dont you stay came on i had to prepare myself for every emotion i was about to feel when watching the scene.

what i disliked vegas

i didnt like him with a blazing passion. sorry not sorry. i will not be moving on from the fact he had zero growth ppl moved on from the fact he tried to sa porsche more than once it wasnt addressed at all the fact porsche never found out aswell. the fact hes the reason that led porsche to being raped . he had no growth and daddy issues doesnt excuse his behaviour. i feel like why a lot of people like him is because of bible thats what happens when u get a hot actor to play a shitty character. but i will say vegas here and the vegas we get in the book i accept the vegas we get in the show more.

the plot was near to nothing and very confusing i understand it now but i still have a lot of unanswered questions that could be resolved if we actually get a 2nd season. but once i read people explaining the plot the more i understood you kinda need to overanalyze to understand. the plot appeared to disappear it was like that when it got to the middle it started off strong got weak in the middle and then ended strong. kimchay not getting their happy ending made me upset. i wanted a bit more mafia. honestly if they stayed true to the novel we all would of hated this drama. thats a given fact especially after the special chapter that was released. korn killing vegas dad after he was about to spill the truth if we dont get a season 2 we will never find out what it was. wasnt the biggest fan of vegaspete thats all im going to say or ill get jumped.

beware this is a mafia 21+ rated bl with 18+ rated scenes meaning there is a lot of sex and so on. one thing i loved that they did was that they didnt gloss over the fact that porsche was taken advantage of and showed the struggles he went through in ep 5. please dont drop this show if ep4 is a concern for you because we were warned about this exact thing we were told it was going to hold a lot of scenes that can trigger people so just do your research before you watch it. also again watch the side story after ep 6

this show has become one my favourites it has set the standard of what theses shows can do im excited to see if anything can top it. people who will binge this will have a better experience then those who watched week by week. 7 day wait wasnt fun
overall kinnporsche is such a roller-coaster bl u will experience all types of emotions and u will be let down in some cases but its well worth it this show is very re-watchable. i was happy to be apart of the 15 weeks(a week was skipped) this aired and i will miss this show so much
this review is messy still but im too lazy to become Shakespeare and write some groundbreaking review.

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Messy at First, But Trust Me, It Gets Better

I went into this drama with mixed feelings, because let’s be honest, superhero comedy is not exactly a genre K-dramas have a good track record with. But I decided to push through because it’s from Extreme Job writer and Dr. Romantic director. And surprisingly, the drama slowly won me over.

The first few episodes did not fully convince me, the pacing is draggy and the character writing occasionally leaned too much into caricature territory. The humor felt a little too chaotic at first and the trio’s antics might honestly be too loud and messy for some viewers. I genuinely dropped my rating for the story by two whole points because of how exhausting the characters initially felt. But the saving grace was honestly Cha Eun Woo’s deadpan and exasperated reactions toward them. His expressions were so relatable to what I felt that it made me realize the trio was intentionally written to feel overwhelming and chaotic at first. Looking back now, it’s obvious those earlier episodes were important for setting up the worldbuilding and emotional foundations of the story.

And once the drama starts picking up by the end of episode 3, it genuinely becomes difficult to stop watching.

The emotional stakes get stronger, the character dynamics start clicking naturally, and the trio slowly becomes oddly lovable in their own messy ways. No one here feels completely one-dimensional, not even the villains, and that is largely thanks to the actors carrying the material with passion and sincerity. I really have to give credit to director Yoo In Sik because the direction is genuinely excellent. The blend between emotional moments and absurd comedy is handled so smoothly that the drama never feels overwhelmingly heavy despite touching on darker themes. It understands exactly what kind of show it wants to be: chaotic, emotional, stupid, ridiculous, but ultimately warm-hearted.

Acting-wise, I think the writing initially did Park Eun Bin’s character a disservice because her portrayal feels almost too exaggerated in the beginning. But once you settle into the drama’s tone and genre conventions, her performance becomes incredibly endearing. As expected from a Daesang-winning actress.

But the biggest surprise to me was Cha Eun Woo.

