Reviews

"I hate telling lies"

Kinoshita Keisuke’s Phoenix showed how a young war widow rose from the ashes of her life much as the country she lived in was attempting to do. Tanaka Kinuyo gave a touching performance of a woman reflecting back on the love of her life as her son reaches his fourth birthday.

Aihara Sayoko busies herself as the Yasaka household joyfully prepares for her son’s birthday. Her brother-in-law takes her aside to see if she will be comfortable when he marries soon. He fears seeing a blissful newlywed couple might cause her pain. She assures him that she is happy and his happiness will only bring her more. Sayoko then reflects on her relationship with his brother and the trials they met in order to get married.

Honestly, not much happened in this film of lost love. But what did happen was expertly done. The film revealed how Sayoko and Shinichi’s relationship developed in flashback. Kinoshita brought the lovers to life with a deft hand. There was some melodrama but it was not overwrought. Though she was 38 at the time Tanaka played a young woman maturing even as her love did for Yasaka Shinichi. This film hinged on her delicate performance as Sayoko filled most frames. Sada Keiji, as the handsome Shinichi, was ever loyal to her and his country. Shinichi bucked the family tradition of the parents picking his bride, angering his father, all for love of Sayoko.

Shinichi’s enlistment and deployment loomed like a deadly shadow over the couple. The very real concern that Sayoko could become a young widow and “ruin” her life was palpable. For Sayoko, Shinichi’s love and adoration was her past, her present, and her uncertain future, worth any risk and capable of sustaining her for a lifetime. This brief love story was a breath of fresh air among many maudlin films from this time period. Well-acted, engaging, and beautifully shot, worth a try if you enjoy old films.

2 February 2026
Note: There were places with damaged audio and the film had some streaking to it.

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Moms Know Best

Bi Shennan is a ruthlessly controlling and serious mom, which is a vast contrast to her husband’s character who is carefree and easygoing. While she controls every aspect of her daughter’s life especially education, her husband became the refuge for their only child. Situation escalated when her daughter decided she has had enough, and to make it worse, an old girlfriend of the husband waltzed into the picture. With her marriage and family hanging by the thread, she came to a realization that letting go did not mean to get defeated.

Zhao Wei was my all time favourite actress during my teenage and young adult years and held quite a childhood memory to me, so I was over the moon when I found this last project of hers and it was a huge bonus when it was so dang good. And since i am also a tiger mom when I saw the show, i can totally relate to FL character and stayed rooted for her all the way to the end.

I totally ship ML and FL although their personalities hugely counter each other. The husband was so lovable and cute, which reminds me of Xiao Yanzi from Huanzhu GeGe, while FL was relentless and ruthless, basically she wears the pants in the house. Although she was strict with the child, she was never harsh to the point of being hateful, which was why i could totally relate. Although this might seem over the top in the eyes of a westerner, it is totally normal for asians.

Tong Da Wei was so good as Luo Su that i even looked him up for his past projects and went to look for them. He is definitely a good actor and had a great chemistry with Zhao Wei.

I cried during sad scenes and laughed in comedic ones, so I can say this show is a huge success to me as an audience. And of course i would totally rewatch for Zhao Wei.

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Something was off

Waiting this series felt like forever! It was such a good come back project by Change company. You could see how much attention they payed on details. The places they chose to film where so beautiful. Whoever took over the hunting of sceneries did a great job. Same goes for the prop and make up teams. The ghosts were the MVPs the whole time. I consider the ghost the main character of the show (hope they got payed good enough). She played the role amazingly. I even got some jump scares.

As for the plot, even though there was a story and the mystery over whos the "bad" guy, after all I felt mid season that it was getting a bit tiring and repetitive. Then the last eps got released and they got me hooked immediately. The plot twists shocked me to the point I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Not having all the episodes available to binge watch the ending was a bit of a torture!

I actually didnt expect it to be focused THAT much on the horror/mystery genre and the romance getting subsided quite a lot (which im not complaining about). Especially from PoohPavel. Their dynamic wasn't the same this time. It felt like something was missing and I think it was the way Poohs character was written. Way too soft golden retriever vibes. I wanted to see him more confident. And pls whoever was on charge over how they made him stand on kissing scenes the result was sometimes cringe! The geometry a body creates is really important on the viewers eyes.

The second couple, MichaelTopten, had an amazing chemistry with a great story. For me, they were the main couple. Michael's visuals this time was top! The hair color (which i got sooo jealous of), the glasses, the outfits. Everything was on point!

My conclusion is that I perhaps would prefer it to maintain the horror title but keep the rest of the relationships in a bromance level. It just makes a bit more sense for me this way. Not all projects should have couples.

