Reviews

Delete the AI, Keep Nie Chuan

The AI is jarring, ugly, and completely unnecessary. Sometimes “telling” really is better than “showing,” because those animated flashbacks are pure cringe.

Thankfully, the rest is good enough to survive them. The action is surprisingly decent for the genre, the plot is entertaining enough, and the leads have real chemistry. The kissing is, of course, textbook Chinese.

The problem is that the finale suddenly starts sprinting through material that needed room to breathe. Revelations, confrontations, and emotional beats are piled on top of each other so quickly that the story loses much of the tension it had built up. It doesn’t quite fall apart, but it does feel like the show ran out of episodes before it ran out of plot.

But Orion is doing most of the heavy lifting. He carries the emotional core, most of the chemistry, and basically all of the rizz. He’s the one who makes you care.

Honestly, just give me a cut without the AI.

Also: I’m in love with Nie Chuan. Easily one of my favorite characters of the year

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Phenomenal The Drama which rewritten the face of C Drama

Just a phenomenal work and a healthy and good stuff with a engaging plot twist this drama should be noated a the book of c drama industry Jiang Jun decides to work in a top investment company to fulfil her father's death wish. In MH, Jiang Jun meets her childhood playmate, Yuan Shuai. However, the current Yuan Shuai is no longer her gentle protector, but her rival.Jiang Jun, a bright and idealistic girl with dual degrees in economics and psychology, works for a philanthropic organization after graduation. Her life takes a turn when her father's accident forces her to join a top investment firm to fulfill his dying wish. In the competitive world of MH, she reunites with her childhood friend, Yuan Shuai, who is now her rival. Amid office politics and schemes, Jiang Jun navigates challenges with her empathy, high emotional intelligence, and keen judgment, ultimately finding success in both her career and love life.Jiang Jun, a bright and idealistic girl with dual degrees in economics and psychology, works for a philanthropic organization after graduation. Her life takes a turn when her father's accident forces her to join a top investment firm to fulfill his dying wish. In the competitive world of MH, she reunites with her childhood friend, Yuan Shuai, who is now her rival. Amid office politics and schemes, Jiang Jun navigates challenges with her empathy, high emotional intelligence, and keen judgment, ultimately finding success in both her career and love life.

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the second season - disapointmet

I was excited for the second season because I loved the first one. Finally, we got our team back, and the new team lead, Joo Hye-ra, is a nice addition. I liked the vibe between her and Jin I-soo —their friction and gradual understanding worked well, and it was fun watching them slowly learn to work together. The new cases were interesting, though some were predictable.

I had a great time at first, but it started to drag, and I began losing interest. It would have been better with only 10 episodes. The addition of the Yoo Sung-won case just dragged the whole drama down. What could have been a tight, suspenseful arc became a repetitive slog.

At first I was surprised by the rating, but now I understand. To be honest, I didn't even watch the last three episodes properly—I was more on my phone than paying attention. It's a shame the drama didn't live up to my expectations. The last episode is airing today, and I don't even have the urge to watch it.

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Yoo Ah-in is extraordinary!!! A Masterpiece film!!!

I honestly don’t know what words could do justice to The Throne.❤️

The music is magnificent, the production is beautiful, and the direction, cinematography, makeup and writing are all outstanding. Every element works together perfectly to create something powerful, beautiful and deeply moving.

But above all, the male ledin actor, Yoo Ah-in is a legend of acting!

I cannot imagine a better actor for the role of Crown Prince Sado. What he does here is incredibly difficult. He doesn’t simply portray madness or emotional breakdown through dramatic outbursts. You can see his character’s psychological state changing in his eyes, his breathing, his posture, the way he moves and speaks, even in the moments when he barely does anything at all.

He doesn’t just play a man who is losing himself. He shows the process of a person gradually losing himself. And that requires extraordinary control. If he had gone too far, the character could have become exaggerated or theatrical. If he had held back too much, the tragedy would have lost its power. Instead, Yoo Ah-in finds that incredibly difficult balance and lets the transformation unfold through his entire face and body.

This is also what makes the film itself so powerful.

The Throne is not simply interested in portraying Sado as a historical “monster” or in focusing on his terrible actions. Instead, it is much more interested in how he came to become this person. It shows the path that leads to his destruction and invites us to look at the human being behind the historical figure.

The film explores what can happen when a person desperately needs love, acceptance and understanding but instead encounters rejection, fear, impossible expectations and harshness.

There is something deeply tragic in the relationship between father and son: Sado needs a father, while Yeongjo continually sees the Crown Prince. Perhaps kings, cannot always be the fathers, their children need...

And this is where the film becomes much more than a historical story. It speaks about human behaviour, parenthood, love, rejection and the devastating consequences of cruelty. Bad parenting and harshness can destroy people and spread nothing but toxicity and sorrow.

What I especially appreciate is that the film does not need to explain all of this to us. It tells us through the performances, the direction, the images, the music and the relationship between these characters. It simply lets us watch the tragedy unfold.

Song Kang-ho is also outstanding as King Yeongjo, and the performances of the two together are phenomenal!

Beautifully directed, beautifully shot and exceptionally performed, The Throne left me completely overwhelmed!