For the first time, I genuinely felt both the restraint and ease in his performance that I’ve never fully seen from him before. In his previous works, there was always this visible tension in the way he delivered emotions. But here, he finally breathes out, his reactions feel seamless and natural. What surprised me even more was how emotionally important his character became. Somehow, the story slowly turns into something very Cha Eun Woo-centric emotionally, and honestly, HE PULLED IT OFF. His arc became the emotional anchor of the series, especially toward the ending of episode 5 and throughout episode 6. HIS PERFORMANCE GENUINELY CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD. I can now honestly say that he has become a really good actor. It also helps that he’s really nice to look at too and it genuinely cracks me up every time he gets beaten up by Park Eun Bin.

Special mention also goes to Kim Hae Sook and Son Hyun Joo because veterans will always remain veterans, though I do think the drama underutilized them slightly. And the actresses playing the villains were absolutely fantastic too. It’s obvious the production team took the casting seriously because there’s genuinely not a single acting hole in this cast.

As for my favorite scenes for the whole series, I have to hand it to Choi Dae Hoon “The Shining” parody and the giant inflatable onion mascot sequence. His comedic timing is genuinely incredible.

Overall, despite its messy start, this drama eventually grows into a surprisingly heartfelt, funny, and emotionally engaging watch. It asks viewers to be patient during its earlier episodes, but once it finds its footing, it becomes RIDICULOUSLY charming.

Highly recommended. Would definitely rewatch.

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Butterfly Effect

Talk about the butterfly effect.
I know everyone has written a review on how good the drama is and how the actors have embodied the roles. However, can we talk about just episode one.
Everything in Yi Jae life would have turned out much better in a sense if he hadn't witnessed that man's death. That one thing was what literally spiraled everything out of place. Because he became traumatised he messed up in the interview.
It was almost like a bad omen. Everything after that kept going wrong. And we can literally see that DEATH was gripping unto Yi Jae since that scene. The dying man's grip on his blazer was soooo strong and felt very ominous to me at least.
So yea, everything after that one encounter with death set up the events that occurred after.
Which had me thinking what if? What if he hadn't encountered death that day? What would've happened? So that was just something I found very very intriguing.

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Could have been better

It's nice to see high-schoolers trying to figure out what to do with their life, and anchor the whole in real facts (Asian financial crisis of 1997, then to a minor extent the Sept. 2001 terrorist attacks), but looking a few below the surface, the series unravels, leaving much nonsense.
The series is full of monoparental families, or where parents are absent, and as such can't help their kids, which is seriously odd in Korea today. Extremely odd is the daughter of HeeDo who makes 0 reference to her father (she was somehow born! even if sperm donation was performed).
The whole spiel about fencing looks abnormal. Geographically, the high-school supplying half of the female national competitors and the national training center make no sense. Linguistically, the French sucks big time (school in "France", commands during Korean training, and at international events, ... the whole thing); the producers could have recorded a complete set of orders and then used it ad hoc throughout the series.
In the end, I am left with the feeling that the author didn't really know what to do, and thus took a bit of this (choose a sport, fencing), and that (some pseudo-rivalry among leads, a point in time for the main story and another for the results of the story), and then see what happens.
What happened is not much.

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So I don't seem to have loved this drama as much as so many other viewers have appeared to. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a lot, with the tale end (last 4-5 episodes) being the best for me, but I wasn't too impressed or enthralled with the story in the beginning.

I didn't find Se Ri to be particularly interesting in her normal South Korean lifestyle. Things got interesting when she finally got to North Korea. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that was a bit bothered by how romanticized North Korea was portrayed. I've exposed myself to a number of resources on what N. Korea is like, including autobiographies in video and literature formats as well as documentaries...I'm no expert at all, but I can assure you, North Korea is not nearly so care free and/or "normal" in regards to overall mentality and lifestyle. If an individual were to read the autobiographies, one would realize how twisted, tragic, and dangerous living in North Korea truly is. Due to having some knowledge in this area, I did have some trouble swallowing the picture painted of N. Korea initially. Once I got over my initial shock (I simply wasn't expecting N. Korea to be portrayed this way), I was able to enjoy the drama for what it was, a fictitious piece of entertainment, loosely based on real places.

