Reviews

The romance is strong in this drama. I could not stop squeeing out loud, almost constantly wearing a stupid grin on my face. So many butterflies in my stomach, swooning every minute. In fact I adored this show and I'm so happy I found it.

So let me brake down the good and bad. If you are ok with classical tropy characters and can look past some of the issues with the story elements, this will probably satisfy you if you are looking for a sweet young romance.

The story concentrates mostly on the romance that is strong from the start. Problems are thrown onto the path of the leads, but their constant trust in each other is adorable. Nothing seems to rock their faith in each other.

The setting partly in game and mostly IRL is fun and engaging. However as I am myself a game developer of triple A games, some elements of the business broke my immersion. I don't think most people will notice, and isn't it a problem in any movie and drama that features certain occupations and businesses.

As the story is a classical Harlequin like set up, with the strong, silent, mysterious, genius guy and the intelligent, good hearted and sweet girl there were moments of the really annoying "damsel in distress" trope.

Even more annoying is the "being the most beautiful is an instant win". Looks are the only thing that matters and any social issues are solved by showing up and being pretty.

Then again. I didn't know how much I would enjoy even these aspects. It was a very long time ago I consumed this kind of romance between a perfect pair who are the envy of all. Once in a while (once a decade) the feeling of squeeing like a 14 year old over a hot guy who is the perfect image of a gentleman actually was very satisfying.

The actors are very stiff. The main male lead has a stick driven through his body making it almost impossible for him to move his neck and he is constantly looking at something far away instead of seeking eye contact with the female lead. I understand he is supposed to be elusive, stoic and mysterious, however it's too much. He is very good at kissing, so it makes up for his stone face statue like aura.

The female lead is directed to talk with a squeaky baby voice and act all super cutesy. She is also directed to not respond to the kisses besides wide eyed look like she is almost being assaulted and is prepared to flee. I must say, for some reason I actually got into the whole innocent act and it does pay of in the final episode. The build up of a certain scene was kind of hot...

My favourite character is the support actress who played the room mate Er Xi. She is supposed to be an average looking nerdy type, but is the most beautiful one out of the large cast of females. This annoyed the hell out of me, when they constantly referred to her as ugly and stupid. Her role was to play over cutesy, a bit stupid and clowny. But her story line really engaged me and I loved her development (what little there was). I thought she was the one that had the hardest problems and felt much more sympathy for her than the main female lead. I really hurt for her once the situation blew up.

As someone who always does queer reading the relationship between two of the guys was very sweet. There is really no room to misunderstand their relationship... ^^ Also a checkbox checked in the satisfaction column. I could wish for more, but was surprised over how clear they dared to show the gay couples relationship.

The special effects suited an ingame environment. And the music was partly game inspired or nice romantic. Pretty ok production value and the directing clearly worked for this type of genre.

Over all I am giving it a much higher value than I "personally" usually assign by my standards and requirements. I would probably then land on a 7. But I'm going to look past the issues and just go with my gut feeling. By my gut feeling, emotions and satisfaction that this drama gave me I should actually give it a perfect 9... I'll compromise and we land on an 7.5.

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An Excellent drama with strong writing direction, and acting hopefully season 2 will follow. 9/10.

Where to start? Fine, let's begin from the beginning.

By seeing the cast, you might feel that the drama will be the usual idol period drama with tons of martial arts. But no, this is a unique, dark, and emotional story of two assassins from Wufeng who secretly go to another sect, Gong, to accomplish a secret mission. But not everything is Calm in Gong's residence. Brothers hate each other; the father does not even like his own son. Son wants to know the reason behind his mother's death, among many other things. But this is where you go wrong. Everything is done for a reason. By the end of this drama, you will understand why this happened in the first place. The characters are beautifully presented, and the relationships between them are shown so well that you can understand the characters very well.

