Reviews

A Promising Start That Lost Its Focus

This is another drama that I felt could have been better. It had such an impactful beginning—I loved the choreography, the palace intrigue, and how effectively the villains were established. There was also a rich backstory supporting the present narrative, which made the early episodes especially compelling.

However, it eventually fell flat for me. The subplots weren’t developed enough, and the focus shifted heavily toward the relationship between the leads. I would have preferred the romance to be more integrated into the main storyline rather than taking it over. The script also kept introducing new ways for the protagonist to survive life-threatening situations, which made the final stretch feel unnecessarily drawn out.

Ultimately, whether you enjoy this drama may depend on how much balance you prefer in a narrative.

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Why lie to us? ?

Let me start with “A Beautiful Lie.”

I watched it from episodes 1 to 20+, where the ML and FL were starting to develop their love story, and it was perfect. I mean, it really made me fangirl.

But then, is this series some kind of lie to us?

When the ML started to get better, I was so happy, like, YES, finally! Their love story is about to happen next, just like the second leads.

At first, I thought the “beautiful lie” referred to the FL pretending to be Xiaojiao/Cato to help the ML recover faster—and it worked. But why? Why did the lie turn out differently?

The ending was completely unexpected. We’re not okay with the ML dying, and the FL being left to suffer alone afterward. She’s still lying to herself, holding on to the idea of a beautiful love story. It feels so unfair.

Seriously, what happened to the plot? Were there any issues with the series during filming that led to this kind of ending?

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Script's a mess, but we still love JoongDunk

With all due respect, and retaining our love for JoongDunk; the show made little sense storywise. I haven't read the novel, probably half of what's wrong could be blamed on it.
The characters' choices made no sense. While their friends were literally dying, the remaining guys continued living their normal lives, going outside alone etc. as if someone's car was stolen or just a house burned down.
The killers never left anyone alive after choosing T or D, and everyone still believed they won't be murdered.
The ending was the biggest mess. Why are there only two policemen on the scene in the last ep? The big grown-ass man Kamin pointing a gun at Fai, but unable to knock out the small girl? Why is Jay outside and safe, but then suddenly kidnapped again to be burned?
Screenwriters should have gone with simpler solutions.
It's 8 stars from me solely for the humour, love and JoongDunk in the series. Heart killers was their better work, it made more sense. Cheers.

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Even If This Love Disappears From the World Tonight (Korean: 오늘 밤, 세계에서 이 사랑이 사라진다 해도) is a 2025 South Korean romantic drama film directed by Kim Hye-young, based on the Japanese novel of the same name.

Kim Hye-young’s direction successfully captures the ephemeral essence of first love through a color palette that feels like an eternal sunset. Even though we are already familiar with the premise of anterograde amnesia, this 2025 version injects a visual freshness that makes that "lump in your throat" feel brand new.

What truly elevates this adaptation is the dedication of its lead pair. Choo Young-woo and Shin Shi-ah convey a vulnerability that is palpable; they ensure that the weight of repetition and forgetting never feels monotonous, but rather deeply human. Their chemistry is the film’s engine, making every "first meeting" feel just as genuine as the last.

Ultimately, this movie is a devastating reminder that memory is a privilege, not a guarantee. It is poetic, cruel, and visually impeccable. Get your tissues ready.

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This love story feels extremely light—so light that it becomes boring rather than engaging. It follows a very common and predictable formula: a player who pretends to love, and another boy who knows the truth but still chooses to fall for him anyway. Instead of appearing innocent, this character comes across as frustrating and unrealistic. He is fully aware of the lies, yet he walks straight into heartbreak. That doesn’t feel like innocence—it feels like poor character writing.

One of the most distracting elements is Jimmy’s fashion style. His clothes look outdated and old-fashioned, which makes it hard to appreciate his charm. His appearance and personality could have been more appealing if the styling reflected a modern setting. The wardrobe choice weakens the character instead of strengthening him.

