Reviews

good story and romance!

I liked this! I was craving anything remotely similar to Alchemy of Souls, and I found this. I think this is the first CDrama I’ve ever watched lol. But what a great introduction!

The first thing that really drew me in was the production and visual aesthetics of the set. The imagery is so so beautiful. I also reallly enjoyed the acting here! Especially Esther Yu and Dylan Wang. Their chemistry was amazing and I loved orchid and dongfang qiangcang together.

The plot felt somewhat predictable, but there were still a few twists and turns that made things enjoyable to watch. Like I did not expect Jieli’s betrayal lol. But I think the way characters acted made sense and there weren’t any glaring loose threads that still needed to be tied up by the end.

I also enjoyed Danyin’s character/the actress’s performance— at first was giving mean girl but I liked her arc overall. I wish her being half moon tribe half fairy tribe and being sisters with Jieli would’ve been explored more but ig after the truce and also wrapping up the story in 36 eps it makes sense they didn’t do that.

I went into this thinking 36 episodes was so long but once I started I literally could not stop and now I wish there were more episodes lol.

But yeah back to Orchid/DFQC their progression and love story is one I won’t forget. It lived up to the hype for sure

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UHHHH

ALRIGHT so I don't have much to say but I didn't find it THATT interesting! TBH, i didn't complete the drama so I don't fully know but till how much I watched, I would say only the first few eps were interesting. I dropped it pretty fast, i tried to watch it later but the acting got the best of me...I DROPPED IT AGAIN. I do love He Yu's acting but Esther's threw me off. I didn't like the fact she kept on acting like a child. As a person who notices facial expressions....yeah no. The story till was pretty boring, it was a typical script. They could have made it better by maybe adding plot twists and better reasoning for He Yu to be gone for that MANY YEARS. Overall, I would recommend it to the people who enjoy romance and a lot of SMOOCH scenes!

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First Impression: Sculpted Light

Overall: I'm giving this an indie bump/benefit of the doubt: 5 episodes about 6 minutes each. Airing on the Sculpted Light YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqcT2jynQLycM-G7RCQ4cM5P9pVnUKjXS&si=9vGdrAkRh7E_5JwB

Content Warnings: punch, violence, manipulation, abuse/held against will

What I Liked
- one guy is trying to have some agency
- tie pull in episode 2
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward and then back to the present
- didn't take off points, but hardcoded subtitles are very difficult to read

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took a turn in episode 3

Overall: I enjoyed the first 2 episodes (though the end of episode 2 seemed sudden), but things took a turn in episode 3 and the story tried to cover too much ground. 6 episodes about 10 minutes each. Aired on Secret of Us YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BSona1dmx6MOq-2_V50NJrjuUGS-UjO&si=h06-k6G1Bz0RiX3k

Content Warnings: dub/non con kiss, sexual assault, past deaths mentioned, manipulation

What I Liked
- vistas
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward and then to the present
- one guy seemed completely non interested and then after the sexual assault in the tent they were suddenly soulmates???
- too many story threads, should not have introduced the mom/terminal illness

Ending Spoiler: they reunite but 1 guy appears to have a terminal illness

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Disappointing season

Some things were done better than the first like the prison games, but most things made the season worse.

1. The players were divided early on where half the members were sent to the prison to face death. Not only are these low piece players who can be easily targeted during main games, but they also have to face a second elimination during the prison game. So the living room players more or less remained the same throughout the season and the people who went to prison never came out other than Choi Hyun joon who didnt even want to attempt the secret room game.

2. The huge divide after the main game created early alliances where people with strong alliances kept winning games and weaker players are sent to prison and have no hope of getting out of there. There was no room for people like Lee Sedol or Justin Min who were interested to play their own game. The whole season depending on alliance where weak players like So hui and Tinno (they were both very smart and played the games with strong strategy, but had weak nerves and therefore easy to manipulate) held on to strong players to survive until the end (no comments on what happens later because that's ridiculous).

