Reviews

A Drama That Goes Nowhere

This show is the textbook definition of wasted potential. From start to finish, it’s a flat, lifeless experience with no real story to tell. The pacing is sluggish, the plot is practically nonexistent & not a single character leaves an impression. Most actors weren't particularly charming either (but it could be just to do with the screenplay & unintriguing story).

Sehun character, as one of the male leads, is especially underwhelming. With the entire narrative supposedly built around his character, you’d expect some level of depth or charisma but sadly he brings zero presence & painfully disengaged throughout which makes you feel super annoyed as a viewer.

The rest of the cast doesn’t do much to elevate things either. Plenty of moments with unwarranted over the top acting. There’s not much chemistry anywhere, no standout performance, & definitely no reason to care about what’s happening on screen.

Releasing all episodes at once was the only mercy as you have the option to FF. Go for it, if you have time to kill but to me, not worth the time.

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Chinese Writers need to create better material and stronger female leads.

Back when I started watching dramas in 2018 I preferred Chinese Dramas over Korean Dramas. Now here I am in 2024 and it's hard to find good-quality Chinese Dramas. This Drama was the worst for many reasons. I absolutely HATE how mild-mannered they make FL in these dramas. The first half of the show was just the FL with no backbone being bossed around by the ML who slowly started to develop feelings for her. Even the build-up to their dating was so anti-climatic and immature. The female lead acted like an abused victim who mumbled when she spoke and never spoke up for herself. I guess she was good at her job but not really she was just passive and gave good customer service. The case from episode 15 I think it was really irritated me. It was messed up for them to interfere with the mistress, wife, and daughter. It was clear the mistress wasn't a good person and that doing the DNA test would only hurt the daughter who was the most genuine out of the situation. That situation bothered me and the fact they never corrected the error and just let the story die out like that was ugh! I also think the revenge on the sister's ex-husband was so anti-climatic it was like girl this was your big payback... I feel like if this were a Kdrama revenge would've been sweeter.

I started to fast forward after a certain point and here is why It took the FL half the show to figure out the lead liked her (episode 21) and then we get to episode 26 where the ML's admirer comes back and is about to play mind games with her. The second female lead was only there for a day and threw some compliments at the FL and defended the FL in a situation she started to gain the FL's trust and with that the 2nd FL was able to convince the FL to join her team. Of course, when she switched teams the 2nd FL was able to make her feel so insecure she ended up leaving the company altogether. I just wish they would write better, stronger, and smarter female leads in Chinese dramas. The 2nd FL is always more competent than the weak mild-mannered FL. It's crazy to me that the FL was so awestruck by the 2nd FL all it took was some kind words for her to switch teams. so annoying. This drama has no re-watch value and I'd only recommend it if you like the cliche dumb FL smart ML asian drama.

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I only watched this show because Lee Min Ho was in it. The plot did sound funny to me but it turned out to be completely different from what I expected it to be.

Sorry to say, but the pairing is one of the worst I have ever seen. Their chemistry was just lousy and the characters terribly annoying. I stopped caring where the story went after 8th or 9th episode. It got better at this time and suddenly it went downhill again. It seemed more like a sex comedy at times.

Also, this show is poorly written. None of the sub-plots or side characters were interesting. All of them could have been killed in an airplane accident and I wouldn't have cared. I only watched it out of boredom. I absolutely hated the character of Park Gae In. She was clumsy, childish, annoying and dumb. She looked old but acted like a little child. I get that she never had the love of a mother, but that doesn't mean she has to stay crippled like a loveless child for her entire life. The only good quality she had was that she was caring towards the people she loved. Other than that, it was hard to stand her. Jin Ho's character was also boring and lacked depth. He was standoffish throughout the entire show. I really never understood his character. It had a lot of negative traits as well.

The show is not very enjoyable. I would not recommend it to anyone. There are much better shows out there. Go and rewatch your favorite drama than watching this absolute trash.

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San The 100 year Old VIRGIN

No really, knowledge was chasing some of these characters but they were faster, cuz the heroes didn’t even bring a knife to a gun fight, they brought a flashy projector with bad batteries, which immediately died. LIKE??? WHY, CHILDREN, WHY? LMAO.

This had some of the most cartoonish dramas scenes I’d ever seen, and I loved every moment of it. That being said, I swear the comedy made some of the characters seem like they had the combined IQ of that one coyote from looney tunes.

Also, tell me who the real Ms Wad is. No I don’t want to live in the present and learn a lesson. I am nosy, I WANT TO KNOW!! Which reminds me, was Wee on a Treadmill while he was trying to get to San in that dream sequence or am I tripping?

Sskskssksn, San being horny on main was gold. Mfer might die tomorrow, but he wanted to spend the night eating. I get it, after being a virgin for 100 years and pulling a stud like Wee, I too will totally ignore my dead date. His horny arse even said, ‘you can just lie there’ LOL, is that a kink I'm hearing? Huuhhh??.