Another major issue is the emotional inconsistency. The story shows how heartbreak affects him, but then he enters a relationship with someone else—someone who genuinely loves him, like the doctor—only to hurt him as well. Using another person to heal from past pain is selfish, and it makes the main character difficult to sympathize with. Instead of growth, he repeats the same cycle of emotional damage.

The acting itself is acceptable, but the weak storyline doesn’t give the actors much opportunity to show depth. The emotional scenes lack intensity because the writing doesn’t build strong emotional stakes. Everything feels surface-level, and nothing leaves a lasting impact.

Overall The characters feel inconsistent, the romance feels forced, and the plot is too predictable. Instead of being a touching love story, it becomes frustrating to watch. It is not terrible, but it is definitely disappointing and forgettable.

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an anti-fan of this bs

okay lemme start....... the only thing that kept me going throughout the drama is seeing how worse it can get. and whats wrong with the writer and director of this show?? what do they want us to see there is no smooth flow in the story they are hating each other and then kissing the next minute!!!??? they didnt clearly show how the story developed and the marrying anti fan tv show should be the main concept instead it was a small part in this drama despite the name and atleast they should stay in the same house or atleast show the bickering sides of both so it would look good and cute instead only aired the parts where she was maad......
the acting was AWFUL only one who did great acting was sml/JJ but the directors didnt know how to portray his character possessive love? psycho? or a good guy gone bad character?? naaa they mix fruit juiced everything and wasted the talent and also kim min gue was great but idk what did his charac served to this drama, it couldve been better if they gave some importance to him
it couldve been a great drama if the screenplay was good but they missed it all up

the only okay couple in this drama is the writer and pd couple every couple other than them are cringe and their story didnt make sense, its all beacuse of the director of this drama they selected great cast but its a waste if you dont use em properly

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I am not aiming to write a full review at this point, but rather to make a strong recommendation —

I had planned to wait until the finale to share my thoughts on this series, but it is so exceptional — and at the same time so underrated — that I felt compelled to write something now.

With three episodes left before its conclusion, **Silent Truth** continues to surprise me.

I have always been passionate about well-crafted thrillers and stories that truly know how to unfold their narrative. Here, we have one of the finest Japanese suspense dramas currently on air. Thankfully, Netflix secured the streaming rights, allowing us to experience the production in its highest quality.

I am not aiming to write a full review at this point, but rather to make a strong recommendation — a sincere and enthusiastic one.

If you appreciate suspense, psychological tension, high production value, and actors delivering truly remarkable performances, then this is a drama you simply cannot miss.

17/03/26
The End

Unfortunately, the ending did not match the reality that the story had conveyed. Junichi’s ending with Makiko was a cold splash of water on such a well-crafted plot.
It could have been much better if the story had a happy yet realistic ending.
I still recommend the series, but not with the same enthusiasm as at the beginning.
Sorry, folks.

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The Series Begins Beautifully And Then Crashes....

The story flowed just so aptly, up to a point and then it – just crashed and burned to the ground. As a gay man and despite how it is marketed, it is a GAY story! We must demand more from production companies, directors, and ACTORS! Stop doing trickery. You took an astonishing brilliant premise and made a sham love story out of it because apparently the two actors were unwilling to represent they were in love with even a modicum of intimacy. I, for one, am tired of watching this over-and-over and making excuses for it. It is time for this to be called out for what it is. A ruse. This would have been an exceptionally good series, but it is again another insulting sham. And it has nothing to do with cultural sensitivities or norms. These are all conscious efforts to present half-stories to look whole, and I am tired of this trickery.

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A Talented Cast Brings Fascinating Characters Brilliantly to Life

I don't anticipate writing very many reviews, but this show has lived in my mind ever since I first started watching it, so I wanted to share its strengths for others like me who browse review sections to decide what to watch.

Don't let my 8 star rating fool you- although I didn't rate it higher because I had mixed feelings, I am obsessed with the characters and romance, and personally love rewatching this show.