Yoo Ah-in is extraordinary! The film is extraordinary

10+/10 — A MASTERPIECE!!!! 👏🏻❤️

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SO GOOD, I FORGOT I WAS WATCHING HISTORY.

NOT INTO HISTORY? Not interested in revolutionary dramas? Think they're usually too serious, too intense, or just plain boring?

I THOUGHT THE SAME—UNTIL SILENT TIDES.

To be honest, I wasn't interested in the story at all when I started. The history of Macau, war, finance... none of it felt relevant to me. What pulled me in was how EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-PRODUCED this drama is.

Then I got invested in the story.

And that's when I realized something even more impressive: the story I was watching like a fictional drama was actually rooted in the REAL HISTORY OF MACAU. I became so immersed in the characters that I forgot I was watching historical events. They didn't feel like distant figures from the past. THEY FELT REAL.

The drama is GRIPPING without drowning you in action. A lot of the tension comes from strategy, psychological warfare, and BATTLES OF WIT. The pacing is tight, the atmosphere is immersive, and there are virtually NO WASTED SCENES. The sets, costumes, cinematography, and overall production are TOP-TIER.

The cast is phenomenal, too. Every character feels convincing, and Ren Jialun's He Xian is a standout. His performance is subtle and incredibly detailed—he communicates so much through his reactions and body language without ever overdoing it.

I STARTED THIS BECAUSE THE PRODUCTION CAUGHT MY ATTENTION.

I FINISHED IT BECAUSE THE HISTORY MADE ME CARE.

NOW THAT'S HOW YOU TURN HISTORY INTO A MASTERPIECE.

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Pointless drama

This is not my usual way of writing a review. I just wrote down some notes.

Stupid plot and stupid characters. This is a pointless drama.

The most annoying things:
- Every character’s childish behavior throughout the whole series.
- The characters’ actions and attitude during a disaster and after surviving from a deadly disaster. Not a single one of them was frightened or freaked out just a little bit. They only got pissed off because their 'vacation' was forced to end. They take disasters too lightly. I don't think Japanese people would have this kind of attitude towards any disasters.
- The happy ever after ending for these idiots. Life isn’t that easy. Just after one vacation, everyone’s struggles will not suddenly disappear like it never exists before like in this drama. Don’t be fooled, everyone.
- The boss asked in Japanese and the employee answered in Korean, while the employee was speaking Japanese to everybody else. Like, what is the point?
- Tarot cards were made fun of. The ‘death’ card was used to represent bad luck again. I usually don’t pay attention much to this detail in dramas or films, but one of the main characters is a tarot reader and this detail appeared a lot. By the way, I don’t think any tarot readers would directly tell you in your face what you should do or should not do. They just give you the directions. Tarot readers are very careful of what they speak. That’s my guess from my experience. A friend of mine is a tarot reader. This matter isn’t actually something pisses me off too much, though. I think it also happened in other dramas. I just listed it randomly.

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BEST ENDING

I have watched a few versions of this story, and this show has one of the best endings. Most of the other versions were grim and tragic. This one was sad, but I was satisfied with it. In fact, the ending for the widow here was one of the best. She was not made out to be a pathetic, weak loser at the close of the show, and I also like that Cho Won’s affection for his cousin was quite consistent right till the end.

Some of the dialogues were a bit draggy, especially in episode 3, but otherwise, the overall pacing wasn’t too bad. There was sufficient backstories so there was a lot of emotional depth to the characters, and I thought the art direction and storytelling were brilliant. The show was also beautifully shot and is one that should be savored, not rushed through.

There is nothing vile about this show like how some have commented. I would say it's classy. The story is naughty and twisted yes but that's how the original story is. The way it is told in this adaptation IMO is very tastefully done. The scenery, the poetic dialogues, the psychological conflicts, etc are all very well stitched together as a piece of exquisite art. The actors and actresses are professionals doing their job, so there is no need to attack them for their choices. If you cannot handle erotic scenes, then this show is simply not for you. The rating is there for a reason. Anyway, honestly, the erotic scenes probably took up less than 15 mins of the 8 episodes. There is much more to the story than skin showing.

All the actors were great. Initially, I wasn’t used to how Nana portrayed the widow, but her performance grew on me and got better toward the end.

I personally like this story and have thoroughly enjoyed watching this interpretation. Yes, would recommend it, provided you're open-minded to twisted stories and can handle watching some nudity. Also, remember this is set in the Joeson era, based on the 2003 movie. This explains some of the differences between how some characters/situations are portrayed compared to the original novel.

Oh, one more thing...if you’re not watching it on Netflix, but on some illegal platform, and then complaining about the aspect ratio, I think you’re being unfair to the show. Don't blame the production or quality.

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Created an account just to leave this review

This show was amazing, it just keept doing everything so right. The actor playing Big Jane absolutely carried and took the show, his performance was outstanding and everytime he was on the screen your eyes would be glued to it. I often found myself replaying his scenes because he was just so good. And because he, and the MC got a lot of screentime, every episode was a joy to watch.