Anyway. Listen, Century of Love is what you get when you give Daffy Duck artistic rights, cuz this was a chaotic funny ride. No, no, hear me out. *check notes*

1. The big bad villain showed up to the final battle in his bathrobe!! And he spend most of it, fighting his side-kick. LIKE??? LOL, settle this when you go home? why is yous all gonna fight now? And the funny part was, he kept shooting people in the back and in the leg, making sure he didn't hit anything vital. And of course, he immediately die and I was like... nahhhh...this is like sad and stuff mr...whatever your name was. He was so one-dimensional I can barely even remember his face. Oh, well, he dead though, so...stuff.

2. San giving Ms Wad the stone. QUE??? I was confusion that whole exchange, dafug you mean she deserves the stone cuz you didn’t chose her? that's not how it works? It made no sense, other than bringing drama—which, yes, I ate up. But damn, great-great grandfather done lost his marbles with that decision. Cuz why?? Out of guilt? And he knew he’d die without it, so then what’s the point of him choosing Wee if he doesn’t even get to be with him? make it make sense!

3. San, oh San. Mfer put on a hoodie, catwalk to the enemy's garage, saw that Suchat is a stupid head, then proceeded to tell the wheel chair villain exactly how to defeat him. LIKE?? The whole time he was talking I was like: Child, child! Will you keep quiet?? What surprised me the most though, is that after the villain heard all that, he just ignored it. He put his hands on his eyes and went, ‘la la la la, nothing to hear here! Nope, not me, I’m hearless!’

4. The minions throwing their guns away and grabbing machetes so they could match San. LIKE??? BROTHERS, BROTHERS, did we come here today for playing??? What nonsense was that? Not gonna lie though, that whole cartoonish fighting and with San doing his fancy arse poses had me rolling with laughter. It was very entertaining.

5. Wee, believing it took two days for his gun wounds and scars to disappear. Come on son, don’t shame your cool auntie. She did not raise you to be this dense and have the IQ of a potato. It took him literally a century to put two and two together. I hope they don't let him work the cash register at work, cuz---good thing he married an old rich guy.

6. Tao, throwing all his calculation out of the window the moment someone with the same face as Ms Wad showed up. Then why you bother with all that mumbo jumbo rituals? Then in the finale, he talking about it doesn't matter who it is. Boy if you don't harsh your face. I liked him though, he made me laugh in a lot of places, especially when he found out San's junk had basically been out of service for a 100 years.

7. I’m not even gonna comment on the Goddess. I aint trying get my arse strike by thunder or nothing--nope, not today! But like, why all the drama? Homegirl was so dramatic. Thunder here, rain there, nightmares in the corner, Wee on that treadmill, then stare at the camera for a little bit. Like, girl, I get it, someone grind your colourful stone and drank it, but damn girl, chill? Please?

No but this show had me rolling. That fight scene between them in episode 8-9 made me choke on my popcorn with laughter. HAHAHA, that exchange scene was so unserious, comedy gold, I found myself laughing instead of fearing for them.

CHARACTERS
Whom ever casted this drama deserves a pizza slice and like half a can of soda, cuz they ate with this. The chemistry between DaouOffroad was chemistrying and the support characters were supporting. I liked all the characters even Ms Wad and Third. Yes, I even liked Dr. Second Lead.

I loved DaouOffroad in Love In Translation, watched it while waiting on new episodes of this. (Side note. The moment I saw Daou in that drama I went, OMG YOUS HAVE HAIR?? SINCE WHEN?) LOL, but lowkey every time Wee left his job, I kept expecting Yang to show up and go ‘Phumjai get back to work!’ Also like, am I the only one surprised that Wee didn't get fired? Does he even work at that store, or does he just show up to move stuff around and go back home?

Anyway, I love Wee and San together. They made me laugh and cry. And like Chu, I was their supporter since day one. I love San in his old grandpa outfit just acting like a dinosaur and being effortlessly funny, while Wee was all sunshine and rainbows although his situation was so sad.

One thing I didn't like though about San was when he was being an annoying Coward, trying to pimp Vee to Third like a half eaten sandwich. Like were you hit in the head with a coconut? in what world is you quietly dying in a corner without even saying goodbye good? Boy must have left his brain in the past under that basket, cuz he was talking nonsense in that scene. I was ready to fight like, 'No, shut up, you two need each other! Go to him child.' Thank the goddess Third had enough brain cells to spare and brought Wee to him.

One thing I loved about Wee was when he was like, dude you don’t tell me what to do, if I want to date the reincarnation of the guy who killed me, I’ll do. Eff your concern I like dying. No, but I really liked how he formed his own opinion and didn’t get persuaded. Most bl characters would have made like postage stamp and stayed where they were when San warned them.

Now how in the hell did San become a great-great grandfather if he’s a 100 year old virgin? Like, his thing didn't even work when we met him. It was just decoration, collecting dust until Wee arrived. So howw??

And LOL, one slow motion shag and San is out there erasing Ms Wads existence with Wee’s. Damn, virgin’s am I rightttt? Also why were they so happy telling everyone and their mommy about their slow motion deed? San's better than me though, cuz, after a 100 years, I'd have tore Wee's cloth off with my teeth and toes.

