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I was reading comments on DF where everyone was saying how inappropriate the relationship was between PSH and KRW's character, having a student teacher relationship. They were still complaining about it even after the characters grew. I saw nothing wrong with it. It's not like they did anything out of line. Yes, they were really close, more close than a student and teacher would normally be. But so what? I shipped it so hard after they met again, because they seriously had great chemistry.
I'd say this drama could have been cut to 16 episodes but I still watched all 20 episodes without skipping anything. I enjoyed the drama more because of Kim Rae Won. The man is just so incredible. His character was cute and humble. Always smiling and it made me smile all the time. I absolutely love Shin Hye in this drama. I was sick of seeing her with the roles of being a damsel in distress because I knew she could do something even more amazing. It was refreshing to see her doing something new and awesome. It was great to see Ji Soo. He's such a hottie~ >w< I wanted to hug Kim Min Suk and just baby him. He's too precious. I liked his character a lot. He slayed his emotional scene. It was so strong that it made me cry along with him. Lee Sung Kyung is so pretty. I love her eyes. She's good at her job. At first I thought her character was a b*tch but she was just suffering inside with her own family problems as well as dealing with things from her past that affected her presently. Yoon Do's uncle, Lee Sun Ho was just too adorable.
I loved the music. Every song was a perfect setting for the mood. I actually found myself singing along to a few of those songs. ^^
I'd rewatch this again, mostly for Kim Rae Won, just so I can see his cute self smiling so brightly. ^^
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over-rated drama
Just finished all 40 episodes of this drama and must say that I am surprised to see all of the 10/10 and 9/10 ratings it has received.The drama started off strongly, I really liked the first 15-20 episodes or so. The plot moved along well with a great story line, liked the actors, also some good comedic scenes helped make the first 1/2 of this drama a decent watch.
Then somewhere around episode 25 this drama goes off the rails and just gets worse and worse until the awful ending. The last 15 episodes or so were terrible. Every episode seemed to have a 4-5 minute scene with the male/female leads being all lovey-dovey, sweet-talking each other with the obligatory love song playing in the back-ground. This got tiresome and repetitive. Every character seemed to experience a near death scene and then the other characters help them miraculously pull through. This got tiresome and repetitive. Each episode seemed to have 3 or 4 song interludes, starting to think the producers were either getting royalties or really trying to push the soundtrack. This got tiresome and repetitive. Each time a character died, there would be 7-8 minute montage of flashback scenes with that character, of course, with some song playing in the background. This got repetitive and tiresome as well. In addition, the drama had the worst ending of any C-drama that I have personally watched. It was like the script writers gave up and just wrote some nonsense to get this drama over with.
Gave this drama an overall rating of 2.0 solely based on the 1/2 half of the drama. Re-watch value should be 0 but apparently 1.0 is the minimum value I can assign. It was painful watching this drama once, can't imagine that anyone would go back and re-watch this a second time. This drama won't be showing up on any top 10 best drama lists, but wouldn't be surprised at all to see this drama on a number of top 10 worst drama lists though. Starting to think that the producers must have paid an army of people to give glowing reviews.
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D.O.A.
The flaws of “Now We Are Breaking Up” are so numerous and comprehensive that evaluating it feels more like issuing an autopsy report than a typical review. In the event any reader requires a synopsis, a successful fashion photographer (Jang Ki Yong’s Jae Guk) and a clothing designer (Song Hye Kyo’s Young Eun) romance each other while attempting to overcome the many obstacles that seek to disrupt their relationship. There’s more but it’s not necessary to delve into beyond that one sentence.If the production early on seemed to have one viable strength, it was the pairing of Kim Joo Heon’s PR firm CEO Do Hoon and Choi Hee Seo’s mercurial Chi Sook. That they were the most colorful personalities on this drama should be considered a scientifically proven fact. That they would wind up as the secondary romantic couple was obvious from early on. That the entertainment value would noticeably increase each time they were together on screen (for a while) was plain. And then once they were together, Do Hoon insisted that Chi Sook drink tea instead of wine. He declined any physical contact. He basically seemed bent on discontinuing anything she did for fun. The actors shouldn’t carry the blame here as both from the drop portrayed the characters as vibrant and warm. The writing, sadly, for this subplot was determined to take this drama’s most engaging characters and bleach them with a concentrated boredom solution.
