Reviews

What was that ending?

No doubt I loved this, but it is such a missed potential. I really wished they focused even slightly more on the fl's twin sister, like if you are including that in the plot add something to it, they just left it there.
The ending was so open like what was the point? I loved the cases, it was really interesting, the other couple was amazing too, but the ML and FL relationship was just touched upon, given the age gap and everything I get it, but they left it open without a proper closure. It could have developed a little or maybe not have started at all, since they started it I think q little progress couldn't have hurt.

Overall, the cast and plots I loved it.

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The Insidious Crown Prince's Plan, A Thousand Faces Ryan Cheng

I watched the series with great curiosity. I especially liked the production and direction. They shot some beautiful scenes, and the action scenes were also great. The direction was excellent from beginning to end. However, I can't say the same about the script. There were a lot of illogicalities. There were just "I did it, it happened" beginnings and endings. There were a lot of inconsistencies. There were a lot of character manipulations. Ridiculous things were done. If I tried to list them all, it would probably take 10 pages. There were so many. Screenwriters generally don't pay any attention to the characters they bring to life. They make a sadistic general look so smooth. You're left wondering, "What happened to this guy?" The character of Su Mu Yang changed 10 times. He was good. He went bad. Suddenly, he became sadistic. He became a schemer. He was incapable of any physical activity. He became a warrior. He was a prince and a king. He was a humanitarian and a killer. He was a gentleman and a vengeful man. So many changes. Characters don't change that much. They may be angry, hurt, sad, and devastated, but a person who doesn't kill people and loves humanity would never attempt murder. Character is unique. Your temperament can change. Not your character. Let this be my advice to screenwriters.
Let's say you could have killed the leader, but you don't kill him when he's within your grasp. You spend a few more episodes trying to kill him, and then you kill him. These are very obvious. At least don't put him under your control. If you were going to kill him, why didn't you? In other words, mistakes were made to make the episode last longer.
It's unacceptable for a crown prince to bow down and submit to a normal prince. It goes against all traditions. Such things happen in private. However, when there are people among the people or soldiers, it's impossible for a normal prince to act as a fait accompli to a crown prince. To step on him in front of a soldier. According to tradition, a crown prince represents the King. He is the King's representative. How can one soldier submit to another rather than to him? When the soldier orders the prince to be arrested immediately, the crown prince's order is like the king's. It's carried out immediately. In this series, these things are completely eliminated, the crown prince thing is over, unconventional acts are committed, and episodes are shot with the slogan "I want it this way." In a disciplined country like China, where such things are strictly adhered to, this is unacceptable. I have no connection to it; even I find it strange.
The relationship between the Yao Queen and the sorcerer isn't well-crafted either. It's as if it's unclear what's going on. It's ambiguous.
He didn't become the Emperor of Tianjin. Ni Da Hong is perhaps the last person one would consider the Emperor. I don't want to criticize the actor, but in my opinion, the role of emperor didn't suit him at all; he couldn't play it. I didn't like it. You might say that emperors weren't handsome or well-mannered. On the contrary, they were ugly. That's not the point. An emperor intimidates his subjects with his posture, dignity, and actions. When his subjects see him, they're afraid, fearful, or they love and adore him. She needs to exude such charm, such dignity, such presence. Kings may be ugly, but their posture and actions make it clear they are kings. They impress the people.
Tan Kai was the actor who best suited the role. The role of General Li Wei suited him perfectly. I really liked it.
Our lead actor, Ryan Cheng, especially, played several characters at once, with a lot of movement and expression, and delivered a wonderful performance without a trace of his stagnant demeanor. Congratulations. I really liked it. Song Yi, though not as much as him, had the presence of mind of a general, but did the role suit her? No. She's tall and well-built, but she's very thin. I wish more robust and physically fit actors would play these female generals. For some reason, they always choose thin, unsteady actresses.
Bi Wen Jun was excellent in the role of the crown prince. I liked it. Shi Ce suited the role perfectly; he played it beautifully. Congratulations. Darren Chen was very sweet. His role was quite small, but he played it well. He suited her. Ji Xiao Bing was excellent as the evil prince. The villainous role suited her well. Wei Zi Xin was also very good as the sorceress. Her image was beautiful. It suited her. I liked it. Zhao Yuan Yuan was very good as the empress. She played a cruel, sneaky, scheming queen beautifully. Well done. Du Chun suited her as the emperor. Rain Lu, Liu Yu Hong, and Wu Yu Heng were the ones that caught my eye.