Anywho, the casting of San’s family was perfect. I loved their reaction to things, especially the old man. They were all a fun bunch. And usually I don’t vibe with loud nosy characters like Chu, but I didn’t mind it in this one, cuz she added color to Sans personality whenever they were in a scene together. And, I love, love, love her tops *chefs kiss* beautiful.

Ms Wad showing up on a random Tuesday to ruin everything made me roll my eyes. Of course she’s gonna show up, we can’t have peace in this house. Also, there’s been too many females popping up in bls lately, imma need them all to find the exit, having an infestation in this economy is not good for my health.

That being said, I hated Ms Wad when she showed up that Tuesday, but after she kicked Suchat’s in that alley, I clapped. Girl thank you! That dude just vexes me! Also she's the real MVP of this show, girl just wanted to make paper and she made it her whole personality. In the finale when she asked to be paid, I yelled, 'Yes girl, I love you!' no, she needs her own show in the same universe where she scam people for money.

And that Third fella, the moment he showed up, I was like ‘Who is the jo with the jojo?’ Out there talking about ‘I liked you since our school days but waited too long’ Then keep waiting. Literally every time he tried to stake some claim I was like ‘Master, master, master, go sit somewhere.’ and then mfer went and said ‘If you break his heart, I’ll take him from you.’ Take him and go where?? Where is you going to him? Wee just rejected your sorry arse because he's in love with a 100 year old virgin who is in love with a ghost.

How the eff do drama guys think they can just take away the love-interest? I remember in Love Mechanic (Vee Sucks, goddamn air breather) that one random boxer with the personality of a brick wall, threatening to take Mark away if Vee didn’t threat him right. Bish where you gonna take him, huh? He literally can’t stand your peeping arse, where the eff you think you gonna take him??? Like, is that supposed to be romantic? Arrgggg.

Oof, but in the end, I came to like Third. Even understood it when he punched San. And I like how when he understand Wee's feelings for San, he supported them, and became a friend. Sucked though that he had to watch them be all lovey dovey, but that's on him for still staying in the same city after that rejection. I'd have moved countries. Mars couldn't have been far enough.

Anyway, Suchat just effing sucks, and I was glad he and his giant hair died. Won't even bother writing about him, y'all know he deserves to purchase real estate on the sun... so...

With all that being said, yes, the acting in this was good, the cast did not take their acting lessons from a block of cheese. Little San was such a good actor, really, he embodied his grown up aura so well. That child is going places in the industry. Side note: isn’t it weird Wee never asked about the kid once he moved in? Like did he think he’s in his room this whole time or what?

Plot
I liked it. The moment I read the summary, I knew I wanted to watch it. Also the comedy in this was on point, it made me giggle where I was supposed to, so kudos. The only bl I’ve find myself rewatching over and over is Cutie Pie, but I can see myself returning to this in the future to watch that funny exchange scene again.

The plot wasn’t without flaws. Yes, the villains had no depth and were so cartoonish, and the heroes made some bad decisions among other things, but it was entertaining enough that it wasn’t a glaring issue, which is all one can ask for nowadays in a bl show.

Episode 9 had me bawling my eyes off, so much, because you see, I watched this and episode 9 of Meet You At The Blossoms back to back, literally, why did I put myself through that???

I wasn’t ready for this show to end, so I went into the finale already sad. During the goodbyes, I went to pour myself some wine just in case it doesn't end well. The way I clapped when Ms Wad saved the day. I thought it was going to be a sad ending, and I would have accepted it, but this would have been a review of me cussing the writers and their ancestors, so here's another slice of pizza writers, thanks for the happy ending.

All in all, it was an entertaining show, even with its flaws. There was chaos, laughter, tears and arrggg moments, and I enjoyed it all. I highly recommend. It’s going straight to my list of best bls this year along side, Unknown and My Stand-In.

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One Word Description: Boring

Suffering from insomnia? No worries, here's an effective solution. It won't fail to help you to fell asleep. da da da 'Doom at your service' powered by tvN network.

Disclaimer: This review is written by my utter frustration. Still, I tried my best to point out the pros and cons. So please don't mind me.

You are making a soup, you bought all fresh ingredients and veggies, added all exotic spices. Soup is simmering for many hours and it smells so nice and even makes you hungry. You have a beautiful set of crockery and cutlery. Now the soup is done, then you take a sip and the 'Moment of Eureka'........... you forgot the salt. But you can't take it back as it's already been served. As salt is the soul of every dish without it everything is tasteless. The same thing happened with drama. It doesn't have a soul, it's just trying to become somewhat majestic and ends up becoming nothing.

Everything is so pretty... pretty actors, pretty sets, pretty cinematography, pretty clothes, and most important the 'petty' story. It's badly written has no logic, draggy with many plot holes. The conversations aren't meaningful rather vague. Where plot twists aren't interesting, surprising, or have the ability to hook the audience and keep them on their toes.

