Reviews

A Visually Breathtaking Fantasy Masterpiece with a Brilliant Twist on Trust and Betrayal

If you can power through a heavy, slow-burn start around the single-digit episodes, *Love in the Clouds* ultimately delivers a deeply rewarding emotional payoff that completely justifies the journey. While the early narrative pacing can drag—often feeling bogged down by the relentless pursuit of the Golden Millet Dream—the series eventually blossoms into an elite, high-stakes fantasy romance packed with staggering twists, deeply guarded family secrets, and phenomenal character arcs.

**A Masterclass in Production Value and Aesthetics**

Where this drama truly distances itself from the pack is its jaw-dropping production value. The creative team has entirely mastered the visual language of high fantasy. The **VFX completely eat the screen**, turning magical clashes, spiritual realms, and supernatural arrays into absolute feasts for the eyes. Coupled with an extraordinary costume and set design that breathes immaculate detail into every single frame, the world-building feels tangible, gorgeous, and cinematic from start to finish.

**A Unique Spin on the Enemies-to-Lovers Dynamic**

One of the most delicious narrative choices the show makes is how it handles the enemies-to-lovers trope by staggering the emotional resentment between the leads.

>At the very beginning, *Ming Yi carries the initial animosity* . She approaches Ji Bozai under layers of disguise and necessity, driven by the desperate belief that he is tied to her poisoning, all while hunting for the Golden Millet Dream.
>Later on, the tables brilliantly flip. When Ji Bozai discovers the lies and believes she is just another opportunistic intruder after his most prized possession, *he experiences that crushing wave of betrayal*. Feeling like she is no different from everyone else who only values him for what he owns, he shatters his own trust and ruthlessly removes their heart imprint bond.

That asynchronous heartbreak—where they take turns being guarded, resentful, and devastatingly vulnerable—adds a layer of razor-sharp tension to their romance that hits harder than a standard slow-burn.

**Flawless Casting and Irresistible Antagonists**

The casting is a pristine 10/10 across the board. The main leads deliver raw, tear-jerking emotional performances that effortlessly carry the heavy angst of the later episodes. However, the villains deserve a special medal. They are written and performed so masterfully that you will actively despise them. Mu Qi Bai operates as an infuriating mastermind, while Situ Ling provides a masterclass in toxic, unhinged obsession as he spirals down a dark path. That tragic chain of one-sided devotion—where Fu Yue remains relentlessly devoted to Situ Ling, while Situ Ling loses his mind over an uninterested Ming Yi—adds a rich layer of dark symmetry to the story.

**Final Verdict**

Though the early act tests your patience, the stellar acting, striking aesthetic execution, and massive emotional reveals (including Master She's true identity) make this a phenomenal watch. It boasts incredible rewatch value for a rainy day years down the line. A must-watch for anyone who loves high-stakes fantasy romance and doesn't mind a bit of emotional devastation along the way!

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Do people really entertained by something so cringe..

Writing a proper review seems tricky I might as well put some pointers instead.
1. The FL voice was dubbed and even though that voice is amazing it felt so out of place on her face and cringe dialogues.
2. Writer has absolutely no knowledge of what a CEO or CFO do for a company but he/she added such fancy designations for these characters to make them look cool .. ended up making them look like clowns oof circus instead.
3. Story is purposeless .. directionless ... Neither informative nor entertaining it hhad nothing looking forward to .. everything is predictable .. honestly political science class in school is more entertaining and unpredictable than this script.
4. C grade cast .. actually B-grade for their popularity and F grade for their acting..


In the end ..around ep 14 ... I realized and i was sure I like my screen blank more than this drama running on it.

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It's a movie in which silence speaks louder than words. I'm especially close to the fact that they don't try to sell the idea of "time heals" here. On the contrary: the film honestly shows that the pain does not go anywhere - you just get used to carrying it like that stone on your back.

There are no convenient excuses and easy junctions in this story. There is only a confession: not all actions can be canceled. And the redemption here is not that the past disappears, but that, knowing your guilt, still try to be a little more human and, if possible, protect the other.