Although it was never a prominent arc, one of the welcome diversions through the first half of its run was the antagonistic but flirty banter between Oh He Sun’s layabout rich boy Chi Hyung and Yura’s no-nonsense Hye Rin. The opposites attract relationship trope is popular because it’s like the equivalent of a layup in basketball - anyone with any basic skill can accomplish it. But after regular, albeit intermittent, screen time after Chi Hyung’s introduction for the next few episodes, this narrative essentially vanishes.
That’s not all the subplots though. Several episodes in, Young Eun’s father retires from his school principal position which then launches her mother’s seemingly long-planned scheme to pursue divorce and independence. It would seem that she long held a grudge for being left managing the household and felt unappreciated. How this manifested were scenes where the father would discover that daily tasks around the house were more difficult that he imagined, became angry, demanded help from the mother who would then mock his inability and refuse to help him. The entire storyline was unnecessary and meant less time for what might have been (hypothetically) more compelling viewing. It was made worse by repeating in near verbatim form the scene with one household activity after another - breakfast, cleaning, laundry, etc.
And there’s still another secondary storyline. Park Hyo Joo’s Mi Suk had been a runway model but her glory days are long behind her. Her husband is hitting on a younger woman at work. Her two best friends are living the glamorous single life. Her mother-in-law is a monster. And then she gets a terminal cancer diagnosis. What follows is one of the few times that “Now We Are Breaking Up” manages to connect a measurable sequence with consistent emotional resonance. She faces the grim diagnosis head on. She strengthens her friendships with Young Eun and Chi Sook. She shines as Jae Guk photographs her. And she makes an out-of-retirement victory lap appearance as a model. Had the storyline ended here, this would have been a solitary bright spot but instead, her character elects to befriend the husband’s admirer and recruit her as her replacement and it’s given an almost matter-of-fact treatment as if a terminally ill woman would ordinarily dismiss the anger and feelings of betrayal to reach out to her husband’s mistress with friendly gestures. It’s such an exotically bizarre turn to take that even the would-be-mistress is flummoxed by the sequence. But does any party take notice of the obvious madly waving red flag? Nope.
As for the primary arc of the romance between Young Eun and Jae Guk, it earns a place on the podium of most bland and passionless couples to see the screen in recent memory. Jae Guk is primarily a one dimensional character except for the rare scene where he is actively working as a photographer. His conversations with friends, family and, in particular, with Young Eun are a cycle of lifeless expressions, monotone delivery and rehashed subject matter. The central conflict propped up against our romance is that Jae Guk’s older brother, now deceased, had a relationship with Young Eun while engaged to another woman. It is somewhat of a provincial, old-fashioned conflict which doesn’t translate particularly well to an audience that isn’t always steeped in longstanding Korean cultural norms. Still, even if it was a compelling dilemma for Jae Guk, the exposition of it by interactions with his adoptive mother (Cha Hwa Yeon’s wealthy socialite Hye Ok) and his brother’s ex-fiancee (Yoon Jung Hee’s department store exec Yoo Jung) should be filled with unrestrained emotional outbursts of anger, resentment, jealousy, blame and grief. Instead, it’s three characters, each of them in an endlessly mechanical and mundane manner, sleepwalking through generic dialogue.
Relatively more positive thanks to a steady diet of work crises, Young Eun has some depth as a character, both individually and in her relationships with her friends, family and colleagues. The portrayal of Young Eun, disappointingly, is irrefutably bad. Song Hye Kyoo did not earn her A List Status by accident. She has a long and accomplished resume’. And she may not be a naturally dynamic actor, but her performance here is unrecognizable against her previous work. Whether Song Hye Kyo was following an editorial decision for Young Eun to be an expressionless automaton or she was left to her own devices to interpret the character in such a manner, it is a colossal bomb. The character has many admirable qualities - perseverance with her work and loyalty for her friends among others - but none of them connect to a viewer through Song Hye Kyo’s wooden performance. What would be a compelling drama (or documentary) is one that follows how Song Hye Kyo terminates her current representation and finds a new agency that can keep her away from an insufferable dud like this going forward.
“Now We Are Breaking Up” is a bad show; a really, really bad show with a long list of unnecessary subplots and superfluous characters, a bleak desert in place of a primary narrative and scant redeeming qualities of any kind to speak of. Anyone that was central to its creation should be considered potentially contagious with lousy judgment and possible cosmic-level curses and avoided at the longest distances possible.
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Cute story
I never write reviews and wasn't gonna write one but I saw a negative review so here's a positive one 😂here's my opinion on the drama:
The main leads acting are great and the supports acting were all good too and I think only like one of the support character had like not that good acting skills.
