Reviews

Shout Out~
Okay first off, huge thanks and Shout Out goes towards YoshihiroStepper for uploading the entire movie. It was a cinematic in theaters and we had to wait months for the DVD release plus a month or so more for the translations. So, extreme thanks YoshihiroStepper for uploading this and having it translated for us to watch. You can view the parts separately on his channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/rjgman56, and i have sent a message to hopefully give him the merged videos so that you guys can watch it with out interruptions. Please go through his channel, he has so much content to offer that I'm still going through so definitely check it out.

Story~
Alright so lets get into the story. I knew from the beginning what this movie was going to be all about, or vaguely did, and it was exactly what it was from the trailers. An archery club, romance, and some conflict here and there. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, it was captivating from start to finish and even though i could watch the movie raw and still understand whats going on it was still good. The jist of the story is archery, romance, conflict, done, but there was so much more going in especially learning about Youta's mom and dad, the love between Youta and An and how it unfolded. The story is very simplistic yet captivating. It also had an incredible anime/manga feel to it. You could tell it was from a manga. I also can understand why it got 7.6 by most people that already watched the movie, because somethings just were not answered. Yuki is a big example. How did he get the illness, more about Yuki and Youta previously. More information about how everything happened with Youta and his parents like a flashback scene possibly. I would have like to have seen a love triangle between Youta, An and Kuwabara. He, to me, was attractive, I didn't get extreme SLS like I would with some Second Leads but he fit the bill and progressing through the movie you could tell that there was an opening for a love triangle or rather a rivalry to form and would have gave it a little more edge. I also wanted to know the place that Youta was at, i wanted to know more about the connection between the two. So there were a lot of pieces missing from this story that could have been filled. Maybe the main focal point of the movie was to revolve around Youta and An but it doesn't hurt to add a little more background story. Plus, how their love progressed was interesting to me, at first i thought it was going to be a slight controlling/toxic, then I thought it was really sweet and cute. He seemed to control the love between them until she was decided on her own whether she wanted this or not.

Acting/Actors~
The acting was really good. I could not find fault with the acting to be honest. One scene I did question (and laughed) but I wont spoil it for you guys its just later on in the movie. The acting was really good, the actors were spot on. I don't really have any disapproval's.

Music~
This was one of my most favorite things out of this entire movie. That music was channeling John Williams "Memoirs of a Geisha" vibe. One sound in particular you would think that it was from Memoirs of a Geisha. The music was good, it was not weird or out of place. It fit the subtly of the story.

Re-watch~
Would I re-watch it, definitely. Maybe not 10 or 15 times but yes i would re-watch it. Would i recommend it, yes. Its not actiony, so for some it maybe a little boring, but for something subtle definitely.

Overall~
Overall, it was good. It wasn't actiony, so it maybe boring to some. It wasn't mushy, even though i love a good mushy gushy romance, it was subtle and it was love. I really enjoyed that aspect. There were some things missing that could have been fixed and somethings that could have been added but through it all it was a complete romance and I liked it and encourage other people to watch it and give their thoughts.

-Goyangi

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If you can read novel then please do so.

Not everyone can read novels, drama and webtoons are much easier to watch/read and they are also more discriptive than novel, this is the whole point of an adaptation, to increase the range of viewers but the now a days there's a trend of adding unnecessary and sometimes unfavourable and unpleasant plot twists just so to keep the people who have already read the novel hooked.
In the drama, their are many small deviations from the novel and a major one too. I personally would have preferred if the drama went the same as novel, small deviations would have been appreciated but the last one was just too much.
Please read the novel if you can, because many will ultimately want read the novel because of drama being deviated from the original novel, specially at one specific point and then the drama will act as nothing more than a spoiler not letting you enjoy the novel as you could have.

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First of all, the story was amazing! It showed how King and Eun Bo struggled to be together again! It was draggy and streched out at some parts but I was so engaged in the episode that I didn't care about it. The dream part seemed to be a coup out. Whenever Eun Bo was in danger they would use the dream to get out of the situation. But I liked that the dream had consiquences too. The actors were wonderful! Such new faces and awesome performances. Especially Min Kyu, the lead male. He was really suited for the lead male role. I loved his performance and wish he would be lead male in other titles soon. The OST was really good! The instrumentals, lyrics, all of it! To sum it all up, it was an amazing 10/10 movie for me!

