Reviews

Beautiful visuals, but the emotional depth was missing for me

I really wanted to love The Lament of Autumn because the story had potential, and Xu Ruohan is undeniably beautiful. However, as I continued watching, I found it difficult to connect with her character, especially during the emotionally intense scenes.

For me, the biggest issue was the lack of emotional depth in her performance. The heavier scenes didn’t hit as hard as I expected, and I often felt that the emotions weren’t fully conveyed. I wanted to feel the character’s pain, heartbreak, and inner struggles, but something was missing for me.

I understand that acting can be subjective, and others may have a different experience. Unfortunately, the performance didn’t draw me into the story enough to keep me invested.

I eventually decided to drop the drama. It’s a shame because I think the story had potential, but emotional connection is important to me when watching a drama.

This one just wasn’t for me.

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We want season 2! Best k-drama ever!

Vincenzo is my number one favorite K-drama in the whole world. I have watched so many dramas but no drama has ever touched my heart like Vincenzo did. This drama is not just a legal drama or a mafia drama, it is a perfect blend of action, comedy, romance, thriller, and family emotions. From the very first episode to the last episode, I was completely hooked and I could not stop watching. I finished all 20 episodes in just 2 days because it was that addictive.

The main reason I love this drama so much is Vincenzo Cassano. Song Joong Ki gave the performance of his lifetime. He is so charismatic, so handsome, so powerful, yet so soft when he needs to be. His Italian lines, his mafia walk, his suits, his smile, his acting when he is angry and when he is sad, everything is perfect. You can feel his pain, his loneliness as a child who was adopted and became a mafia lawyer, and his journey to find a real family in Geumga Plaza. He is not just a cold mafia man, he has a very warm heart.

And then there is Hong Cha Young. Jeon Yeo Been is my queen. She is the best female lead I have ever seen in any K-drama. She is not a weak girl who needs saving. She is strong, she is smart, she is a brilliant lawyer, she is funny, she is sassy, and she is so brave. The way she fights for justice for her clients is inspiring. And her chemistry with Vincenzo is just out of this world. They are not like typical drama couples who just blush. They are partners, they are best friends, they tease each other, they bicker, they support each other in hard times, and they trust each other completely. Their scenes together are my favorite part of the drama. Every look, every smile, every conversation between them makes me so happy. I want to see more of their story, more of their partnership.

The supporting cast is also amazing. All the residents of Geumga Plaza are like a real family. The owner of the Italian restaurant, the laundromat ajumma, the monk, the dancer, the lawyer couple, everyone is so lovable. They start as strangers but they become a family who protects each other. Their comedy scenes made me laugh so much, especially when they try to help Vincenzo. And the villains are so powerful and well written that you really hate them and you want Vincenzo to win.

The production quality of this drama is top level. The cinematography is beautiful, every shot looks like a movie. The fashion is incredible, especially Vincenzo's suits and Cha Young's office looks. The OST is also one of the best. I still listen to Adrenaline and other songs from the drama every day. The dialogues are so powerful and funny at the same time. There are so many iconic lines that I still remember.

What I love most is the message of the drama. It shows that justice is not always served by the law, sometimes you need to be brave and fight against powerful evil people. It shows the importance of family, not just blood family but chosen family. It shows how love can change a person who thought he was alone.

I have watched My Demon as my first drama, Queen of Tears, The Glory, All of Us Are Dead, Study Group, and Weak Hero which is now my third favorite, but Vincenzo will always be number one. No other drama has given me so many emotions. I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was excited, everything in one drama.

This is why I am writing this long review today. It has been more than four years since Season 1 ended. Fans all over the world are still waiting and trending for Season 2. We love this world so much and we want to return to it. We want to see our favorite characters again, we want to see more adventures of Vincenzo and Cha Young, more cases, more comedy, more romance, more Geumga Plaza family moments. The story has so much potential to continue.

I heard the writer and actors also want to come back. Song Joong Ki asked fans to show our love so the writer can see it. So I am showing my love here. This review is my vote for Season 2. Please Netflix and tvN and Studio Dragon, please listen to us. If you give us Season 2, it will be the biggest hit again.

If you have not watched Vincenzo yet, please watch it. You will not regret it. And if you have watched it, please write a review like me and ask for Season 2. Let's make it happen together. Vincenzo forever, Geumga Plaza forever!

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Disappointingly 2D

First the positives: beautiful scenery and great acting from the main actors.
The biggest disappointments: I am so confused about the positive reviews this show has I was pretty into it until ep 8 when the 'big reveal' happened. Everyone's reaction just wasn't it... Phu saying 'everyone hates you here' is just insane when he was the one hiding Torfun's death from the villagers. People and the things they do aren't either just 'good' or 'bad' so this whole experience suddenly made the show feel 2D. A shame, really...
The second big issue was the 'dance' between the two characters. There's slow burn, but this was just painful in no positive terms. Phu saying that he's 'a straightforward, honest guy' and that some people 'don't like that' but then proceeding never being straightforward or honest is just gaslighting. A straightforwardly honest manchild, maybe?
Other cons: acting for the majority of the minor characters was pretty stale; episodes unnecessary stretched out by slow walking/gazing into the distance etc.

