Reviews

From casual friends with benefits to turning serious!

Praiseworthy first half with secret skinship, office life intrigue, and boss vs employee power dynamics. CP in a Love and hate relationship loop beginning at casual friends with benefits to turning serious!

Glad to see both ml and fl have trustworthy and comforting friend circle and parents.
Appreciate the attempt at sensual over steamy, chemistry feels overdone yet undercooked at the same time. Strong portrayal of women at work!
Definitely a tingling must watch overall for those looking for ragebait love and s3xy forbidden office romance!
Would I call it fresh...hmmmm not really!

Read More

Lacks Depth

Initially the story was intriguing where Big Jane has rumours about him and people who make deals with him. And Little Jane can't help be drawn to him out of curiosity either. Sadly, there was really no big mystery behind it and the story just shows how Big J non-consensually kisses Little J time and time again.

Frankly I forgot when these two fell in love or why they even love each other. Little Jane doesn't trust Big Jane which leads to misunderstandings. To be honest, there really isn't much to the plot to even talk about even after 9 episodes. I've decided to pause and leave the last 3 episodes to watch once the finale is out and perhaps my rating will improve.

I have mainly been watching this drama on 2x because it is too slow moving for my liking. The best thing about it is the OST. The opening theme song 'Colorblind' is really good and probably the only thing I love about the drama so far.

Completed the last 3 episodes on 2x as well. They did popular drama tropes which was cringe but at least something was finally happening in the series. In fact, while watching ep 10, I was talking to the screen, please say, "--- --- ---?" and laughed a lot when little Jane did. So, for unintentionally making me laugh, I raised the rating by 0.5.

The unfortunate thing about this drama is that it wasn't directed well. The emotions little Jane was feeling didn't make sense a lot of the times. In fact, even his expressions confused me to the point where I didn't know if he was laughing or crying.

It's not that I hate the drama but more so that it failed to evoke any kind of emotion which was disappointing. I just wanted to get over with it. Personally, it's a skip but DO listen to the OST.

Read More

Best showcase of Life

This series offers more than school romance.
It shows family dynamics, teenage struggles into study, love, and growth.
I transitions to reading the novel because I'm really curious what's next.
The mls seems to be having it easy on others eyes, but really their struggles is not.
What I love most here is they're not weak. No one is saving who is who, no one is above another, they're both strong individuals who also believes in their bond.
It's really a great great BL story. I truly hope there's still a glimmer of hope for season 2. Their story is worth telling.

Read More

This was frustrating

Trigger warnings for rape (acted out) and SA (both acted and real)

I'm going to start by talking about the things I liked.

1. Zhen Xin's girlfriend was actually really cool, and I liked her. I thought I would hate her at first because of the way she called Zhen Xin "honey" in that tone. It grated on my ears, and she did it too much. Thankfully, that didn't last long, and she turned out to be a very cool girl boss.

2. The ending. Both the one for Zhen Xin & Zhang Zhun and the one for Gao and Fang. I'm still wondering whether Gao and Fang's story inside Zhen and Zhun's was real.

3. The acting was really good & Ollie and Shu cried really well.

4. Good cuddles. It's sad we only got a couple of them.

Now, on to the things I didn't like, of which there are many.

1. The cheating was unnecessary. They should have just been single or broken up with their girlfriends right away. Zhen and Zhun barely get any screen time as themselves already, so why fill that time with something so toxic? I already didn't feel anything for the characters & I hate cheating, so I wasn't exactly rooting for them to get their happily ever after. Did Zhun ever talk to his girlfriend & properly break up? It didn't feel like it. I knew going in there would be cheating; I just didn't expect it to be handled so poorly, especially with Zhun's girlfriend.

2. I didn't really like any of the characters very much, besides Zhen Xin's girlfriend. We aren't given enough time with them to have any good emotional buildup or to really even get to know them. I simply couldn't make myself care about them.

3. The chemistry. To put it simply, there was very little to be had. I checked out during the smut scenes, which is honestly nothing new, but even the kisses were bland and dry. The kisses weren't the worst, but I expected a lot more from these characters, considering they "love" each other. Yeah, I really didn't believe that for a second.

4. Even with the ending being what it was, we should not have spent over half the show on Gao and Fang's story. I didn't even pay attention to the first scene because I thought it was something they would show small pieces of every couple of episodes. I didn't know we would be living through their entire story! Sadly, their story, which I was bored with at first, turned out to be the more interesting one to follow.

5. Where the fudge did that proposal come from? It was the most out-of-place proposal I've ever seen, IRL & in fiction. What was he thinking? What makes it worse is that it didn't have to happen. I'm assuming it happened to get the rings to both characters so they could reunite dramatically later. Could have just made them promise rings; it would have worked just as well and made it so Zhen didn't look like an idiot who was rushing things.