The thing with fantasy is, it's a vast genre without many restrictions, rules-regulations it depends only on imagination, the main problem is the 'story' which lacks in 'creativity' and becomes repetitive after one point circling. We live in 2021 and the plot is about 'A damsel in distress with knight NO Doom who's gonna save her.' is this intriguing? I found only the second leads storyline is interesting in the whole mess (But they don't have screentime lol), and as I person who doesn't give fuck to second leads it's the superlative thing. Just because the lead storyline has literally nothing captivating.

Tak Dong Kyung has a most miserable life. If you are having a bad day just go and watch the first episode Oh No not for lifting your mood, because you won't feel your day was bad after watching her day. I don't have a particular problem with her character just she lacks common sense lol. Her many decisions are just stupid, why even she made it if she was gonna return to the same point. Kim Sa Ram/Myeol Mang, well he is good-looking... um very good looking oh yeah his hairs look cool. Wow, I have literally nothing to talk about his character lol, he seems to hate humans but then why he has a soft corner towards Dong Kyung. I am confused by his actions, firstly what the heck was his plan? and secondly why the hell he started to like Dong Kyung? He isn't human, right? he can't sleep, eat or drink then why does he have human emotions? There's a conversation where the male lead says he can't cry (time stamp 54:58 14th ep). And in that very scene, he is crying... seriously, does this make any sense.

Talking about Deity hats off, they played dirty with her character. She doesn't have her own personality as it depends only on the flow of the story what will be her actions or her behavior. Whereas any other side characters don't have a major role, as none of them actually has contributed. Only Deity is part of the main plotline.

We didn't even get time to explore characters individually coz they had to mix Loveline in between so abruptly. Where is the process? out of blue, they were head over heels, without giving a simple reason or explanation to it, their romantic relationship development went from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye. Well, I know you don't need a reason to like anyone but as a viewer am I not getting fool? As it gets bombarded (We have to use our imagination power to find a reason wow, what creativity). I mean WHAT? so they made one cliche trope around the 12-13th episode, but without brain lol, well I mean if you are doing something stick to it, why just do something to consume time as you have left nothing with the story. Due to failed execution its pace, great acting was in all vain.

Drama has an amazing casting Park Bo Young and Seo In Guk look good together with great chemistry, whilst with all supporting cast, it would have been a blockbuster. Music is one of the few things I liked... it has some beautiful OSTs 'Breaking Down' by AILEE would be my favorite. There were some scenes I particularly liked, some had good humor that made me laugh too. Seon Kyung's character is quite fun and refreshing. The cinematography is stunning, with great visuals. Pretty much eye candy.

Fun Fact: For those who don't know Seo In Guk is also a singer and he has sung one of the OST 'Distant Fate.'

Maybe for the beginners of this genre, who have many things yet to explore this might be a pleasant watch. But as a person who has watched almost everything of this genre in K-dramaland, 'DAYS' has failed miserably to show me something new and refreshing.

Still, you insist. Go watch it and waste precious 16 hrs of your life.
Enjoy! Have fun xD

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When obssession becomes boring

So perhaps this is a testament to my neurospicyness, but even in a story about an obsessive, all consuming one-sided infatuation, it's important for the story to have narrative texture. Which, sad to say, this 'relationship' does not have. The dry toast scenario hits a point where we're slogging through some pretty rough scenes in which we (I?) just want the scene to be over. I just want them to deliver their lines and move on. Find a different footing instead of banging their head against the wall just to get to a point where the narrative focus can widen a little bit to include peripheral characters.

Which is to say, the side characters have truly been sidelined. Even Xue Ting, who is in essence one of the most critical support characters of the show right now, is basically a chalk outline. A MacGuffin to set up the twisty push and pulls of CX and PJ. Other than catalyzing scenarios so that our two main leads can interact, we don't know what XT is doing, what his reasoning is, does he know the risks of running a treasonous spy game? Like, what is this guy made of that our female lead is willing to put herself through sexual assault for him.

PJ herself is just okay. She's naive and, for a virtuous Mother Mary trope, has a lot of trust in a man who has repeatedly gotten handsy with her. Ping Jun is generally, a nice and kind girl. That is really all that can be said about her so far.

While CX has like 31 flavors and 500 sub levels of angst, which sounds like it would be a great combo between the two, but up until episode 14, PJ has insistently stuck to the "nice, kind girl" theme and CX is beginning to look like an unhinged Cerberos with no head nor tail because…I mean, she just doesn't play the game. She doesn't make him better, and she certainly isn't making him worse. She's just... agitating him lol because lets be real, if this was a story about spiralling, he would have just done the deed. He would have sexually assaulted her and then we'd be like "oh man, yeah f**k this pairing" and then spent the rest of the show watching CX get his just desserts, but no. Here we are, feeling vaguely intrigued but also mildly turned off.

TLOA definitely has the vibes and the aesthetics down though. I've already made it to episode 14 so I kinda sorta want to see how they hit breakpoints and where the characters diverge but I thought I'd be unwell over this drama and was bracing myself for a storm. Sadly, the feelings have cooled off pretty hard.

