Reviews

A rare all 10 score!

Not intending to write a long review but I wrote this as soon as I finished the show because I couldn't wait to give it a perfect 10 score to boost its overall rating. It's so rare that I get this feeling that I've just finished reading a satisfying book as well a drama at the same time. It's a testament to how good the storyline is but especially, and especially the script. The fact that this was written by a male screenwriter blew me away. And I love that the FL bestie gives us a glimpse behind the work, and thought processes of a romance writer. Everything about this show is so well thought out. Highly recommended!!!

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Royal Betrothal — A Review

If you’ve read the novel first, brace yourself: the drama’s story arc diverges from it almost completely. Fans expecting a faithful adaptation will find themselves watching what feels like a loosely inspired retelling rather than a translation of the source material.
The Acting vs. The Chemistry
Credit where it’s due — the Male Lead, Female Lead, and supporting cast all turn in strong performances individually. But put the leads together on screen and something’s missing. The romantic spark between the FL and ML never quite ignites, leaving key relationship beats feeling flat even when the performances themselves are solid.
A Rough Start
The opening episodes are watchable but lean uncomfortably hard into violence — repeated flogging scenes involving children and women that feel excessive rather than necessary to the plot.
Court Politics That Serve the Wrong Purpose
Once the story shifts into its two major court arcs, the drama and scheming are well-acted, but the writing seems more interested in giving the FL a soapbox than in building genuine tension. The intrigue starts to feel like a backdrop for speeches rather than a story in its own right.
A Passive Female Lead
For a stretch in the middle, the FL does little but perch on her moral high ground, expecting everyone — especially the ML — to swoop in and rescue her from problems of her own making. It gets tiresome watching a lead character who won’t act on her own behalf.
Been There, Done That
The Yin Qing character is a near-carbon copy of a role from The Double — the arc is similar enough that it stops feeling like homage and starts feeling like recycling.
The Ending
Miserable and unearned. Killing off the supporting characters wasn’t a necessary storytelling choice — it read more like a bid for shock value than a natural conclusion.
Verdict
Overall, an okay watch — worth it mainly for the performances of the ML and FL individually, not for the story that surrounds them.

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I didn't care about any of them

This will be one of my short reviews. I realize that it's a waste of time to try to give all the reasons I didn't like something, so I prefer to focus on what I like and write long reviews for the dramas I loved. So from now on anything that gets less than a 7 gets a short review.

This was realistic and I love realistic even though I watch mostly rom coms. The problem is that the characters were too gray for me to care. In real life I would never be friends with any of these so I can't find much to like in them. On the other hand there was some good acting, although not great, and if you want to get depressed and watch real life in a screen with all that implies, like cheaters and greedy people, and undecided people and everything there is on earth, maybe you'll like it.

I wanted a character that would speak to me even if they weren't perfect, but I didn't find any. The ending didn't move me either, therefore a negative rating and I'm being generous.

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Strong Start, Unsatisfying Ending

The drama started really strong. It was fun, stylish, and different. I loved Justitia/Judge Kang’s character and the way she punished criminals. Watching her make killers experience what they did to their victims before sending them to hell was honestly the most satisfying part. The mystery was also interesting, and the serial killer trial was one of the strongest parts. The concept and the first half were solid.

But somewhere in the middle, it started losing its charm. Judge Kang is supposed to be a 500-year-old, high-ranking demon, yet she was surprisingly careless and unaware. Too many people figured things out before her, which made her look amateurish.

The romance was another weak point. The romance is written well, but somehow the delivery and emotions are not hitting. the chemistry between leads characters is nil.
I couldn’t get invested, especially with the whole identity/body situation(in the beginning we see Justitia's real face in hell but once she enters kang bitnas body, we don't see her anymore even when she goes back to hell to punish taegyu). Also, Is the real Kang Bit Na still in hell? We never really get an answer.
And Daon doesn’t even know what Justitia actually looks like, so that made the romance feel even more off to me.

The ending frustrated me too. "WTF??"... After showing in such detail what happened to every character two years later, why leave us without knowing which choice she made? will she kill sinners and stay as human or deliver real punishment as judge and go back to hell in a year?

The demon-judge storyline is honestly the only reason I’m giving this 8/10.
The romance, ending, and Kang Bit Na situation are more like 5/10 for me.

P.S. Gabriel as the old lady was so cute.

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70+ episodes worth watching

When I first found this drama I didnt want to watch because it has 70+ episodes! Not until i stumbled upon some clips and i got hooked by Sun Li's lively character and how fresh it is watching such a kind mother-in-law for a change. The wanderer dad is also such a funny character, "Anything that has walls surrounding is not a home" lol

Overall story has such smooth flow although most of the times FL just really has good luck to have avoided poison and rescued from danger all the time. I still don't get how she could it was claimed she made great fortune from the cotton business with small capital, she still had to pay the rest of the cost from the revenue.

Anyway, all in all I like watching the drama because of the strong characters. Wu Pin maybe the perfect husband but it is fun to watch the interactions between Zhou Ying and Shen Xing Yi, they kinda funny couple. I also like the development of Zhou Ying from a street fraud to a family matriach.

