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1001 Reincarnations
This was put on my list because of Hani Kezi as I had seen her in Ultimate Note and she impressed me. I wanted to see what she'd be like in other genres. I was unfamiliar with the rest of the cast. This was a different type of reincarnation story than what I have seen and it didn't have a "Final Destination" vibe which I don't like. It was 1001 Reincarnations and in each episode to boot.Pros: I enjoyed HK's appearance here as Ashina Yueling or YL. The ML or SY who is quite new as he just graduated from the Beijing Drama Academy a few days ago, but he was able to handle both the soft and hard aspects of his character. The martial arts were on point and that was probably my favorite portion. How many times one died or they both did started from episode one but it evolved with not just them returning to life thwarting any assassination attempts but also gave them the ability to see the future. In the end though YL I think sacrificed her life unnecessarily when the emperor was in danger as there were a zillion soldiers standing around essentially forgetting there was still an enemy in the room, the no longer supposedly working jade pendant that had brought them to life with their life blood, now needed a tear from SY for its last act that brought her back to life. I really liked the tacit understanding between the two main brothers (SY and the emperor); stupid second brother finally understood family was more important than pride in the very end. The story developed nicely; he caught feelings first but she wasn't far behind. I also like how they incorporated HK's actual national heritage into the show. HE for 3 possibly 4 couples; one with kids and one pregnant. Though I liked YL's brother and SN; I felt he was too stupid for too long and she was the brains and pants in that relationship. The costumes and the few sets were nice as was the music.
Cons: Ultimately there were really two antagonists but they weren't really giving me the vibe of pure evil. The uncle cackled and of course you know how I feel about that. I rolled my eyes and waited for his death. The general who "killed" YL was an afterthought loser and I wish they hadn't brought him in. There of course had to be a gorilla glue character (whom I ffw'd as much as possible) that was obsessed over ML but ultimately because she was poisoned, when she recovered, she forgot who he was altogether. This script had a lot of cringey aspects and the ending felt kinda rushed and all over the place. They really didn't share much about the close relationship between the emperor and SY which would have been great but I understand they had to focus on the leads and their 1001 reincarnations thanks to fate bringing them together and their pendants that were always meant to be together. I do wish YL didn't misunderstand and pout as much, that's my only gripe with her.
Would I recommend it? This is a low budget, new faces drama but it's good for when you have nothing to watch. I'm perfectly ok with it; give it a chance.
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But one thing I don't like about this dramas is BaiLu's wig
(She wearing wig because she cut her hair short when fliming Asenal Military Academy
and this drama was fliming after that)
One wig with every single scence in the dramas...really? work, sleep, dating, and even the wedding scence!
but fine, she still adorable and I love her anyway. so 10 points for BaiLu!
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STORY:
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This is definitely not a linear, progressive story-telling... Or is it?
Confused? That is the general approach in its story-telling. It will not serve you all the details in a silver platter, the build up is a deliberate messy like from episode to episode just when you have a theory in mind, it gets thrown off the window on the last scene of each episode. You will get that feeling that you know what is the story but somehow it does not fit watch you are watching and yet you keep watching it?
That is the allure part. At the end of episode most probably you will be scratching your head. You might been tempted to watch episode 1 again to check you are watching the very same series. It just makes no sense, and you will be left wonering: Have I been click-baited? But that is the beauty and originality of this series.
This is a jigsaw puzzle where pieces of it are given to you in terms of what is being said, how they dressed, and even the hairstyle. It is all in the details.
Episode 5 is the big reveal. If you are patient enough and reach that episode, you will get an idea what has been happening all along. Both Rossi and Meen raised their acting level skill here, especially the former. Been a while since I felt what they are feeling. Watch out for that runny nose and teary eyes!
Alas! The finale. It will not only play with your head but also with your heart. But after that roller-coaster episode 6 ride, your heart can take it easy.
ACTING/CAST
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Rossi as Mork - His main asset is his eyes, there are moments that as if they are the ones talking to you. This is not his first project with MindTrio and if you got the chance to watch "Once In Memory". There are 2, each short movie showing one side of the characters. Rarely I watched those kind of series/movie. It is such a breath of fresh air.