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Arthur Chen.. has made me a believer ?

First off.. just to let you know none of my reviews will give out spoilers. My reviews are based on whether or not i personally enjoyed the show. And what i liked and disliked about each drama i watch.

Lets begin 💜
I really took a leap on this show becuz for some weird reason i never found Arthur Chen attractive and his shows interesting. I avoided him like the plague. But wow.. thank goodness i took this chance. This show was so good. Plus Arthur Chen looked so handsome in this and so did Gao Han. THIS is what i call a beautifully executed love story. The ML and FL no fall outs.. no misunderstandings and splitting up for years etc.. their love was so organic and flowed without conflicts. These kinds of love stories really make your heart want to explode. Every romantic scene got me screaming and giddy. Which there was so many!! Their love conquered 3 lifetimes. Watch this if you want a love story that makes you want to root for the couple all the way 💜

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If you liked “Faith (the Doctor),” then you will really enjoy this drama.

From the very start, I noticed many similarities between the two.

The female leads (FL) in both dramas have a similar acting style, but I found this FL more credible and less annoying. Yes, they pull their hair in both, but it only happens once in this drama. They share the same facial expressions and exhibit a childish, clueless demeanor. However, since she portrays a 19-year-old and then a 29-year-old here, it feels more acceptable to see her naive and innocent attitude. In contrast, in "Faith," she was around 30 but acted like a teenager throughout, which felt ridiculous.

The male lead (ML) in this drama is 12 years older than the FL in real life, whereas in "Faith," the FL was older than the ML by 10 years. I did not mind. Both ML are really great actors.

There are no kisses and barely any hugs in this drama, just like "Faith."

Both endings are similar, but this drama took the time to explain the FL's reappearance. But same “few minutes” to close the dramas. There's the same endless staring at each other and a lack of hugs. I thought this ending was a tiny bit better because we truly see the characters cry. It wasn’t just a single tear from the FL and misty eyes from the ML; this time, the emotions felt genuine.

"Faith" aired in 2012, while "Guardian" came out in 2016.

I wonder if both actresses, who were of similar ages, went to the same school or had the same teachers, which might explain their similar acting styles. In "Guardian," the FL has more credibility, possibly because she physically appears to be 19.

That said, I enjoyed the drama up to episode 8. After that, it started to feel a bit redundant. Both leads fall in love but are reluctant to admit it. I actually found the other couple more intriguing and interesting somehow.

I appreciate K-dramas for their openness to supernatural themes. However, I’m not pleased with the lack of physical affection like hugs and kisses; it feels too teenage-like to me.

I did find many humorous scenes that I enjoyed, and I loved the bromance, which I believe is the highlight of this drama.

It’s not a high-budget production. Interestingly, I was in the same city when they filmed the Quebec City scenes. You will not find CGI special effects. In fact they filmed in 5 places: a field (battle), outside a palace (slaughter), inside a castle (old bricks walls), s-korean street and Quebec city (the crew enjoyed the city a lit as I saw many different places lol). All in all it was well done.

In conclusion, it’s a nice romantic supernatural drama with a somewhat happy ending for all, although it’s not the usual conclusion one might expect.

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Didn't Live Up To The Hype

The show was overly cliché, the leads had no chemistry, and their hair looked terrible. The mystery element felt forced and simplistic. Even if we were to believe that a man in his 30s — ultra-rich and narcissistic — had remained a virgin until that age, his sudden 180 degree change after getting into a relationship was far from convincing. Writing sudden, fiery romance scenes for two cold characters with no dating history felt unnatural and ruined their character development. The female lead still has a long way to go in acting, though you can see how much she improved in Marry My Husband. The only thing that made the show bearable was the curiosity to see how the side characters’ stories would end. In a 16-episode drama, the plot only moved forward until about halfway through; afterward, it was filled almost entirely with ‘filler’ episodes.