4. What's the point of having a secret room in the living area? The game is already heavily favored towards high piece players and this doesn't help. This secret room game also came with no consequences aka no elimination, like wtf??? This game also came no surprise to the player vs the prison side secret game was more innovative with elimination risks that gave the exact same reward for winning i.e. 10 pieces except with a major advantage i.e. the winner can claim the 10 pieces at any point even when he is just about to get eliminated. Like why do we even need to watch 12 episodes when everything was decided on the very first episode? Did the producers think the secret room wont be unveiled until much later? These are extremely smart people on the show, especially after the first season, everyone is going to be on the look out for this stuff in this season. The secret rooms were solved in the very first episode. This was too easy as opposed to the first season where the clue was super hard to find and can be solved by the living room player (the one with more pieces) to unlock the secret room on the prison side.

5. Lots of manipulation by few players. In the first season I loved watching people get along with each other despite differing alliances. Except of Dong Jae and See Won who were aggressively competitive and had strong alliance opinions, most people were friendly and mixed well with everyone. In this season the prison divide just ensured alliances were fixed and the cast itself seem to play to that game play. I liked a few players, those who were strong strategically but also competitive and straightforward and played well with everyone: Sedol, Justin, 7high were my favorites. the others who were not terrible, but somewhat strategically selfish that I could root for was eun yu, har in, je yeong. I absolutely disliked Hyun gyu, so hui and later Tinno when he backstabbed 7high.

6. Why were there so many auction/betting games? Why were the final games so simple? Why were so many of the main games to be played in teams or easy to form team and play? Prison games were more fun since we got to see the player's real skill while playing it. They also need high reward for people playing the death games so they can recover from their poor fates. I personally think the people in the prison should be fed better to be able to have the energy to play multiple games in a day. If anything this season shows how stupid the producers unbalanced the prison side of the game sort of a mimic to represent society where rich gets richer and the poor have no hopes to improve their fates. But game shows are fun only if events are unpredictable and when everyone has an equal opportunity to win.

7. Poor casting. I wont say the first season cast was absolutely perfect. There were a few weaker players even if their IQ was supposed to be high like Yu Min, Hye Sung or the Go player who hung on to some stronger players for longer than they deserved. But the strong players played their game fair for the most part like Orbit or Dong Jae or Seok Jin. Some people though Dong Jae doesnt deserve to leave soon, while I agree to some extent, he does deserve to be eliminated because he didnt have a back-up plan to maximize his points or the vision to stick with his original alliance that would guarantee he prob wont get betrayed by forming teams with newer players who were part of a major alliance.
Anyway, the casting this season also has a few weak players, but most of them were very strong strategically but its frustrating to see them get so blatantly manipulated by not so strong, cunning players like hyun gyu. He didnt find the clocks, kyuhyun did. He didnt find the secret room, So hui found the birds and trees. He didnt solve the puzzle, So hui did by finding "Insert". He just "accidentally" drops his piece after they solve the puzzle and enters the room without discussing with the other living room people if any of them wanted to go esp So hui or kyun hyun. The prison room people on the other hand actually decided fairly on who wanted to enter and everyone played a part in solving the puzzle. hyun gyu is smart in the sense where he knows how to play the people (like a sociopath) but has no real skills in playing the game. He wins by forming strong living room alliances with strategically strong players like So hui, Tinno and 7High and later Hyun Joon. When he realized he was betrayed by hyun joon in the mancala game and he now had to play alone, he desperately manipulates his older alliances like So hui and Kyuhyun to betray their new group so he "doesnt feel alone". And they agree....they dont have a backbone and kyuhyun deserves to be eliminated because of this poor decision (Remember he doesnt even know hyun gyu had the 10 piece advantage when he decided to help him because of fake tears). So hui is even worse than hyun gyu imo. She is so smart, yet so easily manipulated by hyun gyu every moment is just so unbelievable. She wanted to take pieces from the living room players after winning her game because they had tons of pieces but instead didnt question once when hyun gyu suggested she take from prison players instead because that would ensure they remain weak. Then she cries on how she feels bad to do this. She sends Tinno to the prison because hyun gyu tells her he has the best chance of coming back to the living room (but not him ofc) and she just agrees and then cries and feels bad when he gets eliminated that day. Hyun gyu just keeps evading prison because no one has the spine to send him to prison and he had an unfairly acquired secret room advantage. Send him to prison and we would have seen how much he truly was capable to strategically winning solo games. But we already know he isnt that smart and purely relies on manipulating others to cover for him. Did he play devil's game well? Sure, he kind of did and he did play a huge part in securing that lucky advantage that the producers screw up. But was it fun to watch? No, its not fun to watch the Devil win an unfair game. When he said things like "Are you scared (derogatory)?", "Do you know how to math?" to hyun joon who he knows goes to top tier school in S. Korea for mathematics, and that sealed the deal for me. He is arrogant, not even the smartest in the room but calculative, unemotional, selfish i.e. completely unlikeable and undeserved winner. I would not have hated him as much as I did if he had to play the game in alliance with smarter players like 7high, eun yu, harin or hyun joon who are not afraid of playing the game or betraying him, aka people with courage and strategy to take risks. Unfortunately most of these people were in the prison away from him for the most part and he instead ended up forming alliance with lucky loyal doormats like kyuhyun, Tinno and the pick-me girl So hui. They should really stop casting celebs like So hui and kyuhyun who are afraid to play the game like it should be because they are worried about societal backlash if they are found playing dirty but instead actual smart non-celebs who care about winning the final pot and ruthless enough to do whatever it takes for maximum entertainment. If

