Reviews

This is SO GOOD!

Although it sounds berserk, I was relieved the series didn't shift to "But she's a robot!" midway through. They stuck with the robot concept and faithfully represented how a thing like Ai—a robot—once brought to life, has a life of its own. It did take me back to Frankenstein—realizing how we humans build things for our own comfort and needs, and then forget their value and importance so easily.

To see Ai as her own person—an individual who deserves all the respect, affection, and care just like humans do—through Gen's eyes was deeply heartwarming. Irene is such a good character, too. Even though her past meeting with Gen felt a little illogical, it was still highly enjoyable. Chanya was amazing in both her roles; I was awestruck by her beauty and acting.

The ending was bittersweet. I am glad they went all the way and showcased Gen's old age. Ai shutting down her system because Gen had died, and that means she had no purpose or reason anymore—that was such a beautiful way to show that they were both completely all in with their love.

Easily one of my favourite GLs of this year, I must say! ><

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One of worst C-dramas I've watched in 20 years of watching them

Horribly written, draggy and uninteresting script with so many plot holes it's like Swiss cheese but without the cheese. Performances are overly dramatic, while Yang Yang as Han Li is bland beyond anything I've seen (and I'm usually a fan, but not for his performance in this, it's awful), the characters are one-dimensional with zero character growth, and much of the story makes no sense.

We have a boy who wants to be a cultivator, eventually joins a sect and cultivates to become stronger, comes across a cardboard cutout villain who tries to kill him. and then there's a war, which we don't see much of before Yang Yang leaves to go to the capital and then we get a boring side story of a cult that needs to be vanquished. Then the war re-emerges, but none of it makes much sense especially when it comes to the behavior of the seniors in Han Li's sect, the villain (played by Wang Duo in one of his worst performances (I blame the director)) reappears towards the end and attempts to kill Han Li for the 97th time, and then it all ends on a ridiculous cliffhanger I couldn't care less about.

It's also one of those C-dramas with horrendously awful characters doing those horrible fake villain laughs all the way through as if they're people in a cartoon. Wanted to punch my fist through the screen every time I heard one.

Overall, it's one of the worst written, most badly-directed C-dramas I've watched in 20 years of watching them as it's bland and shallow and empty beyond belief. And yes, I dropped it at Episode 8 then went back to it and finished it. In retrospect, I should have left it dropped as, other than the pretty cinematography and the OST, the entire drama doesn't have one redeeming quality.

An easy 1/10. Do not recommend. I won't be watching Season 2.

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the ending SUCKED

the whole premise of the show was just questionable in the first place but i had hope that maybe Gen would end up with, idk... A HUMAN? i find it extremely weird that multiple people thought this was a good idea because are they trying to normalize AI replacing humans or like... its 100% not Myyu or Chanya's fault because they were absolutely amazing and i LOVED their acting (as well as everyone else in the show) but the concept of the show was just straight up weird so i blame the production team. i hate that no one insisted on telling Gen that Ai is a literal robot and shes absolutely crazy for being in love with her 😭 i had hope for this show but... 😶 i loved the OST though! Myyu and Chanya's voices are so amazing!

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Great Acting

I can't believe the show is finally over. I really had a fun time watching this every week however I must admit the first season did a much better job with the writing. I believe in the first season the suspense was better written like I geniunly didnt know what would happen next however this season I could basically guess what was going to come next.

Anyways I think the cast did a great job with what they were given especially Jeong JiAn. During those episodes where she was at the seaside town, her acting made me cry. Like her crying and screaming acting is just so good.

Overall I think this is a great show to watch and I would definitely watch it again sometime later in my life.

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Don’t waste your time

I watched the two main leads in Tide of Love and it was so terrible that I wanted to give them another chance. I blamed the production company and the script writers..

Nope it was everyone involved. These two never need to be love interests of the other. They did AMAZING in Sweetheart Service, probably because they didn’t have any kissing or sexy scenes. They work better with others.

I won’t watch anything else of theirs if they’re gonna be love interests of each other. I simply cannot.

This script was pretty strong. The direction, blocking and acting ruined it.