An Excellent drama with strong writing, direction, and acting... Production-wise, all is well, and hopefully season 2 will follow. According to the last episode, it was clearly shown that the creators wanted to produce a sequel or franchise. 9/10... ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Average

The drama was not so extraordinary or somewhat different but ya it was good for one time watch i was expecting it to be like police University but it was quite good than PU the first episodes were quite good but later it become somewhat like other dramas and tbh daeil death was not so necessary the starting was good later become foggy the end was average..
The best thing about this drama is the cast the cast chemistry was on point it was Daniel's first drama but he didn't disappoint leads chemistry was also good but i like personally the second leads their story was more natural to me and kim tak and Ari should definitely have their separate drama...
The music was not so memorable
You can watch this if you don't have some extraordinary dramas to watch

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My second review :)

I really liked this one, and I'm glad that I summoned up the courage to watch it. Since it has the theme of Shounen Ai.

But it was so delicately put in it's story and the actors were superb. I had watched the first one and that was good but since then I think I have matured more to appreciate this kind of stories.

As I said, the actors did a great job. Actually all kinds of first-love experience's makes me happy to watch. And I was happy to see that they brought back one of the mains from the first movie.

I can highly recommend this movie to someone with an open mind cause this made me so calm and moved by the sweet story. Good job scriptwriters and I salute to the ountstanding actors.

Thank you for taking time to read my review, do watch it!

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Love Wins

I really wish this could have been a full-length drama and not a short-episode series.

I would have loved to see the back stories of our ML & FL - two flawed, broken people who come to know and accept love despite their past. I loved the chemistry between them. I loved that he was the weaker of the two, but he loved her enough to let her go. I loved how no matter how much she denied it at first, she finally let him love her till she was able to love him too.

Their love scenes were tender and sweet, even with the chaste kisses. The cinematography added to the unspoken romantic interactions of the lead couple and was quite appealing and effective.

Loved the interjection of the time traveler and her sweet (well-deserved) ending. Hilarious!

I will definitely watch this one over and over again.

*Update - I had to amend the rating I originally gave this drama because I have come back to rewatch so many times! I hope there will be a Season 2.

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Sakristan (2020): All Bark But Not Much Bite

I can understand why a number of my My Drama List (MDL) and Twitter contacts wanted me to stop watching “Sakristan.” Their opinions about the controversial director Darryl Yap [accused of sexual exploitation of children, perpetuating misconceptions about rape, and shading other Filipino (Pinoy) boys’ love (BL) series, among others] are valid and I respect their principled position to boycott this series. But I really felt bad for the efforts given by the actors, so I wanted to judge this series based on its artistic merits. It wouldn’t be fair if I dismiss the series outright without even watching it.

Unfortunately, in terms of artistry, “Sakristan” was found wanting. While I admired Sakristan's efforts to confront the Philippine Catholic Church’s bigotry and hypocrisy on the issue of gays within its community, such plot/storyline did not really move forward on this series. Indeed, it was all bark but not much bite. The entire series was also replete with gender and sexual stereotypes that don’t advance lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer+ (LGBTQ+) representation. Not even the introduction of Christian's gay father and the tokenistic opening reminder (LGBT) can hide the series’ superficial understanding of the day-to-day issues confronted by the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines.

A lot of times, screenplay was corny and cringy. It was also soapy (akin to soap operas) for most of the series. There were awkward dialogues intended as jokes that weren't really funny. There were also lines that were a bit long and preachy. I would argue that the best scenes from this series were those without dialogues and with only the soundtracks and the sceneries. By and large, cinematography blended pretty well with the soundtracks.

While the acting performance of both lead actors and the chemistry between them improved throughout the series, Clifford and Henry, fell victims to the lack of proper acting direction. The VinCentiments style of acting failed to grasp the difference between stage and screen acting. Because of the perspective and proximity of the audience, acting on stage on the whole is bigger and exaggerated to be able to reach the people at the very back of the theatre. This means making vocal, physical, and emotional choices in acting that are oftentimes unnatural and unrealistic. The problem with the VinCentiments style of acting, it's as if the actors were still on stage! The lead actors and especially the support actors were overacting most of the time. It’s not as though the actors don’t have potential, they do, but since they weren’t given suitable acting direction, their style of acting always looked bad on screen. It's a pity because I really liked Clifford and Henry on this series. They may not be as good-looking compared to the lead actors of other Pinoy BL series but they have Pinoy features and vibes that I genuinely appreciate. Clifford was sexy and a sight for sore eyes and his intimate scenes with Henry, mostly without dialogues, were generally done tastefully.