First, the actors elevate the show's story. The plot is much stronger in the beginning than the end; although many plot elements of the finale are cliched or have been done before, I enjoyed the actors' performances so much that I honestly didn't mind. The one subplot that tried my patience was the "noble idiocy" bit that came in about 3/4 of the way through. I kind of wish that part had been cut out, it didn't do much for the story and was resolved in an unsatisfying way for me personally- although I did love seeing them happy afterward. I also was not a fan of the "northern kingdom" plot, that felt poorly done, but I expected as much.

Despite my two criticisms, I again want to underscore that despite my not personally liking those subplots, the characters kept me watching. I loved the cast and the actors that played them. This was a stacked cast in terms of talent. Wow.

Second, I loved the romance so much it kept me watching through all the highs and lows. I love mature characters who are both competent and stand by each other's sides, and I felt that this show did that type of relationship very well. Both the leads are immensely talented and you really felt their respect and appreciation for each other turning more intimate. Their banter and flirting was so fun and remained one of my favorite parts up until the very end.

Third, I felt that the friendships were one of the most heartwrenching aspects of this show. Yes, just as heartwrenching as the romantic drama. Without spoiling anything, there are some deeply emotional and inevitable twists of fate and character choice that left me heartbroken. These friendships were built so carefully over the course of the show, that when the twists came, I was devastated. I really loved how impactful these friendships were shown to be, along with other kinds of relationships that were so central to Zhuohua's life. It made all of the characters' arcs feel richer and deeper for it.

Fourth- continuing from third- the characters were all so fascinating to me. The surprise villain was really fun to watch, and all of the various side characters were very fun. I found myself disappointed that some of them didn't return later in the show. The leads were wonderful. I especially have to shout-out FSF because I love the type of lead he is playing in this show, and he never diluted the character's personality; while he changes through the show, he remains true to his core. I am always disappointed when an ML loses his personality after he's in a relationship, but not here! Their wonderful dynamic soared to the end.

The happy ending is SO happy, even unrealistically happy. But I love to see Zhuohua get everything, lol. I was glad for her. She got the guy she wanted and the life she wanted. I rated "rewatch" as 7 because I figured many others many not view this as a rewatch type of show since it is historically inaccurate and the plot isn't as well executed as it should've been. But to me, it's a definite rewatch just because of the characters. I love to see Zhuohua and her friends succeeding in life and I loved their romance.

If you decide to give this show a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Everyone's taste is different, but I know I will never forget these characters or that beautiful opening song.

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Now this is how you do a bite-sized series

If you just heard someone scream, 'OMG this is so fucking cute!' It was me. This was indeed, hella cute. The plot is well-paced with no over-the-top dramatics or misunderstandings—just a simple, yet well-done enemies-to-lovers academic romance, with a little twist.

My only gripes would be
1. I wish is that we'd have gotten a little more time with them at the end. Like, have them properly establish the relationship b4 it ended.

2. The kiss scenes weren't it. They were giving dead fish, and me no like that. I understand that they are pretty young, and this is a high school series. Thus, I don't require them to be out there eating each other's faces. However, it doesn't mean you give me dead fish kisses. Nuh-uh. My School President has, I believe, 2 good examples of what I'd have liked to see.

PS. Thank you to that one babe with the BL account on YouTube. She kept mentioning her love for SeaKeen so much that I was like, 'Fine! I'll look them up.' I realised that I'd already added 'Weirdo 101' on my Plan to Watch list coz I thought the concept was interesting and cute. Now, after seeing them act, I'm even more excited for the series to drop. May GMMTV not fuck it up

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THE DELIBERATIONS OVER FATE & KNOWLEDGE

As a theme-digger, let me detect for you some less obvious layers of meaning in the C-drama „Miss the Dragon.” There is more to discover & savour than meets the eye.

THE VALUE OF SCIENCE
Our times call for a redefinition of the value of the ‘certified’ facts & interpretations. The centre of the evil in this drama is a large rotunda library, run by the Heavens, calling for awe. At its centre, the Immortal of Fate is an individual of refined appearance & pleasing demeanour, responsible for attaining, storing & distributing the bulk of ‘received’ scholarly literature, but can indulge in providing evaluation or interpretation…

His visitors accept the library with utmost reverence. Qing Qing’s attitude is the opposite: she detests the written word, even though she knows that her negligence in education will deprive her of immortality. Being given “The Book of Reincarnation”, which would spare her suffering, she puts it back. Both idolatry of books & total disrespect prove wrong.

