Reviews

A hidden, under-appreciated gem!

I’ve already watched all 24 episodes on IQIYI. Some might say this drama is cheesy or has a lot of silly humor, but I personally loved it. There’s nothing wrong with cheesy humor if it makes you laugh, and this drama made me laugh. To me, this is what ROM-COM should be – romance AND comedy.

I loved FL. She was a strong ruler without being a b****. She simply exuded strength and power by the expression on her face. She wielded power like a man – by her expression, by the way she carried herself, by her confidence. She didn’t have to be underhanded, scheming, vindictive or seductive. She was strong yet playful – I loved the winks she gave. She and ML were, indeed, a power couple, although ML tended to give way to FL, making her the dominant partner. My favorite scene: she regains her memory and seats herself on ML’s throne. When he finds her, she boldly declared who she is, but he takes it as an invitation and says provocatively, ‘Yes, my lord’, leading to a steamy kiss scene. I also loved the scene where FL is taking out the evil/crazy Qi Meng with arrows. I like a woman who can solve her own problems, and the men in her life recognized her ability to do so and stood back and let her do it.

I loved ML too. He was handsome and confident yet he fully supported FL and complimented her power with his own. He wasn’t intimidated by her – they were equals. I loved how she gave him strength and confidence when he needed it – like when marriage envoys from the third city (can’t remember it’s name right now) turned around and began to leave because SML felt insulted. ML starts getting antsy, but FL steadied him by placing her hand on his, and they ended up winning the game of chicken. He even looked cute dressed as a woman (loved that facial gesture he gave FL). I was little disappointed with how he reacted to learning FL’s true identity, but he quickly changed his mind once he thought she was in danger. After that, this couple remained solid – each loving and supporting each other – a wonderful power couple. One last thing I’ve got to say about ML – this man liked his rose-scented baths! I’ve never seen a ML bathe so much! And he has the Cadillac of bathtubs too! I hope it had a hot spring feeding it because I’d hate to be the servants that had to boil water and fill that thing!

The villainess was sufficiently hateful. Even though we had to watch her (and FL) marry ML, we knew it was a fake ceremony since ML/FL were on to her schemes. I usually don’t like these arranged marriage tropes, but it was clear that ML was in love with FL and would have dumped Qi Meng if FL had asked him to. Qi Meng wasn’t as annoying as some of these psycho chicks because FL always managed to get the best of her and foil her plots. As for the male villain, all I can say is he has a great bod which the director was happy to show us over and over again. I was disappointed that he escaped punishment at the end along with those old geezers who couldn’t accept a female ruler…even though she’d been leading them for years.

The supporting cast was loveable and added plenty of humor.

That being said, I’m not sure if I’m completely happy with the ending. Yes, ML/FL finally complete their marriage ceremony, but in the extra scenes, we see indications that there may be a sequel. If so, I’m not going to watch it because the Chinese have a way of ruining a good drama. I’m happy with finishing the story at episode 24.

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If you re into romantic things then skip it there is a slight element of romance but not your classic Korean love drama.

This drama is a lot more powerful than people think the messages that it is passing through are too deep to describe. The political propaganda the interdependence of media, politics, the law, and businesses. It is in some sense reality.

The story could have developed faster I think at some point it dragged on while the finish was a bit too fast- they should have used 2 episodes to develop what happened in the last episode.

As for characters I really liked prosecutor Koo and chief Moon. Yeol Moo was annoying sometimes it felt as if she had no emotions, she cried very well I have to admit but her interest towards Koo was invisible/ non existent. She looked more interested in the kid Kang Soo. I also really liked Kang Soo, he played his character very well, in order to judge him as an actor I will have to see him in different roles, because I don't know if he played this role very well because his personality is as such or because he is such a good actor.

Romance

I preferred the second lead couple it was funnier as I said before yeol moo was so just not into it that it seemed like she was faking that she liked him. They were funnier and I could see chemistry between them ( strange chemistry but existent).