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Decent first half (or a bit more) and definitely enjoyable, then it goes off-road

I'm late to the party, I know. (Maybe you're also here because season 2 is on and you wanna know if its ok to start it or not). Because of "See you at work tomorrow", and because its season 2 was about to start, I thought I'd give it a shot. And, well... oh, boy. Also, I finished it a few days ago and already I'm having problems remembering some parts in regards of the technical aspects. But I'll try. Also, apparently this is the remake of some russian show. Never seen it, I won't talk about it, I don't care about that aspect.

Visuals. Everything about it is pretty good. There were a few meh moments, but overall it looks great. The fight choreography has some amazing moments, but it will drop in quality.
Sound design. Same as for the visuals, it is great, apart some scenes what were horrendous. As in, the boards shows some victim pictures but the track used is for something upbeat and quirky. Unless they think dead bodies is something funny and I'm missing something... But overall, it is good.
The editing is meh, mostly because sometimes the plot relies on manipulative editing. because, you know, detectives, mystery, big reveals about criminals or techniques.. It has stuff like that so that later in the game they'll give you some flashbacks revealing "more" about that previous scene. Overall, the pacing was ok. Decent world building. Btw, all of this was about the first part of the show, the rest will come on later.

On to the main parts. Good casting. Good acting. Sorry, very good acting. Some good chemistry. High levels of charisma. Now, you'd think that with such a team it will be a banger. Well, yes, from an enjoyment standpoint, thats true. And the ML carries the show. Not solo, there are a couple of very good actors around him, yet the main actor and his role plays definitely carries the show. But (because there's always a "but") enjoyment and good are not always the same. "My guilty pleasure" refers to liking/enjoying something thats not good. And thats ok, no need to see it as something "oh, no". But it is very important that you know that it is bad. And so, the next topic will cover that.
I'll talk about the script. This drama has an episodic format generally. That means, a new episode means a new case (most of the time, because its not a "must be like this"). And thats a great idea for a drama with this premise, because you can go crazy and do whatever you want. And they did. Right until the last 5 or so episodes. Before that part, like I said, it was ok-ish. I mean at least it was goofy and entertaining. The script was sht, full of plot devices, plot contrivances and such, but at least you could enjoy it. Yes, they had no idea how to investigate the crimes, yes, they were useless in thinking logic, yes, they conveniently "forgot" about certain clues right until it was time to end the episode, yes, they figured out the answer only because the cast read the script and not because they were smart enough to figure it out from the clues, yes this and yes that, but you could enjoy it. Well, starting with episode 11, the show tries to become serious, with a serious subject. You can still enjoy it, because of some stuff happening, but you'll also roll your eyes a lot. And then, starting with episode 13, it goes all to sht. Four episodes of dumbest and craziest plotline. When it all started, when I saw what crazy ideas they had, I almost dropped it. I only kept watching just because I was hoping for some kind of a romance going, because the script so far would've gone that route and I was curious if they will do it. Anyway, back to it. I guessed the ending just by saying "let me guess: you'll try the most mega fantastical plot twist, so you'll do the most dumbest 'no reason, no way in hell' route, right?" *a few hours later* "Oh, wow. You really did... Wow...".
Honorable mention: The first 10 min or so are also weird. It all felt fake, here you have that part with quirky music while photos of victims on display, that I mentioned earlier.

Some very good character development for more than a few, blah blah blah. It doesn't matter anymore. I mainly wanted to talk about that stupid ending.
It gets a rating of 6,5 (barely). Enjoyable only until to a certain point. And maybe even rewatchable, only for the cast, and only until the same certain point.

Have a lovely day.

PS: I also watched the first 2 episodes from the new season. Its quality dropped even more, almost to half. The FL is no more (timing conflict or so they say, and they couldn't wait I guess), the new one is a plank of wood. She has no charisma, the acting is horrendous, her role is sht. I also don't like what they intend to do with ML's mentor/helper/adjutant/"butler-like" (whatever that elegant guy was). So, if you really really wanna watch it, stay strong and good luck!

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My heart is broken - in a good way i guess?