While the cunning Immortal of Fate makes a deliberate abuse of authority in source selection, the inexperienced Dragon King clings to the worst possible references out of his lack of the ability to judge their relevance or intention of authors. He follows a “bad book” & a brothel show, which almost ruin his budding relationship with Liu Ying.

PROFESSIONALISM & ETHICAL ATTITUDE
The position, independence, perception by superiors/colleagues/clients, amount of leisure determine our ethical attitude. Likewise backwards: our morality decides if our work will serve or disrupt the community.

We see it at play from the first episode, when the Immortal of Fate encourages the Dragon King to steal the Ancient Golden Armour. He does not use the imperative ‘steal’ – just toys with the hero’s anxiety & ambition. The Dragon King has already been burdened with an unjust accusation (the misappropriation of the Stone of Nuwa), leading to the Heaven’s thunderous wrath. As a recidivist, he will be doomed…

Each time we meet the Immortal of Fate, this smooth operator takes a step towards mischief. He makes grand use of Qing Qing’s obsession with appearance (her own & the handsome librarian’s) to confront her with the merciless Lord of Luofeng Pavillion, by advising her to pull at his most tender strings.

The heavenly library has a second enterprise profile, a very nasty one: a commission-house for all sorts of shady magical artefacts, poisons pushed as medicines, harmful headbands etc. To get these, a client must offer the most precious piece of their body, being even informed that the business is illegal.

The Immortal of Fate’s corruption has a form of a vicious cycle: he is armoured with unearned authority, with no surveillance from above or objection from beneath. But he is not free from unearned disregard, too: for Qing Qing he is not a suzerain but a plain librarian. Such occurrences even raise the Immortal’s contempt towards his working environment and make him indulge in exploiting the naivety of his client. He knows he can venture offering her a crucial book because she is likely to turn it down. He goes as far as to delete pages from the record on Lord of Luofeng Pavillion. He spends his entire life in the library or at courts, having no pastime, craving for none. While privately visiting the Dragon King at the pool, he is still ‘at work,’ scheming.

Lord of Luofeng Pavillion has a profession that collides with his inborn personality but corresponds to his current embittered state of mind. He feeds people Lethe (memory poison he had also taken willingly) and guides them into oblivion, genuinely believing that this is the right path away from suffering. A crack appears when Qing Qing twits her spontaneity into his ear, pleading for mercy, rekindling buried memories & instincts. Each twit enlivens the past and finally pries the cold heart open. However, Lord’s two unhealed traits guide him back dangerously close to his professional failure & private misery: the susceptibility to evil authority & the inability to communicate effectively.

Various hilarious but serious observations may be drawn from the interaction between the Dragon King & other professionals: the Immortal of Fire & the Immortal of Rain. Worth following is the insight into Ayu’s tortured state of mind, as she tries to extricate herself from the post of Goddess of Rain, imposed on her by circumstances. Facing the imminent revelation of her incompetence, ‘the loss of face,’ Ayu pleads guilty. Not to Heavens, but to common folk. Having repeatedly suffered violence at work as a merchant, she still has deep respect for her imperfect community.

COMMUNICATION INEFFICIENCY
Many C-dramas involve motives of amnesia to prevent a character from communicating with others, revealing crucial facts, sharing emotions. Here we have the motives of reincarnation and Lethe drink. Interestingly, Liu Ying’s every reincarnation involves a different pattern of selective, incomplete forgetting. Every lifespan leaves an imprint on her itinerary soul. Her friends are obliged each time to adhere to a different range of secrecy. Of course, with Qing Qing around, Liu Ying & her later selves quickly pick up the essence of her accumulative past. Also the Dragon King’s yearning for outspokenness allows her to peek into it.