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We want season 3! Best k-drama ever!

I want Weak Hero Class 3 so badly! This is the best school action drama ever made. The story of Sieun, Suho and Baku is so emotional and powerful. Park Ji Hoon's acting is incredible, his emotions, his fighting style, everything is perfect.

Season 1 showed us true friendship and Season 2 showed how painful life can be without friends. Now we really need a reunion of Suho + Sieun + Baku in Season 3. We want to see them back together and fighting together again. Please Netflix, please make Season 3 happen. Weak Hero deserves 10/10. I will rewatch it again and again. One of the best K-dramas of all time!

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THIS IS WHAT A PHENOMENON LOOKS LIKE

As a K-drama fan, I've always preferred modern dramas. Historical or costume dramas were never really my cup of tea. I even tried watching one before, but couldn't finish it. Please don't hate me, it's just my personal preference. HAHAHA. 😭

But when a friend recommended Pursuit of Jade, everything changed. I don't want to sound exaggerated, but I finished it in just 2 and a half days. THIS IS A MASTERPIECE. The storytelling, the performances, and especially the chemistry between Zhang Linghe and Tian Xiwei were beyond anything I had experienced before.

And guess what? I fell in love with Tian Xiwei first! Then I watched their behind-the-scenes clips, and OH MY GOODNESS. 😭 It felt like watching a real love story unfold. I know BTS moments don't prove anything, but their interactions made the experience even sweeter.

Pursuit of Jade is more than a historical romance. It's a story about love, courage, family, and partnership. Extraordinary is an understatement. This drama has set a standard that will be difficult to forget.

Pursuit of Jade will forever be engraved in mine. ❤️

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Title: Luo Ru Ta De Tian Mi Quan Tao (2025), Chinese Title: 落入他的甜蜜圈套 aka "Fell into His Sweet Trap" is a very good romance miniseries with
ML: Cheng Yue (as Chen Lie) and FL: Hu Jiani (as Su Yuan) in the leading couple's roles. The cast did a commendable job bringing their characters to life and the leading couple had an honest and respectable relationship with a lovely impassioned romantic chemistry. The best element on this drama is that the characters are relatable; most viewers can identify with the characters and connect with the characters' feelings and circumstances in a universal level. Overall, this drama is easy to interpret, the characters are genuine to their thoughts and feelings, and the cast delivers the feel of familiarity that makes this miniseries quite entertaining; enjoy it!
In the meantime, you can watch the drama on YouTube under the caption: " She Caught Her Boyfriend Cheating-A Rugged Man Fell Hard. Called Her Baby, and Spoiled Her!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC2RCFeA5Hg)

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Hilarious first half, meh second half

This show has two people rebirthing together, which is a take on the rebirth trope that I had not heard before. It’s quite interesting if you think about it- two people at odds with each other are both armed with secret knowledge, upping the intrigue in their scheming wars.

One sister is nice- that’s our protagonist- and the other is mean. The mean sister has a grass-is-greener attitude and demands a husband switch the second time around, not realizing that they both faced significant difficulties in their past lives. It’s a great setup to let our heroine shine, since we get to see how, with cleverness and kindness, she can succeed with whatever lot she’s given.

This heroine comes out with guns blazing and zero f’s given- she had a tough first life, no need to compromise the second time around. Especially in the first half of the show, she is hilariously on-point with her witty and barbed comments, all delivered with a sweet smile. Overpowered FLs who easily outsmart all their opponents are quite common these days, but this one stands out for her snarky and fearless attitude. Her hilarious wit made me a lot more interested in the show than I normally am with these overpowered-FL short dramas.

The ML is at first portrayed as a playboy, complete with mistress, concubine, and child (don’t worry, it’s all explained later, he’s actually a great guy). He tries hard to make her feel unwanted and unworthy... ... only to be one-upped by her, who cares even less! Oh my gosh, it’s so funny. I absolutely loved the first half of the show, which is just full of hilarious lines from the FL that left me cackling.

Somehow, though, the show loses a lot of its charm in the second half. For one thing, the FL and ML get together- their enemies to lover romance flips rather abruptly- and then the show focuses a lot on generic romance stuff, like declarations of love and dramatic rescues and whatnot. I did not find it that interesting. And maybe their relationship was where a lot of the FL’s delicious snark was concentrated, because it seems to die down significantly.

