Reviews

It's cute but repetitive

When this started, I loved it - the characters are interesting, with Aoki having cute freakouts and Ida being this sexy clueless overserious guy, and a series of misunderstandings cause them to accidentally draw together, and not the usual way where one trips and the other catches him and they stare at each other until they turn gay.

But then it bogs down into an endless cycle of very similar breakdowns in communication that reduces the story to running in circles to prevent the couple from getting together. The problem is that the crises are all so similar that I lost all sympathy for Aoki and wanted Ida to find someone less mentally unstable, and frankly stopped caring about whether or not they'd end up together. Either way would have been equally fine to me. I was actually more invested in the straight couple, which at least had a progression in their relationship.

TBH, the avoidance of affection starts to feel homophobic - I realize this is aimed at younger audiences, but similar stories with a straight pair don't have the same pathological aversion to depicting romantic interaction.

The quality of the production is high, the dialogue is cute, the acting is excellent, and the music is fine, if not particularly notable. I can't imagine rewatching any of it, since it already feels like I watched the same episode ten times. I'd recommend it if you like cuteness, but not if you think romance should be more than holding hands for about 10 seconds.

Story: 6 - too repetitive, although the starting premise is clever and the first few episodes are really engaging.
Acting: 9 - very good all around.
Music: 7 - it's appropriate and never annoying, but there's nothing extraordinary about it.
Rewatch: 5 - I doubt I'd rewatch it, although I might want to go back and stare at Ida and listen to him speak.
Overall: 7.5 - the "suggested" rating is lower, but I don't think it deserves less than a "C". It was cute and well-done, but it's just not memorable and I'll likely forget about it fairly quickly.

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I'M ALL FOR IT WHEN THEY FIGHT BACK

going into this I didn't expect much after seeing the movie version because of the love I have for film version, I was a bit worried they'll drag the story and such but the first 2 episodes got me hooked immediately


the bromance is definitely gonna be bromancing but I wish they kept the BL aspect of it , it would've made the story that much more interesting but oh well , we can't always get what we want

I'm so excited to see where the story goes so I'll update my review when I finished the entire series

UPDATE
I just finished the drama and it was PHENOMENAL, I'm definitely gonna be rewatching this one, it had everything I look for in a action/school drama

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Unhealthy relationships, desperation and neediness abound

I'm apparently the only person that did not enjoy this show. I'll start with the positives, and you can blow off the rest of the review, if you choose, because my thoughts are definitely in the minority.
LIKED:
1) Yoo In Na - one of my favorite K actresses. Her size and her demeanor are always attractive to me. She's got a sweet vulnerability about her. She's totally gorgeous, but she's the kind of woman that men fall in love with, and women want to be friends with.
2) Yoon Hyun Min - I enjoy this actor. Understated, intense and he sure knows how to wear his clothes!
3) The young man that fell in love with Bo Ra's sister. Brilliant smiles, barely contained energy and he reminded me of a puppy, all nervous energy. However, he knew what he wanted, and he never wavered.
4) The line in the last episode when Soo Hyuk was talking about Bo Ra being little.
5) When Soo Hyuk was with Bo Ra when she was dress shopping.
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
DID NOT LIKE:
1) Bo Ra - She was an absolute mess! As a love coach, her advice was about "playing" men to get what you want. The phrase "small and sparkly" was used at least 20 times in the first episode. It wasn't about being in love; it was about getting the ring. I got absolutely no feeling that she was in love with her boyfriend, but that she was just waiting for the ring to get married. So, when things went south, her reactions seemed extreme and out of character. Her over-the-top angst was painful for me to watch, just because I didn't think she really loved him anyway. Plus, it went on entirely too long. Almost half of the episodes were about how broken-hearted she was. Stalkerish, needy, inappropriate, and lack of self-esteem flowed from this character. "I was going to let myself like him if he says he likes me. I was going to love him if he says he loves me." She was always trying to GET something from someone. I did not care for this character nor empathize with her in any way.
2) Overabundance of alcohol. I know that drinking seems to play a large part in K-dramas. However, here the drinking caused people to behave in ways that made me really not like them. Plus, drinking alone is always a red flag. Drunken wandering in the neighborhood, peeing in public, drunken confessions.
3) Too many couples. Four couple storylines was too much, mostly because we only got part of an episode with the mains together. The rest was couples fighting, couples trying to get together, couples making up, and that was mostly the other three couples.
4) Soo Hyuk. Obviously, he wasn't in love with his girlfriend, he only bought a ring to make her happy. So, once they broke up, I wasn't feeling his sadness.
5) Overuse of the "I didn't want to be with you before, but now that you are with someone else, I want you back" trope. And we had to suffer through it with both leads!
6) Lack of realistic progression of the lead's relationship. He spent most of the drama listening to her cry and whine, then helping her "get back" at her ex, all to make herself feel better. They weren't really getting to know one another, he was just helping her. Then all of a sudden they were supposedly in love?
7) Romance is absolutely not a word I would use for this drama. The main leads getting together was literally less than 10 minutes. The rest of the time I had to suffer though watching unhealthy relationships crash and burn.

