Reviews

Could Have Been Better

This could have been an enjoyable drama had it not been the poor performance of one of the lead actors, Yu Menglong. Though the storyline is simple, conflicts between neighboring countries, conflicts within the royal court, conspiracies, switches of identities etc. make this drama a rather good watch.

All the characters are quite interesting too. The Jing Ci character could have been so intriguing but Yu Menglong’s disastrous robotic portrayal sends it down the drain; he walks like a robot, talks like Alexa in a male voice, stands like a mannequin. Even when he tries to tell his love how much he loves her, there’re no emotions nor expressions on his face, nor can the viewers feel any heart-warming passion he has for his love. His declaration is like an announcement reading from a book – unemotional. It’s indeed such a pity because Yukee Chen (plays the Feng Mian Wan character) and the other cast members put up quite an impressive performance.

I must say I quite enjoy watching the side couples especially Princess Zhangle (played by Ma Yue) and her to-be consort. Though they don’t have many scenes but their dynamics are cute, as the princess has a forward personality whereas her consort is rather timid and unromantic. The other couple is Zuo Yanxi (played by Kid Young) and Jiang Tan (played by Xu Hao). This is a tragic romance when a great man is being brought down by his love of the woman who is also his Shimei (sister in learning). The Jiang Tan character is not likable as many viewers take her scenes as the opportunity for bathroom breaks, to put it mildly.

Overall, I would say, watch this drama if you can’t find anything better to watch, or watch it in between episode releases of other dramas. It’s not totally terrible, but it’s not fantastic either.

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Song Yoon Ah (Choi Yoo Jin) was the only reason why I finished watching this drama. She had one of the best female character roles especially as an antagonist. The overall show went downhill midway though and the only reason why I finished it was because of her again. The show had soo much potential but was ruined again by including unnecessary romance. I personally think Anna's character should have stayed as a minor role because it just got plain annoying seeing her character. I know many people mentioned the same thing as well and it is honestly such a shame because this show had soo much potential to be even better. The bright side is I discovered Song Yoon Ah's masterpiece acting! She is awesome!!

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All About My Mom needs a WARNING label. This may be kinda spoilerish, but I think the information needs to be provided. If a person has ever lost a parent from an illness, and doesn't want to vicariously experience the same emotions and pain, then this drama is not to be watched. I wish I had known, because I wouldn't have watched this.

Now on to the story. It is a well written family drama. It isn't that makjang since there are no birth secrets, amnesia and other type Korean troupes. I have a few complaints about how the parents sometimes treated their children even though they went through the same thing. There are a few unnecessary characters that make unnecessary grief for some of the characters. But I guess there were side story lines needed. However, the character development is extremely well done and I became invested in the lives of the family. I like the pacing and the ending is daebak!

Each actor took on their role splendidly. I don't believe anyone could complain about a single person's acting. Go Doo Shim is amazing as Im San Ok. Watching her progression and seeing her life felt real. I didn't realize Oh Min Suk was such a versatile actor. He impressed me the most.

The music is good and appropriate.

I will never rewatch this.

If you like family dramas with deep emotions, then this is the drama for you.

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If you’re looking for a light hearted romance drama with a bit of a storyline, this is ok

This drama takes you on journey to seek out the true father of Yu Qing Luo’s son who she has no memory of. She was drowned by her ex husband as she was found to be pregnant with another man’s child, but was fortunately saved by a lady (Jin Liu Li) who is now her confidant.

My verdict: it’s an okay drama to watch to kill time / if you’re looking for a light hearted drama.

The plot is not overly complicated just imho, rather lame. Just when you find yourself invested in the fact that Yu Qing Luo & Ye Xiu Du are finally going to get married after resolving their differences and genuinely liking each other, the FL gets kidnapped by the bad guys and then the ML goes out to save her alone and they get cornered and jumped into their “deaths” to escape from them. Except, they didn’t die and the ML goes missing and when found, has no memory of him ever loving the FL.

A bit of and back and forth thing for romance between the FL & ML but it is a happy ending in the end. Also thought the addition of a son kept their romance rather cute (the banters between nan nan and ML is cute).

The fighting scenes were okay in the show but nothing spectacular to shout about. OST is almost non existent.

The acting of the actors are not too bad.

