Reviews

Fishbowl Wives: Sometimes an Affair Isn't Really About Sex

I watched Fishbowl Wives some time ago and recently found myself going back to rewatch some of my favourite stories.
And I think I finally understand why this series stayed with me.
On the surface, Fishbowl Wives is easy to describe:
Six married women have affairs.
And yes, this is a very adult Japanese drama. There is sex. There is nudity. There are relationships that very clearly cross the line.
But surprisingly, I never felt like the sex was the point.
The longing was.
Each woman is missing something in her marriage, and what fascinated me was how different that “something” could be.
Sometimes it's safety.
Sometimes it's affection.
Sometimes it's being desired.
Sometimes it's being seen.
And sometimes, apparently, it's just having somebody genuinely appreciate your damn lunchbox. 😂
The Lunchbox Wife remains one of my favourite stories for exactly that reason.
This woman becomes almost ridiculously turned on by a man simply enjoying the food she prepares.
And watching it again, I realised there is something both hilarious and strangely believable about it.
Cooking is clearly one of the ways she expresses herself and shows love. Her husband doesn't particularly value it.
Then another man comes along and LOVES her food.
Not politely.
He genuinely enjoys this thing she creates.
And she practically short-circuits. 😂
It becomes erotic because it isn't really about the lunchbox.
It's about appreciation.
This man is enthusiastically receiving something she has been giving without feeling valued for it.
And suddenly you understand how something that seems incredibly small from the outside can become enormous inside a marriage.
I kept thinking:
Girl, if your husband had just eaten your lunch and told you it was delicious, we might not be here.
😂
And that's one of the things Fishbowl Wives does particularly well.
It doesn't necessarily excuse infidelity, but it explores the emotional conditions that can make somebody susceptible to it.
There's a difference.
The Headache Wife was another favourite, although for completely different reasons.
At first, her story appears to be giving us another forbidden romance.
There's this man. She's drawn to him. She's supposedly married. Her husband is always somewhere else.
So naturally you're thinking:
Oh boy. Here we go again.
Except...
THAT'S HER HUSBAND.
And suddenly the entire story changes.
Her trauma has affected her memory so profoundly that she doesn't consciously recognise her own husband, despite still believing herself to be married.
Yet she's drawn to him again.
There's something incredibly sad about that, but also incredibly romantic.
Her brain has lost him.
Somehow, her heart hasn't.
Of all the stories in Fishbowl Wives, that may actually be the sweetest interpretation of the show's central question: what draws us to another person?
Because remove the history.
Remove the marriage certificate.
Remove her conscious memory of their relationship.
And somehow...
she chooses him again.
Then, of course, there's Sakura.
Her story is the emotional backbone of the series, and hers is the affair I found easiest to understand.
She's trapped in an abusive marriage. Her husband humiliates her, controls her and cheats on her, while she has gradually lost the independent woman she used to be.
Then Haruto enters her life.
And what he gives her isn't merely sex or excitement.
He gives her tenderness.
Safety.
Attention.
A place where she doesn't have to make herself smaller.
So yes, technically we're watching a married woman fall for another man.
But emotionally, I spent most of the drama thinking:
Sakura, GET OUT OF THAT HOUSE.
And I desperately wanted her and Haruto to have their happy ending.
Which is why their eventual separation frustrated me.
I understand what the story was trying to do. Sakura needed to reclaim herself rather than simply move directly from one man into a life with another.
She needed to become Sakura again.
I actually respect that.
But I am ALSO a romance watcher.
So after everything these two put me through, I wanted my reunion! 😂
The final fireworks moment leaves that possibility open, but I would have happily accepted considerably less ambiguity.
What I appreciate most about Fishbowl Wives, though, is that it doesn't tell one story about infidelity six times.
The women aren't all cheating because they're bored and somebody hotter walked past.
Their circumstances are different.
Their marriages are different.
Their needs are different.
And therefore their affairs mean different things.
Some are romantic.
Some are sexual.
Some are escapes.
Some reveal how profoundly lonely someone has become inside a relationship that technically still exists.
And one of them isn't even quite the affair you thought you were watching.
That's why, despite the provocative premise and mature content, Fishbowl Wives never felt to me like a show that was simply trying to be scandalous.
It's much more interested in desire:
What do we need from the person we've chosen?
What happens when we stop receiving it?
And how enormous can one tiny act of attention become when you've been starved of it for long enough?
Apparently enormous enough that enjoying a woman's bento can have her ready to risk it ALL.
And somehow?
I get it. 😂
8.5/10.
Sexy, messy, surprisingly thoughtful and far more emotionally interesting than its premise initially suggests.
Come for the forbidden affairs.
Stay for the unexpected realisation that sometimes the thing threatening a marriage isn't some irresistible sex god.
Sometimes somebody just ate the damn lunch and said it was delicious. 😂