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The second instalment of HIStory3 for this year is a regressive detour into fan service that has neither the coherence nor the charm of previous storylines.

One thing I usually say about the HIStory series is that it does good queer stories even if it doesn't do other things right. But Make Our Days Count is not working for me at all. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to it a great deal. However nothing can hide the fact the show is badly written, poorly characterised and has nothing to say.

This story about popular and oblivious Xiang Hao Ting who falls for the studious and impoverished highschool student, Yu Xi Gu, (whom he used to bully) seems regressive - annoyingly so. HIStory1 was little but cliched Fujoshi baiting and I have been enjoying how the series has been maturing and evolving through HIStory2 and then HIStory3: Trapped, which for all its many many many many flaws was ambitious storytelling with mature leads.

Not that my issue is with the highschool setting itself but with the awful seme-uke "gay for you" nature of the main relationship and its associated stalking, harassment and abuse. I felt like the first few episodes were basically a relationship post on the "Am I The Asshole" reddit (with the overwhelming responses agreeing that yes, you are the asshole).

I feel so sorry for Xi Gu who just wants to work and study and has this succession of classmates harass, bully, assault, stalk, abuse and finally sexually harass him. Also I have no idea when or why our male lead suddenly decided he liked him; the switch happened suddenly and without much preamble. The romance essentially came out of nowhere and, while I could believe that Meng Shao Fei's pursuit of Tang Yi could easily become a romantic pursuit, a bully swapping relentless harassment for wooing does not work as well. It's no surprise that Xi Gu assumes that the sudden sexual element to the harassment is merely a new ploy by the boy who has been torturing him.

Of course the other relationship is just as bad, with an older man, Lu Zhi Gang, dating a highschool student, Sun Bo Xiang . One particularly revealing (and slightly gross conversation) involves the older man denying he has a romantic interest in Xi Gu because he's far far too young - despite him being the exact age as his boyfriend. No one - even the writers who put that dialogue on the page - seem to have noticed the problem here. Bo Xiang (played with a great deal of charm and nuance by Wilson Lui, who impresses me weekly) is a physical and emotional child, treated frequently like a toddler by his so-called boyfriend . To make the whole thing worse, the writers inserted an unnecessarily graphic sex scene (unprotected sex, even!) between the two of them that, again, felt like fan service rather than a genuine narrative development.

I could argue that the relationship in HIStory2: Right or Wrong was equally as disturbing but there I felt like the show was saying something and had put some thought into the characters and the relationship. The whole thing was both wrong but also quite romantic and it was up to the audience to work out where the line was and whether they were fine with it or not.

I honestly feel like this iteration of HIStory3 was written to a formula containing things people liked about previous HIStory stories and BL generally. They don't have anything to say, they just pulled elements together as fan service. There is nothing that subtle or interesting about it. It's a copy and paste job that celebrates the worst of BL while romanticising harassment.

Worse than that, "gay for you" as a plot device has a tendency to whitewash homosexuality out of the picture, something that's both ironic and frustrating in a series that's supposed to be dedicated to queer romance stories. Writing gay love stories without the gay may be a standard element of Yaoi but that doesn't mean we're not supposed to be evolving past that. And this is where I see this series as mere Fujoshi baiting. And that is a depressingly regressive move from these particular writers.