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This series must be a new standard for asian romance drama

this series is perfect.

i'm not a fan of any romance mushy-mushy korean/chinese/taiwan drama but this one blow my mind. i only pick this one because it reminds me of my past experience. (thank God there were little to none hi quality camera cellphones in early 2000's)

i'm a male in my 30's now. i can relate to this series it reminds me of my highschool days.

what it differs from other series? the micro-gestures acting. every actor and actress in this show is top notch.
you can tell the female teacher IS a female teacher of 30's from her micro-gestures. her fashion choice. her housing choice. etc.

i love watching shows that make me want to rewatch again to pick up the breadcrumbs the show intentionally left behind.. like a detective.

let talk about the plot first and my first reaction is.. "come on, aren't there already gazilions of this drama? teacher with student? get outta here"

but i give it another shot because the teacher reminds me of my beautiful and 'appealing' undergraduate intern teacher when i was in high school, the different is just she wears eyeglasses, this one doesn't. both are mixed blood but she is more caucasian and this one more asian.

yeah we did it, so what? wanna fight?

this series can be more understandable if you are in mid 30's, this is why im not surprised why no kdrama stans talking or buzzing about this in the social media of my circle.

so many micro-gestures acting that teenagers and tweenies audience would go over their head.

the micro-gestures acting are top notch. a chef kiss if you may.

i can tell the teacher character is an INFJ-A person.

in the first episode you will see the pretty teacher bullied by her student. she played it cool and then she goes to the rooftop to vent off her anger. after i watch the whole series i understand of why she was stomping off the floor like that.

at first you think she is just playing tough girl but deep inside she is a weak melancholic woman so she vent out her anger at the rooftop floor, typical asian drama trope.. but no..its not.. SPOILER ALERT.

it's because,

she was bullied by the son of a woman who destroy her family and indirectly killed both her parents. She has every rights to go and murder the woman.
imagine your family destroyed, your dad died in a car crash and your mom kill herself because of a homewrecker.
and the homewrecker is the chairwoman of the private high-school she was about to teach.

you are bullied by her your entire life because of what she did.

and now, the son of the homewrecker bullied you.

this is not a typical drama.. she is not "tough girl but deep inside she is a weak melancholic woman" trope.

she is not weak. she is so strong she only stomping that floor. and you will watch this until the end of the series.

she never lose her temper in the whole series except in that first episode. she only shed her tears and never bawled, or so i remember.

she had to tough up. she had to in order to destroy the family of the homewrecker.

the first time she set foot in the school, she is bringing the war. The moment she caught her eyes on the boy's name, she found the card she would play.

she is plotting to destroy the homewrecker's family by instigating a war of mother and son. She is provoking the chairman's son to 'rebel' against his mother.
implicitly calling him a 'mama's boy' and making him rebellious to his mom instead of making trouble for the school.

she sees him nothing but his mom's splitting image, a bully and a homewrecker.

that's why she is challenging the boy, calling him that he never had any girlfriend before when he cornered her and teased her. she is pretty so she must've been dealing with that type of boys back in her school and college days and this boy is not that different.

what i thankful for is this series doesn't include the 'handsome CEO conglomerate of multinational company ex-boyfriend who want to reconnect with the female teacher introduced in mid series' trope.

this series also avert the expectation of the homewrecker as just a vile one dimensional evil mama.. it was just her fling with the father of the female teacher during the chairwoman's college days.
did she left him because she found out he already married? watch again.. the professor is wearing his wedding ring during 'waku-waku' scene with the boy's mom in her college days.
which means she knew that he is a married person and she did it anyway.

and from the boy's father testimony.. his wife is a woman of go-getter, 'she'll go for what she want' type of a woman. and that's why he married her.

you know that the vile mom is not a bad woman because the show doesn't go the trope of 'she also have a boyfriend on her side behind her husband'.. which i also thank the showrunner doesn't pick this up.

and the boy's dad is not a deadbeat dad trope. the show also avert us from such trope. in some of the first episodes it shows the boy's dad isn't aware/care of the boy's problem making issues in his school.
he was a cool dad. a man of the house. he didn't overreact.
he gave her the divorce paper to sign because she is bullying the teacher, not because her past. that is a man of the house.

and the dream sequence.. top notch chef kiss porn.. without porn involved. barely porn you may say. im expecting it will cut in the first ten seconds but no.. the show shows it until the dreamy music stops. thank you, kudos for the showrunner.. you guys are a man of culture.

when she kiss his hand in the dream scene.. that's a woman who love you. that's a gesture of a woman who loves you when you have sex with her. marry her ASAP if she does that. this is an advice from a mid 30's man.

i want more of these micro-gestures acting display. i NEED more..