Anyway once my favorite players got eliminated playing the game, I just fastforwarded to see who the winner was, though I already know but still hoped it was hyun joon. In my opinion, hyun gyu is a sociopath without finesse and So hui is a high IQ coward. I want justice for 7high, Justin Min, SeDol, Eun Yu who played courageously and strategically but in unfair conditions. I hope season 3 cast, game design is better than this one, at least please revert back to season 1 prison rules at the minimum. If you are going to cast a sociopath, please cast more than one.

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Tries to be more interesting than it is…

This is the lowest rating I’ve given for any Jdrama- I feel like this drama tries too hard to be deep or profound. It paints the Mary Magdalene figure not just as a “sinful” woman but a serial killer, mixes some Adam and Eve in there, with the last supper. All of it divorced from their true archetypal meeting and flattened to glorify this random Maria woman. Mary Magdalene is once again trashed in pop culture with falsities. They have no depth or context for any of these Christian symbols and simply throw it all together into one big messy soup. And it tastes weird, sour, and bitter. It tries so hard to be mysterious, scandalous, dangerous, and interesting, but the show is just bad and boring. The acting is uniformly bad and the director of the show has no purpose for the story whatsoever other than to run around in circles and waste time. I watched it till the last episode hoping to find something interesting or some kind of depth or something that would “make it make sense,” but it was just utterly stupid. People die and then don’t die, Maria is glorified as this serial killer whom Akechi keeps saving, kisses in a burning building for no good reason, and falls down this deadly hole with. Akechi makes no sense either. His primary dialog is “warukunai” (not bad) when tasting food and “Maria..”They try to be deep and interesting but in the end it just all falls flat and hollow. I’m not impressed with this. The lady who acts in “Marry my Husband” is also in this but far less likable- she’s annoying and screechy. Perhaps the only thing that’s good is the Utada Hikaru song that plays at the end of every episode. In the end it’s utterly pointless and left a bad taste in my mouth.

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a nice quick watch

If you have a free two hours to kill this is a vertical that actually has a decent story to it and was easy to watch. highly recommend

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Hong Ye, Moral Economy, and the Squandered Potential of The Unclouded Soul

Hong Ye, the Demon Lord of the recently aired C-drama The Unclouded Soul, is not an inherently unsatisfying character. Rather, he is a case study in how narrative structure and genre conventions can suppress complexity in favor of ideological convenience.

At first glance, Hong Ye appears to conform to a familiar xianxia archetype: the emotionally closed-off, jaded lover whose cruelty masks an essentially gentle soul. For nearly two-thirds of the drama, the series reiterates this characterization without meaningful development, asking the audience to accept repetition in place of evolution. The result is a protagonist who feels static, even as the plot insists on his emotional transformation.