Meen as Tiew - Don't be fooled with this classy clothes, captivating smile, as it can break your heart in an instant! He started in Calculating Love a 2020 project of MindTrio and when this aired, he also appears in Oh My Sunshine Night. Honestly, I can not remember his part in the 2020 series either his role was not this significant or I was too focused on Quin and
New - got to watch this fellow also in Calculating Love, the curly hair, imperfect teeth, who acts awkwardly and yet you can feel his confidence does not scare to bare it.
MUSIC
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Nothing significant that could stick to the mind
REWATCH VALUE
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For a mystery type of story, once you figure the answer, then it is no longer a mystery. You might watch to check if there were hints and pieces that were given away early on. But I generally do not re-watch.
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Other than that, the story was cute and I enjoyed the love story, although it was predictable. As for Jaemin, I wasn't really expecting him to be good, but his performance was decent, although he didn't give me the cold male lead vibes. Rather, he was cute and the kind you wanted to protect.
So, 6 out of 10 for this short drama.
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Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre
12 people found this review helpful
The plot was lost somewhere along the road to redemption.
Heaven Sword is one of my all time favorite Jin Yong stories. While this 2019 adaption is overall done well and quite watchable, I am still disappointed because the story is so gripping and epic that properly executed it could have and should have been a 10. I feel that way about most of Jin Yong's stories and I am time and again disappointed with C-drama's inability to turn the gift of a fantastic storyline into a kick-ass 10.The first problem is that riding on the gift of a great storyline, the production team was very sloppy with the cast and the casting of the key roles. It was obvious from the start that many of the lead actors struggled to get into character: Zhang Cuisan and Zhao Min notably. And while I think Zeng Shunxi is a very promising young actor, at 21 he is too much of a boy still to fully pull off Wuji. He wasn't bad but his chemistry with both female leads was little more than warm and friendly. That's just not good enough as Wuji's two main love interests are bad-ass, devious and willful women; a handful for any man much less a boy. To make matters worse, they saddled him with the worst man bun that highlighted an unflattering roundness to his features - many times I thought the Pillsbury doughboy was going to burst right out of him! It wasn't till the much later episodes they fixed his look in a good way. In addition to the main leads, poor chemistry between the couples is a consistent theme throughout this show. Whoever paired up the actors must surely be the matchmaker from hell. The initial flat romance between Zhang Cuisan and Yin Susu almost made me give up on this early on but it somehow clicked once the fantastic child actor playing young Wuji was brought into the mix.
While it seems I will still have to wait for a version of this epic story with the A-list cast it deserves, some of the roles were played by quite strong performances (Yangsiu, Zhou Zhirou, Xie Xun, Song Qingsu) while the others were good enough (Wuji, Zhao Min) that the uninspired ones (Xiao Chao etc) were drowned out and it still came together well enough to be quite enjoyable. And the action was quite good although they went a little bit overboard with the slow motion that made the many good kung fu scenes a lot less exciting. While it is definitely technically much better polished than my best loved 1986 version, the A-list 1986 cast wins hands down when it comes to breathing life into the main characters.
While this version broadly sticks to the original storyline, it digresses meaningfully from it in a very subtle way. This is a more politically correct version that dials down the cruelty of many of the darker characters and deals with them compassionately, offering them a path to redemption. In the case of Song Qingsu, it was well done because he is just a weak character that strayed off the wrong path. But in the case of Zhou Zhirou, I really didn’t see the point – this is an ambitious, selfish and cruel character that is innately much more bad than good, it is fundamental to the plot. Zhu Xudan is an actress that is naturally blessed with a mal-contented expression – she would have been an even more brilliantly wicked Zhou Zhirou if they didn’t try to make her slightly nicer. But what was even more criminal was they kind of tuned down Zhao Min, one of my all time favorite Jin Yong heroines by making her less sassy towards the end to the point of being almost like the clingy and pathetically devoted Xiao Chao (yuck). It was as if they were flirting with the idea of a shock alternative ending where Wuji ends up with the Zhirou and then thankfully chickened out at the last minute. Two thumbs down is all that I can say. And they didn’t stop with Zhirou and Qingsu, they pretty much made excuses for and/or tried to make all the bad guys slightly less bad. Boring and tiresome after awhile and it had the overall impact of diluting the passion and vehemence of Jin Yong’s characters both good and evil.
