Reviews

Not worth your time.

I am going to be honest here and say right away that I do not recomend this show even though I gave it a 5 out of 10. The reason for this was the second half of the show but let me talk about the first half before we get to that. The show started out great with the back and forth between Zai Ye and Tao Hua. Their characters complemented each other well and they had great chemistry. The plot was really interesting at the start and really kept me involved. But then about half way through the show started to slowly lose momentum and then half way through the second half it became extremely boring. The two main charachters completely lost their chemistry with each other due to plot reasons and then more characters were added that led to some confusion on my part. Also the plot totally lost momentum and made me feel like this show would have been better with less episodes. Also with out saying to much the shows ending was ambiguous and really made me feel like I had wasted my time seeing it through to the end.

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Meh. Yawn. C- / D grade on all levels

Vibe: like offbrand Hallmark or Netflix Christmas romcom movie without the holiday stuff. Both leads look very modern, esp the clean-cut athletic look of the ML, he seems completely out of place. And the classic head thrown back “hah hah hah!” forced laughter of a royal (or minister etc) was really cringe coming from this actor. Who made him do that?! 😭

The cooking competition stuff feels like an old episode of Iron Chef. It’s kinda cute/fun, but feels dated and very been there/done that. BUT its saving grace was the humor and really goofy fun animated visuals of people’s thoughts as they tried amazing recipes.

Scheming palace types (equally men and women) dulls and drags down the story. Chemistry between ML/FL isn’t strong, although I like the actress. This show didn’t figure out if it wanted to be palace intrigue or a time traveling romance, and it suffers badly from that lack of focus. It should have been a straightforward romance+foodie story.

Story + acting overall isn’t good enough even for a meh 5 from me.

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I usually hate Friends to Lovers Troupe but this one was done right.

Countdown to Yes is definitely slow paced and will not be for everyone that's for sure, I almost quit several times and I can only imagine the frustration for those that had to wait for weekly episodes. I luckily did not watch it till it was completed and binged the whole thing making it better for me.
I avoid Friends to Lovers because it's a troupe that just makes zero sense to me, because what do you mean we have been friends for like ever and never noticed you love me romantically. However the main obstacle here was Wataru was in serious denial of his feelings which stemmed from fear of losing his best friend which is a valid fear. There is nothing to dramatic, no great villains or some third person coming in between. It's just two guys coming realising you can be in love with your best friend. So don't watch it if you are expecting suspense and drama.
Watch it to see to people falling in love simple.

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Korean Buddhism temple life, food culture and a particular philosophy of living.

I started watching The Philosopher's Kitchen Jeong Kwan without knowing anything about it. The cover simply caught my attention, and I clicked out of curiosity. I ended up discovering a beautiful, peaceful and genuinely informative two-episode documentary.

What I enjoyed most was that it offered much more than cooking. Through Jeong Kwan's recipes and explanations, I learned about Korean Buddhist temple cuisine and the philosophy behind its vegetarian approach. I also loved seeing her gather ingredients from nature, the surrounding landscape, the traditional kitchen and the quieter rhythms of her daily life.

The visits from people who came specifically to learn from her, prepare temple food and experience her cooking were fascinating. I was also surprised to discover just how much international interest she has attracted, including professional chefs who have visited her to learn from her cuisine. I had no idea, before watching this, that her work had reached such a wide audience or that her food had inspired an internationally published book with photography, as well as appearances in major cultural events such as the Gwangju and Bukhara Biennales.

That was probably the most enjoyable part of the experience for me: I discovered Jeong Kwan and her world at the same time as I discovered the documentary itself.

The beautiful natural surroundings, traditional food, quiet atmosphere and the knowledge she shares make this a relaxing but also genuinely educational watch. It feels less like a conventional cooking show and more like a small window into Korean Buddhism temple life, food culture and a particular philosophy of living.
It's only two episodes, but I found them captivating, informative and unexpectedly moving. A lovely discovery and a 10/10 for me. 🌿🍵

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A Fascinating Toxic Relationship That Kept Me Hooked

Watching this show was wonderfully thought-provoking; I appreciate that there are talents willing to create content with psychological depth. The sub-narrative involving suicide was handled with exceptional care—grounded in reality and sensitive. It portrayed clinical depression in a realistic way.

However, the resolution of the main relationship is unacceptable because it sidesteps the toxic relationship between the Leads. Both leads and supporting actors gave stellar, spot-on performances, but the show's refusal to hold the leads accountable leaves the romance feeling unequal and unhealthy. I can see why the actors would enjoy portraying these complex characters.

The MLs behavior follows a classic abusive cycle: anger and verbal abuse followed by loving apologies that serve as manipulation. Because this repeats without self-awareness or therapeutic growth, the final "happy ending" feels contrived and unrealistic! Expecting a relationship to thrive before the partners addresses their issues is a romantic myth.