The drama itself is not flawless of course. For one it is very disappointing that Xing Yi died to protect Wu family, forsaking his new found mission in life as a revolutionalist. It's such a twist, he was solely interested in making Zhou Ying half of the drama then when she fell for him he's got a conflict of interest but in the end he still died for her sake.

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Poor in every aspect

Whether this is supposed to be a scheming drama or a comedy drama I can't tell because some of the schemings are just too cheap and predictable that it is ridiculous to watch, so it definitely fails as a scheming drama.. The acting is also very rough and mostly flat.

The worst part is , whatever the author wants to happen just happens, no regards of following the cultural rules or laws, definitely a fail for a historical chinese setting. I am talking about the mother-in-law who has control over the house yet couldn't punish FL for being disrespectful, the old man who forced himself on his adopted daughter but later had to follow her order with no attempt to fight? And the sister who turned into a psycho and she can just order people to mass murder in the manor? And many other non-sense turn of events. Too much!

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Idealistic in themes, realistic in presentation.

It’s truly a good and dark drama, but I am also truly not the target audience for it.

On one hand they went full realism in presenting really shocking and painful abuse. They were not holding back at all and it was sadly not just in the past. We got to see how “hurt people hurt people” as Haoran and Chihiro kept hurting each other (mostly Haoran hurting Chihiro) - none of them knew what healthy boundaries and relationships are.

On the other hand, they by all means went with “broken people making each other whole again” which is an extremely idealistic way of viewing the situation and has little to do with realism. And that mix of realism and idealism just did not work for me.

It’s a horrific story of how discrimination, lack of social acceptance and support system can degrade someone’s life, and how breaking off that vicious circle of unfavourable external circumstances often feels like an unachievable goal, until you find internal reason to make it happen. And I think Haoran and Chihiro became that reason for each other.

The acting was amazing, and it made watching the show that much harder. Poorly delivered trauma can be just entertaining angst, but well delivered pain just cuts you deeply. With that, it’s not a show you “enjoy” watching, but you do end up appreciating it.

Overall, I would probably recommend the drama, but at the end of the recommendation added a quick “sorry” for the pain and frustration it will cause to the person who’s about to watch it.

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An unexpectedly good drama.

Dream To You is the drama I didn't expect to love this much. I started watching it without expectations, even anticipating some elements I might not enjoy, but dang, I ended up loving every episode.

I initially thought I was getting a romance drama, but it turned out to be more of a coming-of-age story about the leads and their journey. I loved how the series used flashbacks alongside the present timeline, making the characters' stories feel more layered.

Strangely, I even found myself liking the second couple more than the leads. There's no messy overlapping interest, and I love them because, beyond romance, they fight for their respective dreams and desires as if these are part of who they are. It makes them feel like real human beings rather than just characters in a drama.

I also enjoyed the filmmaking process woven into the story. It felt realistic, interesting, and easy to follow because of how the drama built each character's perspective.

And I love how they wrapped up the story like a diary, which felt fitting for the journey we've witnessed.

It's a ten for me.

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Insipid

Its best to watch this drama not questioning the story line or specific details. Just accept and move on. There are just too many gaps and too vague details. Some aspects are just too incredulous. There is not much point to rewatch because the details just don't make sense.

ML is a hero who is not heroic. FL is refreshing but her inexperience also shows. There is supposed to be romance but there is negligible emotional connections. Everyone is just either good friends or better friends. P Ho as the Grand Tutor is just a young man made up with an old goatee strutting around. The villains are barely bad. The most engaging character was YuanJi played by Zheng Ya Wen.

The whole series end with more plot holes than tying up of loose ends. I was actually relieved the series finally ended, never mind the unanswered questions.

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Finally some refreshing air

I thought I would slowly grow out from highschool dramas, but I guess here we go again.

It's been so cute so far, I've been nonstop smiling to my ears through every episodes. I was a bit afraid it would have too many cringe scenes based on my past experiences of watching school dramas, but there wasn't even one moment where I would cringe out so far. It has the perfect ballance of silliness and romance. Also I wanna mention!! how it's finally a highschool series where the actors are actually highschoolers. It's so refreshing to see. Even though the actors are really young they did a great job portraying the characters. Can't wait to see more of their works

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Sticky Love — A Purely Entertaining Ride

This drama makes me so happy. I’ve already finished it three times, and honestly, I can see myself going back for a fourth. For me, personally, to truly enjoy a series, the story has to make sense. I can accept creative liberties and dramatic scenes, but there has to be a certain level of logic within my tolerable threshold. And Sticky Love managed to keep me invested while giving me everything I want from a drama: story, romance, comedy, action, and emotion.

Let’s Talk About the Characters
My favorite — nothing to guess here — Jang Tae Ha shiiiiiiiiiiii!

What a character! He switches so effortlessly between a ruthless mafia boss and the cutest pookie ever known to mankind. 😂

He is fiercely protective of the people he loves, constantly takes care of everyone around him, and doesn’t spare even a second when it comes to putting himself in danger to save the woman he loves. As someone says in the drama, how can you not fall in love with a fool who puts his own life in danger to save you?