Updates// Just wrapped up episode 18. I actually looked up Chinese military history to verify if militias were truly this chaotic and anarchic and turns out, yes, indeed the warlord era was truly a batsh*t time in Chinese history. Tragically we are still hyper focused on the two characters though we have also come into the fact that XT is a scum bag. The battle montages made me laugh. The impact is just not the same when you swap out a sword for a gun. I mean, it’s hilarious to watch CX shoot vehemently something off screen. At the very least, things are beginning to move between the two leads.

- OK, Cool. Made it to ep 22. All my earlier criticisms still hold. PJ thinks little but tells a lot of little lies- both to other people and herself. Her only strength is her stubbornness, which as it turns out, also works against her in almost all scenarios. The plot is determined to make her into an idiot with a big mouth and a unique ability to need help every five minutes. XT still scum-bagging it up. CX is actually making progress but like, no one else is, so this is very frustrating to watch because they also keep looping him back into their dumpster fire lives. Plot is plotting only for the sake of giving PJ and CX screen time. Almost everyone else exists only to prop up these two characters. Even Bo Ren spends all his screen time thinking about CX x PJ instead of his one-sided crush on Zi Yi. It's been a total meh-burger thus far.

- Episode 40: None of the excitement, glory or PJ's character from the first 10 episodes came back to save this show from becoming a flaming mess.

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No, forcing is not sexy.

Yes, my rating is quite low. And i'm verry sorry for those who appreciated this.
But as a person who was in a kinda abuse relationship, it was really really hard to watch. I ended watching all by skipping.

It was very promising. I just loved how Phayu and Rain met, I found this so romantic. Maybe the first scene of first episode was the best. However, it didn't last very long before Phayu tries to force Rain into sex, then treatening him and blowing hot and cold. Some find this sexy, to me that's just how a narcisist works. But at least, Rain felt he had the choice, if we forget the first rape atempt, despite preassure ("I"ll mAke uU fAll In lOve").

We can't say the same for Sky, who was preassured to have sex with his cOol and rIch Prapai, then stalked everywhere despite not wanting to have a relationship yet. Just how can you force a younger guy to have sexe with you ? Is that how an elder should behave ? Characters may have changed later, I just can't accept even the healthier relationship when bases are so wrong. T

hat's a waste because that started not so bad, the idea of illegal racing was good... But basically, the message of this series is "Have money and you can force everything you can, you can rape and treatening for sex". I know that happens in reality, but at least Thai dramas last years tried to work on people understanding that being gay doesn't equal being easy and always saying yes. But this drama just destroys all this work that was made.

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Words cannot describe

With one episode left I decided to finally leave a review which I don’t make many of unless I feel very strongly about something.
The way I am so emotionally attached to these characters and this show is insane. I have not skipped a week since it started airing and that says a lot because I am a very forgetful person but week after week this show has been on my mind and I have probably rewatched it 5x .

First of the acting is just amazing Nanon and Ohm are absolutely fantastic at what they do and my heart aches every single time with them. Their chemistry is seriously insane and I can’t help but cheer them on every episode. I truly wish I can see them together in something else again but if they leave just this masterpiece I am not complaining.

Although the storyline enemies to lovers is pretty cliche and over used but if it’s done right it came be so beautiful and Bad Buddy does an absolutely perfect job at this.

The directing is Straight to the point but with amazing flow that doesn’t feel like something is missing or there should be a gap filled somewhere. Let alone the music !! It’s so catchy?! PLEASE ?! I BE SINGING NANON’s SONG ALL DAY !!

I don’t want to bore anyone with more details but if you are going “hmm maybe I should watch this later” lemme just tell you, you’re gonna regret it later. WATCH NOW! ITS WORTH IT 100% GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK

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Action, pizzazz, bromance and a whole lotta stupidity.

As far as entertainment value is concerned, Bloodhounds does have a lot of it. The drama is full of hot oppas kicking ass and a wholesome bromance between Woo Do Hwan and Lee Sang Yi- who give you both Men in black and dumb and dumber energy at the same time.

WDH shines with his Alpha bunny presence and owns the role. The action scenes are snazzy, the comedy is great, it has a lot of interesting characters, the villain is charismatic, the friendship theme is at an all time high and it’s a very addictive and watchable bite sized show.

That said, the writing is painfully stupid. Like it’s just really fucking bad. The characters do such mindlessly idiotic shit just for the sake of conflict that you can’t take this seriously at all. It’s just 8 episodes of plot holes, meaningless deaths and 0.0001% common sense.

It’s junk food without substance and nothing too deep. However, it did bring me outta a super long slump and I did have fun watching it which is why I am not giving it a 4- which is where I think the writing’s at.

Cause what they are trying to sell you is essentially that a killer who is more or less the underground mafia who has killed samurais, hardened criminals, professional killers, gangsters and has the country’s richest and powerful in the palm of his hand can only be defeated by two goofy millennials who are still wet behind the ears and know how to throw a punch…

It’s hard to buy the BS, you feel me?

Anyway, overall a nice time pass and good for some swoons and giggles.

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Surprisingly ADDICTIVE!