The first half of the show was perfect, the storyline was super interesting and slowly building and developing so you would find out more and more. The only issue I have with this series is that halway the show and towards the end; the show storyline stops developing further, doesn't get any deeper, we get a lot of loose ends, the acting becomes a bit repetitive (especially the MC's acting is a bit 'flat', lacks emotion often) and some decisions are just illogical and it all just felt very rushed. I expected the storyline would delve deeper into the history of Big Jane, the secrets of Big Jane, the peculiar personality of Big Jane and how little Jane would live/respond to those many secrets, but we got very little of that so my curiosity to those things did not get satisfied.

I'm hoping there will be another season where they delve right into the dark(?) part of Jane (his family, his business, his history, his personality, his morals,...), that they kind of abandoned in this season. Because the psychological drama, the manipulation, the secrets, the fear-factor, the evil traits, the dark personalities, the mystery and fear towards Big Jane, etc. we saw in the first few episodes was absolutely amazing, way more interesting than the latter half of the series that was more wholesome and superficial, and something I hope they will pick up on again and continue with in a new season.

But the first half of the show is so good, and that combined with the still many good moments in the latter half and the pleasing ending of the show does largely make up for it.

Big Jane and the mystery surrounding his morals, life and past and ofcourse the acting for this character is by far the best I've ever seen in a BL!! He has this ominous vibe, even off-screen in BTS's this remains. I hope to see him more in other shows where he plays in similar 'villain' type roles.

I read some of the other reviews and I'm honestly annoyed at people automatically giving a show a low rating because it isn't a wholesome, realistic, healthy relationship filled with perfect characters who always give consent and never do anything wrong. Need I remind people that this is fiction! A show about unhealthy or toxic relationships have just as much, if not more, entertainment value than healthy realistic ones. We watch movies about serial k*llers, drug lords, evil villains etc. all the time that are really well made and therefore; entertaining. I personally find BL's with overly healthy/realistic relationships very boring to watch. I want to see characters with serious flaws, I want to see toxicity, I want to see violence, betrayal, evil decisions, etc. Ofcourse, we all draw a line somewhere. But this show was well within my red/black flags limit.

Hwve fun watching!

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Everyone is focussed on the least important issue it's no wonder y'all missing the context!

I am writing this review as someone who has not seen the 2003 film nor read the French novel upon which this was adapted my perspective is solely based on experiencing this drama as a standalone work. Before you dive in, be aware that this show is not for everyone.... I would urge you not to let negative reviews hold you back try it for yourself.

This production departs from the usual Joseon-era K-drama recipe. It is a scandalous web tying together three central figures: a noblewoman whose husband intends to take a concubine, her playful and cunning cousin, and a widow. The central conflict arises when the cousin makes a bet to woo the widow, who has sworn never to be touched; if he wins, he claims the noblewoman as his own. It is a provocative premise, but as the title suggests, you shouldn't expect a flowery or polite ride. The story delves into jealousy, anger, selfishness, lust, and obsession mistaken for love, as well as the complexities of greed and the historical context of certain relationships.

I strongly disagree with critics who claim the show lacks a story or plot. Confusion is often mistaken for a lack of direction, but the plot is clearly established and the execution is precise neither too fast nor too slow keeping the viewer intrigued by the chaotic relationships.

The acting is particularly noteworthy; Ji Chang wook, Son Ye-jin, and Nana deliver masterclasses in subtle, "micro-acting" that is neither overdone nor underdone. If you watch at 2x speed, you will miss the nuances in their speech delivery, micro-expressions, and emotional outbursts.

Finally, regarding the debate over the erotic scenes: I have tried to explain that such portrayals are appropriate given that the show's very subject matter demands them. While it is understandable to feel uncomfortable, it was clear from the outset that these scenes would be included. Shaming the cast for fulfilling their professional roles and meeting the requirements of the script is unnecessary.

If you reduce the scandal to just it's erotic scenes then you missing the context, the show actually had cultural significance to it, they talked about topics like widows and how they had to mourn three years and couldn't get remarried, how men could take in concubines back then and their wives had to train and even choose them, how people married at the age so young and were groomed, and the use of pansori to narrate for those that watched jeongnyeon would know what iam talking about, saying the show is shallow because you forcussed on the bet made to seduce and ignoring the stories being told in the background.

Ultimately, this show may not be for everyone, but if it reaches its intended audience, it has succeeded.

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A Female Super Woman we can say!!

This series isn't a super-duper hit for me, but the sentiments carried throughout the story were what really stayed with me.

What I liked most was how the team never saw themselves as being above the law. Their mindset was simply that they were there to finish what should have been done in the first place, and that was carried well throughout.

The female lead handled her role beautifully, especially the way she balances being a loving mother while also being a killer. It's almost like watching two completely different personalities, yet she manages to make both sides feel natural. Her cute little family added so much warmth too.

And the child actress absolutely won our hearts! Her responses were so apt, and her acting was genuinely adorable.

The husband's reaction when he found out about his wife was everything. It wasn't exaggerated or unnatural—it was very carefully crafted and felt believable.

So, not a 100% must-watch, but definitely a lightweight drama with some action, family drama, and very, very mature romance and love. It was well carried for sure.

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