If you like crime DEFINITELY watch it if you re into sappy romance SKIP ! this aint for you :)

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An Amazing Qing Era Series

RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE (Ru Yi Zhuan) was a really well made series. I watched it right after I finished Story of Yanxi Palace, back to back, and at first I had very mixed feelings. But instead of letting my love for Yanxi interfere with my love for Ruyi's story, I decided they were both great and equally lovable, albeit different perspectives of the same era, during Emperor Hong Li (Qianlong Emperor) reign.

Personally, I really loved that Ruyi's story tells almost the complete opposite story than that of Yanxi. Both are such amazing series and two of my top favorite historical dramas now. Both are stories of equally strong women and how they survive in the Forbidden City. Both drama's are almost perfect in their own ways.

Some reviewers criticize UlaNara Ruyi (Xun Zhou) for being a weak portrayal of women, but if anything, it is the exact opposite. She is exceptionally brave to endure all that she did, all the twisted schemings, and hidden dangers of the palace. Never does she whimper and try to flee, or worse-join in on the twisted schemings herself-instead she becomes a woman worthy of respect and honor. For Ruyi, there was so much brutality and backstabbing around her. For her to endure with grace, humility, and even optimism all that she did-well she's all the more a strong woman for it. She fought for her love and yet, stood up to him when it mattered most. And, compared to Yanxi's heroine (who I equally loved in her own way), Ruyi offers a more realistic portrayal of historical feminism in China. Neither should be seen as lesser.

I agree, with those that criticize the Emperor Hong Li (Wallace Huo), as it was difficult to watch as his character degrades throughout the length of the series. It became harder and harder to see what Ruyi saw in him, but the fact that she stood up and held her own made the ending so much sweeter and poignant. It was so moving. Honestly everything was so great, the cast, characters, visuals, story, music, etc. I loved this series.

For those that wish to compare and contrast it to Story of Yanxi Palace, as if the shows were rivals, don't let that make you miss out on a great historical drama that is Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. This was a unforgettable series. Brilliant.

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I won't condone this type of behavior.

How did a drama that started so strong ended up being a total mess?

Let me begin by saying that I'm a gay man and as part of the LGBTQ+ community, I can't support the way this story showcases gay relationships. There were a few things about this show that pulled out the red flags from me, and all of them relate to how toxic, forced, and abusive the relationship between the lead characters and their supports were managed. I'll list my problems with it below:

This review contains SPOILERS, so please be warned if you haven't watch it yet. Actually, you should not watch it for the sake of not giving it more attention.

~ The sexual assault is a big issue in this drama. Originally, I thought that having a traumatized lead character (Type) who suffered of sexual assault when he was younger was a good thing for the plot and his character development; however, things took a weird turn when the writers decided to romanticize Tharn sexually assaulting him as well. What kinda audacity is this? It was not once, it was not twice, but SEVERAL times. Type clearly despised Tharn, but that didn't stop the later from kissing his cheek, kissing his lips and naked torso when he's PASSED OUT DRUNK, forcing himself on top of his body several times (which was not good for Type's mental state at the moment), and blowing him in the bathroom. By the way, NONE OF THIS WAS CONSENTED BY TYPE AT ANY MOMENT.
The character Tar is also one who needs to be called out due to his attempt of sexually assaulting Tharn in the hotel room. It doesn't matter what your situation was, it is UNFORGIVABLE.

~ Type is the most toxic, petty, and unreasonable character. When I began watching the drama I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was clearly not a mentally stable guy, but I don't think that's the only problem here. Type would constantly bring up the excuse of hating gays to physically and verbally abuse others (Tharn in specific). I do agree Tharn deserved a couple of punches because of what I wrote above, but there were plenty of occasions in which he was unfairly assaulted due to Type's anger problems. Was this unhealthy level of violence categorized as "love" by the writers? It sure was! And it was NOT okay. Even people with mental problems get punished by law because of the consequences of their actions, so I am disappointed that Type was able to do as he pleased with his violence. This felt like Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" music video.

~ What the hell is going on with Tharn? First of all, he's definitely NOT one of my favorite characters, but seeing him being such a passive man was aggravating. This is a character that also had his own traumas due to love and break ups, but I could not stand him seeing him taking such weak role. Where is that confidence that you showed on the first episodes when you would stand up and defend yourself from Type's aggression? All this violence was not worth it.