The ending

This review has been updated following the final episode to make a spoiler-free comment about the ending. It kind of goes like this: OMFG!! No, just no. Watching this show is like watching someone dig a hole and every time you think it's as deep as it can go it turns out it can plumb new depths. Even people who liked this terrible drama hated this ending. Ponder that one for a moment.

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Worst time travel story

It's my first time making a review out of disappointment.

The story started good but gradually went down the hill. I thought they are using Multiverse theory of time travel, but in the end it was really a Time loop. If you change something in the past with Time Loop it has butterfly effect in the future unlike Parallel Universe it will create another timeline and does no changes on your reality. Are they making it a hybrid? The writers simply don't know what they are doing. It started with Science and did some research and stuff but in the end they messed it all up and completely relied on what is written on the book of prophecy where science is absolutely disregarded. They set rules and on the later episode they break those rules and call it a plot-twist. They shouldn't have mess with Physics' Quantum Theory in the first place if they can't stand with it. If all those gadgets were excluded it shouldn't be Sci-fi but a pure fantasy.

The only good thing about the story is that is that is that... Ok I'll write it later on if I come up with something. Yes I'm biased I know. The ML was the only person I saw getting old haha and oh did they said he has Alexithymia? I completely forgot cause he really got so emotional everytime.

Let's not forget about how everyone is losing their mind because of that lost piece of nonsense from the book of prophecy where they can actually get a copy of the whole book by time traveling as many as they want.

Extreme Spoiler:
They actually went bloodbath and almost eliminate all the characters in the story, but hey no worries, for everything would set to be undone all thanks for the holy reset. And there goes their happy ever after incest-no-more ending. (but still disgusting.. peace out)


Anyway the acting was good, that is why I'm more disappointed for it was a waste of casts talent.

Music was kinda so-so, but it somehow annoys me every time a romantic music plays between the leads.

I personally don't want to watch it again and certainly not recommendable.

Therefore after watching I would like to travel back in time where I haven't started watching this mess.

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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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Generation to Generation is not the kind of drama that tries to captivate its audience with spectacle, kisses, or elaborately choreographed fight scenes. Instead, it focuses on something deeper: how the wounds and choices of one generation continue to echo in the next.

The characters are generally well written—there are many of them, which might seem intimidating at first, but don’t worry: you won’t miss the essential ones.

YI RAN !
The true centerpiece of the series, however, is undoubtedly Yi Ran in his portrayal of Mu Qingyan. His performance carries a rare intensity: sometimes a single look is enough to convey an entire storm of emotions. His acting is remarkably precise—fragile yet strong, broken yet determined. The way his gaze shifts, the tension in his voice, those micro-expressions that communicate everything without a word… Yi Ran performs with almost dangerous precision. He doesn’t try to show emotion; he simply lets it exist. As a result, some scenes stay in your mind for a long time, and whenever he appears, you feel like replaying the scene at least three times.

In that sense, he joins what Luo Yunxi brought to the genre: a more sensitive, layered, and introspective way of portraying wuxia heroes. But Yi Ran is not imitating anyone—he offers his own tone, his own version of the anti-hero, more introspective and internalized.

Romance
The romance here is rather chaste—which makes sense considering the characters’ age. The drama beautifully captures the feeling of first love and first emotional experiences. There is no need for kisses; simple gestures like holding hands, or the speech near the end, create some of the most memorable moments I’ve experienced while watching a C-drama.

FL
The heroine fits her role well and delivers a natural performance. She is energetic and curious—at the beginning more practical than romantic—but she ultimately plays a crucial role in the hero’s redemption.

PLOT
Regarding the plot, the story explores the characters’ mistakes and their attempts to repair the past. This complexity makes the narrative very human. Each character seems to represent a different stage: some are still trapped by the past, while others try to break the cycle. What makes the story compelling is that their decisions are never simple. We witness their contradictions, their sacrifices, and their regrets.

Almost every character is haunted in some way by the legacy of Cai Ping Shu. His heritage leaves a different mark on each member of this so-called “orthodox” sect, shaping their motivations in unique ways.

On the demonic side, our hero is a man haunted by the past, driven by the desire to uncover the truth, avenge his loved ones, and ultimately bring peace among the clans.