The main ost played only like 3 times, I think the song was like 喜欢上你 I'm not really sure i skipped the front and ending but the song 喜欢上你 is good.
The story is not that complicated, it's pretty simple and even though Main Guy Lead seemed like a 小奶狗, like weak and soft and stuff, he's actually not at all, everyone thinks he's dumb but man actually has like a bunch of degrees (idk i don't remember 😂), he's just smart aight :D Female Lead also gives you the impression that she's strong and has no weakness and is a queen and all but she actually has a backstory and a lot of weaknesses and needs protection 🥺 She knows how to deal with stuff herself but there are also parts where he helps her out 🥺 not like those girls who needs a hero to save at every minute dramas. He is also not weak like he can deal with his own stuff too. He's not that mature though and he trusts people too much which led to 😔 (watch the drama if you wanna know 😉) The second couple was super cute too and honestly all the characters fit in the drama very well like idk how to explain but :D This drama is indeed super business based but you can definitely see how much the two of them love each other 🥺 I actually really liked the business parts, even though it's sort of a bit dramatic, business people won't really get on that many hot searches. and yea that's it idk wut else to say 😂
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Uee and Lee Seo Jin took super cliché characters and made them feel real. I'm not a Uee fan, but I was super impressed. Her character goes through so much, and she nailed every moment. I think she's missing some of the charm that other actresses have, so she often comes across as too cold for me (even when she's being sweet), but she gave a very believable performance. Lee Seo Jin gave a great performance too, that proved he's more than just dimples. My only complaint is that some of his really big smiles looked more creepy than genuine. His tears however were extra heartbreaking. Watching their bittersweet relationship is the heart of this drama, and why it worked at all for me.
I admit that in the beginning I didn't like any of the characters. For the first few episodes no one was likable, not even the cute kid. Uee was the most sympathetic in the beginning, but she was also so pathetic that I was frustrated watching her. Then, around episode 4, things finally started to shift for me. Suddenly I was binge watching, barely able to stop myself from watching what happened next. Han Ji Hoon became more charming, Kang Hye Soo became more admirable, and their chemistry started to develop into something engaging. Shin Rin Ah as Eun Sung was also such a strong character that I think she deserves a main character status. She gave a performance that showed she was just as talented as her adult cast members. If she's that good now, I can only imagine how good she can be in the future,
The rest of the supporting cast was excellent as well, even really minor characters, except for one. Kim Young Pil was really bad, like REALLY bad. I almost removed a whole acting point for how bad he was. I'm not sure it was all his fault, because the character was written as being petty and ridiculous, but he just seemed too over the top and fake evil, even for a melodrama. Honestly, all of the characters are pretty one note, and don't have much depth, but the actors managed to insert depth into their performances. Like bad dad Kim Yong Gun, who was text book evil, but he was such a believably unbelievable character who's outrageous actions cured a lot of my boredom with the rest of the plot.
I think the writer is the problem for me. The plot is predictable, it's full of everything you've already seen in a drama. So many of the female characters seemed to be irrationally obsessed with men (husbands, exes, sons) that I often had a hard time empathizing with them. Some of the episodes felt repetitive. There were about five episodes where the literal plot was cry, plan to divorce, cry again. Some other episodes rely heavily on flashbacks, which was annoying. I became invested in the characters and their relationships, so I could never bring myself to stop watching, but I definitely had to push my way through to the end. It did pick up momentum again in the last episodes, and I did like the ending (though it was nothing original), but I just didn't fall in love with this drama the way others did.
This is similar to the problems I had with "Secret", which has the same writer. Weak characters, a predictable plot, skippable scenes, a pathetic lead character always in tears, dragging episodes...
I did like the direction, the same guy who directed "Kill Me, Heal Me". That, and the cast may be what made me like this drama much more than "Secret". My one complaint is that the blatant product placements were pretty hilarious.
I thought the music was not great either. Some of the music chosen seemed so out of place. I did appreciate that Ji Hoon's ringtone was mo' better blues, which gave some insight in how important music was to the character. Too bad they never incorporated a real musical storyline in the actual script.
That could have helped me understand why he struggled so much to join the company.
Would I watch this again? Only if I am feeling apathetic and want to cry my eyes out to prove I still have feelings.
Overall, I would only recommend this drama to fans of super sad melodramas like "49 Days" (which had too much cloud of impending doom for me), "Scent of a Woman" (which I loved, and had similar themes), or "Secret" (which proved to me I do have a melodrama limit). Romance fans will be able to appreciate the love story, and some of the family themes are heart warming, but this is a drama you have to buy a jumbo tissue box for and then just embrace the chronic eye wetness.