I wouldn't say everyone will like this kind of drama, but I LOVE IT.

It's not the usual korean drama that comes with a cheerful starting, couple fall in love and followed with the story climax. Some people might not like the "psycho" theme drama because of the dark and depressing content, but I find it pretty addictive of its UNUSUAL setting of characters, story presentation and the chemistry between the main leads! As the female lead is a fairytale story writer, the show uses a "fairytale story telling" method to bring out some principles of life that touches the bottom of your heart, which I find it very special!

You will FALL IN LOVE with the two main leads, because they are not the usual main leads you will find in other dramas. The girl is cold on the outside but warm in the inside whilst the male lead is other way round. They both had some bad memories that shaped their behaviours; they hurt each other, but they protect each other as well :) So I would say their interaction and chemistry are the highlight of the show!!!! Not to mention, the three main leads (including the brother) acting is SUPERB! The brotherhood among the two male leads is very touching too and it will make you cry T^T

For those who are a scaredy-cat, be aware that there are some horror scenes too. Well, it doesn't really have physical ghost in the show (in case you are wondering), but because the main female lead had some dark memories, so she will have bad dreams and having sleep paralysis.

Although there were some parts not being well explained, I think you shouldn't be too serious about it and enjoy the scenes and stories this drama has brought to us. It brings joy, intense, sadness and also heart-warming relationships that makes you smile :) I love all the main and side roles and also their sweet and nice characters, the entire casting was pretty pleasing and I enjoyed watching it a lot!

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I honestly don't know where to begin... (Also this is a bit long/rambling because I JUST finished the last episode, so I have a lot of emotions)

STORY:
The first 16 episodes were great - so much going on, but it was all so entertaining. But then come episode 17 and it was a completely different story with somewhat different people - even though it was all the same people. Even so, I kept going. Episodes 17-53 though not as great as the first chunk of the drama were still decently entertaining to watch. Especially between the first two parts of the drama, there were just so many discrepancies about what was going on that they never resolved because it really felt like two completely different stories at times. And then somehow the final episode, ep 54 - my mind just went blank and I'm still not sure what I was watching... So I'm gonna rate this as 3 different parts.

A) Ep 1-16
B) Ep 17-53
C) Final ep 54

A) 9/10 - The first few episodes were so great. There was plotting and manipulation but it felt somewhat new and refreshing. Rong Zhi and Chu Yu's relationship was angsty but amazingly enticing to watch. The other characters at the Princess' manor were equally entertaining. It was a constant - what's going to happen next? What is Tian Ji Pavilion going to do? What is Chu Yu going to do? What is Rong Zhi going to do? Really fun to watch and definitely the best part of the drama.

B) 7/10 - the main core of the drama. The majority of the drama was focused on this part of the story - though it really makes viewers question why the drama was written to essentially be 2 different stories. Aside from the two main characters being the same people - though arguably their personalities were a bit warped - the rest of the drama was completely different. The setting moves out of Liu Song and into the kingdom of Wei (where Rong Zhi is now the Prince Regent leading the government for his nephew, the emperor) and Chu Yu is sent from Liu Song with the intention of peace through marriage. While this was the main core of the drama, it was definitely outshined by the first section of the drama, but nonetheless it was still an interesting watch.

There was a lot of framing and manipulation, which comes standard with these types of dramas, but honestly it was made a bit worse because there were SO MANY different people scheming that by the end it just feels like everyone was against everyone. Really it was hard to root for anyone just because of how much manipulation was going on.

Secondly, while miscommunication between the main pair is always a given, it was just a bit much sometimes. You have two very stubborn personalities, with one also constantly scheming to obtain power, but of course neither of them were willing to talk things out and would just essentially give up when the other was upset. It made it really hard to ship the main pair sometimes because it seemed like they were never going to be able to communicate well and understand the other person's feelings.

Lastly, between the second female lead actually playing two different characters there was WAY too much screen time attributed to her (specifically as General Huo Xuan) and honestly it got way too overbearing and annoying that I (and as I've read many others) pretty much skipped through all of her scenes. The writing really made it seem as if they wanted the second lead actress to be the main actress. Between the war zone story lines, to her story lines with Rong Zhi, to her story lines with Gu Huan - it was just way too much time focused on her and not enough on the main actors.

C) 5/10 - The final episode. There are literally very few dramas that have me honestly lost about what the hell happened by the end. Even this drama, everything seemingly went together up until the final episode. Maybe it was because they rushed the ending? Which is ridiculous because they had 54 episodes to work out this whole story, but the last episode was just super weirdly paced and there was so much going on. I honestly don't know if it was a happy or sad ending just because it depends on how you look at it, I suppose. By the end of it, I really just want to know who the writers were supporting this whole time because the way this ended - unless they're planning a sequel - just didn't make sense to me. In 40 minutes time, they crammed in so much stuff with no explanation and they were just like "Welp, that's it." Such a let down.