PROD
From a directing standpoint, the series clearly offers more than just something commercially profitable. There are good artistic ideas here—new directions worth exploring. Some narrative threads could have been handled better, Yes, the editing could be smoother, especially at the beginning, and sometimes more dynamic later on but these imperfections are forgivable. Personally, I would rather support projects like this than PURELY commercial productions which is tailor-made to satisfy the fandom of the lead stars.

The director also delivers several visually beautiful scenes, particularly those set in water with floating flowers. Another positive point is the restrained use of music—there is no overwhelming musical overdose.

CAST
Finally, the supporting cast deserves recognition as well. Many of the younger actors show promising potential, and the couple representing the older generation is very convincing.

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As long as you have dreams achieving them is never late.

Words might never be enough to describe how much I loved this drama, from episode one till the end. There is nothing ordinary about this drama, a heartfelt story, a true MASTERPIECE.
Each episode will touch your heart, it'll make you rethink life decisions, or help you to find a little bit of hope in your life, will make you laugh, cry, get upset about some characters, and then forgive them as you'll get to know them better, I bet any person can find themselves in introduced personages like I often found myself in Chaerok and the battles he faced, I could relate to Eunho as well.
"Navillera" left me hoping that all of us will get a chance at least once in our lives to soar freely, and feel true happiness.

First of all, let me tell you how proud Song Kang makes me feel. He is such a pro. He took ballet lessons for just six months to be able to play Chaerok's role and dance.
Producers of "Navillera" said that while Kang was filming his ballet scenes, all of the staff on set stopped breathing, and they were all drawn into his performance.
And seeing him dance which came about through an enormous amount of practice was a certain shock to me as well. I was so moved by those scenes, all I could think about was how an amazing actor he is. It was majestic! Even though he had body double for the hardest scenes that doesn't belittle his effort in learning how to balance himself, be able to carry the right posture, and do all the moves he had to do by himself. The dedication this man has!

I started this drama mainly for Song Kang since I am a fan of his. I haven't read webtoon so I didn't have any prior expectations. Tho I desperately wanted to see Kang dancing ballet.
Then I saw the trailer and that short video made me cry, so I already knew I had to prepare my tissues.

The story is about 23 years old Lee Charok a ballet dancer who was going through a slump and 70 years old Shim Deokchul who wanted to learn ballet from this young ballet genius. For 12 episodes you will observe how these two get to know each other, go through thick and thin together, how they overcome obstacles on their way, how haraboji starts treating Chaerok as his own grandchild, how they learn more and go towards their individual dreams together.
Navillera reflects on real-life a lot. All the characters are just like some people you might've met in real life, or even know yourself. This drama showed how bittersweet life can be, that even though we suffer on a daily basis with all different causes small happiness still can be found as well.
This drama shows so many aspects of life from different angles. How youngsters suffer to become something in life, and how desperately they try to handle all the hardships that life gives them. How middle-aged people are striving to manage their lives for now must have some shape but unfortunately for some, that's not like it at all.
And lastly, the elders who are expected to have lived life to the fullest now must live for the next generations. As if getting old gives you fewer rights to have dreams and work for them.
Drama gives you so many life lessons throughout the episodes and development of precious characters, shows you that a coin always has two sides, that we shouldn't be quick to judge people, we shall give them time and get to know what's behind them, shows us how just a little bit of warmth and attention can save the day.

Out of all personages I loved Chaerok and Deokchul the most. I loved how their unusual friendship started and how their relationship turned into them becoming like a real family. Loved to watch how haraboji helped Charok to get on his feet again, how he helped this depressed boy, who suffered so much from life, who had nothing left except for a few people around him and Ballet get out from the slump that was holding him back. Also how Chaerok helped Deokchul and the people around him as well. They both supported one another throughout everything. They just stood by each other's side till the end.
Chaerok and Deokchul were each other's reflections. If Chaerok wouldn't overcome his slump, he'd end up like Deokchul who deeply regretted neglecting his own dream.
All the characters we met through the drama had meaning and hope with them, none of them were meaningless or insignificant. They all had their own place, they all had something to say, they all carried their own misfortune and success.