Production design and editing were up and down throughout the series while the music (especially the soundtracks) was consistently good.

All in all, I would only recommend “Sakristan” for posterity, for those who are interested in watching one of the pioneers of Pinoy BL series, mindful of course of the fact that there are much better representations of the genre, namely, “Gameboys” and “Hello Stranger.”

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Awesome till the end!

This went so HARD!!!!! From beginning to end, the story, the actors, the action...it all gave 300%. I laughed, I cried, I sat in wonder at such a well-crafted drama. It's not a drama where you have to "think" to ponder the character's emotions, because you can feel them immediately. The portrayals are so raw, you will have this visceral reaction to the good, the bad, and the evil in this drama. And hats off to Dylan Wang for his great acting in making Qi'an a character we all understood and all wanted to win by keeping him relatable and utterly human, yet heroic in the face of adversity...in a story that gave him superhuman, ultimate, level-up powers. He wasn't perfect, he was just decent and kind, and that kept us wanting him to win through each battle. It was lovely to not watch people be mistreated for 40 episodes with no recourse or hope until the very end. It was lovely to see intelligent, strong women and soft, protected women in the same show characterized appropriately. They weren't just props and we got to watch them all either be active participants or learn and grow. It was lovely to see how camaraderie and family could not only be built, but made stronger. Liu Yi Jun...was a powerhouse. I could go on forever because truthfully, this entire cast embodied the characters they played so well. I could write a dissertation on all the good things in this drama, and not because it was deep, philosophical, or thought provoking, but simply because it was a great story with amazing actors, and I had a great time watching it. I have already started re-watching it! This is a 10 out of 10 and a banging way to start off the new year!

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Trees gives courage to the soul , so I'll be honest...

(positive : 🌿 green leaf
Negative: 🍁 red leaf )

The drama stars with Su Yi Shui the disciple of Mu Qing Ge the demoness , killing her to save the world. Qingge cursed Yi Shui and her sect , so Yi Shui didn't had any choice but to offer his half core to the divine tree and help her to reborn to lift the curse. But as the story continues we get to know the reality was completely different.

**Cinematography and production**:🌿
Have to praise the cinematography cause it's really good. The production and editing team did amazing job to make it feel natural and grounded. It giving high budget Vibes. And we got sword fights, real hand to hand combat and amazing action scenes that is stunning. Not your typical xianxia hand gesture fighting ! I didn't had much expectations from it but LOTDT gave a pleasant surprise.
The costumes and makeup is not overly done either so , it's pleasant to eyes. No whitewash, no flashy set and you can feel how carefully they created the setup .

**Male lead**🌿
I liked the male lead so far. He's smart, strong and scheming .... Su Yi Shui is that savage character who can slap or choke the annoying characters for us !
And have to say Deng Wei did amazing job in portraying Su Yi Shui.

**Female lead**🌿🍁
First time watching Julia. Her acting is admirable .She portrayed Mu Qing Ge and Xue RanRan so differently that it feels like they're different person. I developed girl crush on Mu Qing Ge. As for Xue RanRan she's your typical bubbly xianxia female lead. who can get away with anything by luck, without any consequences. Still the good thing is she improves in her cultivation .
I'm personally not a fan of childish characters. Initially I liked her but as the series continues , XRR turns into a bothersome character - like behaving like a child , forced smiling and over talking . Personally I think the voice actress's voice doesn't suits XRR at all .

**Story** 🍁
Of course we get a flashback that showed the past perfectly within 4 episodes and made us fall for Qingge too . And in ep 8 we come back to the present smoothly and the story continues .but the pace slowed down. Apparently it gives different dynamic between our leads
Flirty and badass fl x villainous ml
Bubbly fl x cold ml
Your shifu x I'm disciple
I'm shifu x you're disciple
The Plot is not completely original or unique . The storyline felt very weak compared to the production to me .
*Check*
Let me sacrifice for you, no I'll die for you ✔️
It's okay if you misunderstand me cause I'll die for you ✔️
I'll bring you back to life ✔️
ill fated main lead who has evil bone ✔️
Annoying second female lead ✔️
Obsessive second male lead ✔️
Cutesy bubbly female lead ✔️
Evil and hypocrite immortals ✔️
Clown brainless villains ✔️
Amnesia ✔️
It feels kind of mixture of all xianxia dramas specially it is showing significant similarities with "Till the end of moon".
I felt like they tried to create Dejavu effect by repeating the plot like shifu-disciple or giving similar circumstances to SYS as MQG . It works for a certain period but after that it feels draggy and boring .