Of course all of this greater focus on character development and whitewashing comes at the cost of extra time focus on unnecessary characters. But again, another travesty – there are so many C-dramas with shallow plots that are dragged out over 60 episodes but this really engrossing story was all squeezed into 50? The natural consequence of this was they just threw the whole plot under the bus. They cheated by counting on the fact this is a well known story - after all it is one of Jin Yong’s most popular works. So it rushes through many cursory character introductions and transitions that didn’t make the most sense that I would feel much sympathy for anyone who didn’t already know the story in advance. This entire epic tale that tragically spans so many lives and events over such a long time is brilliantly tied together by a grand conspiracy. The complicated plot unfolds around the unraveling of this conspiracy that among other things led to the misunderstanding between the sects and Wuji’s parents tragic deaths. All of that was pretty much lost because the production team deemed it more important to help us empathize with Zhou Zhirou? Really? It came at the cost of rushing through many key parts of uncovering the intrigue. At the end I happened to blink and almost even missed the entire denouement it was dealt with so almost dismissively. The scriptwriters did Jin Yong and us a grave injustice in this matter. Shame on the production team. Really.
Overall this was still a very polished effort but it didn’t really live up to the heart of Jin Yong’s epic story. While the plot was lost along the path to redemption, it is still very watchable and one of the better efforts out there. And it is still Jin Yong and that beats a lot of the no substantive storyline 2019 new dramas I have skimmed through so far (as of June 2019).
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After giving the first season a high rating (9.0), I was hoping that I could give Busted 2 a similar rating but no. And here's why:
(I'll try to keep this as unspoiler-y as possible)
* The Stories/Cases: The Cases were nice for the most part but a bit repetitive like how they used the same premise twice for different cases. There also was SO MUCH DRIVING. I don't mind if you send them different places but all that effort and then they only solve 1-2 puzzles at each place? What a waste. Also, they had a whole season culminating in a honestly thrilling finale only to basically never mention it again after Episode 1. Yes, some people get "recycled" or have some kind of impact on the story but still.
* The Cast: (Here's where they lost the most points)
I already knew that Kwang Soo wouldn't be part of it, so I am not subtracting points for that. My Main Problems are two in particular - while I know that everyone has a role to fill, static roles get boring REALLY fast. Sadly I have seen very little change in their respective roles. Jong Min is the Stupid One, Sehun is the Competitive One and Jae Wook is the One that should but doesn't (if you know what I mean) - and that's exactly what leads to problem number 2. Min Young is intelligent, she's clever, everything fine and dandy. But her being seemingly the only clever one does a serious disservice to the rest of the team. At nearly every puzzle she is either the one to solve it or the one that gets called when someone gets stuck. It gets boring and annoying really REALLY fast and doesn't put her in the best light. Another thing that kind of irked me was the fact that, although doing very little himself, Jae Suk was nagging the others whenever he got the chance - about Jong Min saying something dumb, about Sehun being competitive, about his own perceived intelligence, he always found something to nag the others about. Also, Busted 2 is an especially LOUD show this time around - every time something unexpected happens, the ladies (and some of the gentlemen) screech or shout into your ears, giving you tinnitus.
* The Ending: Oh My God! Please, let's not talk about the ending. Apart from it being pretty obvious how it all is gonna end, it was just unsatisfying. I was hoping for some twists and turns and while there were twists, they couldn't soften the bad decisions that were made regarding that ending. The Ending could have been stellar, sadly it was more like a soft fart in a tornado just to keep the door open for a potential season 3.
All in All it is a fine show but I simply expected more after season 1...
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“A Rare Gem Among Countless Imitations”
"Luminosity Behind the Palace" is the English title of this Chinese mini-drama. The phrase itself feels poetic and metaphorical, chosen to evoke elegance, mystery, and transformation within a royal setting.Meaning Behind the Title
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"Luminosity" suggests light, brilliance, or enlightenment — symbolizing hope, truth, or progressive change.