We do not doubt that Xue Qian Xun has grown ready to confess surprisingly soon, but his sincerity is handicapped by the half-forgotten hurt, years spent at the heartless truth-pruning office. Qing Qing yearns for any sign of appreciation from him, yet her obsession with his perception of her face & intellect makes her deaf to his appraisal. His introverted attitude, enhanced by the gravity of his post, gives priority to silent musing (the content of thought). Her extroverted manner, enhanced by the habit of constant nervous pleading for herself, gives priority to chaotic vocalisation (the form of thought). That stalemate of form & content, of the willingness & inability to give & receive, can only be broken by a thunderous interference.

Worth noting is Liu Ying’s maturing openness, as she learns to refuse to reciprocate men’s favour, gently but decisively. In two lifetimes she let circumstances impose marriage, but as general Chen Yue she informs Lu Zheng about her feelings to another man, without causing excessive suffering. Then, as a small girl, she is ready to assert her worldview, aware that her sincerity puts her future at the cultivators’ sect & her immortality at stake.

CONTROL OVER FATE
When Ayu decides not to drink Lethe and vows to gain control over her fate, we might expect her to become what she wants. But it is her father and uncle who channel her fate at her rebirth as Chen Yue. Being strong and skilled in martial arts still has nothing to do with freedom of choice. The fourth incarnation gets close to it, but the heroine is made to die on the day of gaining maturity. It may mean that life is too brutal to grant full independence even to the fourfold refined personalities.

The Dragon King & his beloved remain smitten by the tides & ebbs of fate. The strongest character, the only truly friendly counsellor, eager to lend useful objects and give a helpful hand, is Xue Qian Xun, who manages to adjust the frantic torrents of fate for himself & others, but even he falls victim to the poisonous spell by the Immortal of Fate.

OBJECTIFICATION OF MEN
This serious drawback is present in all C-dramas known to me, alas. Male characters have the responsibility to provide a background for female. Here, we have a man-pillow, a walking purse, a face-canvas for drawing ridiculous patterns; even emperors are objectified as spouses or sources of admiration & promotion. Only the Immortal of Fate is the independent one who exploits, but he dies violently shortly after revealing his aim.

GLITCHES & FLAWS
The greatest flaw of this C-drama results from its greatest merit. The engagement of Deng Wei was a priceless acquisition, but placing him in a role other than the main proved disruptive. Unintentionally, this cautious placement did injustice to the rest of the cast, who are all professional, devoted & expressive to the extent required by their roles. Deng Wei is not an actor, he is a wizard.

Another flaw of this series is the amount & final affirmation of sadism. We see many facets of cruelty, the most disturbing instance being the pervert atrocity of Dongluo’s Crown Prince, rightfully punished. But in the final fight against the Immortal of Fate, the Dragon King chooses to indulge in a similar type & intensity of cruelty. This time we are forced to believe this excess is justifiable.

Preoccupied with his beloved’s affairs throughout the series, without a wider scope of concern for the world, the Dragon King turns into a rebel eager to sacrifice himself in a desperate assault against the unjust Heaven. Not the change itself but its abruptness is unconvincing and leaves enough space for doubt whether it was the hero’s deliberate act or just the ill-considered result of a momentary surge of despair, worth his regret.

One more flaw connected with psychological portrayal is how cold Liu Ying & her next selves can be. She forgets her newborn child, wandering & musing about her feelings. The child never reappears, though minor persons like Marble do. We never get to see the emperor she marries or learn about her struggle to develop a bond. Although she gets 60, we see her preserve a youthful appearance – no trace of emotional wear. Her coldness towards ‘brother’ Lu Zheng is also conspicuous.

APPEAL
Qing Qing went a long & painful way to respect her face. C-drama is this one spark of hope left to preserve dignity, creativity, modesty, true development, faith in humanity & more, to avoid the Western ‘aesthetics.’ One of the greatest threats is the indulgence in unnecessary plastic surgery & tweakments as breach of authenticity, as interference in actors’ & actresses’ integrity.

Written by a nationless spirit confined in the decaying Mid-Europe.

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