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Check Out This Special Episode

Content Warnings: non con/dub con*

Overall: Looks like it sets up the series which will air in 2022 (which I will definitely Check Out lol)

What I Liked:
- the actors have good chemistry which makes sense as they were in Skinship together (fyi there's like no skinship in Skinship)
- the story of people meeting at a resort/hotel is not new, but I think it played fairly well, they had some cute moments

Room For Improvement:
- enough with the creepy stalker women, that hotel worker was so unprofessional and she should be reprimanded for being unprofessional/harassment 
- *I didn't like how Daonuea was definitely drunk but Nine looked like he wasn't when they had their bed scene, that gets into the non-con territory as people can't consent when they are very drunk. I wish they either both weren't drunk (preferred) or they both were very drunk.
- leaving your partner is such an a**hole move, people should be there in the morning even if it's awkward
- at least there was a reason Nine had to shower at Daonuea's room but what was the reason they had to shower together at the same time? Is there limited hot water or something? (I liked them showering together, just wish there had been a logical reason for it)
- am I the only one who doesn't like characters in romance genres smoking?

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The art of letting go

This show essentially IMHO is about learning letting go. Li Xiangyi could let go his fame, glory, romantic love, and hatred and transformed into Li Lianhua, whereas the villains couldn't let go of their jealousy and obsession. Other characters are in between for letting go.

This is the first time ever I leave a review for a show as it left a deep impression for me. It's also my first Cheng Yi show, I had no idea who he was although I knew he played a judge in "Draw the Line" which I haven't watched.

I knew this show existed because I saw some Youtube comments about this show was the show they most looked forward to. When I saw the first 2 episodes were available in iQiyi, I was prompted to watch.

I don't know what to expect as I hadn't read the synopsis. But once I started, I couldn't stop. It had all the ingredients in dramas that I enjoy, which are Sherlockian mysteries, humor, bantering, with plenty of bromance. For the mysteries they gave enough clues to let people guess but with some twists that sometime the audience wouldn't know such as changing gender, changing appearance which were not common in "normal" stories. However the conclusions they arrived are logical so that is a plus for me.

Some of the cases are heart breaking and show the best and worst of human nature plus the compassion of our duo detectives.

Now let's move on the duo (which occasionally became trio). Li Lianhua is the Sherlock of the show. He is smart and has very strong observation and deduction powers. He also lies as easily as he breathes. He is also a renowned physician although nobody knows about his past. The Watson of the show is Fang Duobing, a wide-eyed rich kid who wants to be a detective. When he discovered that Lianhua could deduct really well, he stuck to Lianhua like glue to the annoyance and amusement of the latter. They later formed a deep friendship and camaraderie. To complete the trio is Di Feisheng who knows Lianhua's real identity and was determined to have a duel with him. Both he and Lianhua tried to hide Lianhua's identity which made a lot of funny stories in the beginning of the show.

There is also an overarching arch in the story and some of the stories are actually related to a big conspiracy dated 10 years ago which Lianhua and co tried to uncover. This arch is closely related to Lianhua's past which he tries to let go and triggers the development of each character.
One of the most profound part in the show is when Lianhua told someone the transformation from Li Xiangyi to Li Lianhua. Li Xiangyi was at the top of the world to the admiration and envy of a lot of people in Jianghu. Because of some misfortunes, he became penniless and his main focus was not to get hungry as he grew his own vegetables. During this time, he couldn't hold on to any grudges and resentment or even former glory as his main focus was survival. This part was very touching and Cheng Yi truly delivered. As Lianhua, he could roam freely in his lotus tower and helped people through medicine.

Acting wise every one did great, especially the main characters. I need to check out the main trio works in the future. I deducted some points because the villains were too one dimensional even though they were well acted and Li Xiangyi could let go of everything except his guilt which in fact he was not really guilty about when we later found out. He could forgive others and let others to live their lives without guilty but he never forgave himself.

It's definitely a good show for mystery, humor, and wuxia fans. Upon rewatch, we could appreciate the story and acting more.

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Unique, Quirky, and GOOD!!

I had to write a review for this one as it will probably be under rated and it is worth its weight in gold so far. This cdrama stands out with it's unique storyline that has a dark whimsical vibe to it. It engages the viewer with each case that ties into the overall mystery between the ML and FL. The high quality of the cinematography and production value makes it seem more like a movie. I liked how they had different actors and actresses take on more lead like roles in each case story, the acting is well done and kudos for giving screen time to them. There is also dark humor sprinkled throughout the episodes that was done pretty well. There are some plot holes as it's in the mystery fantasy genre but it was acceptable to me as the good far outweighed the bad.

The series is compact by Cdrama standards at 12 episodes, it seems to eliminate the long drag out meandering storylines that plague some of the CDramas with lots of episodes. I hope the CDrama industry will continue to take more risks in investing in unique and unconventional dramas like this.

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Great show

I absolutely LOVED watching this! I finished it in three days. If I didn't have school, I would probably have finished it faster. I can't wait for season 2!