And I have to be honest — Jung Hae In made a fan out of me with this one. He was simply fabulous. I genuinely didn’t know he was this good with action sequences. He absolutely nailed them. But what impressed me even more was how naturally he transitioned between the intimidating, ruthless side of Tae Ha and his ridiculously adorable side.

The female lead — another winner!

I absolutely loved her character. She isn’t some weakling who sits around waiting to be rescued. Even after losing everything, she refuses to give up and keeps fighting until the very end. A badass female prosecutor? Yes, please. That is my weakness for a reason. 😂

And what a performance! She brings such a great range of emotions to the character — frustration, comedy, vulnerability, being in love, and, of course, that fierce prosecutor energy. She made the character incredibly enjoyable to watch.

The main villain deserves a special mention too. A villain with a solid backstory will always win points with me, and this one was no exception. The performance was brilliant and flawless. And the whole boxing between father and son? Absolutely a treat to watch.

Then we have the rest of the cast — the cutest Harmoni, the sister, the boxing coach and his wife, Doctor Oppa, Ganruk Oppa — everyone did their part sincerely and wonderfully. I genuinely ended up loving all of them.

Everything Else
The cinematography is top-notch, especially the Japan night scenes. They looked gorgeous and added so much atmosphere to the drama.

And the humor! I actually laughed while watching this, which I genuinely thought wasn’t possible anymore after seeing so many dramas desperately trying to be funny with cringe comedy. Here, the humor actually worked for me.

At the end of the day, Sticky Love is pure entertainment. You can watch it for the story, the romance, the comedy, the action, the emotional moments, or simply for Jang Tae Ha being Jang Tae Ha. 😂

It has a little bit of everything, and somehow it all comes together into a drama that just makes me happy.

Three watches already, and I’m still not tired of it. That says everything. ❤️

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Lack of chemistry, bad script, terrible ending

This will be one of my short reviews. I realize that it's a waste of time to try to give all the reasons I didn't like something, so I prefer to focus on what I like and write long reviews for the dramas I loved. So from now on anything that gets less than a 7 gets a short review.

There was no chemistry between the leads. I was never invested in their story because although both tried hard it never clicked. The FL is a good actress maybe but these roles don't suit her? I don't know. To be honest I didn't love her in the Fireworks rom com either. The ML did a quite good job, but still something was lacking.

To sum it up, this was too sad, too choppy, too dramatic and there was no payoff. The ending was terrible. When directors or writers think they get artistic using an open ending they make me mad as a reader or a viewer. Very few scripts can support an open ending and here it was a stupid decision to leave things open.

Anyway, there were too many awful characters and two many stupid lines to care.

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Mid omegaverse experience

So this is my first encounter with omegaverse and let's say it was...interesting. The male pregnacies is definitely something that will take some time to getting used to lol.

ABO Desire was intriguing enough to keep me interested but as a whole it was pretty mid. Production felt very cheap at times and there were almost no spicy scenes.

Second couple was more interesting than main one which was very dragged out and despite that there was rushed closure to both.

Toxicity: It wasn't as bad as I expected but one ML is definitely a nutcase. Still apart few exceptions they had mostly sweet kind of relationship.

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What a mess

Please remember, this is just my opinion, so please don't come after me. This reminded me of cooked spaghetti, throw it at the wall and see what sticks.

What I liked:
-second couple
-costuming for the movie they were making
-a couple of good kisses by the main couple
-SML and his relationship with his father
-showing the film to the townspeople
-the music was good

The rest:
-third couple and reality dating show were a complete waste of time
-so, it ends up he has a terrible father AND a terrible mother. The secret parent trope, give me a break.
-the father needed to be in prison. He was such a terrible person and this switched to melodrama whenever he showed up
-the main couple. First love/high school was portrayed well. He comes back years later, she hates him being there, yet suddenly all is forgiven and they are a couple. What was missing was the progression of them becoming a couple again. They spent most of the show working side-by-side: they seemed more like friends. No sparks.
-the whole story of a movie being written in high school and suddenly they have the budget and backing to getting it made. That made no sense to me.
-her having previous lovers. I know, very naive of me. But I was having a hard enough time believing that these two were in love to begin with and knowing that she just moved on with her life (though it was obvious that he had always loved her more than she did him) just left a sour taste in my mouth relating to the main couple.
-ex-lover shows up to act in their movie. Such an overused trope. Then to have the ex-boyfriend confess that he still liked her. They have been out of touch for years.
-her accent (dialect) kept coming and going, and sometimes it was so strong I couldn't focus on the words, just the way she was saying them
-the last two episodes just ticked me off. She decides to go to Canada to learn more about filming. He doesn't want her to go. If they had talked about it, they could have reached an understanding. But to have her say "you aren't my dream and I'm not going to love you anymore" so she could run off was unacceptable.
-she shows up after a year, and all is forgiven.
-I hate the time skip trope anyway and can't believe how often it's used, but in this day and age when everyone has a telephone and there is Facetime, there is no reason for someone to go radio silent.
-as per usual, the ending was rushed.

So no, I did not like this drama, and now that I've written my thoughts, I'm even more mad about the whole thing!

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