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Illogical, Fun, Twisty, Cheesy Romcom! Just Turn off Your Brain and Enjoy!

I'll start by saying that I don't compare any dramas ever especially if they're not in the same genre and their only similarities are the ML and SML being the same actors. I was wondering what this drama was going to be like but since I also go into each one without any expectations so knowing this was a comedy, I just jumped into it and boy, did I have a good time! It was an illogical, fun, twisty, cheesy romcom; just turn off your brain and enjoy!

Pros: So one of my pet peeve's is slapstick humor which I can't stand but here the comedy was as smooth as water on a quiet lake. A girl, our FL or LHE who is basically allergic to romance gets transmigrated into a 1999 vintage romance novel in the middle of her livestream broadcast being against anything love related. Now, what also makes this different from other transmigration series except ADWAD is that we also meet ML or GHM in the first episode and he seems to recognize her though she's got no clue who he is, she's busy bitching at her boss while he's there to buy the entire company. That gave us all room for pause because the entire premise of her going back in time and into a book is to win over a cold CEO and get and accept a marriage proposal from him while also falling in love with him. In the book, GHM has no idea who she is and she tries every trick in as she later called it her 2025 "romance playbook" to get him but he also needed her to get rid of an annoying chick and his toxic father's attempt to arrange a marriage for him. So they for a bit were using each other for their own purposes. She was given missions to grow GHM's fondness for her by some supernatural pager system that gave her rewards or punishments based on how she did but many times those rewards were cheesy as hell and you were just left cracking up and shaking your head. She couldn't reveal the plot of the book to the people in it or change the narrative. Nothing worked until as she summarized herself later upon returning back to 2025, that once she stopped with the tricks and started being sincere, is how she ultimately won his heart and she in turn fell for him. But because she started to care deeply not just for him but the friends around her, she started to not want him to propose so soon or she would have to return; her solitary, career-driven life in 2025, was no longer appealing.

GHM, for his character was great as a CEO because he actually worked hard as opposed to other characters out there in these roles that just walked in and out of rooms and strutted around like peacocks. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty so to speak and given the fact that the business he was in was feminine products and diapers, said a lot in 1999 China. He oozed sex appeal; whether he was cold, jealous, grumpy, polished, lazy at home, and especially when he was in love. I was a bit worried that since CXX and WYW had known each other for 16 years, their chemistry wouldn't be believable but I had nothing to worry about, it crackled especially episode 20 and when they did the deed and we got to see him take his shirt off to reveal a masculine body and not a stick figure as we know CXX works out so all the muscles were there without looking super buff with a six pack or anything extra; nice flat stomach works too.

What worked so well for this series is that you laughed at all of the ridiculous happenings because they were funny but in the last episodes when you knew she had to return and after another manipulation by the pager which I'll speak about in the cons, GHM and everyone that had ever seen them together forgot about her or that, as he regained his memories after a near drowning incident, started to put pieces together that she didn't belong in his world and had to leave soon with the proposal, there were a few moments when he cried and we cried too. So it was this rollercoaster of believable emotions. Another thing that worked was that when she returned back to her world, and he had also somehow come back or maybe he was there the whole time (many unanswered questions with this transmigration thing), was that on her way to meet him, she passed his assistant from the book as well as her two friends one who was killed in the book, but alive and well here with her book best friend happily together. So they properly exited out the important characters from the story. We didn't see her book father and sister but assume they should also be part of her world somewhere. Plus though the ending of them together was like two minutes; unlike a lot of these dramas, they got to hug, cry, and kiss. That was so important as opposed to just standing 5 feet apart smiling at each other and roll credits. Honestly, I ffw'd the 2nd couple for a bit but more towards the end they started to grow on me especially during everyone's memory loss, it broke up that whole thing up a bit.

Having been in High School in 1999-2000; a lot of the costumes, technology especially the phones and computers made it nostalgic and fun, though much of their wardrobe kind of reminded me of the late 80's/early 90s with shows like Saved By The Bell and Beverly Hills 90210 lol! But everything was pretty on point with OSTs, locations, sets it being a modern, etc.

Cons: I had a serious problem with the pager system for LHE; it created the unnecessary issues in the book. So LHE couldn't break certain rules or she'd get punished but the system could make her book gold digging ex kidnap her sister and harm GHM so GHM's fondness for her would grow faster. And I'm almost 100% sure the pager wanted to harm GHM by having him push her out of the way when the truck came through only to get hit himself; when he proposed on NYE of the millennium (neither of these scenarios were in the original novel; so why was the system allowed to rewrite the book published for 25 years but LHE would be punished for trying to do the same?) which is why she broke the "cardinal" rule and revealed that she was from the future and they were all just characters in a book after which all the memory of her were wiped. Also pretty sure the system was responsible for a random NPC to jump into the water and bystanders told GHM it was some girl drunk and on the phone and he assumed it was LHE because her phone had cut out just as they started yelling so even though he couldn't swim he jumped in, followed by LHE who was by then told the original girl was pulled out but XL (GHM's assistant) told LHE GHM had jumped and he can't swim which she knows is his trauma so the system created this outlandish way for him to get his memories back by her saving him.