I never write reviews
Ever

But oh god this one hurts
I was Team AI all the way, and I was smiling at the end because it’s beautiful, and then the last scene… I broke in tears
It’s a beautiful ending, so beautiful, but so hard to watch
In the end she did complete her mission, she made Gen happy until the end
And then she left with her

Overall I really loved this show, it’s original and new, the actresses are amazing and honestly the plot was so cool
We all had theories for weeks and every time something new happed we had other ones
Anyway, I can’t say anything but you should watch this GL
This is my new favorite of all time
Really

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HORRIBLE

This series was TERRIBLE. There wasn’t a single purpose to the storyline. They made it seem like Him did something to Blue. There was zero chemistry between Him and Nail. The pacing, blocking and editing was abysmal. What was thee purpose of the all girl friend group.
This could have been a 6 episode series with 35 minutes per episode. I was confused as to why Te was mad at Him. Pie and Chao gave me 2nd hand embarrassment. Whole series Pie looked like he didn’t want Chao anywhere near him. Like thee actor who played Pie looked turned off… like …I’m mad that I watched this 😩

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Growing Up Rarely Goes According to Plan

I went into Always Home expecting something along the lines of When I Fly Towards You mixed with Go Ahead. In a way, it does feel like a child of those two dramas, so I expected a sweet, fairly typical youth story about friendship, school, and first love. What I didn’t expect was just how real it would feel.

Honestly, this might be one of the most realistic youth dramas I’ve watched.

What I loved most is that the drama never feels like it’s creating situations simply because it needs drama. Instead, it feels like we’re watching a group of ordinary people grow up. Their lives aren’t extraordinary. Their dreams don’t magically work out. Their relationships are messy. They make questionable decisions, change directions, disappoint themselves, and slowly realize that adulthood looks very different from what they imagined when they were younger.

Watching this after already finishing university and entering the corporate world made it especially nostalgic for me. There were so many moments where I found myself thinking, this is actually what growing up feels like.

The heart of the drama for me was definitely the friendship, particularly between Chen Huan’er, Jing Qichi, and Song Cong. I loved their dynamic and genuinely enjoyed watching them grow up together. At the same time, I actually wish the drama had leaned even harder into their friendship. Their bond was always there, but I wanted it to feel even more airtight. I wanted more moments that really emphasized how deeply connected they were.

But even that criticism circles back to what the drama does best: realism. Friendships don’t remain exactly the same from high school to university to adulthood. People get busy, move in different directions, fall in love, pursue careers, and develop lives outside their childhood friends. So while part of me wanted that perfect, inseparable youth-drama friendship, I understand why Always Home chose something more grounded.

My biggest problem was actually the romance—or should I say the love triangle, square, pentagon, whatever that situation was.

It was messy.

There were so many overlapping feelings and crushes, especially earlier in the drama, that I sometimes wished they would stop focusing on who liked whom and simply let these characters be friends. It felt unnecessary, particularly because eventually everyone finds the person they are actually supposed to be with anyway, while almost nobody ends up with the person they originally liked.

Ironically, though, even this was realistic. High school crushes ARE messy. People like the wrong person. Your friend likes someone who likes somebody else. Feelings change. Looking back, school really was full of these ridiculous relationship diagrams. So I can’t even say it was unrealistic—I just personally didn’t enjoy how much attention it received.

I also struggled somewhat with the college portion. This was probably the part where I became the most bored and started fast-forwarding. Their college lives and individual storylines simply weren’t as interesting to me as their younger years. The drama is already very slow-burn, so once I became less invested in that stage of their lives, I definitely felt the pacing.

The romance itself was nice once everything settled down, and the cast had great chemistry with one another, but romance was never the reason I cared about this drama. For me, Always Home works much better as a story about friendship, family, youth, dreams, failure, and growing up.

And I loved how differently it approached its characters.

Chen Huan’er, for example, was refreshing because she doesn’t begin the story with some enormous dream she is determined to achieve. She is simply trying to figure herself out. That felt incredibly relatable. Not everyone is seventeen years old knowing exactly what they want to do for the rest of their life. Some people are just… figuring it out.

I loved her personality too, although one thing that genuinely annoyed me was how little her character seemed to change over the roughly ten years covered by the story. I wish we had seen more obvious maturity and development from her because there were moments where she felt almost exactly the same despite so much time having passed.

Then there’s Jing Qichi, whom I really enjoyed because he isn’t the stereotypical cold youth-drama male lead. Instead, he’s energetic, mischievous, playful, a little troublesome, and incredibly alive. That made him so much more fun to watch.