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A masterpiece with a lot of lose ends and bad world building

Nour as a whole I felt it was good although I expected a masterpiece cz of all the comments I saw. There are just too many loose ends that just aren't covered. I feel the series needed much more than 10 episodes and someone to work on the emotional factor of the script.

Few things that i felt were off or needed were
- jame's power. I really wanna know what each color means and i also wanna know how he got that power in the 1st place for now i am assuming it's cz he the son of a nour
- james asking ken not to die when he doesn't wanna turn into a nour.. postponing his death is one thing but asking him to live??
- the police going to fight nours knowing what a nour is🙄 the cop's death just felt senseless to me. Like ur a cop. U know ur going against a nour. U deploy people to watch which is fine. Alone? Ok fine. Why go inside before backup?🙃 it was a 100% death chance
- doc's brother's reaction in the bedroom felt off to me like he knew doc was a nour and probably won't return but idk he didn't seem that affected (the part where he refuses the hug) but then the reaction was on point when he left.
- the whole dynamic between doc and chita after doc turned into a nour felt off. But yeah i cried soo much cz i just felt bad for doc
- chita killing nours cz they're nours🙄. I get he killed the nour that killed him but all nours??? Ur ex was also a nour it doesn't make sense that u just kill all nours when a nour was ur true love
- chita turning doc into a nour when he didn't wanna become a nour himself. I get it was grief but wth
- nour as a whole i need an explanation. There are scenes where nours heal instantly and then there are scenes where they don't n need blood to heal🙃. There are scenes where they have super strength and there are scenes they don't 🙃. I wish they had something in place that they could use against nours to make the fight between humans and nours fair.
- nours don't die so what the hell are the police planning to do with them
- James's dad's death, we all expected something huge behind it but reducing it to killed just cz he was a nour. Just unsatisfied
- ken's origin story. We get chita's story with detail. I wanna know ken's too. Like what kind of person his true love was and how he turned into a nour and took his body
- nours origin like i get that one becomes a nour by biting their true love's heart so why did ken take over his love's body instead???
- james being the good cop shooting doc before he even tried to protect chita. He just ran towards him cz they're lovers n james shoots them just doesn't make sense
- what happened to chita's ex? Did he absorb him or something? Like ken? If so why isnt ken the special nour

Overall the series is good just feels incomplete with lot of lose ends and problematic world building... we have 1 ep let's see how many loose ends they tie

Edit: looks like the loose threads stay the only bright side is that JiChita die and they showed us their next life where they got a happy ending but for JamesKen I'd consider that a sad ending cz Ken is immortal n is gonna go back to the hell again. James ruined his life twice if that happens

Other problems was
- why the hell was the police shooting ken. I get he tried to stop them from shooting doc but that's a reasonable thing cz doc was innocent
- james flighting 2 nours with a knife as a human nah...
- chita burning himself with ji?? It was how own fire if it works it meant he should hv burnt himself everytime he killed someone
- james being ken's ex with the same face🙃 didn't they say in last ep that ken takes his lover's body also why didn't he just bite ken's heart?
- ken stitching james🙃 who carries needle and thread with them, also shouldn't it be a 1st aid mini kit or something, the would was surface so the issue should be blood loss at max. Also that level of pain should be able to keep a dead man conscious
- did they tell chita's family he was murder or murderer? And the family just moved on... just like that🙃

Now i would recommend people to watch it despite it's flaws it's super interesting watch

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Pretty addicting

Made in Korea is a pretty addicting, pretty awesome, pretty spectacular drama that has a very interesting story filled with many surprises to keep the viewer guessing, analysing and thinking about the drama with every episode that they watch. The characters are all unique and all of them have their own individual part to play in terms of the story, making them seem all very important - which is always a good thing to see. I really enjoyed how they used real life events and seemingly brought them together but put their on spin on things to create this story, something which is very difficult to execute normally but for this drama, it somehow works, and it works very well. The OST is incredible and it's been a very long time since I have truly fallen in love with an OST of a drama, but thanks to Made in Korea I can replay the catchy music over-and-over again in my head whenever I want. Rewatch value is also high compared to my usual rating in that specific category as I felt the majority of episodes only felt about 20 to 30 minutes long even though they were usually around 60 episodes.