After he got his memories back is when he started piecing together things about her not being from his world. And the system was at it again. First, it told her that she was only supposed to be in the book until the millennium and if she didn't secure a proposal and leave, GHM and his world would collapse. Now it's been at least a month past the millennium so the new deadline was 72 hours and the new threat was that everyone who she cared about, their worlds would collapse. It was ridiculous. But he agreed to her request for the 72 hour proposal because he knew by then she would leave. I really wish the 1999 him told her he loved her before she poofed.

Also how was it that in episode 1 it was February 28th and in episode 24 when she returned, it was the 16th? So she had also traveled back in her own timeline? Does that mean again now on the 28th, he will come to purchase her company now with her as his 2025 girlfriend or fiancée whichever? I have no idea if he had her pager or his own afterwards, because how was he able to see her in the future a few times? And the 2025 him, same guy as we saw in episode one, was this the same one from 1999 or were there two because while she was only able to bring back a note from him from the book, he was able to bring back the pager where it showed their moments on the carousel as well as multiple models of those airplanes. Also it seemed like all of their shots together were taken from a distance and by a third person when the 1999 GHM looked at his camera. I know the director said that the 4 episodes cut by censorship would have explained all of that, instead of someone typing words on a screen making it seem like the 2025 world was possibly a novel too or they were living in a wormhole of space. I wish we got an extra episode to at least explain some of that lol.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! It makes you giggle and cry and just enjoy all the nostalgic moments. Don't compare apples to oranges but just enjoy each drama as a separate experience!

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Might be the odd one out, but I just really like this one.

This, and "My One and Only" are the two picks I regularly rewatch. IMO, no contest, the best of the adaptations. None of the casting was found wanting. Incredible performance by Yin Yibo ~ exceptional character nuance and detail. He really does about as much as possible with this character. Story is complete and flows so smoothly there's almost a dreamlike quality. Oh... The music gets a 10 for not being annoying.

A lot of subtle reveals amongst the obvious events. It's made clear that, with the marriage cancelled, Shen Nan Zhi's place in the family and social status is considered null. Jiang Jin Nian, the elder brother, is totally protective of that not happening. However, it's shown that he's always been aware of, and caring for Nanzhi; just respectful of roles and boundaries. Although claiming no foundation of feelings, he virtually leaps at the opportunity to marry her. He's returned from abroad, relocated the company headquarters, and embraces the marriage without giving any quarter.

The YouTube link I currently use: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vlejYSGorgk&pp=0gcJCTMBo7VqN5tD.

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I’ve watched a "power" drama that is actually a misery marathon of eating bitterness

I’ve survived watching the FL being beaten, humiliated, undocumented and harassed by another "waste of space" ex-husband while the Male Lead stands around like a statue for 32 episodes at approximately 45 minutes each.
Here is the honest truth: This show is a slow-burn slog of pure misery.
The Problem is the writers think "suffering = character depth." They’ve spent 32 episodes proving she can survive, but almost zero time showing her actually winning.
There is literally no payoff as we continually watch her struggling against those who face no consequences. Also like everybody else, I am a fan of the ML and FL from their time together in Gogo squid but we never get to see the Male Lead show any level of basic human empathy for her bruises and suffering and he remains a "cold strategist" for a massive chunk of the entire show.
The "misery porn" is why my fatigue has set in so early for this drama. Most people recommend Flourished Peony as an "empowerment" story, but they fail to mention that the writers use prolonged victimisation as their only way to create drama.
It is straight-up sadistic from a Western storytelling perspective. To me, it’s pretty demented and perverse. A complete waste of time; to the writers, it’s "character building." You are seeing the ugly side of a genre that fetishises the martyr complex..
it feels pretty disgusting that this show prioritises the virtue of suffering over the logic of survival.
The FL spends most of her time at the graveyard, burying her friends who are systematically killed one by one throughout the drama. Her mercy for these evil doers is not a virtue. It’s just plain stupid.

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The ending was great right ?