"Behind the Palace" implies that this light or transformation happens not in the public eye, but in the hidden spaces of power — within the royal court or the personal journeys of the characters.
Together, the title reflects the drama’s central theme: a quiet revolution led by a noblewoman (The FL but also the King’s mother) and the King himself, working for change from within the palace system rather than overthrowing it.
Themes & Storytelling
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Most Chinese costume dramas (except for those involving reincarnation, fantasy, or heavenly elements) often carry a message of reform — showing how change can happen within the system without breaking its core. This drama follows that tradition.
Pay special attention to the dialogue — the writers use meaningful phrases and well-known quotes from the philosopher Mencius, such as:
“The people are the most precious, the state comes next, and the ruler is the least important of all.”
The story takes its time to build subtle romance, mutual understanding, and the shared vision for a better state between the male lead (ML) and female lead (FL). However, it does move a little quickly when it comes to depicting palace plots and revolts.
Despite the dramatic sacrifices of the King’s mother and the King himself for the sake of reform, the drama delivers an important message:
true reform can succeed from within, without widespread bloodshed.
Revolutions are often costly and rarely succeed, but reform from within allows meaningful change while minimizing suffering — in this story, only a few members of the monarchy pay the price, sparing the people at large.
Acting & Performances
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The acting is excellent. Both YCY (the King), SLY (the FL), and YZ are not only visually stunning but also perform their roles with great emotional depth. Fan Zhixin’s performance, in particular, stands out as extraordinary.
Final Thoughts
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Overall, Luminosity Behind the Palace is a thoughtful, meaningful drama with beautiful acting and a powerful message about reform, sacrifice, and hope. While the pacing could have been more balanced in some places, it is still a highly recommended watch for anyone who enjoys palace dramas with substance and emotional depth.
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I've seen Prince Suyang's plotting and scheming in The Princess' Man and the bloodshed that happened in order for him to ascend to the throne in place of his young nephew. The brutal slaughtering of all those who opposed him as well as the innocents who were offed by association was no less horrific to watch here and I had tears in my eyes as I watched the coup unfold.
This is one of the strong points of this movie: the way it can makes you feel numb one moment and then filled with emotion at the next. It got me in the heart and it really hurt for the characters.
Physiognomy (or face-reading) is an almost extinct practice today because many people don't believe that so much could be told about a person from his features or the thought that our fates are (for the most part) fixed and unchangeable. I think it's possible to read faces and determine some of people's qualities if you're skilled enough but I don't believe it can help tell the future. That's stretching it.
That explains why I was a little disappointed that there were a lot of exaggerations when it came to Nae-Kyung's abilities (which depended more on estimations than anything else). I couldn't fully understand some of the characters' reasoning and motives as it hasn't been clearly explained in the movie and that pulled me from the magic of the story sometimes. I have to mention, though, the amazing cinematography and directing that took my breath away with every scene.
I can now understand the reason behind the hype surrounding this movie but it fell short from being THE movie for me.
(And, am I the only one who thought the whole scene where Prince Suyang first appears in full evil glory awesome?)
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Art is way better and his character is too good. He is just like durian fruit. Very hard at outside but very sweet inside heart. Prim is really matured and understanding. She does anything to save their friendship. But bcoz of Puen’s confused and indecisive character made their friendship to spoil. Still I want to blame Foon more bcoz she is the one who is soo childish and wanted to do whatever she can, just to get what she wants.
Poo is a super girl who always stays and loves her friends. Poo’s boyfriend is super cool. Those starting episodes where he was acting like bully we all almost got scared. Then it was a 360 change in his character.
For those who wants to see some good friendship scenes you can get it in this shows for few episodes. It is simple that friends should never date or love between friendship. Bcoz it will ruin the life long relationship called friendship.
Acting - good as far as I think.
Music - nice too
Story - could have been better
Rewatch - if u don’t have any good shows to watch, and then you can watch it again
Overall 7 from myself
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This review may contain spoilers
The series that will keep you hooked until the very end.