If you're wondering whether or not to watch this, I would recommend it.

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Have totally helplessly love Li Lian Hua this character;

Li Lian Hua , & the 2 ML , FL villian have all come alive, superb super super acting !
esp LLH acting, chemistry w Fang i just cheer them along.. Xiao bao has so much grow here.. alot thanks to mentor deliberately openly , indirectly or secretly.
the song, action , laugh & tears of LXY to LLH life, he is truly the legend that alive by Chengyi
Slightly Sly, extremely brilliant, somewhat cunning yet protective, loving, forgiving LLH, the drama is full of friendship, brotherhood, lost rebuild, scars, betrayal yet despite all these, he move on to be the calm , wise man that still as loving as protective as the 20 yo him
How some of the characters from enemy becomes friend , not just Di , but the guy not combing who used to dislike arrogant LXY turned friend when LLH drop his ego..
every1 sharing same vision fighting for justice & peace, doing best juggling in life but showed up..
I still cldnt forgive some bad guys .. some mistakes are not..
Impulse, ego are ok, but dont ever be selfish

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SO FUN!!

i love the cast in this season because the only tank they have is their only female member 😂 the rest of the men are cowards and it is so entertaining to see all those big tall men stand cowardly behind Bibi jie 🤣

i like the dorm concept. we able to see the members morning routine/activities, playing with the machines and games leisurely. they seems to have fun solve the puzzles, collect points, and redeem/buy items from the vending machine.

No more playing games to pick a leader like previous seasons, more like to collect badges or benefits during the mission. from ep 1 till last episode, their 'formation' is fixed lol. Bibi at the front, the rest of the cowards at the back. and usually the bravest among the cowards, Da laoshi, will be the last.

Bibi jie has alot of burden on her shoulders this season after the addition of another coward Zhang Zhenyuan 😭 the episodes where He laoshi and Zhang Youhao are available, her burden seems to ease a bit hahahahaha. i love her so much. so chill, so cool. she is not easily annoyed and i envy that brain of her.

this is the first season where Peng Yuchang available in all episodes, but amazingly, the amount of him kneeling is lesser than previous seasons. he is braver here, and he able to show us his leadership in this season. the other members seem to follow his lead well in certain situations. i dont know why he didnt show this trait in previous seasons, or maybe he did but i missed it.

Xukai is the timid member who is useful when it comes to physical labor haha. just like Pengpeng, he is braver this season. unlike his own claim in last season that he belongs to 'junk' track (along with pengpeng and da laoshi), he help the members solve quite a lot of puzzles. no more junk kaikai this season 😁

Da laoshi is as entertaining as ever. he talked so much, so fast, and his weird antics seems to get along well with the other members especially pengpeng. whenever these two act weirdly, they are so funny.

im sad Chen Zheyuan is not available in all episodes due to his busy schedule. he is such a witty joker, a sunshine in gloomy situations. i hope he will be available in all episodes as regular member next season.

this is my first time watching Zhang Zhenyuan. i never watch his variety shows before so i have no expectation of him. he seems to get along well with the rest of the members.

overall, this season is fun. rewatch worthy.
definitely gonna miss them after this ☹️

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Literally about survival, martial arts, love & family

I wanted to watch this ever since it came out but kept holding back because of the episode count. Now that I finally have the time to sit down and watch it, I really regret not watching it when The Long Ballad fandom was still alive and active.

This drama is such a mixture of palace politics, survival, martial arts, alliances, female independence, family and romance. There is honestly so much happening but somehow it all comes together really well. I loved the whole survival aspect of the FL and how she slowly built her own alliances and relationships while trying to navigate all the political mess around her.

The other characters were also memorable. The romance itself is also really nice but it doesn't completely overshadow everything else going on. Every actor did an exceptional job and looking back at the cast now is actually crazy. No wonder so many of them are A-listers in C ent now.

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The themes discussed are really deep!

