Reviews

A really sweet set of vignettes about a hopeless romantic who tries to make sweets to solve his crush's problems. It's one of those warm and sweet series that you can binge watch quickly with an episode lasting about 10 minutes or so. The recipe segments on every episode feels really relaxing, and i really love that they add the recipes for each dishes at the end credits, but the plot does sometimes feel a little repetitive, and felt a little bit rushed at the end. I feel like Aoyama-kun deserved his own episode focused on him solving Amai's problem instead of getting shoehorned in at the last minute at the fifth episode

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idk how the overall rating for this is only 7.7! this is one of the best cdramas I've seen so far and I've seen quite a handful already! i'm coming to realize that anything dilraba touches is golden, tho. from the music, wardrobe, acting, stunts, cinematography, etc., a lot of work went into this drama and the effort really paid off. I can tell the team on this project was very talented and very passionate about it. I mean how could you not be with a script this good??? some of the shots i saw were really creative, too. it's refreshing to see amidst the usual cdrama scope. overall a 10/10 drama. would definitely recommend giving a watch!

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I watched it becouse of the actress

The story follows Su Mo, the daughter of a wealthy family, who unexpectedly regains her sight and, in that moment, witnesses the shocking truth that her twin second uncle, Su De Li, murders her father. In order to protect herself, she suppresses her fear and pretends to remain blind, using unfocused eyes and deliberate groping to conceal her true condition.

Although her uncle temporarily believes her, he remains deeply suspicious, repeatedly setting traps to test her perception and keeping her under close surveillance.

Using her apparent blindness as a shield, Su Mo secretly plans her moves through careful observation. With the help of Lu Ming, a defender of justice, she repeatedly escapes danger.

(Source: Chinese = Baidu || Translation: kisskh)

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When the sky meets the sea breeze

First up, let me just confirm that Tonfah and Typhoon may be my comfort couple.

With that out of the way - wow?! I enjoyed this so much. The thing about being a show purely about romance, is that you need to get the romance right - and thank you because they did. They are my comfort couple, but it's actually a little unbelievable that they did because I'm someone who did not enjoy S1 of Fourever You. Before we talk about Fah and Phoon, let's discuss what actually made me flip.

It's only a couple of reasons, the first being, giving them their own part in the umbrella series. The wonders it did must be watched. Instead of doing three couples all at once, I'm so glad they gave us just one of them and have decided to give us the other two couples in their own parts, in the same timelines. Doing this made sure that the audience focuses on the leads without getting too caught up in the specifics like "which storyline is for which couple" and "why are there so many couples?!"

The second thing they did well was have the F4 and The Directions play an actual role in the plot. The fact that Fah and Phoon's respective friend groups not only shaped the plot, but also shaped their character growth was the best improvement they could have made, as compared to last season where each couple was in their own world with much else to do. Each interaction between the friend groups made my heart soar.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about THEM.

Beside the Sky follows Typhoon, a first year university student who is deeply scarred by his past. When he moves to Chiang Mai for university, he meets Tonfah, the older boy who lived next door, after three years. In those three years, Phoon's life has changed completely, but Fah does not know that. So when they meet, Phoon is caught between the truth and his feelings for Fah, which may be ruined if he ever tells him the truth.

I finally understand the appeal of slow romance. In my experience, slow romance is often filled with excessive trauma and too many misunderstandings, but Beside the Sky is executed in such a way that I think I can watch other dramas with the same trope.

Not because there wasn't excessive trauma. No this was brutal. Terrible parents all around, tormenting and blaming their children. Typhoon himself blaming and punishing himself because of his past, and doing it forever because of his family. It was downright despicable. But the thing about this plot was, they could've so easily jammed in a hundred misunderstandings between Fah and Phoon as a result of all the things Phoon did and said to protect himself. They didn't and I'm so happy they didn't.

Tonfah is a literal green grove - filled with green flags, he's such a perfect male lead when it comes down to that. He will always look after you, keep up your facade to make you comfortable, spoil you with trips to Japan so you can meet your estranged mother.. what won't he do?

And Typhoon is a green flag as well - just a flag for him, not the entire grove. Because he is a deeply scarred person, and our Maew needed some closure and some comfort before he could come out of his shell. Obviously, thank goodness for the other directions and Fah, but mostly good on him for being able to identify the toxicity of his family. And he is such a sweetheart by the way, they're both genuinely amazing and sweet characters.

I hope now you can see why this is my comfort series, yes it was a little too slow for me, but hey, I don't mind. Eight episodes of Fah and Phoon was well worth it.

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Not for everyone

I just recently rewatched this drama and I wanted to share my opinion on it. This drama is not for everyone so you might like it and not really like it at the same time. It’s was ok for me at first but then I realized maybe it’s was because I had too much expectation on it that why I didn’t like it but then i rewatched it with low expectations and then I realized it was not that bad of a drama. I love the female lead character from the beginning to the end and I love the fact that main lead was able to cherish her before it’s was too late. Also the second female lead was also okay for me because she realized how precious her friend is which can be related sometimes to real life situations.

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not into the characterization

Overall: I did not enjoy a child-like character who basically stalked a seemingly uninterested character for several episodes. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/duang-with-you-uncut-episode-1-1i3zcr5hiek?lang=en_us and episode 1 was on Mandee YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcTibKbv20S7j_lCcNUEywFWET_lybdJZ&si=kC4Ac1i6KZTkdSmx

Content Warning: stalking (portrayed as romantic), hits (portrayed as comedic)

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- supportive friends
- visuals
- cameos/supporting roles

Room For Improvement
- the child-like character (one time he said "I'm sulky now" while pouting and stomping his foot) who relentlessly pursued a seemingly uninterested character (at least 1 time he told him to shut up)
- comedy sound effects did not make things funny

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Strong Moments, Uneven Execution, Not Highly Rated

I’m sorry folks, but this was just an okay watch for me. I thought the overall story was good and the beginning was compelling. There were several captivating moments that kept me watching, and the soundtrack matched the dramatic sequences perfectly. When the story hit, it really hit, and I loved the ending. Unfortunately, those strengths weren’t consistent enough for me, and I felt the pacing or execution didn’t quite work. It was great to see He Xuanlin and Gao Mingchen together again—especially after how rough their arc was in Love & Bid Farewell—but overall, I wouldn’t rate this one very high.

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