The final with the boy beats with this simplicity: the circle has closed, but now it has a chance for a little more compassion. It's not about "it's easier". It's about how to live on when there's a heaviness inside that you can't release.

For me, this is the real psychological truth - the one I appreciate in movies: when the motives of the characters are not chewed, but shown through actions, pauses and repeated rituals. Very honest, quiet and deep movie. Masterpiece

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Came for Hanbin, was suprised for the entertainment

Though I have only watched the first episode, this seems to be quite entertaining! They already made it pretty hard for the contestants right from the start, which only makes me curious for what's to come. I love how they made them watch each other how they backbited each other-like, they straight up showed them the consequences of talking bad about others haha. And even their surprised faces when they saw what THEY THEMSELVES said, like gng as if you did not just say that.

Also, as a zerose, I just couldn't stop myself from pausing every time Sung Hanbin popped up (for anyone who doesn't know, the MC).

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Interesting premise, awful execution

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.

I was so excited, I thought this would be a perfect rom com. The premise was just what you imagine for a rom com. You write the story before it even starts. It should have so many potential for romantic, cute, funny scenes. Let me tell you right away. These were all a pipe dream. There was no spark. There was no romance. there was no chemistry.

It was a lesson of how to ruin an interesting concept. I blame the FL. She's not a god actress, and also her character wasn't endearing so if you have a bland and insipid heroine you can't get into a rom com. I didn't care about why she way like this because she didn't make me care. I've seen in other dramas and I find her a mediocre actress at best.

The ML wasn't better though. I had no idea what he felt since his expressions were all the same. I hope he'd bring something, a little fire into their relationship, but instead it was boring scene after boring. He's not a great actor either, so in some level they were made for each other. That ruined the drama.

But they're not the only ones to blame. The director didn't do anything to correct this because it was lifeless from start to finish. As for the other couples, I didn't dislike them but I sure didn't care. I hated the 2ML and I loved the 3ML. But all in all, I couldn't care less for any of these characters.

Last thing, they had a good premise with the dating show and it was a disaster in the end. I could say the last episode saved something but not really. It was too late and it still felt lifeless.

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It gets to a point

I enjoyed the first half of the series so much I was thinking of giving this series a 9.5 or even a 10, but then the more I watched, the more annoyed I got.

I can understand or even appreciate a bit of an oblivious main lead, but it really got to a point where I would get so annoyed at Suzuki it's not even funny. He knows all of the BL tropes except for his own.
And listen, I still love him dearly, but I just really wish they shortened the series by a few episodes to cut out all of the idiotism with Suzuki trying to put 2 and 2 together. Or have the same number of episodes but use them differently. Either way, some changes would've been greatly appreciated, but oh well.

Either way, I still had fun watching this series, it isn't something new or innovative and sure has some cliches, but it is still a pretty enjoyable watch in my opinion.

You can watch it on Viki: https://www.viki.com/tv/41641c-popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-me
or GagaOOLala: https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/8457/popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-me-2026

Things I liked:
1. I like the plot. While being pretty similar to so many other school JBLs, it has a few aspects that are rather new, which is nice to see.
2. It's pretty funny, the humor is not cringy or annoying.
3. Friends. Nothing makes me happier in BLs than supportive friends, and Suzuki has a bunch of that now. So now I can die happy knowing that he is protected and well cared for.
4. POV switch. I love when series show the other character's POV to show how they fell in love with the main lead.
5. Didn't expect to see Mokudai Kazuto here, but it was a great surprise.

Things I disliked:
1. Main character not listening and interrupting Serizawa every time he tried to speak about his feelings.
2. The typical oblivious main character. Nothing new in these types of BLs, but I find it more annoying than usual in this series specifically.

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High potential story that ended up disjointed and disappointing,

OVERALL: This drama had a great overall plot arc, solid character outlines, interesting dynamics, and good chemistry, but the execution in writing/directing wasted too much of it. This left it feeling disjointed and unsatisfying. I wanted so much more from this drama.