The FL’s flaw remains her willingness to give away her agency. Participating in a clandestine workplace affair with a boss who admitted he couldn't offer a future created a toxic relationship . While she establishes some boundaries over time, she ultimately enables the imbalance again in the last episodes. Although he seeks consent before intimacy, he overrides her wishes the following morning by deliberately exposing their private night to her parents against her wish to conceal it. He then goes on to speak over and for her. She remains silent, reducing her back to a passive participant. Her growth remains questionable, evidenced by her taking on the physical burden of split-city commuting to Beijing rather than finding an equal middle ground.

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What a masterpiece

This series keeps me on the edge of my seat! Every episode gives me a new theory, and I never know what to expect next it just keeps getting better and better. In this episode, what if Chita is actually a Nour, or even the Nour they’ve been looking for? The facts are already on the table: his body rejected Jirat’s mom’s food, he’s always moving around, and he literally felt Prae’s presence. Maybe he knows how to mask his appearance and even his colorfrom James. Ken’s backstory with his friend is so sad. Him crying during that dance scene was heartbreaking because, after losing his friend, James was the only human he’d been in contact with for a decade. James healed a part of him that he didn’t even break. As for Jirat’s brother, he kissed his friend, called it a mistake, and then immediately started talking about his friend’s future kids and wedding. Like, why? I get Panin’s concern, but what about his friend’s feelings? And Prae I need to know her truth! It seems like she’s not the Nour who can kill another Nour, nor is she the main villain, especially since we see her so much. I have so many theories. This series is driving me crazy, and I love it! 😆😍

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Summer Rose?!?

This is my first review to a short drama but i liked the story, cast ,acting and execution of every scene drama was a pleasant ride atleast for me it was a worth giving my time,the characters they portrayed very well and the chemistry was strong A Calm and soft Male lead and chaotic and strong willed Female lead with PTSD he helped her get out of her fear and she bought color to his colorless life and the ending was very cute how both brothers got thier happy and healthy family and last scene where all the cast wishing us happy healthy life I actually loved that concept. overall it is satisfying i loved it.🦊

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Really beautiful story, one of the best I've seen

I picked up Reply 1988 for one reason only: someone told me it was friends-to-lovers, my favorite trope, and that was enough to sell me. No special context, no nostalgia trip for an era I never lived through — though the 80s setting is genuinely well done, so much so that I ended up hunting down the uncensored version to watch it properly. Found it in pretty rough quality, but it got the job done.

What hooked me right away was how slice-of-life it is. No villains, no manufactured drama to keep you hanging. This is a show for people who don't need constant tension to stay invested. The humor is very Korean in flavor, but it still had me laughing out loud more than a few times.

Going in, I was fully Team Jung-hwan and Deok-sun. There's something about that "they fight because they're into each other" energy that I can't resist. But Taek won me over, slowly and completely, and there was no going back once he did. He's soft and unmistakably a man at the same time — a balance you almost never see pulled off this well. One scene sums up exactly why he's the one, and not Jung-hwan: when Taek admits to the guys that he likes Deok-sun, Jung-hwan brushes it off, something like "as if Taek would go for Deok-sun when he's got half the girls chasing him" Taek just owns it, honestly and without flinching. That contrast alone tells you everything about who deserved the ending.

But the scene that really got me was Bora and Seonwoo's wedding — specifically the moment she and her father break down crying. It's not just beautiful on its own terms; it hit close to home. It reminded me of my relationship with my own dad: two people who were never that close because they're too much alike, who love each other just as fiercely anyway, and who both carry some quiet regret about the distance between them. Watching that play out through two side characters, not even the leads, is the kind of thing a show pulls off without even trying — and it's stayed with me since.

Because that's the whole thesis of Reply 1988, really: blood isn't everything, family is whoever shows up. You see it in how Taek's family and Seonwoo's family fold into each other, in the warmth running through Deok-sun's household, in how the neighbors stop being neighbors and just become family.

My one real complaint: after spending the entire show building toward Taek and Deok-sun, the ending barely gives them any room to exist as an actual couple. I wanted that moment — telling everyone, owning it in front of family and friends, actually getting to be together on screen after all that build-up. Instead it's left hanging, like the mystery of who Deok-sun married mattered more than letting us watch them be happy once they finally got there.

Rating: 9.5/10. Docking that half point purely for wanting more Taek and Deok-sun once they were actually together. Now I want to work through the rest of the anthology, though apparently Reply 1994 and Reply 1997 don't hold up quite as well as this one.

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Everything is okay but DYX...

I have to start off by saying IT'S NOT BAD. but it's also not as good as people say for me.