** Chemistry**🌿🍁
Mu Qing Ge and Su Yi Shui's chemistry is the best part for me in this story. I loved how Mu Qing Ge cared for him and he developed crush on her. I liked the scenes when Mu Qing Ge opened the door for him , him secretly kissing her forehead...
She approached the potential devil with kind intention and tired to save him from the beginning. Unlike other xianxias where ml or fl tries to save the ill-fated person only after they fallen in love with them.
As for SYS and XRR , it is like cold ml and bubbly fl dynamic . But the chemistry between XRR and SYS feels forced to me . we got more chemistry between MQG and SYS in 4 episodes than all episodes with XRR and SYS .

**Cultivation**🌿
I love how the drama added the real xianxia novel or Donghua cultivation here . And it gives us an idea about the power system. They cultivate , practice and improves .

**Villains**🍁
The villains are one dynamic with background story. I get it that they have a hidden villain but the visible villains are like **Team Rocket**.
They have their reasons to do the evil works .But still they're unrealistic.
Given their background it was possible to add some new theme and dynamic !
Take example of Mu Ran Wu, (personal opinion)
yeah I know she's evil , selfish and beyond redemption But if you think logically,
Mu Ranwu is not heavenly gifted. she was repeatedly compared with her talented sister. From her viewpoint her sister cared about others more than her so her spirit root got destroyed . She lived in MQG's shadow, others saw her as a burden and the person she loved fall for her sister !
Then she does a lot of evil things from killing her sister to stealing her talents and identity blah blah .....yes she is annoying and dumb clown and my problem is this same "annoying unrealistic villainess trope" . Who's sole purpose is to make the "Heroine" shine !
But it was possible to make her a realistic character, there was a potential to create a decent villain who can make us feel sympathize with her .
If not then at least give her brain !?

not to mention "Wei Jiu" who is a cheap version of demon villains . He's here to get beat up by SYS and add some comedy .
These villains are giving some nice comedy....but not much threat or weightage to the plot .

**Supporting characters**🍁
I have not found a supporting character whom I can root for. They're in the plot, but they don't have much value or important roles. Let's take example of some problematic supporting characters--

Su Yu : A character I don't know what to feel about. Sometimes he feels like a nice guy and other time obsessive 2nd lead . He's shown as a smart character but as he knew both MQG and MRW he should have been able to recognize her first. Guess what ! Even people who didn't know MQG personally could recognize her. As MRW *openly showing* her true nature . But he is just *suspecting* her for more than a year!
He's obsessed with *Mu Qing Ge* he doesn't care about her change in behavior or wrong doings as long as it's *her*.

SYS' mother: she doesn't has much screen time but I felt something is wrong with her character. She physically and Emotionally abused Su Yi Shui when he was a kid ! She literally tortured him , abandoned him in snow (where he could die) . And she did it cause of his future? So he will not live a poor life ?
How many times she checked on him after he went to the prince villa ? What about her having a happy life with her lover+ child and shut the door in his face after he already became a prince and came to visit her in his birthday?
I felt it wrong how they normalized *child abuse* here .....
I can't take the fact that she *sacrificed her life* for Su Yi shui and got redemption and respect !

**Finally**🌿🍁
I have kind of love-hate relationship with "xianxia" genre . I can't tolerate dramatic xianxia tropes but I love fantasy very much. The starting was strong but as the story continued it became draggy , repetitive and lost it's initial charm !
The action scenes, costumes, visuals, production and CGI are really good . I will not say the world building is best here, but it's not bad either. As we are given a chance to explore the Mortal realm , divine realm, conscious realm, royal family, immortal-demon sects etc. Also the ost is really beautiful.
So , if you love xianxia or Wuxia you can give it a chance .Overall LOTDT is okay to me .

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Complete waste of time

This actually started out fairly well, despite the usual BL setting - it had a bit more grit, like people actually took public transportation instead of driving an obscene luxury car. It did a decent job of portraying unrequited longing.