ACTING/CAST:

Song Wei Long (Rong Zhi) - As the male lead, I feel like SWL did a pretty decent job carrying such a weighty drama. He is definitely a young actor, so hopefully he will progress over the next few years, but even so I think he did a good job. Many people criticize him for not showing emotion very well, which I agree with to an extent. If it was any other character, I'd wholeheartedly agree that he was bad in that regard, but for this drama and this character, I think it still worked out well. Rong Zhi from the beginning was a very complex character who was very reserved, meticulous, and brilliant. For someone who is a genius at manipulation and scheming, I appreciated the fact that he was terrible at expressing himself and his feelings because it showed some kind of weakness in his personality. If he was great at everything, it would have made me dislike him honestly because no one can be perfect at everything.

Guan Xiao Tong (Liu Chu Yu) - A lot of my feelings about her probably come down more to script than it does to her actual acting, so it's hard to give her a fair review. In the first part of the drama, she was portraying Zhu Que of Tian Ji pavilion who took over the life of Liu Chu Yu to complete a mission. This character was smart and cunning, but had compassion and morals. Her character and acting were very entertaining as she portrayed the cunning Zhu Que but also the murderous/lustful Liu Chu Yu.
In the second half, it gets more confusing because you have the real (but not real) Liu Chu Yu and Zhu Que completely disappears (though it's the actually the same character). By now she's just a fairly basic female character. She's still smart (or just really lucky) as she gets herself out of trouble (with tons of help, of course), but she now harbors this idealized sense of morality - even though she is also a part of an imperial family and should be used to the scheming by now. And yet at every turn, she criticizes Rong Zhi and the others for fighting for power, even though it is something to be expected of people in power.
Again, these are all issues I have more with the writing for the character, more so than with Guan Xiao Tong's acting abilities. I think for what she was given, she did a good job - but nothing mind blowing.

Bai Lu (Huo Xuan) - I'm giving her a shout out mostly because I actually REALLY enjoyed General Huo at the very beginning and thought she was really entertaining, but eventually I just stopped watching most of her scenes because there was just way too much focus on her and it got annoying. She honestly did a really good job though (from what I didn't skip xD)

REWATCH/OVERALL:

I'll honestly probably watch this drama again some time in the future because even though there was a lot of stuff I didn't like about it, overall I still enjoyed it as a drama (aside from that last episode). It was nothing groundbreaking or particularly memorable, but for some reason, I was still really intrigued watching it and still felt it was fairly entertaining.

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The Story (plus Ending) is Beautiful!

I love the story so much! I would ring Love Alarm's Love Alarm 10x a day!

I love how the story changes from First Love to True Love. It is actually very realistic! These *effing teenagers here* dont understand what is the real essence of love.

And now I wanna explain to all who plans to watch it (you might be spoiled tho) and already watched it on how the story really goes.

It's not that I dont like Sun-oh, he's actually kind of a nice guy, and we can really see he loves Jojo, but you might've forgotten that he took advantage of her because his bestfriend liked her. And continues to break her protective barriers to the point Jojo can't handle it anymore.

If you're a real fan of the show, you should read the manhwa where it contains more details and explains why this happened, why that happened, I absolutely know the drama and manhwa might have different sequences, but bro— they are still under the same writer, still the same characters, still the same story.

So let me tell you that Sun-oh actually admitted that the reason why he chased after Jojo in season 1 is because he knows Hye-young likes her, and wants to steal her away from him. It was also mentioned by their driver that Sun-oh tends to be obsessed with Hye-young's company to the point he doesnt want him to be friends with anybody other than him, even doesn't want to let him save phone numbers other than his!! So that's where Hye-young developed his skills on memorising numbers and being good at math—which led to his future job on being an accountant/stock holder in LA corp. This where comes why Sun-ho decided to tail Jojo, because he is intrigued why his bestfriend likes her so much. So you might wanna throw me your "Hye-young denied that he likes Jojo" card, but you better rewatch LA again and properly read the lines and underlying actions, because it's very clear to me that Sun-oh KNOWS Hye-young— his bestfriend AND somewhat like a brother, likes Jojo.

I know Sun-oh wants to do his best to show all his love to Jojo but how it goes creates a heavy burden to Jojo. She gets all the unwanted and (physically and mentally) painful attention, specially from her cousin Gul-mi.

Remember!!! Jojo doesn't have a very great childhood. A survivor of a family mass suicide—with severe trauma about what happened, bullied by her aunt and cousin, overworked and feeling pressured so that she can pay her grandma's hospital bills and pay her mother's depts, which result to sacrificing her LUNCH MONEY, and forced to eat EXPIRED goods and even results to running laps instead. Blamed by everyone that it is her fault that all bad things is happening, even telling you WHY DID YOU NOT DIE, ( more like telling you to Kill yourself ). Majority of the people watching this show are teenagers, probably because the first season is in a school setting. BUT PLEASE CHECK LOVE ALARM again because it is an 18+ show. (Not all 18+ shows contains sexual content) I've read a comment which they said Jojo is a gold digger, EXCUSE ME??? I bet you're a kid leaving comment hun, grow up first then watch this show again so that you CAN understand what really happened in the story. Jojo is NEVER, and NEVER WILL BE a gold digger. She couldve just asked for a house or a car ot to pay all her mother's depts, but SHE DID NOT. She's even frustrated that Sun-oh paid for her school lunch and other things. Because she doesn't want any help from anybody, BECAUSE she feels and will feel small. And that's actually one of the reason why she was burdened on being in a relationship with Sun-oh and finally installed the shield.