The acting was fascinating, especially in the second half of the drama. Kang did such an amazing job, he really shined brightly and stood out a lot, every time he cries I end up crying double so yeah his individual and Haraboji's scenes had me bawling my eyes out a lot.
Park Inhwan did a great job as well and all the cast members! They made me forget that I was watching a piece of fiction and not a real-life story.

If you are still wondering, rather than give it a try or not, do so! You won't regret it. It's absolutely a must-watch
P.s Don't forget to grab tissues, I cried during all episodes.

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Not what the synopsis promised

We go into this drama with the promise of a world that focuses on the aspect of a new strain of virus spreading throughout the city with a social aspect between apartment levels. While the concept of it was unique, the execution of it was lack luster. The first two or three episodes start really strong, with the primary focus on the development of the virus. But then we move to the apartment, where you'd think there would be some sort of focus on the economical differences between apartment levels and how it affects surviving the spread of the virus, but it has little to nothing to do with the actual show.

We get a brief explanation that the floors 5 and below are public rentals, and that the ones above are for the people who paid for the apartment themselves. That's the end of the socio economical difference and plot, there's not dive into the extent of the difference between levels, there's no detail into any sort of survival advantage or perks that the higher levels get, no surprising twist as a result of the socioeconomically difference. I guess the higher level people get free access to the gym, and have a justification to incessantly complain that they should get more during resource division because they're rich. Again, very disappointed that they made this a point in the synopsis as it has no impact on the plot whatsoever.

Now that we've also shifted into the apartment scenes, we also seem to leave the entire zombie apocalypses as an after thought. All the residents are now trapped in their apartments as if to exemplify them vs the impending zombie doom. This quickly devolves into a 8 episode long slice of life drama where we constantly see random slice of life everyone's life (these slices never change either, it's always the same point) from the lawyer cheating on his wife with the woman who is constantly looking for a passcode to access the doctor's crypto currency all the way to the 3 person family where the mother is infected but is hiding it from everyone. We spend an annoying amount of time focused on the mother who tries to hide her infection as well. Which amounts to the promise of zombie goodness we had expected of this series. So basically nothing. We spend almost an entire episodes worth of time following this woman expecting her to turn and perhaps kill her family and start an outbreak into the apartment, but no she is basically written out from the entire show. It's like she never existed. The family goes on to live in the apartment barely attending the resident meetings that occur every episode as if nothing was wrong. I guess the son gets scared and eventually stays with other residents, but that's it. As for the apartment vs the zombie infested complex, that pretty much gets slept on as well. Nothing happens, nobody really tries to break in, it's like the rest of the zombies in their complex don't exist. We get one seen where one zombie gets in and "infects" on person and then we proceed again as if the entire zombie complex doesn't exist again. Just the discussion of locking up the person who got bit.

Then we have the researcher who obviously is trying to save his wife by developing a cure, but tries to pretend he's in it for the money. Literally fooling nobody, so when he finally shows that he's a good person at the end, it comes as no surprise to anyone. The writers also found it necessary to make illogical/unnecessary drama to make this cure. E.G. the researcher trying to deceive the main characters into getting blood transfusions and suddenly turning G.I. Joe to infiltrate the complex to extract the main character for the cure, but then saying nah it's okay you stay here. When a simple, "hey can we draw you blood, it could save the world," would be equally effective and then the entire drama would just be over.

There's a lot of time consuming, illogical, and boring build up and that always amounts to nothing. That pretty much sums up the entirety of the series. A bunch of half plots that ping pong back and forth that result into no progression. It's as if the plots were just there for the sake of being there. Another, minimum word count scenario where writers wrote the series to be a 2 hour movie, but were then told to extend it to 12 episodes so they just kind of filled in the gaps the night before and called it a wrap.

Overall this drama was meh at best and just every where all the time. It lacked any sort of identity. They just kind of threw out an interesting plot premise, added a strong and attractive cast, and proceeded to just cross their fingers. Now here we are (as of this review) with a score of 9.0 with a story that almost anyone could write so I guess the plan was successful. I can't wait for another drama to be overrated so that we continue the cycle of pumping out the next brain dead story with an attractive cast.

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Good acting, but there's no point - just Earth crying-porn.

This is a little like a dish that has only the best ingredients, but then is overcooked and not quite what you were hoping for.