This has to be the series to watch if you're looking for something interesting, something that will keep you watching until the end and not skip. This has to be one of my favorite dramas; I've seen it several times and it never gets old; the story hooked me from the first scene. All of the characters are interesting, and you'll doubt everything until it all comes together. The main character is superbly written, and Nam Koong Min's performance is flawless. All of the actors did an excellent job portraying the characters; it may have made me cry and suspect many times, but it is the best series for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Lives in Your Mind Rent Free
Honestly, this show was so pure and fun! The cast was amazing, and it was so great to see them interact with each other and approach each other with purer and more innocent intentions compared to dating shows that feature adults.The structure itself was very well planned and written. You could see the stark transition from when they were at the 19 school and when they arrived at the 20 house. It made you want to do that with your friends, or wish you had done it when you were that age. It made you immerse yourself in the cast's stories and lives. The whole show was really well edited and seemed to portray their lives pretty naturally and mostly as it were (although I wish I could've seen more of the unreleased moments of the couples and Seo Yeong because she seemed really fun at the end and in the interviews).
Each of the cast members was charming in their own way and seemed genuinely nice. They obviously made mistakes, but most of them quickly owned up to it and even the rejections were handled very maturely. My personal favorites were Jungyun, who was very clumsy and awkward but seemed very genuine and innocent, and Heeji, who was so bright, cheerful, and fun while always supporting all her friends. Pyeongseok's surprising rizz, Jiwoo's unexpected maturity, Yerin's funniness, Sangwon's kindness, and the other members' personalities also definitely carried the show.
Also, shout out to the panel who would voice my thoughts and bring up things I hadn't thought of each episode. They added something meaningful, even if it was just excited squeals, every single episode, which isn't an easy feat.
After every single episode, I was thinking about the show and looked forward to the next episode—literally lives in your mind rent free. I'll definitely be looking forward to, hopefully, a season 2 and more news from the cast! It was my favorite dating show ever, and would definitely be willing to rewatch it. Also, SPOILER WARNING BELOW!
Love how Jungyun Jiwoo and Heeji Pyeongseok are still dating! Hope that both relationships go well (hopefully forever?).
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Yes, break my heart one more time Korea -.-
Guys, I am writing this as I sob. Not joking. It's been an hour since I finished it and the tears keep coming out. I might die of dehydration while writing this review and I apologise in advance for the typos.It's the first time in a long time that I watch something without looking at my phone (didn't even realise I had left it in the bathroom) or without skipping forward. I am a sucker for sweet high school stories that take place in the past, but the way this movie was filmed, the nostalgia factor (present even in the filter they chose), the lovable characters and simplicity of the plot just did it for me. This is exactly what I want from a high school drama; not being a high schooler anymore myself there is always that longing feeling towards the past and this movie definitely shoved it in my face in a very beautiful way. The actors did an amazing job at not making it sound cringy or over the top. And that ending will stay with me for a long time, I am sure of that.
I love stories like this: simple yet effective. It might not be all that to other viewers but I do have a tendency to love high school stories (especially if they take place in the 90's or early 2000's) so that probably contributes to my rating. After so many years of watching K-Dramas, it is refreshing to find something that still makes my heart beat fast and makes me feel SOMETHING. I am not a movie person as they often leave me traumatises (lol, this one kinda did too) but I am so glad I watched this movie. I feel like it took something off my chest? Like I really needed to cry and this movie allowed me to do it haha
Oh well, don't expect anything incredibly revolutionary from this story when going into it but I am sure you will at least have a good time with the characters (even in the end).
Am I still a human with feelings and capable of crying like a baby? Yes, I am. Thank you 20th century girl for the confirmation.
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!
HE WANTED TO SEE 21ST CENTURY BORA GUYS I AM SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY IN A FETAL POSITION YOU GUYS DONT UNDERSTAND HE WAS SO SWEET AND HAD SUCH A WARM VOICE AND HEART AND HE WAS SO CUTE WITH HIS BROTHER WHY WHY WHY THE HELL BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT MAKES THE MOVIE MEMORABLE AND EVEN MORE NOSTALGIC BUT GUYS WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW-
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Weepy all too common story line.
A teenagely, weepy, naive story. Although starting out rather good it quickly deteriorated into uninteresting, like unfortunately many Korean dramas nowadays.Main male actor has no character. The other two main male actors have much more charisma.