You're blaming Jojo that she broke up with Sun-oh, but you didn't put yourself on her shoes. I bet you didn't even properly follow the story, and just want to watch the fluffs happening between Jojo and Sun-oh, cuz boi-oh-boi this show is not for you.

Hye-young is and will always be the right choice. He is just the perfect fit for Jojo's life and Jojo is just the perfect one for his as well. You all are too focused on Sun-oh's good side and ignored how toxic he became. In real life you will be mad as hell if your bestfriend/like-brother or sister just even stole your crush, let alone kissed them! And dated them! Lucky us, Hye-young is very mature and understanding he didn't even had a chance to show that he is mad and hurting. But thankfully blessed to be given a chance to court Jojo after 4 years! He held it in, endured it and he deserved the ending. They both deserved the ending.

Please take time to think how the actors and even the production staff worked hard to make this show. Atleast give it a good rating. You all are so childish.

And to those who planned to watch it, you should have a mental checklist — you should be mature enough to watch this show.

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2nd Underrated Gem of 2025

I put this on my watchlist because I wanted to see SWL in a modern drama and he did very well as did pretty much everyone else sans one villain. This was a series which had all the goodies of creepiness; contortionists, resurrection, evil relics, so on and so forth. This really was the second underrated gem of a drama that I've watched this year.

Pros: The Phoenix entire squad. Even Chubby, though he didn't contribute much other than talking nonstop, was an integral part of this team. I'm glad we finally got a chance to meet the supernatural chicken and it was fun to have. I really loved every single arc until the second to last one. I will speak about that in the cons. Every single thing was connected, obviously laid by a plan, created by the ultimate antagonist. But no matter what happened once the squad was formed they always had each other's backs and if they were in separate locations, they would always be in contact. Misunderstandings would get resolved very quickly. I love how the show kept us guessing with the multiple personalities of MD or the FL we didn't know for a while that she even had two personalities, but it was interesting to see the difference between her and the other one and a half I guess you could say I nicknamed the other personalities as Faith, which was dark MD and Robo Barbie, which was stoned MD. Even though this series didn't have any promotion, I think a lot of things were pretty well done especially CGI and the storytelling in general.

Other than our squad and the supernatural chicken, other favorite characters were MD's family, ML's family as well as his last surviving friend and actually the people from every single case good or bad they delivered on their performances. Also, the fight scenes were awesome. I mean gravity defying stunts and all of that I love very much. I also have to give props to the real antagonist of this show. He turned up in episode 1 and we sporadically saw him until his final arc in episode 31.

The OSTs, production, more or less in general, sets, even though a lot was CGI, but thankfully, it didn't look like they used anything fake like the desert or the village or the mountains. Comedy also hit as it was supposed to. Thankfully, no slapstick humor here.

Cons: This show got a whole point taken off for several reasons; for starters the incredibly choppy editing I have to say that that probably had something to do with cutting the amount of episodes down so production either didn't want to or didn't have time to edit scenes properly because you jump from one scenario to the next and you have no idea how you got there in a lot of the episodes. Also, a lot of times there were cliffhangers that seemed to just not be shown the following episode or they would just be explained in the way that wouldn't make sense. Also, there were a lot of loose ends, not tied. Like the relics are now in their bodies. What happens next? Are they sealed for good? What happens when the characters grow old and die; do the relics come back to life? There's a lot that was not explained in regarding to the relics. I think they should've done a deeper dive as novel readers pointed out. Also, what happened to Mr. creepy antagonist? Is he dead for good or until another 280 years passes and he resurrects like the creature from Jeepers Creepers?

The ending was rushed because the main antagonist was only given two episodes if that to put everything together and do his whole evil shtick. Meanwhile, the crazy creepy cackle Halloween store witch leopard lady was given something like six episodes but she killed that entire arc. Every single time she opened her mouth. I wanted to hit her with a bat. I hated her character not because she was bad but because she was so annoying. They completely miscast the actress or they should have dubbed her over with a Fluently Mandarin speaking actress. But even her acting was over the top; she twirled, and she pointed her fingers with fake nails and acted like a plum fool. You would never think of her as being this ruthless, horrible person that we saw in ML's flashbacks. Honestly, she was basically the equivalent of what a leather wearing, valley girl would be the best way to describe her and she knew neither English nor Mandarin fluently. When she spoke on top of it, her lips did not match the sound that was coming from her voice so obviously she dubbed herself and it was really poorly done and no one corrected anything. I legitimately got through all of her main scenes by fast forwarding her I couldn't even watch her.

Would I recommend it? I totally would, despite the choppy editing and one crappy antagonist. The show was great and sadly not promoted, but it deserves a watch, especially if you are into creepy type shows with a supernatural aspect.

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