6. Why did their boss change their mind about them dating? What happened in those 8 months that made them say, "Okay, if they still like each other, just let them date"? I don't mind the change of heart; what I mind is not knowing why it happened.


I really don't understand the hype or the high rating. I think I'm going to stop considering the rating before I watch a show. I normally use it as a way to pick between two shows if I'm torn, but I've been disappointed almost every time. I was really looking forward to this show as well. I thought it would be a dark, fast-paced plot that would have me excited for each new episode, but instead, each episode became a chore to get through.

Read More

Another typical romance drama

I have mixed feelings about this drama. I enjoyed it, and even the +1-hour episodes flew by. I like Hyeri a lot because she always delivers a strong performance, even as the stereotypical romance drama FL.

But as is happening in most dramas this year, their success is based mainly on the chemistry and the performance of the main leads, passing up the opportunity to develop interesting adult stories, playing a safe game spending too much time on youth and memories, and solving a forced happy ending in the last episode, full of plot holes that are very difficult to believe, lowering the quality of the drama.

In this case, they could cut at least half of the unnecessary story of their youth, which was frequently repeated throughout the drama, and spend more time on Ju I Jae's feelings and her need to study, the expected support of her partner, how to manage a long-distance relationship, and how to support her without invading or shadowing her, especially when supossely wrote and directed a movie in Canada in less than two years, when their movie took more than one year. She was selfish, just disappeared, and made “her dream,” with no interest in Woo Su Bin’s feelings. Additionally, who would believe that a rookie director in their first movie would disappear during editing, post-production, and promotion?

Woo Su Bin’s role was plain: it didn't convey much emotion (sometimes I feel the same face happy or sad), didn't define a clear behavioral line, and relied on looks. His character could explore in depth the ups and downs of a romantic relationship with a partner who wants to be bright and stay out of your shadow. His dad was another exaggerated character, and the drama didn’t do much to expose their regrettable behavior. At the end, the bad guy keeps his fortune.

The attempt to exploit the viewers' feelings with the breakup and magic return, as if nothing ever happened, to receive an award is too much of a cheap emotional trick, the same as the sudden and unnecessary death of Sim Yu Geon’s father.

CEO An Su Hui was exaggerated, to the point of being a discordant note each time she appeared. I know the “bad guys” are necessary, but in the context of the drama, they could give the character a more realistic entertainment CEO script.

Sim Yu Geon and O Ha Na’s story was naive, not a story at all, and pretty much felt like a forced script to fill in the second leads, with no clear character definition. It tried to sell a 30-year-old rich, beautiful, famous virgin, never-kissed actress with an unknown actor, almost under the same conditions, alone in their room and only briefly kissing. Is this believable?

On the other hand, the other secondary couple, Seo In Uk and Chae Sa Rang, is a man-predator woman, with almost the same on the man's side, who started a relationship on a fake, ridiculous reality show. After the only smart quote from that couple, when she said it was too difficult for her to keep a serious relationship, then, out of the blue, she appeared as a writer selling books, and he was buying the books. The last scene between them was dumb. Once again, they could explore the challenges of being a couple with no commitment, only enjoying the moment, who suddenly find someone who makes them change their minds.

The drama served to entertain, evoke emotions, trigger dopamine release, and function as another romance drama, missing the opportunity to do something better.

Read More

Great casting, great chemistry, a misses here and there, but overall a WIN

I have journaled my feelings episode by episode in the comments, so this is not so much a nitpicky review, but more of an overall review of the show.

I enjoyed it, even though at times the conversations got a big draggy and scenes relied too much on oft repeated flashbacks to drive a point (the audience is not thaaat forgetful). The chemistry between Phob and Tinn is out of this world, though Tinn's character and presence peaked from episodes 8 through 10, but became a lot less substantial after that. Both Inn and Ongsa did justice to their roles, and I wish them all the more for the future.

The general plot is alright, but we are left with quite a bit of loose ends. We know about the main characters, but the side characters and the background just fades away. I can't be too critical of this, because this is a BL first, then only a historical fiction.

Read More

Great acting wasted on a script with amnesia.

This drama isn’t a trainwreck—it’s just keeps wandering off its own path until you stop expecting it to find the way back. The pseudo‑incest angle didn’t faze me; after enough Japanese dramas, that trope barely registers. What actually chipped away at my patience was how the plot behaved as if it had commitment issues.

We begin with a missing brother mystery and a ghostly snowman kidnapper, only for the narrative to abruptly abandon that thread and chase the painter lore, Hongrang's mythology, and whatever else caught its attention that day. It’s not offensive, just scattered—like someone painting three rooms at once and finishing none.