The script is very fast-paced. Normally I like that, and it’s still okay here, but I do feel like it’s a little too fast that every trouble is passed so easily and conveniently that the plot doesn’t feel very deep. The ML finds the final evidence so easily, problems get solved quickly, and most of the actions and results are pretty predictable. I still don't see the smart trick.

I really love the FL though. She is smart, mature, and not childish, not overly “feminist” character who needs to prove how strong she is every five minutes. She is just naturally smart and capable, and I really like her.

For the ML, I actually don’t think his script is that bad. My problem is more with DYX’s acting. And it hurts me to say this because I used to praise his acting SO MUCH. I have watched almost everything he had ever acted in, so maybe I just expected too much from him this time.

After Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, he got the title of a “Jinjiang-style actor,” and I feel like he is trying too hard to nail that again. It worked so well in LGIEF because it was a fantasy setting, and those expressions were only really exaggerated in certain standout scenes. But here he keeps making that face throughout the series 😭 It’s too much. Sometimes it’s so cringy and almost cartoony. I don’t know which acting class ruined him. 😭😭😭

And speaking of acting, I don’t think DYX’s version of Zhao Ling is the best Zhao Ling they could have made.

Zhao Ling or "Jiu Ye" is a guy who already has a name in jianghu. He should be street-smart. He should be brave, powerful and able to lead. Of course he can be weak and self-doubting sometimes, but there should still be something about him that makes you think, “Yeah, I can see how this guy survived jianghu and got people to follow him.”

Instead, he comes across as a lousy, sad, weak, cowardly, sneaky, soft, sometimes even dumb loser 😭 Even after he rises to power, I still don’t feel like he becomes smarter or more strategic. The story tells me he is powerful now, but I don’t really FEEL it. He still looks like a soft sad boy who somehow got promoted.

And those sad puppy eyes do NOT help him either 😭

The funny thing is DYX has become wayyyyy more handsome than before. It should be a good thing, but for this role I think it actually makes things worse. He looks like a cute young idol rather than an army leader. Now I totally understand why they had to put a mustache on him. It helps a little 😂

Before he became this cute, I actually used to praise him because his acting made him look more handsome. Even when he was super skinny in Romance of a Twin Flower, he still had that ML charisma. I didn’t care that he was skinny because once he was in character, he looked attractive. Now he is objectively much better-looking, but somehow his better looks are ruining it 😭 The cute face, sad puppy eyes, and overly expressive acting all together make Zhao Ling even harder for me to believe.

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Expected more

The series starts pretty slowly. The first quarter is mostly setup, but I actually liked the premise: the fake marriage, the new tower block, and the idea of everyone being trapped inside while the situation outside gets worse.

Unfortunately, I found most of the characters pretty boring apart from the two main leads and the little girl. A lot of the characters also seemed unbelievably stupid, including the two leads. These are two experienced combat-trained people, yet so much of what they do is just patrol random corridors. Why not actually formulate a plan? Keep everyone inside their apartments, establish some basic rules, and have one person do regular checks at set times. It felt like the characters were deliberately making things more difficult than they needed to be.

I also didn't really like the serial killer storyline. It was obvious from pretty early on that they were setting him up to be important, but then all of the bodies were discovered around the same time, and his whole endgame of getting everyone to turn the electricity back on was basically dealt with in two episodes. I think it would've been much more effective if the bodies had been discovered gradually throughout the series, with everyone slowly realising that someone was secretly picking people off inside the building. That could have created a much better sense of paranoia and tension.

Also, how did the guy in the car even get bitten? He was inside the car and the windows weren't smashed. Maybe I missed something, but that really confused me.

One thing I did like was the ending. I actually prefer that the bad guys weren't just killed and instead ended up on trial. Death would've been too easy, and having them face the consequences of what they did felt more satisfying.

That said, I wish the ending had given us more time to sit with it. We basically just see them in court, and then it's over. I would've liked even 10–15 minutes showing what life looked like for everyone after the incident, maybe seeing how the survivors were coping and what happened to the people who caused everything. The ending wasn't bad, I just don't think we got enough time to actually process it.

Overall, I liked the premise and the two leads, but I think the show had a much better setup than execution.

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Catastrophe of the year

What in the nonsense Omegaverse was that? The first episode was so good, but it went downhill right after Nakhun bit Phat. How are you going to bite someone like that and then use the excuse "I couldn't control myself"? What about Phat? They stuffed the show with so much unnecessary filler that the plot completely disappeared. Alphas were out here hand-to-hand fighting without using their pheromones and running away from people with guns... like, WHAT? Isn't this supposed to be an Omegaverse? Nakhun was ready to choke out that doctor with his pheromones, but where was that energy when he was fighting actual enemies? (Pure nonsense 😂). It pisses me off because I had high expectations and was so ready to love it. NC scenes cannot save a bad script without a real plot, those scenes weren’t even enjoyable especially the main couple NC(at least not for me).

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