~ Possible incest relationship? It is not confirmed in the drama story, but Tum looked like he was having more than just brotherly feels towards Tar. I'm not going to comment too much on this because nothing happened, but it's still kinda sus.

Some of you may not know this, but sexual assault is a very big problem for LGBTQ+ in media. I don't know where the author got inspiration from, but it kinda seems like he or she read a couple yaoi manga before writing this novel. Yaoi and Shounen Ai manga in Japan are know for portraying gay relationships and quite a bit of sexual assault as "romance," so I would not be surprised if this was their inspiration. You guys, it is NOT okay to support these kind of stories in media, because many of you are just straight girls who happen to be obsessed with gays, but for LGBTQ+ and specially gay people, portraying us in sexual assault scenes actually bring us a lot of backlash. You may think is just media, but A LOT of people get influenced by media and use it as an excuse to hate on us. So please do not support these shows.

Lastly, I would like to point out that I have nothing against these actors because, after all, they were just doing their job. I think some of them were actually very good at acting and I enjoyed their performances, but this is just not the right story to work with.

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If I was rating this for Rain alone, then I would give it all 10s. LOL The story is good, but so drawn out. They could have easily done this in 16 episodes. It is funny, romantic, sad, and action packed, then there is all this unnecessary story with unnecessary characters. At times I was bored out of my mind and toward the end I skipped pretty much everything with Nakamura and James "Bong". It ends well though.

Rain is just too cute playing the funny and smart Ji Woo. The way he speaks in this drama is charming. I enjoyed his character development from materialistic to a caring depth. Lee Jung Jin is also very charming and has a beautiful smile. I appreciated his down to earth portrayal of Detective Do Soo. Yoon Jin Seo is too cute as Soran when she is chasing her “oppa”. Jin Yi was an obviously deep character that is just wasted by Lee Na Young's horrible acting. She had no chemistry with Ji Woo or with Kai. I'm a Daniel Henney fan, but his portrayal of Kai leaves a lot to be desired. I really didn't connect with his character at all. The rest of the characters were just a waste of time except the "bad guys" who are necessary.

Even if you don't watch the drama, then you should check out MBLAQ's "Running & Running" and Jae's "Poison".

I might rewatch parts of this to see Rain's smile and goofiness.

If you are looking for something that isn't very deep and you need a Rain fix, then I would recommend this drama.

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Nice face, but the story line is very unreasonable

It's a good movie, really. It's really good, but the execution is so lacking and doesn't make much sense.
You will really hate Ahn Hyo Seop here and will frown when you see Jisoo.
If we look back, All Of Us Are Dead is a masterpiece, but when we look at the main characters in All Of Us Are Dead, we will be annoyed in the first episode with their slow and naive characters. That's Ahn Hyo Seop here. He is the one who knows the whole story, yet he moves very stupidly and slowly. I would say Ahn Hyo Seop here, since Dokja is a character who is alert and can read the situation.
Here we can get the greatness of Nana and Lee Minho, surprisingly. I think Lee Minho is the only character who can adapt to his acting.
I would say the most bizarre and unreasonable character is Jisoo. Because he's a schoolboy, he adapts too quickly to situations. I even noticed that without any explanation of his skills or how to use them.

I won't lie if the movie is good, but it doesn't deserve a score higher than 5. Because instead of being cool, all the characters are very burdensome except for Nana and Lee Minho. Rather than a very lovable character, Ahn Hyo Seop here is a character worth hating. Especially after he brought Lee Minho to life in a very unreasonable way.