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This drama was a mess, loved the cute little annimals and the fantasy theme but I had to grit my teeth and force myself through the whole thing. If you're a huge fan of the actors then maybe you'll enjoy it more but as for myself, I can't say I'd recommend this to anyone.
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It wasn't anything WOW and it wasn't anything Ew, it was a really good drama! just that!
The story for me was amazing^^. I love these kind of plots that have to do with Music.
The acting was pretty good, nothing is wrong with it, just some times maybe, they were overreacting with their facial expressions I think. but it wasn't bad. it wasn't done a lot. very few times.
The soundtracks were supreme! i loved every single OST , especially "I am OK" which was kinda the "main" ost from what I understood!
The rewatch value goes to Zero, cause I only find dramas rewatchable when they got some kind of action inside, Well this drama of course doesn't have action xD. so I find it pointless to rewatch it.
Maybe some of you may thing that my score is "TOO GOOD" but, I don't find anything weird with the drama. That's why, and its all personal preferences of course so #peace!
Reasons i watched this? Hyped with the Gfriend Cover at the beginning xD.
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As I write this I have tears. This is one of the best dramas that I have seen in a long time. The writer and director somehow drew me in and I began an emotional roller coaster ride. I think they bring to light that most people force their selves through life. Sometimes we forget that the most important part of life are the lovely moments with our families and friends. The characters may seem like ordinary people living ordinary lives, but there are so many layers to each of these characters. The story has an extra marital affair, corporate intrigue, child neglect and some violence. here is plenty of suspenseful moments, heartbreaking realizations, and pleasant surprises. I am particularly impressed by the well written character, Park Dong Hoon. All of the extra characters are also very much needed to make this story complete. Some people may think that this drama is slow, but it totally works that way. I can't explain why the characters of this drama touched me, but I cried and laughed and stared blankly.
I like it that Lee Sun Kyun plays Park Dong Hoon with strength and conviction. I had honestly forgotten about this actor since Coffee Prince. He was made for this role. At first I admit I wasn't sure what the big deal was about these brothers, but each episode shows more depth of character until I was totally engrossed in their lives. People talk smack about idol actors and also say that she didn't have to do much talking or acting. To that I say you are so wrong. IU had a quiet strength that was palpable as Lee Ji An. I didn't know what to think of Ji An at first, but I felt sympathy for her and wanted her to succeed no matter what. The other actors are good also.
The music is good.
I may rewatch this sometime.
No matter what genre you usually prefer, I recommend that you watch this drama.
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THIS SUCK
First of all, you have to know that what is being replaced is not one or two things, but everything.1. The weapon is changed with unreasonaable reason, they didnt know gun doesnt work on the monster? Please they shown JIHYE with GUN, JIHYE is YJH student, and YJH is a REGRESOR HE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW!!!
2. Bihyung looked like a damn labubu in the worst way possible, he looks ugly, the dokkaebi is bad looking making my stomach churn.
3. Sangah being basic healer like thats not Seolhwa job. Sangah literally a fighter, a killer, she kills the enemy with the strings they said she used them to heal? What bs.
4. Dokja being a Hero. His ass is not a Hero for the world, his reason is to see the epilog of twsa, the reason he is still living.
5. Dokjas dad is not abusve. What is the point of changing that? Why would they change that?
6. Dokja does not hate his mom. Why change this too? He is the MC yet his character getting chopped so much.
7. Apparently Heewon is the protagonist of twsa. Come on now, Heewon doesnt exist on twsa why would she be the protagonist? What is YJH then?
8. Dokja hates twsa. This is so bad, twsa the reason he is still alive....why would he hates the novel he has read for Ten years...
9. Tl123(?) the author, Sooyoung(?) tells kdj to write the novel himself. She write the novel for kdj why would she say that?
10. The cgi is shit, theater kids could make better movie that this director.
This is the worst adaptation ever.
Maybe because this is more like taking inspiration but scared of being told plagiarism so they went ahead with calling it adaptation.