In all, I don’t hate this drama at all and was light hearted enough to watch. Just that if you’re expecting a deep storyline or plot, this is not for you.

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the dream husband is getting married

I really enjoyed the first season of this show and understand it is not everyones cup of tea. Cutie Pie to you is a bite-sized drama to watch after the first season. It takes away all those traits you hate from the second season and sums it up into all the fluff and just a bit of angst that makes this watching experience more sweet than sour.

I am a fan of Zee and have been since his first drama, and man watching this makes me so happy for him. Zee is living the dream truly, his job is to act besides NuNew... NuNew is not only adorable, he is a rookie actor and has a calming voice and I can't hate him or his character. He stands as the cutest lead in BL for me, he can do no wrong.

Lian and Kuea are getting married and preparing but there are obstacles. In the end I know love will win and I am here for all of it. I can't really complain about a drama made for the fans that is giving us more of what we love. The only downside is that I feel that I am watching on some actual intimate moments between Zee and Nunew because they are a couple. Zee is so down bad for him, whenever he is in a scene with Nunew I sit there and thing "man, this guy is really good at acting". Whenever Zee looks at Nunuew he REALLY looks like he is in love, so that is why I must remind himself that he is. Lian is too good to be true, so that might be a sore spot. Lian is an actual perfect husband, through and through just watch the show. Lian wears suits all the time, he is so in love, he is a thriving man and I love to see it

I am anticipating their new drama to see the different roles they can do. Zee and Nunew can act in love but can they do the whole enemy to lover? I will wait anxiously to see. So far this drama Zee is so down bad in every way and I can't blame him.

I get the complaints about this being pointless. What were you people expecting from a special? It was created for them to get married and had the fluff that I desire so much. Again I will never complain for a series made for the fans, it didn’t waste my time. This drama isn’t anything amazing but it’s not offensive- it did it’s job and that’s why I rated it averagely.

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A good drama with potential ruined by a lazy ending

This for me started out great, I loved the mature concept, I loved the imperfect characters that could help you bond with the story and relate more, I loved the leads chemistry ( I could sign a petition of them having a drama together) I loved both Wang Chu ran and Pen guayins potrayal of Dr Ning and Ruan, and I loved the first 30 episodes of the show before it took the drastic 180 degrees turn that made me question my ratings.

Having witnesses these twos divorce, their reunion, their difficulty in understanding eachother their wanting to be together but have many insecurities and cant do that, I expected a much more fullfilling end the end that would give respect to the basis of the story and Ofcourse sad to say but the writer went with the unthought out amnesia plot, like was this a way to give male leads character a chance of redeeming but he was okay as his old character or maybe I'll try to understand it as a way to help male lead fall for her this time round, it was not a sad ending it was sort of happy- ish but it totally made the 30 episodes seem like a wastage of time, I have seen dramas with endings I can justify that's because those endings sort of reflected in the story some how but not this I couldn't justify this, I just feel utterly disappointed....🥲

This drama deserves uploads for the good chemistry between the leads, their spot on reality checks if marriage and love, the medical scenes of the series, the interactions between the entire cast and the osts....so after all that put into consideration I came up with a decent rating of this, I would like to recommend this but I won't guarantee you will be impressed by the ending.....

Personal rating: 8/10
Rewatch value: 6

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You cannot go wrong with sugarless. It's got action, cute romance and best of all, it is HILARIOUS. Not only that, but there are some ridiculously good looking guys who are shirtless for the opening song.

Ahhhhhhhh, so amazing, just do yourself a favour and watch this. You will be happy you did, then you will be sad that you watched it because you won't have the same feeling watching it again. There is always something special about watching something really great for the first time. It kind of saddened me a bit that I won't be able to watch sugraless for the first time again. Now I know what happens in the episodes and I know how the scene plays out. I wish I could watch sugarless again for the first time.

Don't punish yourself and watch this, it's almost impossible not to watch it again.

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childish & immature, boring and much too long

The bad news first: While we see four couples on the poster, there are only two in this "First Part" and man was that draggy. And we see a glimpse of the third couple in the last two episodes. Why do we see that? Is it a cliffhanger for the "Second Part"? Will we get a "Second Part"? This is a typical university story with highschool flashbacks. If we need mid twenty to thirty old actors to do such a material is questionable especially because all the actors are capable of much more (brilliant acting I mean). They all did the best they could with the script given.