PLOT: The story sets up a sort of anti-first love trope, where two teens who had bonded over moviemaking re-unite as semi-antagonists in order to make the movie together, working through their old wounds and different dreams in the process. It also introduces two side pairings--one a set of lonely aspiring actors who find solace in one another, and another a more modern romance between two people who share a one night stand. And the 1st and 2nd leads all each have a family drama side story that plays out that shows four different types of parental relationships.

ROMANCES: The two side romances are just as interesting as the main one on paper, but the second leads, despite getting a ton of great set up at the beginning, are essentially ignored in the final third, and the third couple is insanely underdeveloped over the entire show. The second leads were my favorite actors in the drama, and there was so much more that could have been done with them for the final stretch.

The main romance explores some really interesting themes surrounding first love and if you can really recapture a pure love from your youth, but also fell flat by the end since the characters didn't actually truly grow or mature past their teenage selves, making you feel like "what was the point?" While they had decent chemistry, I didn't find myself particularly rooting for them.

EXECUTION: Some plotlines were given a lot of screentime despite having little depth, some plotlines with a lot of depth were rushed or the scenes didn't connect well or create a coherent narrative, while other plotlines were developed meticulously and with full depth. Some sequences were so beautifully shot and edited, while others dragged on or were bland and confusing. The pacing, tone, and quality were all over the place.

Overall I enjoyed it and I didn't. There were some scenes and sections that were beautiful, moving, and stuck with me, but then too much I skipped or that didn't land. I recommend it only if you have patience and don't mind a bit of an uneven execution.

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Good show with some flaws

The acting in this show is absolutely phenomenal. It's probably what kept me watching the most.
As for the story... It was definitely interesting. More than what is told, I liked how it was told. Mun-Oh is someone with a vibrant imagination and we get to see it all. His characterisation works extremely well in my opinion. His hunger for praise and acknowledgement makes him do things he wouldn't normally do. When he steals those questions, he doesn't do it for Lee Kang, he does it purely for himself and his hope to be the mentor of someone he can live vicariously through. He is so hung up on the past, he gets blinded by it. As a viewer, it is honestly easy to tell that Lee Kang is a liar and just tells a story. His narration works the same way, someone might write a first draft - "ah, and then he could move into the house... or what if there was a bully housemaid?", it all gets added piece by piece, but not woven in because he can't go back and edit. And Mun-Oh is eating it all up, not questioning a thing because he wants all of this to be true so badly. The character's motivations were all clear and well told except for Mun-Oh's wife. I didn't understand why she stayed that long. From all we know, he's been a huge a-hole all along. When he said those extremely mean things at the orphanage, just viewing this boy's story as some piece of fiction he might gain something from, when he wasn't there for her after she miscarried multiple times, when she cries and opens up about her suffering in the marriage he just tells her "stop whining"... Why did it take this long for her to leave? There should have been some redeeming qualities to him, but there really were none. She also has a bad feeling about Lee Kang in the beginning which is honestly understandable as he presents as a little stalker creep who wants to weasel himself into this family. Then later he is just able to manipulate her and they become friends?? That didn't quite work for me.
I think I was always waiting for something more, some sort of nuance, a little moment of psychopathy from Lee Kang that makes Mun-Oh stop in his tracks for a second... In the end it was pretty straight forward and if you, as the viewer, have realised that Lee Kang is lying, there is no other, deeper level, nothing to learn about storytelling and ethics, it's just revenge on a very willing victim.
Overall, an enjoyable show with some shortcomings in the story, but fantastic performances and great production value. I wouldn't rewatch it, but I would watch a second season.

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Like watching poetry...

This series feels like a literal dream, like it was written in flowery pieces of poetry. It captures you, takes you into its depths and yet when it's over and you've awoken--the details feel hazy and almost untouchable. It's a dream that you want to stay in, to absorb fully, but in essence this is an impossible desire to have.

And yet, for all the beauty and magic that is this series, it isn't without flaws. But maybe that's what makes it even more poetic in the end.

There are things that I felt were overdone for the sake of drama, like the two characters we (sadly) lost along the way. Especially for Qing Tian who seemed to suffer endlessly with a smile on his face, but ended up facing his demise on the precipice of his new budding beginning. And to top it off, I didn't really enjoy how they made his passing a mystery initially. The viewers confusion of whether it was him unaliving himself or an accident has been an issue. For all the things that are left unsaid in this series, I really think that one specific thing needed to be spoken more clearly from the get go.