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Only for the Fans
Did not understand the hype. It looked like the main goal was to get every main character to kiss each other before the end of the series. While some characters were interesting (e.g. Sand, Ray, Boston), others were rather one-dimensional, bland and just didn't work for me (e.g. Mew, Top, Nick) aka there was nothing likeable or interesting. I truly do not understand what Mew's appeal is and the character Nick was annoyingly frustrating throughout the entire series (yes even until the end!).The only thing that kept it going for me was the development between Sand and Ray, with the exception of some parts towards the end where the story-line did not gel with the characters. If the idea was to make homosexual relationships seem toxic, promiscuous and hedonistic (selfish to a certain extent), then this drama has certainly achieved that.
The lack of good character design and a compelling story-line aside the choice of music was rather refreshing and the acting was actually pretty decent, which helped in getting through the series. I did feel that there was too much emphasis on the intimate/love scenes, and at some point it felt like a whole lot of fan service.
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The whole cast captures thier characters well. The story is refreshing and charming. The special effects are understated but visually appealing. you have to really watch because alot of the plot is revealed subltly. when the story seems to slow down is when you need to really take in the visuals. The dialog well there is one themed line that fans of the drama will incorperate into thought process when talking romance... can change how we see time or how we experiance our time .
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It's not just time travel. It's time travel with flair.
Being transported back in time isn't an unfamiliar fantasy trope, but no one told the past it would have to deal with this much charisma, sass, and scandal quite like this. This isn’t just time travel. It’s time travel with flair. I have read the webtoon and it's bittersweet yet a very beautiful story. There have been quite some drastic changes in the adaptation from the webtoon but despite the changes, I like both the series as well as the webtoon. It's hilariously beautiful.Warning: Major Spoilers ahead!!
I'm completely smitten by Nut's performance as Prince and later Woradet. The series opens with Prince strutting in heels, wrapped in glamour and blinding charm, belting out "This is Me" with unapologetic pride. It's the perfect introduction to a character who knows exactly who she is and refuses to tone it down for anyone. And I absolutely love it. Then time shifts, Prince becomes Woradet, a name echoing through a world that isn't ready for the sparkle. Prince enters history with her full diva mode saying, "1,2,3... Action". Prince isn't just a character. She's a whole spectacle, and every dramatic entrance, every unapologetic moment, every over the top flourish, and every scandal Prince leaves in her fabulous wake just makes this series even more worth it. The queen served and slayed.
Talking about Ping as Lord Kosol, he is introduced as the rumored lover of Woradet, who allegedly broke Woradet's heart and drove him to the edge, teetering on the brink of despair and poison. But Kosol, ever composed, denies the scandal with the same sharp edge he wields his sword. He's the picture of restrained power: broad shouldered, stoic, devastatingly handsome, and trained to kill with both blade and stare. He walks with the poise of nobility but the intensity of a man who knows secrets that could topple a kingdom. Also, suiting his personality, he's got a tiger named Moo Moo for a pet. Cute, isn't it? XD And let's be honest- if heartbreak looked like him, we might all be tempted to risk it. But beneath all that lethal charm, this man is whipped. Absolutely, helplessly, can't-breathe-without-him level whipped for Woradet and I love them. Case closed.
But the intrigue doesn't stop there.
There's Banjong in his glasses, who grew up together with Woradet and is harboring feelings for him but he has his own secrets. While helping Woradet escape, under the cover of night, in a boat gliding across moonlit waters, he begins to recite a poem, words drenched in longing, spoken so gently they might as well be a confession. That's not all, the boat rocks slightly and so do they. Lips meet just for a moment. Accidental but no doubt a Scandal.
The triangle between Kosol, Woradet, and Bajong is pure comedy gold. I never thought I'd enjoy a love triangle this much, but here I am, laughing till my cheeks hurt. These three are serving chaos, laughs, and tension in equal measure. Their jail scene with Jade thrown in the mix had me in stitches; I was wiping away tears from the nonstop laughter. Also, the moment where the three of them sleep together- well, more like Bajong showering Woradet with heartfelt poetry while Kosol burning behind his back-absolutely hilarious.
And oh, Bajong. Those lines. Those lines. You're a poetic soul through and through. But darling, let's be honest some things you've done are unforgivable. And even without that, Kosol still takes the win.
Then there's Chaiyachet, the little king who has the softest spot for his brother Kosol and he is so cute. He wants his brother by his side but his brother seems to have other plans. Drama, more drama. Yet beneath it all, I really love the bond between the brothers. They are protecting each other in their own way and it's beautiful, even though sometimes it's tension filled and sometimes hilarious to watch. I especially loved the dramatic apology scene of Kosol to his little brother where he drops on his knees and goes all "Oii....." while Prince, Jade and Bajong feed him the corniest lines and he actually says them. Absolutely hilarious.