The story is quite boring, one couple had lots of misunderstandings in the past and the other couple typical nonsense BL trope of an onesided love but of course the love interest had a girlfriend at the time. There is nothing more basic than this. The only highlight are the hot kisses of the second couple (Bas & Maxky) and very good chemistry. There is also a fifth couple which is quite annoying, but the finale implied they solved their issue - but there was no confession (I thought when Noa recording the video Suer would confess which would have been a nice touch, but no of course not). It was also a bit irritating that half the cast vansished after the first eight epsides and may be seen only in some scenes in the second half if even that. Did the novel also tell their stories over two years and one couple after another or did it tell the story in parallel?

So in summary there is nothing to save the series for me. It's still not even medicore. The cringe factor (comedic overactiong, childish portrayal of "Ter", overall immature in many scenes) overshadowed anything because it was in the first episodes which made watching this series painful. The first six epsiodes dragged on for ever, with not much progress at all. I'm sure good screenwriters could have condensed the story in less then 10 episodes or made 18 episodes for all four couples. If the "Second Part" also has 17 epsiodes it will be boring as hell too. Overall I am very disappointed. While you can watch it with 2x speed or lots of skipping, it's nothing you need to watch. But due to the actors this show is massively overrated. I upranked the show because of the nice cinematogrphy and the second couple, otherwise my rating would be even lower.

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Five cautions if you want to start/watch/continue this drama.

1. Chemistry. Shall I say…lack there off? I did not feel any couple vibes between the FL and the ML. It felt forced and contractual. The body language between the leads was awkward, and when they were ‘alone’, the ML’s body was facing the camera in most of those scenes. However, there were some nice chemistries between the ML and Qian Tu and, the FL’s bestie Dr Cheng Wei Lan and rich girl Xue Wan Wan.

2. Introduction of support characters. I was slightly confused during the introduction of key supporting characters such as William and the Qian brothers. It was as if the writers dumped a bag of toys in front of me and say “here there are!” in the first two episodes.

3. Lack of explanation on the exit of some characters. There were few characters where their departure from the story felt sudden. Imagine a character been skipping and dancing for three episodes, then suddenly they appear at a morgue. This scenario happened a few times where I went, “did I miss an episode??”

4. An air of superficiality. The themes of lifespan of human life, organ donations, illegal drug testing and guardianship, mashed with comedy, romance, and fantasy. Heavy topics but filmed in the typical fluffy C-drama romcom where everything is bright with super perky FL, cold-domineering ML, and comic relief between a few duos. Despite some fresh premises within the c-romance world, the writing felt loose and superficial in dealing with, and mashing the themes with the genre.

5. Many of the sets feel like relics from the 1980s. The ML’s and the Qian family homes, the hospital, the morgue, and some cars felt “outdated” and “heavy”. Heavy curtain with heavy cars.

I completed this drama for Qian Tu, the ML’s fate and to see how this drama wrapped up.

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Even gods and immortals have growing pains

Based upon the novel “Hidden God” (which I never read), this is a sequel to Ancient Love Poetry (with different names for the drama, which is a little confusing). There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about this Xianxia drama, but I found it to be a warm, heartfelt and timeless story of the joys and pains of growing up - learning to love, learning to sacrifice and learning to treasure what you have.

To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about starting this drama initially. I’ve watched some Xianxia in the past but not as many in the past couple of years. The beginning episodes of this one reminded me of some of the earlier Harry Potter films - lackluster CGI, very young characters and a seemingly simplistic story. However, the strong performances from the cast drew me in, and by the midway point of the drama, you realize there is much more to this tale. While the story centers on Yuanqi and Fengyin’s love story, there are also many other moving story lines involving friendship and kinship. Interwoven are some themes about breaking down the barriers that divide us, cherishing all life, and not using one’s power or position to bully the weak.

This one could have used more post-production time to smooth out the visual effects and sound mix. More importantly, the script could have used another look over to flesh out the deeper thematic elements. However, I found this an engaging, wholesome watch during my winter holidays. There is something ultimately uplifting in this drama’s storytelling despite the many years of suffering experienced by the characters.