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fantasy drama

I was really enjoying it through episodes 14. Then it seemed to get off track then back on track. I have just finished watching the whole series. It was good but a little disappointing. I loved most episodes although it did seem to stutter and start it. It was interesting to see where the story went. Although this is promoted as a time travel story I wondered if it was a ghost story or reincarnation story? It's wasn't clear until episode 30. Although they were talking about black holes so in my mind it was probably time travel however: there were 4 occurrences that left a person wondering. 1. Xiang Qin Yu arrives in the future having been shot then later at the hospital the blood and the wound disappears. 2. The newspaper article about Xiang Qin Yu disappears on the bus. 3. Xiang Qin Yu goes back to the past and can only observe events happening before he's whisked back to the present. (Maybe in the end if it winds up being a ghost story the writers will say that it was his energy that was transported. It could be similar to what happened to the ghost in Chicago Typewriter where he lost cohesion and had to go live in the story until he could regain his essence because he used up too much of his essence helping the ML and Fl of the TV show). 4. Xiang Qin Yu 's hand fades out in the dressing room and then comes back? Hmm what is going on there? I know the answer but I won't spoil it for others who haven't finished the series. I will just say it's complicated.

The FL and ML have good chemistry. I love historical fiction and time travel.
Some things I liked about the series were:
1.The humor- For the most part the humor was good until it started having forced comedic moments .
2, The mysteries- I liked that there was mysteries to be solved in the past and the present.
3, The romance I liked the romance but I think it could have been better. It had touching moments ,although I have to say a fake wedding night? What were the writers thinking. The wedding night could have been tender and touching instead it turned into a forced comedic moment.
4. The drama- Keep the tissues handy. It had some very touching moments.
5. Past and present story lines- I loved having the story progress in the past and the present. .Alot of times there is a brief time spent in one time period then most of the time is spent in main time period. This was good it went back and forth between the past and the present. It added depth to the story seeing things that happened in past and present beyond the initial setup.

I had great hopes for it. I spent time I should have been sleeping watching it. I generally don't watch tv shows that are more than 20 episodes but the premise looked really good so I started watching it. I loved episodes 1-6 then the story started to bog down with forced humor. But with episode 14 it seemed to be back on track. I think it would have been better as a 20 episode TV show. I will say that it had potential unfulfilled but it was surprising where the story went and how the two time lines were tied together. I have downgraded my rating from a 9.5 to an 7.5. I won't write too much spoilers. But I have to shake my head and say "WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING " for episodes 29 and 30. A fake wedding night? and the direction it took for ending the series, I probably won't re watch it. If I do I will pick and choose my episodes. To me t it was an unsatisfactory ending but then I like definite happy endings not a vague open ending.

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“Idols Are Human Too ? | Must-Watch Series Review!”

This series was honestly so refreshing 😍! It really shows what people in the entertainment industry go through especially the ones we call idols. There’s so much behind the scenes backlash, pressure, and expectations and this show really brings it out. Most fans don’t realize what idols face, and this series does a great job showing that 💡. I learned so much about the world of entertainment just by watching it.
Now, the story. Song‑Yong, the lawyer, is a huge fan of the idol Kim Jae‑Yong 💖. Her love and dedication to him actually kept her going through tough times. I think many of us can relate sometimes, someone we admire keeps us moving forward. But imagine being an idol like Kim Jae‑Yong all the pressure, the expectations, and the backlash 😳. This series really shows it all, and it’s done in such a thoughtful way.
If you watch closely, you’ll see that we sometimes treat idols unfairly, forgetting they are human too. This show is a gentle reminder of that 🫶. Honestly, it’s well-paced, emotional, and very interesting. For anyone new trying it, I can tell you you’ll really enjoy it 💕.

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A reputation for greatness that is fully deserved

After recently having the opportunity to watch this series, I'm happy to say that it fully lives up to its reputation as one of the greatest BL series of all time. If there's ever to be such a thing as a BL classic, this is one for sure. I know that my review will be just one more in a towering stack of raves from others, but I need to express these feelings even if my opinion gets lost in the shuffle. :)

Singto and Ohm ... have they ever been better? Or paired with anyone where they had better chemistry?

Ohm's performance in particular strikes me as flawless from start to finish. Nobody, but nobody, could portray this level of sweetness and joy as well as he does -- to the point that it really feels like we're watching the real him. I swear he's so good in this that he can't be acting. I feel that Thun's personality is how Ohm must really be in his daily life, which is a brightly shining light for anyone who knows him.