So, the premise of story is light hearted, with supernatural elements, yet subtle hints of deep ideas were shown throughout the episodes. Questions about destiny, fate and altering it were presented throughout the series.
Let me dwell into the supernatural element part of the show a bit further. Tai suffers from sensorineural hearing loss when it rains. However, as fate decides, he can only hear one voice when it rains. And its his... soulmate.
The family dynamics, the complexities of what being a human means, and how sometimes, love is simply not enough. The relationships between parents, the ex and the remarriage of the mother were handled so well with maturity, no melodrama, just pure emotions.
I like how they tried to further dwell into the supernatural element, but it was too late. The last episodes were rushed. And I completely understand why Phat and Tai did what they did in last three episodes where Tai and Phat lose their connection. For them to lose their mind was completely normal. For people who don't understand why, just imagine yourself suddenly losing your sight, the very thing most of us are grown with and you simply don't know why. Of course , for a while you will lose it. And they did too, Phat lashes out on Tai because he was connected to him. And this is why they thought the relationship might fall off, it's because they were connected to each other for 2 whole years, of course they will lose it, but they handled it well. But the conversation they had in last few minutes, should have been longer. It was rushed. -1 for that. But props to them for realising that love goes beyond destiny and fate!
And another -0.5 because they made Lomfon completely a homewrecker.
Rest I really liked the series and it conveys something beautiful that... Love goes beyond time and fate, but sometimes it simply is not....enough. It's a happy ending!

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The plot is deep and satisfying

About myself:
I am a Gen-X growing up watching many HK dramas. Currently more than 10 years in hiatus watching c-drama because of workload and reducing interest in dramas. This is the 4th c-drama I watched after regaining some interest and time. The drama I watched recently is Shine on Me (8.5), My Genius Girlfriend (8.0), Love for You (8.5) and Spring of the Blade (9.0)

My review:
This c-drama is very interesting as it possesses deep plots in it's story-telling which, kept me guessing what happened in the past and got me catching up on episodes release everyday (I seldom catch up on dramas as I ages, for some reason. So, bravo. I really think this is a good one). The hot and cold romance between the ML and the FL is also very nicely performed by both of them. I think Xu Kai and Zhou Ye performance is truly amazing in the drama. Xu Kai facial expression is excellent as an arrogant bastard, yet, kind-hearted and loving on the inside and Zhou Ye is really good at playing 'ice-cold' ancient costume character. The are plenty of memorable scenes in the drama. The music is very good too.

Why I rated it at only 9.0 is because:
1. Lack of action scenes. There are a few action scenes but I think it will get me thrilled a little bit more if there are more actions scenes since, I am used to HK movies in the 90s.
2. The CGI on the last episode is too fake.
3. As the matriarch of Xie family and when living as the Palace Commander, in the ending, but can live a simple life doesn't really make sense. Though, I understand the screenwriter is trying to give the drama a happy ending. If I am to rewrite the ending, I think, I would put the ML and FL separated for awhile because of work, e.g. FL working as Matriarch and ML busy with implementing the new policy, but gives an ending where they are reunited when they bump into each other again during work and spent a night together on the beach with firework and love as shown in the movie.
4. The scene on the last episode where both the ML and FL walking away gives me a kind of weird feeling. I mean I couldn't catch the feeling at all. Is it a vengeful feeling? Is it a letting go feeling? Is that a happy or sad feeling? Is that a satisfaction feeling? I just couldn't get the feeling they are trying to express although I understand the ending.
5. The scene where the rebellion takes place against the 2 generals got too little people 😂. It doesn't look grand. The mid-section of the story where the ML saves the FL got more people. Maybe it's time to use some AI to make the fight looks big 😂.
6. So far, for all these 4 c-drama that I have watched, I find that their endings are considered quite 'weak' or not very satisfying. In short, although it's happy ending but the ending failed to touch my heart. But these 4 c-dramas are 'very strong' in their mid-story.
7. The background music is too loud in the last 4 episodes. I can barely hear the voice of the actresses and actors.

Conclusion:
I think, It's a very notable 'ancient costume' c-drama for 2026. I am surprised the heat index is not that high. I think China should start to find a way to implement cross-platform rather than making exclusives (I never like the idea of exclusives like Sony Playstation or Xbox or iQiyi or Youku or WeTV. At the end of the day, it's just about reaching more customers and how to share profits and costs. Make it watchable from any platform. Then the heat index will be more comparable. It will also help us customers who wanted to watch some drama but doesn't have subscription on 1 or 2 particular platform).