But then a confession happened and the whole thing fell to pieces. There is nothing lazier and less satifying to watch than a story based on implausible misunderstanding. This silliness took me out of the slice-of-like atmosphere that had been set up and plopped me into a terribly written and edited slice of Swiss cheese. Once the manufactured drama is resolved, we skip around for 100 days into a relationship totally devoid of any hint of romantic chemistry or romance at all, other than a 100-day anniversary dinner which was going to go wrong in a totally predictable way.

The acting is uneven. Kim In Sung has some charm as Han Joon, but Zuho... well, he tried.

This would have worked much better if it weren't a BL - Han Joon could still be in love with Yoo Jae, but it would have been interesting if it really were unrequited love - but given Yoo Jae's family issues, he might have really needed Han Joon and found a way to make their friendship work - because they did have decent friend chemistry.

The first 4 eps were good, the next two got me a bit worried, and the final two were a real chore to get through. I really can't recomment this - it's forgetable and I doubt I'll even remember it in a few months, except for the lingering feeling of frustration.

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this drama should be the reason to stop reading the reviews and expecting alot cause of high rates and personal opinions

i appreciate they talked about imp. issue like bulling in work and cancer breast for both genders
but in general i felt mess in the story and the events during the end

it was really frustrating when the third person in the love triangle is extremely good even more than the main ML but the FL refused him for the other selfish guy

what bothered me much the part when the FL suggest they live together to choose between them
this was a real pain and made me angry

and towards the end even it's 24ep
many many things they didn't explain and totally ignore as if we should figure it out by ourselves
although it was many times boring in such a worthless events

i dislike ... although i'm a huge fan for hyo jin & jung suk i really dislike and frustrated
but i should admit it has many very touchy and fluffy moments

good luck for those who want to give this mess a chance

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Where there is love, there are miracles

The plot was interesting. It might not have been something completely new, but it had some interesting plot twists that I did not expect. The first 8-9 episodes are happening in the past, before we jump into the present for the remaining few episodes. I like the fact that the distinction between past and present is very clear. There is also a very clear reason why the jump happens, and it’s not just there.

The story did seem rushed at times. There were a lot of unrealistic scenes. I know a lot of it was done to add dramatics to the plot, but it just made me cringe. Like one of the first scenes is Fan Ze Rui blackmailing Bai Zong Yi to take care of him otherwise he will frame him for murder. No respecting court will convict someone by only what Fan Ze Rui had on Bai Zong Yi. Not to mention he could have easily gone to the police and told them about the crazy man who is blackmailing him.

The OST was nice and catchy. I think the cinematography was okay, but I was bothered by how bright some scenes were. They almost blurred details and edges of the faces with the brightness. Some cuts between the scenes were not the best either.

Fan Ze Rui & Bai Zong Yi: the two of them are an interesting pairing. Bai Zong Yi is very hardworking, a good student and brother, he is someone you can rely on. And Fan Ze Rui appears to be quite similar to him in those aspects as well. The two of them do come from very different backgrounds, but that doesn’t seem to cause any problems between the two. If anything, it almost seems like Fan Ze Rui is used to taking care of himself on his own. They truly loved each other. Bai Zong Yi lost a lot in order to be able to have a relationship with Fan Ze Rui. He lost it not even being certain that the relationship would ever be possible. And Fan Ze Rui got off too easy. After everything that has happened and knowing that he kept a certain lie up for who knows how long doesn’t sit right with me. Yes, Bai Zong Yi made the decision to sacrifice so much for Fan Ze Rui because he loved him. But I also think there was more Fan Ze Rui could have done once things improved. There should have been more begging once we get to the present. The actors had great chemistry and were very expressive with their eyes. And I really liked that.

To address the elephant in the room, Fan Ze Rui is five(?) years older that Bai Zong Yi. When the two first get involved with each other, the latter is 17 years old, still underaged. I am usually not a fan of such age gaps as such relationships are not something we should promote in real life. There is also often no reason why the younger person couldn’t be a few years older. However, there was a very good reason as to why Bai Zong Yi had to be underaged. It played a big role in the plot and in how things turned out. I still think there are certain thigs that should have been avoided, like Fan Ze Rui working as Bai Zong Yi’s teacher for some time. And I also didn’t like the few non-consensual scenes between the two. I liked even less the way those were handled. So it’s not the age gap that is bothering me, but how they went about it.