Here are a few things I liked and disliked (in no particular order):

1 THE ACTING

LIKE: I really like the way Bai Zhu plays his character(A Zhai). His facial expressions and the way he brings his lines are adorable and unique. Some people seem to dislike A Zhai, which I kind of get when looking at certain scenes. Particularly the ones where he mistreats Adam or doesn't listen to his advice, which then results in problems that could've been avoided if he did listen. That aside I think he is a really fun character that brings life to the show.

DISLIKE: A ZHAI IS SUCH. AN. IDIOT! Seriously, I love him, but he is so stubborn, self-centered and in some moments pretty mean. Adam really didn't deserve the way A Zhai treated him in some episodes. Especially since Adam is the one who keeps saving and protecting A Zhai when things turn sour. Which is A LOT of times.

2 FRIENDSHIP

A Zhai and his best friend cracked me up everytime they were together. I loved it when they were scheming and going on missions together. You would think that two heads/two brains would be able to think of at least a simple, good working plan, but I guess that's not the case with A Zhai and Wang Fu Gui. They are also really bad at lying. It's funny to watch. Their friendship is really cute.

3 THE CINEMATOGRAPHY

The camera work is done very well. The set also looks great! The whole show gives you a comic kinda feel with all the sound/visual effects they've put in it. All this put together makes the show aesthetically pleasing.

4 STORYLINE

LIKE: The story is surprising and unique. There are a lot of turns and twists that make you want to see the next episode as fast as possible. The pace of the storyline is just right. Not too slow, not too fast. I also like how they sometimes break the 4th wall by talking to us (the audience) directly.

DISLIKE: One aspect of the storyline that gets dragged out too much is A Zhai's obsession with Eve. FOR REAL, MAN It just keeps going on and on and on and on and on. I rolled with my eyes a lot.

5 A ZHAI AND ADAM

I can conclude from the comments of some other people that they mainly started to watch the show because of these two. I wouldn't recommend watching it just for them. Except for a few cute scenes, there isn't much action. I can't even say ''just watch it for their friendship' because as I said earlier: A Zhai is pretty mean to Adam. Unless there are more scenes coming in season 2 that will build on their relationship. 80% of this show is A Zhai chasing after Eve.

CONCLUSION:
It's a really cute show and you should definitely watch it for the cool actors, the humor and fun scenes.

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Simple. loses it way in the middle but finds it's way in the end.

Typical BL yes. Mediocre? probably especially when the writing was stale in the middle(eps 5-7) with all the miscommuication & misunderstandings but still pretty enjoyable imo. Honestly? I've seen way worse ones recently: Enchante, Rainbow Prince and Cutie Pie were horrible imo. Is this one of the best? No. But I still enjoyed it more than those 3. At least Star in My Mind had likable characters. And one thing I felt charming about this series is that it starts out fresh even if we've seen this story billions of times before it felt like something new. Both Dao and Kluen start this series with a lot of charm even if they are cookie cutters of other characters seen before. I was instantly drawn to them.

Dunk is a newbie but for the most part he pulls off what is needed of him. Yes there's still room for improvement but I see lots of potential especially since I felt he did good for his first majjor role. He could emote which is always a plus in my book. Joong hmm he wasn't horrible or anything and I do feel like he can act it's just that in some scenes he was wooden and that didn't do his character, Kluen, much favors when it should have. But for the most part he held his own and had great chemistry with Dunk. And the chemistry is what guided the series sometimes.

As for the story it could be considered mediocre in the middle but I thought that the beginning and end were pretty good. I especially liked how once the misunderstandings and miscommunication between Dao and Kluen was handled there was no more unnecessary drama thrown at them. They were allowed to be happy and cute the last two episodes which is way more than some BL couples get.

All in all I give this a 9.0 overall despite all it's flaws it's one of my favorites this year. Sky in Your Heart is next hopefully that one doesn't have the mistakes it's predecessor did.

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STRUCK MY HEART!!!

Can this be considered as a drama or whattttt??
It is one of the best drama i have ever seen

The Story - WOW!!
The Cast - WOW!!
The Acting - WOW!!
The Music- WOW!!
THE DRAMA - JUST WOWWWWW!!!!

The Main thing about this drama is that it is light and soothing , it gives a feel. of satisfaction , happiness , etc.
Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu have the best chemistry and no words can be used to express that

So Hidden Love is a 10/10 for me for being that perfect light romance drama that makes you blush in and out with the butterflies. it's worth checking out for the fluffy, sugar factor!! Would definitely recommend it!!