We are left instead with a random assortment of stereotypical villains and intrigues. The FL’s sister, determined to take her down for the sake of it (she thinks their fortunes are inverse), is only one of several. Many of the conflicts involve petty squabbles between women, which I never liked, though in that respect this show kind of redeems itself by the end.

Either way, none of these petty, malicious schemers is really a match for the FL. The ML also has his own thing going on, a dangerous revenge quest, but it is also nothing special. And in typical short-drama fashion, the plots and schemes are just thrown at us one after another, to be swiftly and smoothly countered. I never cared much for watching this sort of thing.

I do like that we get character thoughts narrated, which help smooth out the plot. And there are some decently good twists closer to the end which add some interest, making the show a little different. Those are the redeeming bits once the clever banter is gone, but it wasn’t quite enough to make me that interested. In the last few episodes the plot is a bit rushed and takes several leaps, but I guess we all already got the gist of it, no need for more details.

The acting is decent, as far as I could tell. I really like the FL’s smile. Qin Tianyu who plays the ML is a good actor, but I didn’t really like his styling here... he’s looked better in other roles (like Fated Hearts). The costumes and styling were in general alright, though I’m starting to think that noticeable wig tape is just normal for these shorter dramas.

I barely noticed the production details or the music. This is a short drama and naturally not huge budget. I did notice some weird stuff with sound mixing (like inconsistent volumes) which is not a big problem but also makes it feel a little sloppy.

Overall this is an alright show. I loved it for the first half or so, owing to the FL’s hilarious, zero f’s given attitude. But the stereotypical villains-and-schemes plot doesn’t really stand on its own, and by the second half the snark is replaced with generic romance, so I lost some interest. Luckily the show is pretty short and easy to finish.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is happy, in fact it’s rather feel-good. The second rebirth (surprise!) is kind of confusing and the situation is unclear (why is her maid still alive?) But, never mind the details! Given another chance together, it only takes them a few episodes to squash their enemy and claim their happily-ever-after ending.

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Double the Sleuthing and everything!

Yoo Seol Ok and Detective Ha Wanseung return in S2 as the police-civilian duo who continue to shoot up the arrest count of the station Ha is in. This time, as a divorcee, Yoo finds more freedom in doing whatever she wants, mainly to take up the police exam and become a proper police officer, although she is rather struggling with multiple failures to date. Meanwhile, as Detective Ha tries to track down the elusive Secretary Kim who is behind Ha and Jung Law Firm, he is also having a hard time adapting to the new station he’s drafted to, where his team leader is the number 3 from his class who envies him, with his station chief isolating him and colleagues avoiding him. Problem at work and in studies can’t stop them from cracking down criminals though, as case after case is solved while then inch towards Secretary Kim.

I totally love Yoo Seol Ok here, better than S1 too. She gets better hairdo instead of that silly wig she had in S1, better wardrobe too as she now struts around as a single divorced woman than the boring housewife appearance. Funny I’ve always hated characters who try tu act cute below their actual age, but Choi did this flawlessly in here. I didnt feel cringed at all when she put on those puppy eyes and cutesy voice when she try to persuade Det. Ha or any other people to go her way. Her cuteness here is acceptable for me, despite her looking like an ahjumma. A gorgeous one at that of course. Man, i still can’t get over how different Yoo Seol Ok is compared to Baek Chanmi from Good Casting and she did both roles mindblowingly to perfection.

Watching the romance build-up between Yoo and Ha is hilarious as they keep dissing each other when people start noticing. I really love how they made it a casual sexual tensions instead of the corny ones i see most in dramas, like those almost hugs and kisses. And the best part is the romance never took over the plot, it remained in the mystery investigation line and never faltered.

I don’t understand why people keep complaining of how there was no proper closure for Yoo’s parents deaths and Ha’s ex-girlfriend too. Did they not watch to the end? The only thing that suggests there could be S3 is the fact that they lost Secretary Kim, while the rest of the cases all got their own closures and I am satisfied with the ending. The only thing I am frustrated about is the fact that they stopped at S2. And too bad we don’t get that mingle children rhyme tune in the background anymore as they did with S1. Because I saw this series after Squid Game came out, the tune totally matches the atmosphere it’s on. I liked it whenever it comes on back then. Funny how people complained it didnt match the scenes cuz it sounded cheerful before Squid Game happened 🤣

I dont know why the ratings are lower than S1, this second season is waaaaaaaaaaaay better in terms of plot, character development, romance, comedy and action, yeah literally everything! The plot twists are more twisty and each case is more intriguing and creative than S1. So I seriously don’t get the lower rating. Hence, don’t get duped. Saddle up and watch on!