Chen Yi & Ai Di: Ai Di is a cutie with deadly intentions. He might be my favorite character. Whenever he was in the scene, all the attention was on him. And the blond looks so good on him. He is fierce, loyal and reliable, but also slightly guarded. He has loved Chen Yi for years. He has been hurt many times, pushed to the side by the man that was his everything. Chen Yi is someone who seems to be set in his ways and unwilling to change unless he really gets shaken up. At least that’s how I saw his obsession with being in love with the boss and seeing Ai Di only as a friend, even when he was acting like a jealous and possessive boyfriend. It wasn’t until certain things happened that he opened his eyes to what was right in front of him. The two actors had amazing chemistry. I also really liked their height difference. It made them look cuter together, especially with Ai Di being such a little spitfire and Chen Yi just putting up with it.

I liked some other side characters, but I don’t think we really got to see that much of them. Chen Yi’s helper was fun, I liked how he was trying to teach his boss how to win over his crush. Bai Zong Yi’s father and sister were nice too, I liked that they supported him no matter what.

I didn’t really like how cartoonish the villain was. If he’s some sort of gang leader, at least make him slightly scary and not kindergartener safe. The lollipops were just too ridiculous for me to take the man seriously.

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Same thing but done better and for a modern audience

The main reason I am giving this such a high score is because I watched almost 27 hours of content without getting bored. Instead of feeling tired, I just kept wanting to watch the next and next episode. That alone says a lot.

Female Lead and Character Growth:
Secondly, I really liked how it went against the cliché. Instead of a weak FL or a strong-to-weak FL, we get an FL who starts with a weak personality but gradually grows into someone who holds her head high and becomes a boss lady.
What I appreciated most is that the change was not sudden. It was a gradual acceptance. She starts thinking, I do not want to rely on my parents, I want to do something on my own. You can see the seeds of that mindset from the very beginning, and later they bloom into a beautiful flower. That progression felt natural and satisfying.

Music
I would give the music a really high rating. The songs fit the drama well, and I especially loved the intro.
That said, the last episode ticked me off a bit.
Spoilers: they played all four songs back to back with a compilation of what the characters were doing for almost 20 minutes. That felt excessive.
Still, overall the music was really good.

Visuals and Cinematography
The VFX was pretty good. At times it was blatantly obvious they were using green screen, but other times the camera angles were perfect. During emotionally intense moments, the framing of shots was golden and really elevated the scenes.

Story and Ending
The story is pretty cliché in a sense, but the clichés are well hidden, so it never feels too predictable. I was also glad they did not use the annoying tropes like we met in childhood, or the MC having trauma that the FL heals with saint-like tendencies.
Towards the last episode, I genuinely wondered what they were going to do because they basically wrapped everything up by episode 35. Then episode 36 happened and I was humorously surprised.
Spoilers: first we get a 2 year jump, then a 10 year jump, then another 3 year jump. I was like, what is happening. It was completely left field compared to my usual expectations of dramas like this. Normally you get a wedding scene with all characters appearing. Instead these guys just speedran the wedding. I definitely would have preferred that. But honestly, because of how unexpected and funny it was compared to where my expectations were, I give it a pass.
I also entirely do not get the character of the SML. You like someone, then you berate them because their parents are richer than yours. You take the side of a childhood friend you do not even like against the person you claim to like. Then you come back saying it is unfair because you missed opportunities with her. Brother what was that.
Other than him, everything was fine. Not perfect, but fine. I did feel like there was no strong secondary cast. They were all just going in and out. First the college group, then the unnecessary step-daughter arc which never got a conculsion, then the office colleagues who did not matter and just became tag-alongs for the FL. So yeah, the secondary cast except the FLs family was basically non-existent, I really loved the charcater of jang rui, and the actor he did a a really good job at potraying this fun charcater.

Final Thoughts
Strong binge value, satisfying character growth, great music, good cinematography, and a story that plays with clichés instead of being trapped by them. Not perfect, but memorable and enjoyable throughout.