And let's not forget Jade, the fiercely loyal servant to Woradet- steadfast, utterly devoted and I absolutely adore him. I swear, I can see a tiny, twinkling spark between him and the little king, and I find them absolutely adorable together. Every time Chaiyachet teases Jade, I melt a little. Honestly, I just want them to be happy.
Also, there's Bajong's younger sister, Pandao. If Bajong is all poetry and longing, Pandao is the exact opposite- sharp eyed, suspicious, and absolutely intolerant of Woradet. She doesn't just dislike him; she detests him, her every glance brimming with distrust. Her hostility adds another layer of tension to the story.
Honestly, the entire cast is phenomenal; every single one of them has nailed their roles perfectly.
Here, we have royal drama, emotional devastation, palace politics, heartfelt poems, brotherly bonds, betrayals, time travel and scandals- some intentional, some accidental -each guaranteed to spark chaos. This isn't just a story, it's a glittering storm of emotion, comedy, and fabulous disruption. The finale episode did feel a bit rushed but I would say it wrapped up fairly okay. I wasn't really fan of how Somdet got released and there are a lot of unanswered questions. But that aside, I am for once happy that the leads got their happy ending in the setting I got to know them in. Honestly, I would take this ending any day over the Webtoon's Season 2 ending.
P.S.: The webtoon's Season 3 actually starts with them in the modern world.
If elegance were a weapon, the count would be armed to the teeth.
If drama were a currency, the count would be the richest alive.
And if you're not watching, you're seriously missing the most extra and hilarious history lesson of your life.
Highly Recommended!!
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oooh this pissed me off
I normally try to find the good in most dramas and movies that I watch as I give ratings, because I know the actors and crew worked incredibly hard to create the story but this one was difficult.What was the point of it all?
This movie takes you through the insufferable journey of two self-absorbed psychopaths-one who is filled with greed and a need for power to validate his past wrongdoings and the other who utilizes an innocent person to punish herself and the aforementioned greedy man. Lastly, the poor tool in their narcissism, masochism and self-hate: Hong Yi. A child brought into this world and manipulated her entire life to commit what can only be described as the worst sin.
This movie will keep you asking “why” and when you’re done watching it, you’re left with the same question, along with feelings of anger and pity for the girl.
When I first read the synopsis, I thought this was going to be an interesting albeit predictable revenge plot, where a child is raised by her master to avenge her parent’s death only to discover that her master was her target all along, but it turned into a perverted story of two ex-lovers trying to see who can cause the other the most pain using said child.
The mother is a psychopath. If she truly wanted to serve penance for her wrongdoings and she felt the only way to do so is through her life, she could have killed herself or asked anybody else in the world to do so. She could have killed her ex when she had a literal knife to his throat or before he grew in power. She could have served her penance by living a life devoid of “worldly pleasures” and becoming a nun or a devout teacher. I don’t know but she could have done anything other than what she did, and it would have made more sense. Her actions did not absolve her of past sins, it only created another and left a bigger sin on her child.
The ex should have died the day of the betrayal by those he betrayed his people for-it would have been the most fitting as it would have shown him that they would never see a low-born as one of their own and he would have suffered immediate justice for what he had done. What came after that day made absolutely no sense for a movie set in an era that values social standing above all else-especially considering he was a part of a nearly successful commoner rebellion.
I was not a fan of the ending (and not only because of how they died) but because they got to die in each other’s arms while leaving Hong Yi to face a life with the knowledge of what she had done. It was like Cersei and Jamie’s death scene in GOT-wholly unsatisfactory.
Do not watch this if you like dramas with likeable characters as there are only 2.5 likeable characters in the entire movie.
Don’t watch this if you like happy endings because although the girl is alive in the end, it is not a happy ending.
Don’t watch this if you like rational characters as the mother is definitely not.
Don’t watch this if you like good plots.
Watch this if you enjoy beautiful cinematography.
Watch this if you enjoy beautifully shot fight scenes as the final fight is wonderful to watch.
Watch this if you enjoy Kim Go Eun’s acting and works.
Watch this if you enjoy well done acting.
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1This review may contain spoilers
True Blue Wuxia; Our 3 Musketeers Triumphed at the End.