The plot is really repetitive, with Eiw being hurt and crying, and Santa cute-bullying him into not being angry with him (to be fair, that would totally work on me). Anyway, it goes around in circles for 9 episodes, and as we see in the Synopsis, we know it's building up to Cake leaving for a few years.

Eiw is the uke-est uke that ever uke'ed. He has no agency, is incapable of anything - there's even a scene where he has to run in PE class, and he literally only gets in three paces before the effort makes him collapse in a coma and he has to be hospitalized. He is wholly dependent on Cake in every conceivable way. Cake has a girlfriend, and this is endlessly painful to Eiw and so we watch him cry almost non-stop for the first 9 episodes.

So when Cake leaves, we're hoping to see Eiw blossom, become independent, and then when Cake returns, it's Cake who has to fit himself into Eiw's new life.

But nope, they just pick up right where they left off. There's no girfriend to make Cake cry, so instead, something randomly tragic happens, and the entirety of the last two episodes involves Eiw crying.

There is no point to this series. It's not about coping with loss, it's not about love, it's not about individual growth or coming of age. It's just Earth crying porn. The only purpose of anything is to make Earth cry. A man in his mid 20s, cast an adolescent who whine-cries for fourteen episodes.

And it's strictly G-rated, even when they're college grads. It's definitely a BL, but a very bromancy one - nearly chaste. They hug a lot, but that about it. A few sniff-kisses and one peck on the lips.

The acting is good, especially Santa, who is extremely talented and first-rate leading-man hunk material. And Earth has definitely mastered wailing and crying.

This is a qualiy production, but at the end of it I just don't understand what the point of it was, and I doubt I'll remember any of it in a month. Except for a scene where a doctor says something so outrageous that I burst out laughing. Even if you think this is the best series ever made, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. There's also the most horrendously-timed move made on a girl that I've ever seen. Another LOL moment.

Story: Meh. I'll give it a 4.5. It was pointless, but coherent, and kept all the characters consistent. Maybe too consisent.
Acting: 8.5 - quite good all around. Santa is the clear standout, but Prem Warat surprised me with his depth - he's so much more substantial here than he is as a stereotypical uke.
Music: I don't remember any of it, so not bad or outstanding.
Rewatch value: none. I would never rewatch this, and Santa doesn' really show us any of his hot body, so there's no shower scene to play on an endless loop.
Overall: 6.5. OK, but dull, repetitive, and forgettable. I don't think I would recommend binging it, or its repetitiveness will really stand out. If you're an Earth fan, you may like it. If you hate Earth, you'll definitely like it because he's suffering and crying for the entirety of the series.

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Powerhouse Acting, Fragile Script

The Art of Illusion | "If you can't distinguish fake from real, then is it really fake?"

➥ SYNOPSIS: The Art of Sarah follows a woman who reinvents herself through carefully crafted lies, climbing into high society using nothing but intelligence, confidence, and deception. As a murder investigation begins to unravel her world, the drama slowly reveals who Sarah really is - and how far she’s willing to go to protect the life she created. It strongly reminded me of another Netflix show "Inventing Anna", especially in the way it explores identity, ambition, and social climbing through illusion. But that's where the comparison ended.

➥ MESSAGE: The drama critiques society’s obsession with status, luxury, and appearances. It shows how easily people accept illusion as truth when it’s packaged attractively. Prestige only exists because powerful people decide it does. In many ways, the system itself creates someone like Sarah.

➥ PROS: Acting & Visuals/Cinematography
I started this drama because I believe in the acting talent of the mains - Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jun Hyuk. I have seen them since the time they have been support actors & have loved the evolution as being regarded as acting powerhouses. And they both have a visual presence that you simply cannot ignore.

In this drama - Shin Hye-sun completely owns it and rightfully so as this is Sarah’s story. She moves effortlessly between confidence, vulnerability, and manipulation. She shines brighter than the glamour and couture of "Boudoir" bags. Lee Jun-hyuk plays the investigator well. He’s solid and convincing, but I thinks his character was not written well, as I have seen him much stronger before. Still he powers through as he's a talented and actor, and together, they made the cat and mouse chase enjoyable. The cinematography adds to the story as it is sleek and stylish, with luxury settings and fashion that reinforce the theme of illusion without overpowering the story.