Lastly, this is my first time watching Wang Anyu as Gujin/Yuanqi, and his non-pretentious, boyish charm really fits the character well. He and Zhao Lusi make an endearing on-screen couple that brings you both joy and tears. If only there was more of them at the end - maybe another drama? Until then, this is a great one to binge, re-watch and for me sits well with my all-time favorite Xianxia dramas such as Eternal Love (Peach Blossoms), Ashes of Love, Love and Destiny, Love and Redemption and yes, Ancient Love Poetry.

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I went into this show for Suzy and Seung Gi. I stayed for the endgame and the awesome characters and also the few but still amazingly cute Hae Ri/Dal Geon moments.

Soooo PLOT:

If you need A LOT of romance - which I usually do - you will not get that. However, the few glimpses of it are truly pure and cavity inducing sweet. Which is where I live and it was enough for me.

I really like the pace of this show and the way information is delivered. A lot of dramas in this genre tend to dumb down the plot, which I don’t mind but at the same time it’s kind of like okay… I see where this is going lets just skiiiiiiim. With this drama, you kind of always have a sense of distrust of the characters because there’s always just something not clicking? Which is awesome, because you know something is off but you don’t see the endgame. Honestly, the fact that I came back and finished this is the reason I gave such a high rating. I very rarely am able to stick to dramas in this genre all the way to the end.

On to CHARACTERS.

Dal Geon and Hae Ri. Love them, typical lovable core leads. Tae Woong was honestly the most stale for me? I adore Shin Sung Rok but nothing about the character written to pop? He was just kinda there. Hanging out, doing this second lead thing helping to move the plot along. I did however see a lot of people had an issue with Hae Ri’s character I guess? But honestly watching the show, I didn’t see the problem? She’s supposed to be stumbling, earnest and making mistakes. She’s a rookie. And this just sets the foundation I think, it’s to provide us with the contrast for her growth in HOPEFULLY the next season. I think the writers did an amazing job setting up these characters to show their growth. That’s what I enjoy about good dramas, I don’t want perfect characters that know everything and are just Mary Sue clones and on the other hand I don’t want constantly bumbling ‘weak’ characters that need to be saved by dumb luck.

JESSICAAAAAAAAAA - girl. You my new favorite. I wanna be you.

Lilyyyyy love of my life. Badass with a sort of moral code. KIM DO SOO can the both of you just like get together and have a spin off of assassins in love.

IN CONCLUSION. Please watch it because I thought it was wild and I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope you do too.

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JUST WATCH

This dreams was prefect. Whenever they cried, I cried with them and would whisper “Don’t cry, everything will be alright.

I have seen a lot of Cdramas and frankly, only a few blew my mind. I don’t know if it’s the norm in China, but I hated the fact that for most of the dramas it’s either the FL is extremely childish or the ML is super annoying. Remember, it’s a personal opinion. Like I said earlier, I don’t mean to be rude or offensive, I just want to air my opinion with all due respect.

This drama is a masterpiece! I haven’t seen a drama this flawless. Even the saddest person on earth would be happy after watching this. Honestly, it’s been long I typed this long epistle on any drama.

The actors were amazing! Every character were lovable, there was no single hate. And for the ML & FL? I felt deeply in love with those two. I have been a fan of the FL after watching “Love Like the Galaxy” which is by the way, among the best Cdramas I have seen.

I wish Chinese script writers would learn from this drama. I wish they would start writing more realistic characters & stories and stop making most FLs too fake and childish. I mean most of these movies are for adults, it should portray that too. I’m not a fan of skinships. However, those few kissing scenes should be as real as possible. Those romantic moments should be real and not some fake kissing scenes.

That being said, I want to applaud everyone that worked on this drama. I connected with this drama all the way, I had to rewind some of the scenes because I didn’t want it to end. To everyone that worked on this, you guys are super talented, amazing and effortlessly great actors. I love every part of it. I wish I could hug everyone on set, but it’s not possible. And I’m happy this was a huge success. You guys deserve the recognition. Thank you guys for making my day, I watched this in less than 24 hours.

For me, I would rate this an easy 10/10! I would really appreciate any recommendations to something similar; no hate, not evil parents, no evil EX, no breakups. Just two people who are deeply in love and are allowed to be and remain in love.

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