In Korean dramas the person contesting for the "heroines" love often like in this drama depicted as someone she can hardly stand. It makes the story very one sided. Reality isn't just black and white. Most of the times it's just different shades of grey...
Don't know how can be so popular. Think it's mainly because the female lead used to be a "cute" child star.
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1. Acting
2. Characters
3. Directing
4. Story
The acting in this drama is stellar across the board. I mean really, really amazing. I already new Kim Kang Woo was one of the best actors in Korea. (Ever seen The Railroad, no? Well then go find it, now!) But he takes it to another level in this playing the antagonist Chae Do Woo. This is such a unique and intricate character, not at all your cookie-cutter bad guy (for a perfect example of a cookie-cutter, 1-dimentional bad guy, see Jo Gwan Woong in currently airing Gu Family Book). For a drama to be truly great, the bad guy has to be as interesting as the good guy. This bad guy is way more interesting than the good guy. He is definitely right there with Lee Jin Pyo (City Hunter) as one of the most interesting bad guys ever. And over time you almost start to want to feel for him, almost.
I could go on all day about KKW, but the rest of the cast is just as good. From Park Ki Woong's autistic Mazinger Hunter (props to him because playing that roll had to be exhausting with all of his twitches and odd eye movements) to Jang Hang Sun, who absolutely kills it as Do Woo and Eun Soo's father -- everyone is great.
But I have to really express my love and sadness over Park Yong Ha's performance. I had never seen him act before this and never heard any of his music either, but I was just blown away with his acting and wanted to see more. So it was with a very heavy heart that I found out he had killed himself not all that long after this drama aired. I cried when I found this out because he was so talented and it was such a great loss to the world. But at least there is this amazing performance to remember him by.
The acting may be my favorite thing about this drama but even the best acting can be ruined by bad directing. The PD, Yoon Sung Sik also directed Gaksital and I'm not sure what else, but I'll be watching whatever he does from now on because the directing here is excellent. A great director doesn't get in the way of the story and the acting and let's the drama unfold organically, and in some cases should present us with some really beautiful cinematography, and that is what PD Yoon did. This drama has some truly beautiful shots and no glaring directorial errors or jarring transitions. One scene I particularly enjoy (without giving anything away) is when Seo Kyung Ah and Chairman Chae are entering a long dark hallway to go see some of his business associates. The way that brief scene is lit and directed is just soooooo cool!
Finally, what good is great acting and directing without a decent story to tell and witty dialogue? This drama has all that and a bag of dried squid. The story is so complex and compelling. I found myself always on the edge of my seat wondering when the next shoe would drop. This isn't just a revenge drama. It's a revenge drama that becomes a redemption story and is laced with philosophical themes that keep you thinking long after it's over.
As for the music, I don't pay much attention to OSTs so if the music doesn't annoy me and they know how to use silence properly, then I score the music high. I hate it when there is music playing (and loudly) at inappropriate times, and Story of a Man does a good job of tempering the soundtrack so it is not distracting.
I gave this an 8 rewatch value only because there are a lot of twists and surprises that won't be as fun the second time around. That said, there are also a lot of really neat details that I think one would only see on a second viewing so it would be worth it. This drama is intricate and pays so much attention to detail. The details are something that really set it apart from most dramas.
In conclusion, watch this drama, NOW! It is just so perfect. And it probably would be a good drama for a newbie who's used to American tv too because of the high quality production and acting.
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Flummoxed
After several attempts to finish this Drama, I finally made it to the last episode. For want of a better word. dazed or confused, that's how I felt. Nothing made sense and nothing seemed to flow and as if I was watching several different short stories with the same leads and setting. So who was Rhong Zhi? If the writer wanted us to guess and interpret for ourselves, then she has failed with me. Then there's the princess, who was supposed to be really smart, but then turns out....... The ending, what was that all about??? Was it a dream? I thought I have seen a lot of bad dramas but this one left me flummoxed!I was determined to finish this drama only because I thought the two young ML and FL were great! I am looking forward to their dramas in the future. But the script just let the entire drama down. I am wondering if the script is written by a team and then put together without editing it, or written by a writer with multiple split personalities?
A time waster... if you want to watch it.. by all means, prepare to use your fast forward button....
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