The Unclouded Soul is a 40-episode xianxia idol drama starring Hou Minghao and Tan Songyan, framed as a female-centric narrative centered on Xiao Yao—a heroine defined by her unrestrained sense of joy and justice. The drama employs a time-traveling plot device to gradually unfold the mystery of her connection to Hong Ye across multiple lifetimes, positioning their romance as both fated and cyclical. This structure, in theory, should deepen the emotional stakes by layering past lives onto present consequences.

It is only in the third major arc—revealed to be their very first life—that the series briefly fulfills this promise. In this incarnation, Hong Ye is not a demon but a human burdened with the responsibility of saving humanity from extinction. His love for Xiao Yao motivates him to pursue immortality, not out of ambition or malice, but from a desperate desire to remain by her side forever. He steals demon pearls to gain power, fully aware of the moral cost of his actions. This arc finally grants Hong Ye agency, contradiction, and tragedy.

Hou Minghao delivers the pain and complexity of these decisions with remarkable precision. His portrayal captures a man torn between ethical compromise and emotional devotion, embodying the kind of moral ambiguity that xianxia narratives often gesture toward but rarely sustain. For the first time, Hong Ye feels less like a symbolic figure and more like a human subject navigating impossible choices.

Yet this is also where The Unclouded Soul exposes its most troubling ideological framework. Xiao Yao, who is gradually revealed to possess a savior complex, becomes the moral axis around which judgment is distributed. Her unwavering sense of justice—ostensibly virtuous—ultimately condemns Hong Ye to an endless cycle of atonement for sins rooted in love and desperation rather than cruelty. Meanwhile, other characters who commit far more egregious acts are narratively excused through death, narrative convenience, or symbolic punishment. The drama’s moral economy is uneven: suffering is not proportionate to wrongdoing but rather allocated according to narrative usefulness.

Hong Ye’s punishment is not framed as tragic injustice but as necessary balance, positioning him as a sacrificial figure whose suffering stabilizes the world order. In contrast, Xiao Yao’s moral absolutism remains largely unchallenged, despite the devastating consequences of her judgments. The series thus reinforces a familiar pattern in xianxia storytelling: the male lead’s redemption must be endless, while the heroine’s righteousness is treated as inherently correct, even when it is destructive.

Compounding this issue is the prolonged and narratively redundant storyline of the second leads. Their arc serves little purpose beyond manufacturing villains and crises, conveniently positioning Hong Ye to sacrifice himself repeatedly for the “greater good.” This narrative padding not only drags the pacing but actively undermines Hong Ye’s character by reducing his complexity to a functional role within the plot.

Ultimately, The Unclouded Soul gestures toward a far more compelling story than it allows itself to tell. Hong Ye’s character contains the potential for a rich exploration of moral compromise, love, and unjust punishment. Instead, that potential is curtailed by an overextended runtime, misplaced narrative priorities, and an ideological framework that demands his suffering as proof of cosmic balance. The tragedy of Hong Ye is not merely within the story—it is embedded in the storytelling itself.

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Lovely story

There's a famous saying that claims "the way to a man's heart was through his stomach" and this story, from the anthology kdrama series Love Track, explores it with a twist.

A lonely office worker, with very little going on in his life, finds himself lost in life. Not really happy with how things are going, falling into a mindless routine and feeling ignored by people. Until one day, he visits a new restaurant and tries the french onion soup and feels instantly revitalized. Now, when things don't go his way, he visits that same restaurant and asks for his new favourite dish. That's until the chef from the restaurant decides to no longer have this particular dish on the menu.

I really like this story because it felt really relatable. In the busy everyday life, it's easy to feel lonely and not really see beyond what's in front of us, thinking we go unnoticed by other people. But, if we look up from our plate, we can see there's actually kindness, friendship and, even, love waiting for us as long as we are willing to take a chance.

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I rewatched this to prove myself wrong but Cherry Magic is still the gold standard for a reason

It might be late for a review, but I just recently rewatched Cherry Magic while carefully re-ranking my top 15 Japanese BLs. It’s been about 4 years, and I mainly revisited it to sort out my feelings between this and School Trip. For a long time, I thought Cherry Magic only held a special place because it was my first Japanese BL, so I ranked School Trip higher. Turns out, I was wrong lol. Rewatching it reminded me exactly why I fell in love with this series in the first place

Story
The premise still feels refreshing even years later. The show moves at a steady, confident pace and knows exactly when to lean into comedy and when to sit quietly with its emotional moments. Nothing feels dragged, nothing feels rushed. It’s restrained in a way other BLs don’t always manage.