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My Dream Drama when Female Leads is realistic comes true

For this year, This drama has the best plot that i dreamed of: strong character about female lead and her own struggles+ villains who are not traditionally evil and their crimes are depends of their backstory+ sister friendship. ALL of the character especially FEMALE character do their job perfectly and Tan Song Yun knows how to choose great script and her acting never seems exaggerated. Li Meng's acting is quite powerful in here. Why i never talks about Male Lead in here? because he is hindrance of Lang Xiang freedom and i still don't buy the romance between him and Lan Xiang. Second Male Lead? is another hindrance with different font. Even i don't like male characters in here i don't hate the actors. No matter this drama will end, i always on team #LanxiangFreedom.

The scenery are quite neat and the song are quite enhance the dramatic effect in this drama.

I feel this drama stills try for Li Jin Qi redemption for being ignorant to being "human" and i like how Lan Xiang stills didn't appreciated his love due her personality. Not saying she is evil but i feel she is asexual aromantic and her reaction is real (i am the one) and this is ancient drama so people never know the term. Li Jin Qi death personally stills sad and that's it because i feel it's like autobiography the tension is just there. Lan Xiang just did what she wants live her life and survive.

If you want to see sweet romance this drama is not sweet but more realistic.

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The story follows Xie Qing Yuan, a woman who returns to the Xie household carrying both her own secrets and a desire to uncover the truth surrounding her mother's death. Along the way, she becomes entangled with Shen Run, a man with his own hidden identity, motives and complicated relationship with the Xie family. What starts as a story about revenge gradually expands into family conflicts, political schemes, old grudges and secrets that have been buried for years.
And I have to say, the first part of the drama handled all of this really well, the story immediately gives you a reason to keep watching, and most importantly, Xu Kai and Zhou Ye are absolutely fantastic together. Their chemistry is easily one of the biggest strengths of the drama, and honestly, I could have watched these two interact for much longer.
There is something very satisfying about the way the story initially builds its characters and relationships. Instead of throwing every secret at us immediately, takes its time establishing the complicated dynamics inside the Xie family.

I especially liked Xie Qing Yuan as a protagonist. She is intelligent, determined and capable of standing up for herself, but she is not written as someone who always has the perfect answer. She makes mistakes, gets herself into complicated situations and sometimes has to rely on other people. That made her feel much more human to me.
And then there is Shen Run.
Xu Kai is really good here. He can be intimidating when necessary, but he also has softer moments that make his relationship with Qing Yuan much more interesting. Xu Kai and Zhou Ye have the kind of chemistry where even relatively simple scenes become interesting because of the way they look at each other or react to one another. Their relationship doesn't need constant dramatic declarations to work. There is a natural tension between them that makes you want to see more.

Unfortunately, this is where I have to talk about my biggest problem with the drama.
The last five episodes.
Why do we always do this?
After spending so much time building the story, the characters and all these complicated relationships, the final stretch suddenly feels like someone looked at the episode count and said, “Okay, guys, we have five episodes left. FIX EVERYTHING.
And that is exactly what it feels like.
Things start happening very quickly. Plot points that could have been given more time are resolved almost immediately, characters make important decisions and suddenly we are jumping from one major event to another. Instead of allowing the story to breathe and giving the emotional moments the weight they deserve, the drama seems to be in a hurry to finish everything. This was particularly frustrating because the beginning had been so carefully paced.
I can see the drama it could have been.
The ingredients were there. A good revenge story, complicated family relationships, political intrigue, strong leads, gorgeous visuals and, most importantly, a fantastic central couple.

Would I have preferred a few more episodes? Absolutely.
Would I still watch these two together again? Without hesitation.

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Well another one for 2026..

Wow. That storyline was a roller-coaster ride! Every time im about to hate someone the back story made me rethink about hating them lol omg that was crazy. Kudos to the writers! Well there was one character i hated from beginning to end.. her father. The actor played that role so well that you just wanted to reach into the screen and choke him lol beautifully done for the audience. The characters on this show were all so engaging.. you really get caught up in their back stories. I loved this role for Xu Kai.. i loved how he was such a red flag.. i wasnt used to seeing him in this kind of role.. i need more of this side of Xu Kai.. it was so bad ass! Im not a big fan of the FL but i liked this character for the most part for her.. it was consistent. She didnt start off being strong and weakened in the end like i noticed on her other dramas. She stayed herself the whole time. Which i liked. The storyline kept you on your toes making you think you figured out and then the writers throw curve balls and the plot twists AGAIN! If you are into these types of storylines complicated but pulls you in then this drama is for you.. highly recommend and would truly rewatch to see if there were easter eggs i missed 💜

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