I did not begin to really get sucked into the drama until probably episode 12. The drama at this point is more focused on South Korea, as by this point, Se Ri is now back home, and the action picks up significantly with Chul Kang out to kill her. There were some awesome fight sequences as well as some entertaining comedy, especially between Captain Ri's men/platoon and the drama at the NIS. I also find a better balance of screen-time between characters by this point in the drama.

The reason the last couple of episodes were my favorite in the entire drama was because you got to see people being kind to others, even when it put themselves at risk. It was the generosity and selflessness that was beautiful to witness now that the characters were thoroughly established. For example, I seriously started crying when all the wives came to help the colonel's wife after he was arrested - it was incredibly touching. Also when the homeless orphan hides Seung Jun in the village so the Chinese thugs don't find him - and then Seung Jun starts crying because their song hit's him. *sob* That was POWERFUL. The way Chi Su saved Man Bok from being shot in the final gang shoot-out was impressive and selfless too! Honestly, while I enjoyed the main couple, the smaller, discreet, overlooked touches were what really made this drama so good for me.

Additionally, I personally adored Seung Jun and Dan together as the secondary couple. But, I can't get over their tragedy.
With all the rule-bending this drama took liberty with, why was it okay to kill of Seung Jun?? Why wasn't there a way to save him? Anndddd with all the other characters so neatly and thoroughly wrapped up, why leave it ambiguous? Why not come out and clearly state what happened and if he's truly dead or not? And no, I'm not satisfied with the answer, "it's for them to pick up there for a season 2." If there's no season 2 guaranteed, I'm not okay with the ambiguity, because it might never happen!

Speaking of rule bending - if they were able to take creative liberties to create a new and improved N. Korea for the sake of drama plot, why not work things out between Captain Ri and Se Ri a bit more smoothly? There were so many time jumps in the end with their struggle spanning years. Why couldn't they get a simpler/neater happily-ever-after with all the other plot conveniences devised? Yes, I know that Captain Ri didn't want to jeopardize his parent's safety if he pissed off the N. Korean government, but seriously, come on, with all the other plot conveniences, it wasn't possible for Se Ri and him to live more happily-ever-after?

"Picture of My Heart" by Song Ga In and "Longing Hill" by April 2nd were my favorite vocal OST in the soundtrack. All the instrumental pieces were great too. I especially loved "Time of Jung Hyuk for Se Ri" and "Same Sky, Different World" instrumental pieces. Although, not to be a jerk, but I really didn't like the piano piece that Captain Ri wrote for his brother that Se Ri loved so much...Please don't hate me over that! It's just with such great OST's and instrumental accompaniments, that piano piece didn't fit well.

I would also like to state a super unpopular opinion. I'm not at all attracted nor do I swoon when Hyun Bin comes in the picture. His character as a human being is attractive, but his physical appearance, not so much. So that, I do not understand very much.
I also do not find Son Ye Jin particularly remarkable. In everything I've seen her in, I've been unimpressed. She's not a bad actress, I'm just not blown away by her...

Anyways, I know I've been long winded in stating my unpopular opinions, but I don't actually hate the drama. I simply would like to point out some of it's imperfections for those of you out there that might not have held Crash Landing On You in such high regard, or are on the fence as to whether or not you want to watch this. Hopefully this will help in figuring out what to expect.

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Started slow and ended with a bang this show is amazing !

This is the first C Drama that started off slow and builded so well as the show progressed. It usually happens the opposite way start off strong and dulls out towards the end. This show has a lot of great messages. I really love the character build up. This show was so unpredictable. There is so many twist and turns. You would never be able to guess what going to happen next in the show. I love the extended episodes. The main characters did so great they brought out a lot of emotions in the show . You can tell a lot of effort was put into the show.

I will highly recommend this Drama once you get pass episode 15 the show just starts moving and get's more and more interesting. Kudos to the whole crew. I know that I will be watching this show again . I am, highly impressed.