The characters get dragged along for the ride. The ML’s unlikeability isn’t fatal, but it does make you wonder whether episode two will redeem him or simply shrug. The FL’s emotional logic swings so abruptly—doubt, belief, sudden non‑sisterly feelings—that you start questioning whether the writers shuffled her motivations like a deck of cards. And then there’s the “good” brother, who gets pulled into villainy purely because he’s obsessed with a fake sister. It’s a tropey slide, but here it feels more convenient than tragic.

Production quirks don’t help: a girl with a sprained ankle scaling rooftops twice, a stepmother villain so textbook she might as well have been photocopied from a fairy tale, and factions multiplying until every fight scene becomes a “Who are you and why are you here?” guessing game. Not even Lee Jae Wook’s intensity or Jo Bo Ah’s grounded delivery can fully elevate that confusion.

Intriguing in flashes, but ultimately too unfocused to rise above mediocrity.

Read More

Not for me

I tried to watch this drama two times, once when it aired and now, many years later.
I couldn't remember why I had to drop it, and it's clear for me now.
I usually love fantasy / folk storylines, and the synopsis for Tale of the Nine-Tailed initially checked all my boxes, so did the cast. So it was a surprise to me that I couldn't go past episode 6.
My main problem - and it's hard for me to say it - is Lee Dong Wook. You'll never find me saying he is not a good actor, but particularly in this drama his character doesn't come through. Starting with the lack of chemistry with the FL, there wasn't any part of his performance that moved me or kept me engaged.
Needless to say, I couldn’t get past it.

Read More

Spoilers saved me more than the plot ever could.

I only made it through two episodes of A Shop for Killers before the lukewarm feeling settled in—the kind that tells you the drama isn’t going to give what the posters promised. Jinman barely showed up, which was already disappointing because his presence is the only thing that seemed capable of grounding the chaos.

The production itself is sleek, polished, clearly made by people who know how to stage a fight and light a room, so I gave it a decent rating out of respect for that. But the writing? Not so much. The whole premise becomes implausible the moment you realize it expects one man—and his niece, who wants nothing to do with his world—to somehow dismantle a massive organization.

I even skimmed ahead hoping for resolution, only to find more complications and an open ending that feels like bait for season three. Nothing in the spoilers convinced me to continue, and honestly, I’m relieved I stopped. Some dramas reward patience; this one just asks for it without earning it.

Read More

This was a delight. This is my second watch.

It is light and funny. It has a great premise/plot line and is an easy, cute watch.

Actors ... Fantastic.
Characters ... Loveable.
OST ... Sweet.
Storyline/plot ... Different and as I say, different is good.

This show is not that deep, but it is light and enjoyable. The characters showed growth and were interesting enough to make you feel and empathize with them.

The side characters were also entertaining, and each storyline was compelling albeit a little shallow, but that suited this type of series.

As someone who has experience with Aspergers Syndrome (now called high Functioning Autism) ... I felt the FLs’ portrayal was accurate for her character, so it was not frustrating. The MLs’ character was beautiful although he seemed to have little screen time.

Read More

WHAT I LIKE
- I like how they included the montage of Ruyi’s life before she became a consort till she became an Empress. It felt like you experienced what she went through, too.
- I like how they made Hailan a morally ambiguous character. Especially how she started to become calculating and rose through the ranks.
-I like how they pay attention to the visual aspects, especially the clothing, set design, and even how the characters looked aged as the story progresses.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
-As they are trying to be historically accurate for the timeline, the subplots are almost incoherent, or some deaths are abrupt.
- Wei Yanwan is not properly held accountable for the gravity of her sins.
- I hope they gave Gao Xiyue more nuance. It felt like she was just irrational and easily jealous.

Read More

Kept me on my toes

I'm no stranger to episodic procedurals but I got to say that this one is promising and kept me more engaged than most. I really liked how different themes — domestic violence, beauty standards, etc. — were touched upon, and there were twists in a lot of the cases that kept it interesting. I enjoyed the more personal, main plot case too, but it surprisingly ended up being far from my favorite compared to some of the smaller cases.

The role of a portrait artist is also a really interesting approach to the police procedural, but I found that I really had to suspend my disbelief for most of it. The drama takes the concept to its extremes, having him draw someone underneath a mask, for example. It's pretty unrealistic, but I just had to let myself buy into the story regardless.

The best part here, by far, is the friendship between the two leads. They get off on the wrong foot, obviously, but as the episodes go on, the trust and partnership between them became my favorite part of the show, and the actors have really great chemistry in all their scenes together.

Read More

Theatre of the absurd?

It's hard not to compare The Affair Was Just The Beginning to Mad Concrete Dreams - both came out in 2026, and both ultimately use a situation careening out of control as a major story element. Whereas MCD uses that situation for more sympathetic ends, treating it as actions done by a father trying to provide for his family and specifically his daughter, The Affair swings the complete other way. And by god is it for the show's benefit.