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Mek & Dech Saved The Show

I'm a big fan of historical dramas, so when I saw the trailer for Memoir of Rati, I immediately added it to my watchlist. I’ve also seen Inn and Great in other projects, and I love their chemistry—it’s really something you can feel.

Now that I’ve finished all the episodes, I can say I have mixed feelings about the show.

The Characters:

Rati is a translator who teaches French to VIPs in Siam. His character is modest, soft-spoken, and gentle. Then there’s Thee, a marquis from the Ministry of Education. He’s instantly drawn to Rati from the moment they meet and keeps finding ways to be around him. Even though his grandmother is pressuring him to get married, he starts falling for Rati and clearly wants something else for himself.

Mek and Dech — the side couple — honestly saved the show for me. I really loved their storyline. They went from strangers, to enemies, to friends, then lovers. Mek went through a lot because of Dech’s father, but seeing them end up together was such a joy. They're not super expressive with their feelings, but you can feel how much they mean to each other. Their dynamic added a lot of heart and depth to the story.

As for the overall plot, I liked it, but I can’t say I loved it. There’s something missing that I can’t quite pinpoint—it felt a bit bland at times. That said, what kept me watching were the stunning costumes, the great chemistry between both couples, and how visually beautiful the entire production was. The story of Mek and Dech especially brought the whole thing to life.

I’m also happy that AouBoom were given decent screentime—their acting was solid and added value alongside the main couple.

We all have different tastes, so I’m not sure if Memoir of Rati will be your cup of tea. But if you're into historical BL dramas, it's still worth checking out—just don't expect it to be a masterpiece.

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Comedy / Drama / Suspense rolled together

This truly was a great series from the very beginning right through the end. I'm always a fan of Kyung Ho and he did not disappoint in his unique role as Chi Yeol. He and Do Yeon make great entertainment together in this sometimes drama, sometimes comedy. I don't get the craziness everyone has for an advanced math tutor, the trillion dollar man, but once I get beyond that, this was extremely enjoyable to watch.
There's much more comedic situations early on, gradually changing into a much more dramatic format blending with some definite suspense tones later. From episode 11 on, everything really takes an enormous change of direction. The shocking revelations that take place in the later part of the series makes for some fantastic entertainment.
Eui Shik & Jae Ha, seeing them in other roles, you really appreciate their performances in this drama. Truly impressive.
The rest of the supporting cast, Chae Min, Yoon Seo & Min Jae really complete the puzzle in making this a great series to rewatch a second time.
I think what stopped me from giving out a 10 as an overall rating was the final two episodes. I really didn't get the long lost mother showing up from Japan, creating a new drama story that really wasn't needed. Not only showing up, but her departure in the final episode was so casually accepted, it was hardly spoken of after her exit. We were still reeling from the shocking chain of events that occurred in the previous two episodes, it was not necessary at all to add that in.
That being said, this is definitely a series to enjoy. Great entertainment!!!

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Another hit of MileApo

I’m honestly obsessed. What I love most is how it feels so much more than just a BL romance — it’s set in the late 1960s early 70s Thailand, so you get this amazing mix of retro vibes, political tension, and that kind of raw, emotional storytelling that really hits. Trin (Apo) and Thanwa’s (Mike) relationship is beautiful because they’re complete opposites — a serious economist and a free-spirited hippie — and watching them slowly change each other is just… how do I explain it kind of addictive.
The cinematography is also just stunninh (every frame looks like a movie), and the soundtrack by Slot Machine , who came back again to MileApo after Kinnporsche, makes the whole thing even more powerful. Apo and Mile’s acting is on another level again— their chemistry pulls you right in and makes you wish tge show was longer
You should totally watch it, because it’s not just a love story, it’s also a show that makes you be emotional to the very end.

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