This is my favorite genre, so it ended up on my watchlist as soon as I found out that's what it was going to be about. I really wanted to see how the three leads would be able to pull something like this off. No romance at all, so please move on to something else if that's what you're looking for. I didn't know that this whole thing was a franchise and that there were quite a few actors prior to YY that played the same character and that this show was popular back in the early 90s.Pros: I have to give YY serious props for those fight scenes. They were absolutely incredible and so intricate. When you see the way the director and the choreographer showed him every single one and how he tried to do each scene in one take because some of these scenes required many other actors or goons, and it had to look good. I would have to say that the fight scenes were my absolute favorite. The storyline flowed very well and at first, I also didn't understand why the male lead or ZZ didn't kill and then someone explained who knew the entire franchise and the history of Judge Bao (who sadly didn't make an appearance in this one); I will actually add in here what she wrote about the whole subject to maybe make other people who read this review understand as well. But I will credit her because she explained it so very well.
As written by @JieJie:
It all comes down to Judge Bao’s Philosophy.
Zhan Zhao isn't just another lawless rogue wandering the jianghu. He is a 4th-rank imperial guard who serves under Bao Zheng—the most famously incorruptible, legally strict judge in Chinese lore.
* The Rule of Law vs. Vigilante Justice: Judge Bao’s entire mission is built on the belief that no one is above the law, and justice must be absolute and decided by a court, not the blade of a sword.
* Upholding the Code: If Zhan Zhao plays executioner in the middle of a forest or a rain-slicked alley, he becomes no better than the criminals he's trying to stop. He strips away the chance for a fair trial, which is exactly how you uncover the larger, deeper conspiracies.
* True Chivalry (Xia): His restraint isn't a sign of weakness; it's the ultimate show of control and discipline. He possesses peerless martial arts skills, but he chooses to apprehend or disarm rather than slaughter because he answers to a higher moral standard.
Once I understood all that, it became even more interesting to me like the storyline made more sense; why he would just break arms and legs, and what not and leave the person alive because he ultimately wanted to bring the big wolf to testify against who was the largest villain or Prince XY as I called him. There were four underlings or 3 1/2 really including his own illegitimate son and we had to strip away, who each one was and their code names. Not once did the storyline drag for me. He killed one time and one time only and that was to trigger the mechanism at the very end to kill Prince XY. The prince basically mocked ZZ about him getting caught and being jailed for just a little while because no one can kill a royal uncle. His exact words were "no blade in the world could kill a royal uncle" and ZZ agreed that no blade in the world could, but that he was willing to be that blade because of all the innocent lives that were taken, and there were just so many during the show and even before the 15-20 years he was an operation for his rebellion how many people he killed or had killed. And the prince was all like well, you have to respect me this, that, the next thing and ZZ before he swiped the candle said "I respect justice." That explained literally his mindset during the entire show. The idiot Prince had his entire fortress booby-trapped, that even the slightest wave in front of a candle and a leaf set off an arrow straight into his heart. That was instant karma for him if I ever saw anything. Also, DJ's karma how ZZ told him that he had sacrificed so many innocent lives for his own ambitions but how would he feel if he was told or asked to do the same? Cut to a few episodes later and Prince XY does exactly that with him just before his old guard really does kill him. I love how we slowly got the backstory of all the characters that were important even ML had his existential crisis moments before he saved MZE. I'm guessing he met JB after that and really honed his skills in justice. Losing that kid was very sad. I think it broke something in him a little bit; he was willing to do anything, including take the blame for setting fire to the kids families's house, killing everyone just to save the kid from regaining his repressed memory that he himself accidentally did that, but in the end, the memory still came back.
Another thing that made me very happy was that the show had no romance. It might've reflected on the ratings here not that I cared, but this genre when it's just the genre is perfect. It should be focused on a storyline and the incredible fight scenes, which is exactly what it was focused on. Some people were not happy because there weren't instant results but that wasn't the point. The point was to really get into the storyline, the point was to see the characters as all having flaws and things never being what they seem or that simple. I love the friendship between as I called them; the three amigos or the Three Musketeers; they always fought together, they always had each other's backs, they never let the other just hang, and they would do anything for each other. They were their own version of the iron triangle. Even though ZZ did spend most of the series either injured or poisoned as BYT pointed out in the post credit scene; neither BYT or the kid from the Tang clan ever gave up, trying to find a cure for him and finally they did. That post credit scene was just hysterical. I first watched it with Janky subs than good ones, but you could still tell BYT with his leg all bandaged up, looking really screwed up but the rest of him he either was wearing bandages under his clothes to show that he was really tough and he could handle all those arrows that hit him and then you have ZZ who's only wearing an arm sling but in reality has cuts and gashes all over his body also acting so tough and the two of them talking about just having dinner with the emperor and ZZ agreeing to another job and obviously BYT is going to be dragged along and possibly HLL as well, even though he's all bitching and complaining that he's not going and then them to pretending to do another fight, even though BYT passes out after the third glass of alcohol. And it ends with ZZ holding the badge from the emperor saying I want to, but I can't. I'm too tired. And I agree with him. He's just spent all of this time running around hunting this case, being poisoned and injured and he needs to rest before he takes the next case and I hope he really does that. And it really makes me hope for a season two; them going to Western Xia for the emperor. Costumes, sets, OST use all of that was great and it fit every single portion.