(Ohm won a 'Best Dramatic Scene' acting award from Line TV for this series and I wonder which scene it would be. My guess is it's either the one that takes place out on the roof deck in the rain or the confrontation with Mes's uncle in Mes's old bedroom. Two very different moods but both delivered like a seasoned pro.)

The Singto we see here is a far cry from the actor who brings such a memorable presence to other series like 'SOTUS' or 'Friend Zone' (either season). Here he has a soft vulnerability which is befitting a person who was ill for much of the time he was alive, and who never had a chance to experience love before he died. As I watched him here I really forgot that he ever played in those other roles. Here he justifies his reputation as one of the all-time greats in Thai drama and BL.

Another big plus: this is a BL that features two leading men who identify as gay -- not simply 'gay for you' or some other dodge.

I like that the mystery aspect is not overdone or drawn out too long, although the guilty party probably should have faced a few legal consequences for what they did.

I'm also not sure about the idea of a ghost who needs to sleep at night or who can touch living people and even get intimate with them ... but this is no time to quibble! :) A fantasy series like this gets to make its own rules, and the ones established here are all for the benefit of driving the story and pleasing viewers. We would have all been very sad if the series had ended without the two leads being able to express their love physically. (And wow, those moments are magic as well.)

Finally, having not been spoiled on the ending before watching the last episode I was delighted beyond words over how everything ultimately turned out.

101 stars out of 10.

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I just watched this drama in two days and I must say... I LOVED it! This drama is amazing in every way. I loved it from beginning to end. It's hilarious, romantic, suspenseful, and dramatic in a very good way.

The story is great and it makes this drama amazing. I was taken by the idea from the beginning. I love some romance but it's always good to have little plots to make the drama come alive and this had it all from court to family drama. I appreciated the age gape too because I think it made their relationship more dramatic and I've seen age gapes done greatly in some of my favorite dramas (Dal Ja's Spring and Biscuit Teacher Star Candy). The cases they had were very interesting too and I loved how the writer connected everything down to characters and situations together. It was like a big spider web to me.

I was very impressed with Lee Jong Suk. This is the first drama I've seen him in and I know I'll be watching School 2013 after this. I thought his acting was amazing in this drama. He conveyed a lot of emotions in all of his scenes and I thought he was perfect match for Lee Bo Young. The chemistry between these twos are amazing! I so brought their love for each other. The chemistry between the cast is great as well too. Jang Hye Sung is such an awesome character. She has to be one of my favorite female lead characters now. I love how snotty and witty she was and her attitude about certain situations. I think she is a very relate-able character. I loved all the characters, even secondary characters too. The characters are well fleshed out.

To add on, the best thing about this show is the character development. All the characters are developed towards the end in there own way. Even Min Joon Kook had character development and I loved it.

There is only one TINY problem that I had with the drama and that is the extension. It was very noticeable that the drama was extended when it reached episode 17. There was so many flashbacks scenes in that episode that it took up the first half of it. But it's only tiny so it might not be that noticeable to some. It still didn't take away from how great I think this drama is.

Overall, I think this drama is amazing and definitely will be added on to my favorites list. It's downright hilarious sometimes and has great chemistry between all the leads. You have great secondary characters and you overall have a great story. I definitely see myself watching this drama in a couple of months.

PS, I think I said "loved" a least twenty times in this review so it must count for something :)

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I was actually having second thoughts whether to spend my precious time watching this action-rom-drama flick or see a super cheesy rom-com drama. But gave in anyway to my first choice because I decided to witness the lead actress' acting (I really adored her in Secret Garden).

I would say that this K-drama is way beyond my expectation. From acting, to cinematography, music scoring and drama plot, it's like I'm watching a well-made (super) long movie. The lead actor was able to play his role well- he could smoothly shift from being cocky to I-mean-business acting. This, combined with the sweet-bad-ass acting of the lead actress, makes the drama more interesting. Even their lines/dialogue (translated in English sub of course) have depths and will surely capture a viewer's emotion.

Two thumbs up for this k-drama-- for bringing out message of courage and love.

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