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another drama that felt short in the last part for me

so let’s talk with the good :
1) Acting, I think the leads were great and side characters too
2) costumes and makeup were pretty
3) I didn’t wanna start because I thought: « oh a story about brocade, it will be boring », well not gonna lie, like almost every drama, there are some more boring parts, but I actually like the brocade plot. it was different from the usual shop we see in some Cdramas and interesting to learn about brocade history. So the premise was interesting and well written in general, I think it was flowing good, FL working, growing their business, the obstacles, etc..
4) I liked the friendship and how they all worked together
5) OST was very good
6) cinematography was also good
7) I like seeing the development between ML and his father, family. Made me smile their interactions in the last ep (always bickering with father ahah) and he even called her « mother ». I enjoy it when I think they deserved forgiveness and a second chance. And he actually made some efforts. I think his father and family deserved it (not like some characters in other drama, like cough cough The rise of Ning). even FL with his stepmom.
8) FL brother: he grow on me. At first I was like, what a weakling. But he stepped up, stood his ground and he surprised me. Like when the mom was in prison, bro wasn’t giving up, I liked that. A supportive and kind guy too
9) ML : I liked him a lot. Like many, I love red flag ML, but I also like green flag ML😂 well if he is the ML (and not a useless stupid weakling) I will love him. Always team ML and SML hater. He was kind, supportive, respectful. Always there for FL, but never overstepping. Pretty intelligent and resourceful. He was a great ML. Also, such a great fighter, always finds this attractive ahaha it was awesome eps 23-24 when he was running back and fighting to get to FL. Zheng Ye Cheng is great with fighting scenes, he should do more dramas as a martial artist and actions. also in ep 36, the fighting in that like arena or in the last ep, last fight.
10) FL : intelligent, kind and hardworking woman. I liked how she was working so hard to continu her father’s work and the brocade business. It was good when she was turning the plans of the uncle against him, it was always satisfying. Used her intelligence for example to changed the family rules and can we say the deal in the last few eps ? Or went she wasn’t trusting Bai at first and keeping some distance, didn’t accepted (before the wedding in ep 24) the help of Bai or the ex. Some choices were a bit questionable or stupid, but anyway I think it fits her character…
11) the romance in the first 3/4 : I think the development was really good. Mature romance ?them slowly working together, trusting each other and falling in love. We could feel their love for each other with the little moments. Then came ep 24, I think the scene of him crashing the wedding was really good and I liked the dialogue. Even before that, when the ex captured her, he came to save her and I think that scene was also very good. We didn’t get much, but their married life was cute. We got 1 kiss only, but it wasn’t bad. The cliff scenes and some others after the divorce, some good emotional moments and we could still feel their love. They loved each other a lot and were both ready to die for each other.
12) villains : we’ll get back to it, but it was somehow interesting to have strong villains who were winning sometimes before their loss of course ahah
13) happy ending. we’ll get back to it also

so what went wrong for me :
1) the 2 side guys with unrequited love and possessiveness became so annoying and never ending
2) the last part when FL went into Bai country: didn’t like it and why did it last for so long ? We already didn’t get a lot of FL and ML dating, but their screentime together was so reduced in the last 8 eps? we got more of FL and SML together, it’s like they were almost trying to romanticize that? because what was the point of all that screentime together. I didn’t give a damn. If only they didn’t went for the same old cliche plot, the bad guy falling in love with FL and wanting to possess her… Truly uninspiring and uninteresting. What could have been an interesting villain (and he was actually pretty powerful too), felt flat.
3) There was some sloppy weird editing
4) Some characters died to easily.
5) Ning girl wasn’t really interesting to get that screentime, just like the ex, who could have had way less screentime (at last got some character development)
6) stupid unnecessary death. why did they killed off the female friend? such waste, they had the brother confess and being rejected for a while. they got together really late, we got almost nothing and then they kills her off for no reason ? even ML’s friend… WHY DO THEY ALWAYS KILLS OFF ML FRIEND OR RIGHT HAND MAN???? in so many dramas
7) FL crying and mourning for Prince Bai (the guy who literally, kidnapped her and her friends, threatened them, hurt and tried to kill the man she loves, tried to literally assault her….), was just completely stupid and weird to me (I got a bit the ick). I don’t care if she sympathizes or something, just no. And they wasted screentime on this, we could have gotten more minutes for sweet moments between the leads. I don’t get it, what was the point, I read not of this was in the novel and he didn’t even died. Why did they make him die protecting FL and her crying for him? writers trying to glorify second leads or something sometimes (like the princess Royal or even the rise of Ning, in there too they made him die by « saving » FL)
8) happy ending, but I didn’t really feel anything. Also, after all that, months of separation, we got a smile ? not a hug or anything. That was disappointing, even the « wedding » (because we didn’t saw the wedding again), gave me nothing. FL title was something I guess. And the villain died, deserved death.