This series is getting better really , each episode comes with some interesting parts , mostly ep 4 they sang “ Truth in your Eyes ” from We Are the series and William Jakrapatr also appeared as a cast of this series maybe as Mokh's ex partner . In the 5th episode William appeared as Khun Rome also the first kiss between the leads took place awwwwww , episode 8 was the best one , I can't forget the way Peach talked to Thee in the whole episode and at the end Thee asked Peach to call him P'Kian afterwards he was demanding a lottt , that was so cute . Bro I didn't know that this would blow my mind like this . I am very happy that gmmtheev will produce a special episode Idk how can I even forget this one damn I liked it so much the last two episodes were so good that I can't believe.... Firstly thought that peach is very impulsive and hun thee doesn't know anything other than money but from 6th episode I totally changed my mind , Episode 10 was the best one for real , the way khun thee proposed peach and everything got aligned , awww I love this one so much..... Also Khun thee brought the whole Gmmtv from p'tha and renamed it as Gmmtheev whose idea was this , a wanna salute...... The screen writers were so great ..........
I waited for each and every episode every Saturday and now I know that it is really worth it ...

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Strong female leads but at what cost?

The first 4 episodes of the drama are by far the best. They introduce us to our main characters excellently and I felt they managed to show not tell us a lot within a short span of time. I truly enjoyed the cinematic shots and the main leads, particularly Hui-su, were so evocative I need to see more recognition for her range. That being said, I felt the drop off towards the end, particularly with Kang Jang's character.

The concept of a lookalike alone was very interesting since it involves making people think the murder victim is still alive. I dislike how they had Kang Jang come back to blackmail the two main leads. It just contradicts his previous characterisation and uses the cheap clichè of a poor man being swayed by greed. Additionally, despite such a strong presence in the first episode, the Mahjong guy (sorry his name eludes me since I am writing this a few days after watching), could have been involved more earlier without placing the main leads as damsel in distress.

Anyway, there is rewatch potential but seeing Hui-su get beat up and dragged by the hair by Jin-pyo had me on the verge of tears, and I will most certainly be skipping the blackmail scenes when I do come back to rewatch this.

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Hooked on The Scammers

The moment I saw Junior and Mark as leads, I knew this was gonna be good in all aspects because they CARRIED in Perfect 10 Liners. They are such natural and talented actors. I also love that we now have the new ship OhmPoon, a random and unexpected pair that formed after Poon Mitpakdee replaced Fluke Jeeratch. As much as they are visually appealing, let's just protect them at all costs.

Moving on to My Romance Scammer, a series about two con artists, U and Tim, falling in love with cousins North and Pai from a billionaire family. The first episode was great; I hope it sets the epitome for the remaining episodes to follow.

However, as much as I enjoyed this premiere, I'm worried about the director, New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul. He's known for works like Perfect 10 Liners and Head 2 Head, and usually, when a series reaches the halfway mark, his direction tends to lose steam. Whether it's pacing issues or repetitive tropes, many fans feel his shows often start strong but struggle to maintain that same energy. I truly hope he improves on this one and has learned from past mistakes so that the chemistry of JuniorMark and OhmPoon isn't wasted on a dragging plot.

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A waste of time and budget.

I don't know why Yu Bin did this project,he had good ones in the year but this one honestly was crappy...it might be for the paycheck but surely you can't build your brand with stellar performances then decide to close the year with a bad production.It was soo bad despite it being short i had to drop it....i couldn't endure it.It was not worth it.You get the jist of the story but it is just not working out,the colour tones were just off for a moment i thought i stumbled upon an old bl....the dialogue did not make sense.The characters had no chemistry....I don't know why this project was given a go ahead for production.

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A M A Z I N G P E R F E C T I O N

I just have to share my thoughts on this drama, because it brought me sooo many emotions, that I really feel the need to express it in some way!

It started with the enemies-to-lovers and it was done / executed perfectly! So much so that for the first 2 episodes I was really believed the MLs would kill each other at any moment, and even if they didn't I was really worried and curious at the same time how they will turn the story 360° around and still make their affection and love to one another believable... Well they did... the story was logical and very well paced, and that goes not only for the MLs' love-journey but for the WHOLE show.
Every character had their reasons, had logic to every step and every decision they took. Be it good or evil, I really couldn't bring myself to judge none of them, because I could see their journey and how they become what they are. Each and every character stayed true to themselves till the very end!
The whole production was just a m a z i n g!
What made this drama different for me is that it had me literally vocally react to almost every scene!
I was: amazed, shocked, amused, startled, AMAZED....
I noticed and appreciated the script from the start. There were lines and scenes that really impressed me for their originallity.
There were so many small but impactful details that made me more and more immersed in the story.
The way that every scene was shot by the production and expressed by all the actors was pure c i n e m a .
The combination: the plot + the script + the acting + the OST = 💯
The result of all of this combined was just P E R F E C T I O N

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