His story also represents one of the things I respected most about this drama.

He dreams of becoming a football player.

And he doesn’t.

That genuinely broke my heart, but I also loved that the drama had the courage to do it.

Not everyone achieves their childhood dream. Sometimes you can love something, work incredibly hard for it, and still fail. Sometimes circumstances change. Sometimes your body, your family, money, timing, or simply life itself takes you somewhere else.

And then you become something else.

Even when Jing Qichi enters the working world, the drama doesn’t suddenly bend reality around him. The company doesn’t magically change its rules because he’s the protagonist. Life continues being life, and he has to adapt to it.

I found that incredibly refreshing.

Song Cong’s journey was another storyline I really appreciated. He grows up accustomed to being the best—the person at the top—and eventually has to confront the reality that he cannot always be number one. He does pursue his dream, unlike Jing Qichi, but even achieving what you thought you wanted doesn’t automatically answer the question of whether you have fulfilled your purpose in life.

I loved that contrast between them.

One character I personally could not connect with, though, was Qi Qi. She was easily my least favorite character. I found her selfish, bratty, and honestly quite annoying, and I never became particularly invested in her storyline. I also wasn’t especially convinced by her relationship with Song Cong.

But once again, somehow even my dislike for her fits into what I appreciate about this drama.

People like Qi Qi exist.

Not every person you grow up with is going to be perfectly likable or have beautiful character development. Some people are frustrating. Some people are selfish. Some people make choices you don’t understand. Always Home allows its characters to be imperfect in ways that sometimes genuinely annoyed me, but that imperfection is also part of why the world feels believable.

I also really enjoyed the older generation. The relationships between the mothers and fathers, their friendships, their dynamics with their children, and the way the families were connected added so much warmth to the story. It gave the drama that feeling of watching not simply a group of teenagers, but an entire little community growing and changing together.

And then we get to the ending.

I absolutely loved the final episode.

For all my complaints about the romantic messiness and wishing the friendship had received even more focus, the finale reminded me what this drama had actually been about all along.

It wasn’t really about who ended up dating whom.

It was about youth.

The final sequence, especially the characters speaking to and giving advice to their younger selves, genuinely made me teary. There was something so bittersweet about watching these adults look back at the versions of themselves who had all these dreams, fears, expectations, and assumptions about what their lives would eventually become.

Some dreams came true.

Some didn’t.

Some people followed their own path. Others followed what their parents wanted before eventually finding themselves. Some relationships lasted. Others changed. Some people achieved exactly what they wanted and still wondered whether it was enough.

And life continued anyway.

That was such a beautiful way to conclude this particular story because Always Home never needed some enormous dramatic message. At its core, it really is just a story about a group of people growing up.

And maybe that’s why it hit me as hard as it did.

There is something incredibly nostalgic about watching Always Home as an adult because it reminds you of that period when your entire life was still ahead of you and you genuinely believed you knew where it was going. Then you grow up and realize that life rarely follows the plan you made for it at seventeen.

I definitely had issues with the drama. The love pentagon was exhausting, I wish the friendship had received even more attention, the college portion bored me enough that I fast-forwarded through parts of it, and some character choices frustrated me. It is also very much a slow-burn drama, so I wouldn’t recommend going into it expecting constant plot developments or a romance-heavy story.

But despite all of that, I genuinely enjoyed it.

The performances were wonderful, the cast had great chemistry, the family relationships were heartwarming, and the story left a surprisingly strong impression on me.

Always Home doesn’t tell you that everyone will achieve their dreams.

It doesn’t tell you that your first love will be your last.

It doesn’t tell you that your friendships will remain exactly the same forever.

It simply tells you that you will grow up.

You’ll change. You’ll fail at some things and succeed at others. You’ll lose dreams you once thought defined you and discover new paths you never planned for. The people beside you will grow too, sometimes closer to you and sometimes in completely different directions.

And eventually, you’ll look back at the person you used to be with a strange mixture of affection, embarrassment, sadness, and nostalgia.

That’s what Always Home captured so beautifully for me.

It’s messy, slow, imperfect, incredibly heartwarming, and probably one of the most realistic portrayals of youth I’ve watched.

And somehow, its imperfections make it feel even more real.

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