Anyway, it was still a good watch for the positive points

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A Shakespearean Genius of a Drama

Shakespeare wrote these lines:
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em."

"O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!"

"My brain more busy than the labouring spider. Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies."

And these words are apt to describe the world of The Double, a drama about betrayal, intrigue and revenge. The forty episodes go by fast. Everyone is acting a part or is a part of a scheme. There are movers and shakers (or they think they are) and there are pawns. By the end of the drama, each main character has fulfilled their version of the Shakespearean quotes I gave above.

The characters started simple enough--a wife, a cowardly husband, a debonair high-ranking duke, intrusive and selfish family members, royal bickering, evil princess. However, as the story moved forward, each layer was peeled off and the characters became Shakespearean in their clever verbal sparring, motives, and for some, a slow descension into madness.

The Plot in a Nutshell
The story begins with a woman, Xue Fang Fei, a woman of Talent (cai nue), who loved her scholar husband so deeply, she had suppressed the whole personality to be just a wife, supporting his scholarly ambition with many sacrifices, including pawning her personal property. However, after he became an Imperial Scholar, he (and his family) betrayed her with rape, humiliation (loss of reputation) and finally, the man who professed to love her, whacked her on the head and buried her alive.

Xue Fang Fei survived and was saved by Jiang Li, the daughter of a minister who had been sent to a nunnery-like place for troubled women, also by her own family. Jiang Li had also been suffered from injustice and was bullied. Shortly after, Jiang Li died and Xue Fang Fei assumed her identity and started her journey to avenge Jiang Li and herself.

The Characters
This is the best part of the drama. Every character was memorable and unique. Our heroine, XFF/JiangLi played everyone like a chess game, yet she was also a pawn piece for Duke Su, who had been playing a long political game with various court family factions. XFF/JL first intrigued him, then his interest grew as he realized the dangerous game she herself was playing. Duke Su loved watching plays and this "Jiang Li" was fast becoming his favorite play. So he interfered (and aided) with her plans over and over and through much verbal sparring, the two started the world's slowest burning romance. The chemistry between the two were SIZZLING HOT--the way their eyes met, the puns with words like Qi (chess) with Qi (wife), the progression from sharing of cups to intimate clothing without ever once any actual romantic moment had this viewer laughing and squeeing like a young girl reading her first romance.

KUDOS to WJY and WXY for their portrayal of the amazingly resilient and smart XFF/JiangLi and the crafty and deliciously debonair (every entrance he made was grand) Duke Su and his fan (oh, that fan). WJY as the sincere, eloquent, determined and vengeful, yet at the same time vulnerable XFF/JiangLi was a master class of acting. WXY had such stage presence that, even though his scenes were limited, he commanded everyone's attention and totally owned all the ladies' hearts. Every move he made was perfect , from the narrowing his eyes to the micro-expressions, to the callouses on his hands when he caressed Jiang Li's hand.

The two characters who ultimately stole the show were Shen Yu Rong (the ex? husband) and the Evil Crazy Princess who had corrupted him. I'm going to warn you that the Director had a hard-on for SYR. He had given this villain so much depth, one could end up caught in his web of self-deception. Shen was a villain and also a tragic figure, blinded by power and a need to prove himself the stronger man. Through that one act of ridding his wife, he lost all the happiness he had before becoming the Princess' dog. His final descension into total self-absorbed power-madness was mesmerizing on the screen. Like, I said, the Director had it bad for SYR.