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Somewhere between decent and lukewarm

The Good:
⌲ Park Shin Hye's smiles (especially compared to her younger self)
⌲ There is some decent comedy here and there.
⌲ There are no triangles.
⌲ The drama mostly delivers in the complication-free fluff genre. (and I'm all for these)
⌲ Yoon Park in a kind role (I've only seen him in really annoying villainous, or grey roles before)

The Average:
⌲ The breakup (As far as noble reason breakups go this one is not bad. )
⌲ The chemistry between the leads was whelming.
⌲ The villain (messy pointless plots, but at least a relatively tame villain character)
⌲ The medical stuff is very poorly researched. (luckily there is not that much focus on this)
⌲ Hong Ran

The Bad:
⌲ Park Hyung Sik has matured too much to pull off the aegyo and a childish adult character in general. (not that we need aegyo in our lives lol)
⌲ The team should have used child actors in the high school flashbacks, every scene looked jarring like this..
⌲ The final episode was very boring, filled with some ridiculous product placements & very few swoony scenes (car, hug the couch, buy the bag)
⌲ What was the point of ML's parents being in the drama???
⌲ The drama is somewhat poorly written without much planning involved.
⌲ Adding to the previous point Nam Ha Neul is basically a completely different person later on, where did her spunk go?

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The cases are twisted, but the love is sweet.

After watching Coroner's Diary, I can't decide whether to rate it 8.5 or 9 out of 10, but I do understand why this drama is so popular. Not only is it a nice blend of romance, crime, and mystery, but it also doesn't shy away from exposing the darker side of humanity, delving into the uncomfortable truths and hidden secrets that society tends to turn a blind eye to. While the themes can be heavy and depressing at times, the writers are able to consistently and effectively lighten the mood with a balanced amount of warmth, sweetness, and humor.

What I liked:
• Strong protagonists: Shen Wan and Yan Chi are both genuinely good people. They are also mature, intelligent, and supportive of each other, and there is no angst or misunderstandings between them. They have so much trust and respect for each other that not once do either one of them question the other person's capability or character. I am usually not a fan of love at first sight or instalove, but I make an exception for them. They are the greenest of green flags when it comes to couples in cdramas.
• Engaging side characters: They are charming, loyal, and fun to watch — a much needed and stark contrast to the seriousness of the crimes in the drama. The story will not be what it is without them.
• High production value: I love the attention to detail the production put into the costumes, sets, and props. I'm not sure what the budget is for this drama, but everything appears lavish and meticulously crafted. The cinematography in this drama is also aesthetically pleasing. Every scene is like a painting.
• Ethical storytelling: Although the horrors committed against these victims are some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, Shen Wan always treats the victims with dignity and respect. She gives a voice to the voiceless. To her, the pursuit of justice is more important than the chase for prestige. This prevents the cases from being overly sensationalized, which I really appreciate as a viewer.

What I did not like:
• Conveniently placed clues and easy cases: Not all, but some of the cases require us as viewers to overlook the convenient placement of the clues and the ease with which the cases are solved. They are still enjoyable, but predictable.
• Pacing: A few of the episodes in the fourth quarter are quite slow and uninteresting, but thankfully the final episodes are exciting and fulfilling, giving us a satisfying ending.
• Comical villains: Towards the end, the villains become theatrical. They even have scenes where they perform exaggerated evil monologues, topped off with their own manic laughter. This makes them seem more comical than threatening, which I find disappointing.

Even with its flaws though, Coroner's Diary is still a great watch. Not every drama needs to be a critically acclaimed and flawless masterpiece in order for it to be enjoyable. Sometimes we watch dramas simply because we like the endearing characters in the stories and we want an entertaining escape from reality — and that is okay. Coroner's Diary checks those boxes for me. It is fun, intriguing, and an overall positive experience.

Coroner's Diary can be described as a cross between Apothecary Diaries and Bones. Viewers who desire a little crime and mystery in their romance will find this drama to be compelling. However, those who are sensitive to graphic content — such as gore, corpses / human remains, human trafficking, mass graves, domestic violence, SA against women and children, and necrophilia — should approach this drama with caution, as many of the cases in this drama involve such crimes against humanity.

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