Both protagonists are immediately likable without needing justification. Kurosawa is the textbook definition of a green flag, but what really anchors the show is Adachi. His low self-esteem and quiet awkwardness feel painfully real, especially as someone who’s been a corporate worker. Office dramas rarely focus on employees like him. I mean... the introverted, unconfident, overlooked ones who just blend into the background of an office and seeing that reflected made the character hit harder. For once, I could actually see myself on screen

The supporting cast is just as thoughtfully handled. Fujisaki stood out to me even more this time, an aro representation and a woman in a BL who isn’t villainized felt genuinely progressive, especially for its time. It’s also refreshing how the show never pits women against the romance. Rokkaku, meanwhile, is charming and funny without being annoying

I initially thought Tsuge’s storyline would function just as the secondary couple, and while I still feel that his relationship with Minato is underdeveloped, Masato’s role works thematically. He’s odd, a little uncomfortable, and clearly not meant to be easily digestible and I actually appreciate that this time. Cherry Magic isn’t afraid to introduce characters and tropes that feel awkward or offbeat, then gently humanize them instead of sanding off their rough edges. It trusts the audience to sit with that discomfort

Acting
There’s really no debate here. The performances are natural across the board. None of the exaggerated, anime or manga-coded acting that often plagues Japanese drama and everything feels lived-in and grounded

Music
It’s funny revisiting this now because I completely forgot this show was what got me into Omoinotake. It became a gateway for me to dig deeper into their music. The musical score used throughout the show is pretty good, and I honestly didn’t notice it much on my first watch

Rewatch Value
This might be the one area where the show doesn’t fully win for me. It’s not as instantly rewatchable as fluffier BLs, and I did feel myself getting tired during this revisit 3 years ago. That said, time works in its favor. Rewatching it years later made me appreciate it more deeply, almost like discovering it again for the first time

At the end of the day, Cherry Magic holds up not because of nostalgia but it’s just damn good storytelling. In a genre that usually tries way too hard to be loud or 'extra,' this show has the balls to be sincere. It’s not trying to sell you a fantasy but it’s showing you the terrifying, messy, and eventually beautiful process of letting someone actually see you. It’s confident, it’s kind, and it’s remarkably human. I came back to it thinking I’d grown out of it but it turns out I just finally grew into the person who could appreciate why it’s a masterpiece

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Love is Patient, Love does not eek its own way

I gave this drama a 10 because it showed tge true meaning of what love is all about - committing one’s self to another person and working through problems together; it protects each other from harm and does not run away. It does not seek individual desires outside of that bond, and doesn’t keep score to prove who has done more.

People complained about the last scene calling it weird. There was nothing weird about it.

He came downstairs and looked at the photos, then watched the video of her playing the piano because he was reminding himself. It was his way of keeping the amnesia under control and clinging to what he saw in the photos and hearing the song she wrote when they first met.

Music is pieerful and can reach places that words cannot. It can dig down past the clutter of confusion and panic and calm the heart and mind.

He may have sensed a reset coming at that time, based on his darting eye movements, but those photos, the music, his child and his wife steadied him and brought him back.

The greatest redemption was brought about by love, and when we make life and marriage all about romantic feelings, we miss out on the reward that faithfulness in all situations brings.

It is a beautiful love story.

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Slow Burn done right

I didn’t plan to watch this at first because I’m not really a fan of the ML. I’ve seen some of his previous dramas and they just weren’t my style. I gave this one a try after hearing good reviews, and honestly, it lived up to the hype.

It’s a slow burn, but once it picks up, it’s hard to stop watching. What I really liked is that both leads are rich and on equal footing—no power imbalance. They grow together, which made the story more satisfying.

In terms of acting, the FL stood out more than the ML for me (just my personal take). The OST was really cute, and the ending was chef’s kiss.

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