The Evil Princess was also another revelation. She was totally villainous and just as blind to the fact that she wasn't as in control as she had thought. She remained a pawn for all the men around her and her final realization of how she'd lost the game to XFF (she took the latter's man but couldn't make him love her) was tragic to watch.

KUDOS to the two actors' portrayal of these two villains.

BIG SPOILER
If you just want the best ending to this slow-burn romance, watch Episode 40 and stop at Minute 31:16 (or thereabouts). The events after that are stupid and unnecessary. Click Off at that point and just go to the extra half an episode, 40.5, that they shot as fan service of the two lovers. I took off .5 because of the way it ended after Minute 31:16.

I highly recommend this drama if you enjoy twists and turns, clever manipulations and characters with layers. The acting is superb. The script is great. The director wanted to be artsy and framed many scenes like a stage (curtain on top, side panels/pillars, railing at bottom). An example is the Evil Princess room/hallway scenes. The zoom-ins can be very distracting as the characters look straight at the camera, breaking the fourth wall. The closeups are too close, cutting off the top of heads in MANY shots. I'm not sure why the director decided to do this. Eh. Stupid choice, in my opinion, because the shots were jarring. Overall, the cinematography was gorgeous when needed, but not overly expansive. The costumes (esp on Duke Su!) was really beautiful.

If nothing else, watch Duke Su, Duke Su, Duke Su. His fan. His eyeliner. His voice when he says "A'Li," his whipped-puppy expression when his lady love called him "Xiao Heng." That is all.

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Just the kind of drama I try to avoid. I mean, life is already so tough. Why watch such sad dramas and make it worse for ourselves? That aside, the story is obviously beautiful. Really good acting. In the beginning I was really annoyed how the so-called friend died just because he came second in an olympiad. I mean, DUDE, I participated in Math Olypiad once and my rank was...well, let's just leave it to 'not second'. HOW CAN HE BE SO UNTHANKFUL?? And If you ask me, there's nothing more selfish in the world than suicide. Once you die, you're free. But your loved ones have to endure all the pain of losing you and also deal with the consequences of your death. And what Tae Woong's friend did crumpled him and he pretty much wandered aimlessly, drenched in guilt, for 8 eight whole years. He quit school (quite a shame considering what a genius brain he had. Whenever he spoke all mathematically, it felt like an alien language :P). He even left his home (pissed his mom quite a bit. But she accepted him later on). But then he found Bo Ra (again). In the beginning, I hated her. But towards the end she became my favorite character. Ugh. It's just so sad. I don't think I'll be able to watch it again. Cried so much.

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A Rom-Com About Survival, Independence, and Choosing the Best You Can

I really enjoyed this drama. People said it had a strong start but then didn't meet their expectations towards the end. However, I enjoyed it all the way to the end because the chemistry between the main leads was so good. Even when the story slowed down or leaned into clichés, I stayed invested because their relationship felt believable and emotionally engaging.

At its core, this story is about a woman in her 30s who’s struggling to find a job while drowning in debt, debts that weren’t even her own, but came from her sister’s husband and her mom’s hospital bills. Despite all of that, she stayed positive and never gave up. Yes, she lied to get the job, but she worked incredibly hard, proved her skills, and became someone her team genuinely relied on. She was capable and talented; it’s just that at that point in her life, this was the only job willing to hire her with no experience and decent pay. Loans weren’t even an option for her, so realistically, what else could she have done? She made the best choice she could in a difficult situation.

What I really appreciated was that she stayed humble until the very end. Even after a rich man fell in love with her, she never bragged or relied on him; she wanted to stay independent and stand on her own feet. That’s why I was really happy with the ending. She truly got what she deserved.

Yes, the middle dragged a bit, and some plot points, especially the villains could’ve been handled better or introduced earlier. But in the end, the villains got what they deserved, the good people won, and the ending was satisfying overall, even if a few questions were left unanswered.

💚This drama is just a rom-com, not a documentary. If you go in expecting realism on every level, you’ll miss the point. Just enjoy the comedy, the romance, the chemistry, and the ride💚

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