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Ruined in 30 minutes or less

This series sure takes its time. Even though I could barely watch more than one episode per day, I still told myself to be patient, not only because good things come to those who wait, but also:
+ How I like Meng jie and Li Yun Rui together, they have chemistry, they look good individually, and they look adorable together (this series further proves it).
+ Li Yun Rui's acting has really improved since "Blossoms". (I haven't watched any of his other projects.) He fits in this character and the scholar type much more than the general.
+ Meng jie has a good character to work with here. She is still more of a stereotypical ice character she often plays, but her character has more emotions to display and more scheming to play with. She has some bits of Liu Li from "Royal Rumours" here. It makes it a little more popped, a little more exciting.
+ The on-location sceneries are beautiful, some set designs such as ML's home really hits it;
+ The costumes are well-made for the guys and gorgeous for the ladies while the makeup and appropriate filters feel elegant, natural instead of greasy and overdone;
+ The OST is pretty catchy. "Autumn Breeze and Jade Brew", sang by Duan Ao Juan, was filled with such clarity and emotions ; the traditional instrument sound only adds to its delights. But, I heard that most interesting tune, the song with seemingly the children choir, was AI-generated... a first strike that I was willing to forgo as well until...

Episode 14.

I've read some of the spoilers. I already knew roughly the storyline for Chun Hua and Liu Wen Ji. I liked how both are innocent, as well as their love. But honestly, the system ruins them. I was prepared for heartbreak. But, I was not prepared to be this DIGUSTED.

They made the perpetrators, the criminals, the rapist caricatures, added comedic effects whenever these people were on screen, made light of their evil doings, wrote repulsively gleeful and unremorseful dialogues... Worse, they repeated and continued with such insensitivity and disregard to the pain and suffering of the victims and those who care about them and justice as a whole. (With the on-going Cornell 7? With Chanel Miller a few years ago? With all the Jane Does coming forward with their stories? Don't give excuses to the sinful and the injustice. Don't be part of the problems, the patriarchy and the internalised sexism. Don't say: what does China have to do with all this. Read up and educate yourself with some of the horrendous cases in China and Asia, then puke.)

I was ready to abandon the ship, but stuck around a little bit, hoping this series would redeem itself; I think it had potential, it just started to get going, and the lead actors were getting somewhere proper here...

But no, it has to disrespect the viewers, the actors and itself with the flimsy, water-thin, laughable court drama plot. Why in the world did you list the villains, from dangerous side to vicious main, only to kill a smaller one with such ease and breeze? It felt inconsequential. I felt no weight, no investment, no interest. This likely dangerous second level boss even received less attention than the one-eye, one-dimensional villain that took a few episodes to kill off!
And the way the people cheered for ML when he loudly pronounced he killed the old eunuch... Noisy distraction and delusion.

I kept waiting, hoping for a good stake. But the stake isn't even medium (like how Marty/Jeff Goldblum says it in "Tour de Pharmacy"), it's done. F-cking done. Throw it to the trash.

I'm about to go to sleep and I just know, this will f-cking torment me and give me nightmare. I never thought I'd feel this disgusted and abhorrent about a Chinese drama. But here I am.

On the record: The actors probably did their best with what they were given. More so, I want to shame and guilt the sh-t out of the producers, writers, directors and those who made the decisions to run and ruin this series. There are some other questionable details in this drama, but they all feel minor at this point. F-cking pathetic.

Conclusion: F-cking NO.

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I really wish this drama were on Netflix, or at least on iQIYI Thailand.

The reason is that I'm currently learning Chinese, and the dialogue in this show is brilliant. It's so logical and smart, like watching conversations between two people who are truly an intellectual match made in heaven.

The grandmother isn't evil at all. She acted that way out of love for her family—to train them, push them to their limits, and encourage them to rebel against her. When she smiled at the end and said that the Rong family head makes her own choices, defying both elders and the Emperor to do what truly needs to be done, it became clear that she was only pretending at times just to push the female lead forward.

Lord Lu is also incredibly charming. In the story, he acts young, but he’s probably quite mature since he achieved first place in all three imperial exams—a true genius feat, especially given that the exams weren't held every year. The plot has him sent out to the countryside to gain practical experience, but before long, he’ll likely be called to the capital to serve the imperial court as a close official to the Emperor. By then, the female lead will probably follow him there to run the capital branch, leaving the mischievous younger sister in charge of the tea plantation.

It’s hilarious how the female lead acts stern when she’s actually in love with him—she can barely keep up the act, and he knows it, even teasing her about it at the end!

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This drama has the greenest male lead character and it’s what holds this to the end. His character I feel was better written than female character. Writer had too many ideas that got bungled in crosses and tees that it became way too draggy. This did not need 40 episodes.

On the plus side, this had the best beginning I was very satisfied with. I’m talking about their connection, mature, and mutual. Also, leads are eye candy and guys puppy eyes for her is adorable.
It’s not a bad watch, just it could have been better editing I think. It’s a cute he so enjoy.

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