Cons: I think the only real issue started to happen at the very end, but I attribute that due to the three cut episodes during review. Editing was choppy especially in episode 37. I really wish that post credit scene was shown pre-credits. I know they were at least I'm assuming setting up possibly for a season two but it still would've made a lot more sense. There were other things like I wish we had seen how MZE was fatally injured before he managed to gallop off to his young master. I wish that SJZ's death was less of a cop out and that HLL had killed him instead of some random dude from the other country that showed up in episode 36 and 37. I wish we had seen how BYT was rescued or whatever happened how he got because obviously he got out and I thought they should've had a reunion scene when the two of them using the original fake names that when they had met HLL to tell her at her manner in a way to bring back it all full circle instead of just doing that. They were running short of time and then it's like cut to next scene when you see ZZ walking up the steps in full uniform with the special sword all gilded out. Like show that the particular information was intercepted, cases is overturned make the ending more rounded. It's just these small editing scenes that would've made a big difference, even though I still believe that the show was an HE despite all the choppiness. Those three episodes would've made a huge difference and it's a shame that they had to cut them.
Would I recommend it? 150% this was one of those shows that I anticipated each day, because I loved every second of it other than the choppy parts of course. This is my favorite genre; the fight scenes were impeccable even the very last one which was you would think so imbalanced because ZZ just had a sword and the bad guy goon had this massive sword weapon thing that was the size of his own body, but still ZZ won and he ended up getting cured from his poison and all of his friends were all right. This is a true blue wuxia, for fans of the genre so I definitely recommend it. I really hope all of you enjoy as much as I did.
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A Rare Gem of 2021. Highly recommended!!
I watched this drama without having high hopes and much expectations because I wasn't familiar with the casts. When I watched the trailer, it was something unique and ML is blind and so handsome. So, I decided to check it out. Trust me, it doesn't disappoint me at all. Since Ep 1, I was completely hooked into this drama and super active in the comment section of MDL.This drama really got me.
THE STORY: It was so simple, but attractive romance. Since it has only 24 eps, it was perfect for binge watch. The story does not drag or rush in every way. It was absolutely fascinating and beautiful. I was not bored even one second while watching this drama.
THE CAST/ACTING:
All the casts did very well. Kudos to Our Male Lead, Lin Yanjun. He was the one who carried the whole drama with his incredible acting skills. You won't believe this drama is actually his first acting debut work. He can really act. Lin Yanjun rocks as Su Nian Qin so perfectly. His gestures and movements are all perfect and convincing as a blind person.
Wan Peng also did well as Sang Wu Yan.
Their acting seems really natural, nothing was out of place and I could feel the emotions they tried to show with their acting.
CHARACTERS:
Su Nian Qin - He is a visually impaired person. He is not completely blind. He can see blurred things within 3 feet. He works as a song-writer with the name "Yi Jin". He actually comes from a rich family. He is unpredictable, lonely and sensitive person. He has insecurities and hurts.I love him so much.
Sang Wu Yan - She is bright, friendly and curious person which dreams of becoming a radio host. She studied psychology at the University.
THE CHEMISTRY:
Lin Yanjun and Wan Peng.. their chemistry is off the charts. I'm amazed by their genuine and excellent acting and chemistry.
MUSIC:
The first thing that I felt in love with was the music. I am not a person who is much interested about a OST but I seriously loved all the songs. It was amazing! My favorite OST is Yuan Lai Wo Hen Ai Ni (I love you very much) by Lin Yanjun.
REWATCH VALUE :
I am sure I will re-watch it many times. I could see myself rewatching at least 2 times a year from now on.
OVERALL :
In conclusion, this drama is everything I need in a modern romance drama. It was fun, interesting, enjoyable with a few cliched moments. I truly invested in it emotionally.
So you can say that this drama is definitely worth a watch! Highly recommended!
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