➥ CONS: Weak Writing & Unexplained Plot Holes
Despite my genuine affection for the lead actors—and the undeniable talent they bring to their performances, which makes the drama consistently engaging—I can’t overlook the evident weaknesses in the writing. One particularly glaring issue was the unexplained corpse introduced in Episode 4, a plot point that was abruptly abandoned as the story shifted in a different direction. Additionally, the ending felt overly convenient and ultimately unconvincing. While I appreciate the intended message, its delivery seemed rushed and would have benefited from clearer development rather than relying on a convoluted “con-within-a-con” twist. Although the conclusion aligns with the central theme—that certain circumstances can give rise to someone like Sarah, and others like her—the final episodes lacked cohesion and narrative payoff.

➥ OVERALL:
I’d still recommend it as a one-time watch—it’s short, well-acted, visually strong, and offers thoughtful social commentary. While the writing could have been tighter and better developed, it remains a solid effort and an engaging pick for the 2026 drama line-up. If you enjoy stories about con artists, investigations, manipulation, and social themes, you’ll likely appreciate it—just go in with reasonable expectations rather than expecting a masterpiece.

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My loyal soul shall live and die with you.

What a masterpiece. I love everything about this. Like, EVERYTHING! (Except Situ Ling — I hate you so much, I hope you go bald.)

The storyline was neatly written, and the purpose behind every action and curse made perfect sense. I love the execution of the fight scenes, and of course, not to mention the HOT kissing scenes ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)✨

I also love that both the ML and FL are strong. It’s rare to see a storyline where they do things together and not individually, as that reflects their love for each other even more. No sacrifices — just the two of them saving the world together. Ugh, that’s so powerful huhu (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )づ♡

I highly recommend this drama and have been wishing for more episodes (with more of the lovey-dovey moments from my parents, MingZai), but I guess that would only drag the story. Still, I’m satisfied with the number of episodes.

Praying for another main role project for Lu Yu Xiao and Hou Ming Hao! Also, their OSTs are so good — too bad they didn’t have a duet.

MINGZAI, I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!! ♡〜٩( ˃▿˂ )۶〜♡

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A complete rom-com fit for 2023.

This is my first time reviewing a series on MDL and I start now because I just really felt the need to tell people how great I found this series. I have marked it spoiler as a precaution because I might end up spoiling unknowingly.

This kdrama's ensemble of characters looks like this - an independent and confident female lead, an open and understanding male lead, a very fine second male lead who is the best bro a man could have, and a very caring and supportive second female lead who is just a tad bit self-doubting.

The story has everything from hilarious little bits, to toe-curling scenes, moments of hate and moments of understanding alike. A little thing to dislike is the pacing in the very last 2 episodes BUT I entered watching this knowing the pacing might suffer due to the short length of the series and it'd be wise of everyone else to do so too. Because otherwise the show's storyline, plot points everything was on point.

My very favourite part about the series is that the female lead has not been shown as a troubled damsel of any sorts, neither has she been forcibly empowered. She is a hard-worker and good at her job. And she lives her life as she wants without much concern for judgement of others.
The male lead is wary of women for he has only ever met the manipulative ones, but after meeting the female lead, he starts understanding her and liking her for exactly who she is. And THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT THING is that he RESPECTS her. Which is perfect because for the female lead hearing 'I respect you' is more important than hearing 'I love you.'

And I feel this year in 2023 I think we should strive for this sort of kdrama, one which emphasizes on the mutual respect required in a relationship. Because we have seen enough love, hate, hate-to-love, but all of that is useless when there is no respect in the foundation of the relationship.

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The same cliche and boring story

This drama has nothing new neither fresh, it was funny but that was their strongest point (and all the memes that came from here).

Will you remember the message of the beauty? No, probably you will remember the okey dokey dance more, but it's natural since they didn't focused on female lead struggles with her appearance, they care more for the tedious love triangle. The story is that lame that the side characters are actual more interesting than the FL and that it's not okay cause she should carry the drama.

The second male lead, another great and charismatic character that ended up being a heartbroken guy till the end. I'm tired of that, why is so difficult to make him happy with another love or something. Anyway, he stole the show for me.

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