No one in this show is a good person. Everyone is willing to backstab each other, to sell each other up the river in order to buy themselves just enough time to get out of the situation they are in. Yes, even the kids. But the adults in the room are nowhere near that - even if they ultimately *try* to protect their children from the act that they committed, they are still willing to ignore so much else to keep up the pretenses of their charmed life together. But where the drama really comes into it's own is the back half of the final episode, where everything is ultimately revealed and the audience, alongside the characters, learn that it was all for naught. That three people are dead for no other reason then the mess that was made wasn't even theirs to clean up.

Considering the pure absurdity on display, you ultimately need to have a core of actors that are willing to get up for the task. Kim Hye-soo lives up to it all and is able to effectively sell being a composed career women one minute, and a vindicative bitch the other. Kim Ji Hoon definitely come to play, as does Kim Jae Chul and Cho Yeo Jung. But in my mind, the true standouts is the two child actors, Do Yeong So and Jeon Si Hyun. I generally have a dim view of Korean writers being able to weave a queer storyline in a way that is ultimately effective for story purposes and not just for shock value (to be frank I think the same for Western writers) and especially considering the age of the two girls, it could have easily gone down a terrible road. But it's done in a way that feels honest and true - and it does eventually play into the wider story as yet another element of a rabbit hole of disjointed information coming into view. It certainly is a joy to see the parents incredulous that their daughters could be in love, and dating on the side.

What really buoys this drama though, is the cinematography and the craft of it all. Korean dramas, even now compared to say, the 'golden' era of the late 2000's and early 2010's Hallyu Wave, can definitely be hit a lot with the stick of being incredibly bland on that front. Considering the inner workings of Korean dramas still being filmed more or less in the moment, it is to The Affair's benefit that there is a deliberate, Swiss watch precision in terms of shot composition. A review below pins it as a Coen brothers sort of aesthetic, and that is without question the best descriptor for The Affair - and also a great compliment to the director and writers that they are able to weave such a deliberate thematic and compositional style without it feeling like a cheap imitation.

More then anything though, what I appreciate most about this story is the length. It's eight episodes of very little fat - every moment is dedicated to the story, either in the moment or wider scope. There's very little navel-gazing, and it's almost certain that any writer or director could have very easily taken one wrong step and done the drama equivalent of rolling their ankle. Certainly have watched a fair few dramas where the writers figure they are smarter then the audience and string things out to the point of popping the balloon and leaving audiences running for the door. The Affair doesn't do that, and it's a wonderful feeling to watch a show have faith in its ability to bring the audiences along for the way, and stick the landing too.

I haven't been watching Korean dramas again for long - really since the beginning of this year - but it is clear that this ranks as one of the finest I'll watch this year. And it's easily going top three, it's that good. Do yourself a favor and watch this. You'll be glad you did.

Read More

The drama that flowered while I wasn’t looking.

I almost skipped this drama, and honestly, that would’ve been a very on‑brand mistake. This drama doesn’t come in loud or flashy—it just quietly gets under your skin until you realize you’ve stopped “evaluating” and started genuinely watching. The biggest reason is the leads. Meng Zi Yi as Dou Zhao and Li Yun Rui as Song Mo feel so natural together that half the time it’s like eavesdropping on real people instead of sitting through scripted beats. Their chemistry isn’t the exaggerated, slow‑motion kind; it’s the kind that shows up in small reactions, shared glances, and the way they move around each other like they already understand the emotional math.

And the rest of the cast? Surprisingly layered. Even the characters who made me want to scream into a pillow—yes, the stepmother who thinks legal work is “too lowly” but illegal loan sharking is aspirational—still feel like part of a believable world instead of cardboard villains.

The drama leans into the usual Chinese‑period chaos: court politics, family betrayals, despicable relatives who treat morality like a suggestion. It’s messy, but not in a way that drags you down. The political tension actually feeds the story instead of suffocating it, and when FL’s father finally grows a spine and stands up to his vicious brother, it’s one of those “finally, thank you” moments that makes the payoff worth the wait.

And of course, because this genre can’t help itself, there’s the classic “confess your love while everything is on fire” scene. I don’t know why dramas think imminent death is the perfect time for emotional clarity, but here it lands with a kind of chaotic charm—like yes, please declare your feelings while the world is literally burning, why not.

What surprised me most was how funny it could be without trying too hard. The humor feels organic, not the contrived slapstick that usually makes me reach for the FFWD button. Somewhere between the grounded acting, the multi‑dimensional ensemble, and the way the story balances tension with warmth, I realized I’d forgotten to comment periodically because I was actually enjoying myself.

For a drama I almost didn’t bother with, Blossom turned out to be one of those quiet wins—the kind that reminds you that sometimes, giving something a chance pays off better than expected.

Read More