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Underwhelming time slip drama: strong start, uninteresting midpoint, OK ending

The first episodes grip you in entirely as the series introduces the fantasy aspect through a time slip, right in the middle of an inciting incident—from here on and for the entirety of the series, the female lead navigates her second chance in life with a playbook as her compass.

There were definitely plot devices and symbolisms used, but like other fantasy series, they were not elucidated as time slip is not the focus of the story, but merely an incident that sets off the story.

The first few episodes are also used to establish the female lead and male lead as the couple, which is one of the contributing elements to the romance in the series. However, once this has been introduced, the story’s focus deliberately shifts, with politics taking the centerpiece.

That being said, while there is romance in the drama (both for the main and secondary characters), this is not the main theme of the series. The romance is merely a subplot.

Casting Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui, who have been constantly secondary leads in their previous projects, is not a bad choice, though.

Meng Zi Yi is not stiff and conscious when acting, while Li Yun Rui has the standard characteristics of a male lead. Li Yun Rui, though, still has a lot of areas to improve on, specifically in using his expressions.

I have no qualms with the pacing as it's pretty consistent throughout the series. Still, while the drama started off strong, the second half of the series hit a sharp decline in the quality of storytelling.

By the second half, I was struggling to keep my attention on the drama and was seriously considering skipping a few scenes just to fast track.

As the drama comes close to conclusion, nothing was making any impact anymore: writing was steadily becoming askew. And while the drama occasionally delivered good cinematography, the OST is mediocre at best and did not help elevate the experience in any scenes. The political turmoil plot alone cannot carry the entire series.

There was an effort to tie loose ends, and the ending was definitely conclusive, which is an important factor to the majority, but aside from introducing the potentials of Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui as actors, and having a strong and smart female lead (with a good head on her shoulders) who actually (and finally) takes the lead (and is dominant in the relationship with the male lead), I will give this a pass. Romance, politics, time slip, rebirth—there are far better choices, with mid dramas that can easily topple this.

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Enemies to lovers finally done right

Rarely comment on dramas but after some serious ongoing withdrawal symptoms, I had to express how much I enjoyed this drama.

Definitely not a 'light rom com watch'. This was an intense, emotional roller-coaster with enemies to lovers done right. The political intrigue fits well into the plot without being overdone and needing to be fast forwarded (like most cdramas). The chemistry and the intensity between the leads and the fun banter between the second leads stole the show. The side characters all had some roles to play with their own quirks and personalities.

I am a sucker for happy endings so for the ML to gradually fall in love with the FL was a delight to watch. He has been through horrible trauma and lost loved ones due to broken promises by the FL's clan.

However, after they are married, he never mistreats her due to her family. He's closed off, cold and very suspicious of the FL which is of course, natural but he also appreciates and admires her (secretly and then openly later).

The FL is also no pushover, she fights and stands up for herself diplomatically. Her strength is in the steadfastness of her character, akin to flowing water eroding rocks over time. She has trust issues in the beginning too and tries to protect her clan from a waging war by the ML. This is a very reasonable reaction given how the ML first treated her and makes a promise to destroy her people. She later regrets her decision and reforms her thinking but I think this just humanises her character.

What made this drama different from other enemies to lovers is that you see the trauma, the hatred, the vengeance for revenge and gradually breaking down of walls, trust developing, the endless yearning for something forbidden and the care and attention they both show to each other in little gestures that they do later transforming to love. Drama aside, you want a partner in life, who just gets you without you having to spell everything out. You can share your deepest and darkest past and trauma and they will listen and never use that against you (confidant for life). They will help you heal and move past it. In the end, this is what happened to the ML. He was so helpless in front of the FL's care and love for everyone including him that he had no space for hatred and revenge in his heart. This doesn't mean he easily accepts her and let's her in, but rather he is too helpless to resist her. I loved, in particular, that despite what her grandfather did, he also accepted her family, visited her clan and people and wanted to understand why she was the way she was. To me, that was true selfless love.

If you've read this far, kudos to you. I just needed to get this off my chest so I can move past this drama without comparing all other dramas to this (as that would be unfair). This drama will take some time to leave my system and I can't say I hate that.

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First, the cut short ending was totally disappointing. I know it isn't conventional, but I liked the "bad guy" and to end the story with out total resolution for his character makes me angry. In my mind they left several unresolved issues. I have a great ending to this drama in my mind.
Second, there were a lot of extra unnecessary characters and dialogue where the obvious story is repeated.
Third, nevermind...this list will just get too long.
There are some good things that kept me interested, but I'm still disappointed. A rating of 6 may be too high.

The acting is ok. Jun Kwang Ryul as Moon Doo stole the show.

The music is ok.

I won't rewatch this.

I don't recommend this drama unless you have a good imagination.

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