Overall, much like the long winded title, the entirety of this series is written and performed with so much heart . The initial dream wakes with much left to be said between the lines, but there's undeniable beauty within the whole of it.

TDLR:

Pros:
- It's written beautifully, like poetry
- Kuma & JIngyu are masters in acting, they work amazingly together
- Yichen needs to get his flowers also, because his portrayal of Qing Tian was incredible.
- The incredible imagery makes you want to visit every filming location

Cons:
- Sometimes the delivery is affected by it's need to be poetic and hurts the overall understanding of what is going on at times
- I don't really care for the fact we had two character deaths
- Han Lu & Hao Yu's storyline is completely unnecessary to me, it feels like it's disjointed from the series as a whole. That added drama is distractive at best.
- Also Qian Lang's previous acting partner has way too much weight for wayyy too long and it got boring at times. MEGA annoying.

Overall:
- 100% worth the watch for the beauty of it as a whole. I suspect a rewatch will bring some details into focus. But this is one for the Best of 2026 books and I hope we see more from this CP in the future.

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gets boring

I'm on EP 34 and I can't with this anymore. it had such a good premise up until she became a general, after that when she entered the temple or whatever it got soo boring. not the action/woman fighter story I thought it would be. The beginning started off action packed and mysterious but it's dragging on now. it shouldn't be 40 episodes. People are talking about the chemistry of the main leads not being there, it's more like a friendship than romantic chemistry. Where the ML is supposed to be showing his feelings for her he's just being a controling brute. This doesn't live up to the hype.

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Not for a romcom topic

The storyline of When Light Fadesis controversial. It follows students who go to the forest to fight for justice after their own government abandons them. This situation does not just happen in Thailand. We also experience it here in the Philippines, and likely in other countries too. That is one reason why we should take the show seriously.
The story starts with a bloody encounter between students and the military. This tragedy urges the main leads to keep fighting for their cause. Because of this heavy introduction, I expected very serious scenes. Instead, I got highly romantic and comedic moments. A little comedy is fine, but it needs good timing. The genre of the show is not something to joke about. It does not make sense to show two lovebirds giggling and flirting outside while someone else is in pain without medical resources. I am directly comparing this execution to the show "Shine" by BOC.
I do not hate Sila/Gaun Hin. I actually love his character. He is one of the few people who truly understands his purpose for fleeing to the forest. I expected that same depth from Win/Saeng. Win chose to go there because he witnessed the bloodshed at the rally firsthand. Instead, he just found a boyfriend.
On a positive note, episodes 6 to 8 took on a more serious and heavy tone. That approach fits the story much better. In terms of acting, I love most of the cast, especially Bas, Jeng, and Pass. Atip needs a little more workshop training since he is very new to the industry. I hope to see him on screen again with improved acting skills.
As for the NC scenes, they are not very good. You can clearly see that Atip's mouth does not even touch Bas' skin. He might still feel awkward because this is his first NC scene. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

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just watch and laugh !

well i have only completed it till half .. but it was enjoyable .. actually i dont watch that much k-dramas because of troppy romance .. but this was really an exception .. as being a teenager and a BL reader myself .. i did understand all of her imagination .. i your teen you always found something way much embarrassing but still interesting .. it is just like that .. don't think reading reviews and summaries make you found good dramas .. just begin a drama you find .. if you don't like it drop it .. if liked just watch .. everyone got a different taste so just find your taste and be full of what you liked .. 0^0

i know this box is for writing reviews and your POV .. but i just want to write " watch it, you will have a smile on your face throughout your watching"

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A for Effort, D for Story

Food analogy: Lukewarm milk tea with the promise of masala!

The first half of the story felt very different from the Second half, almost as if two different writers wrote them independently and stitched them together without much discussion. It had good premise of being a nostalgic teenage puppy love cum timeskipped mature heartbroken re-love. I understand that these kinds of storylines are hard to pull off but the writers just gave up. There was nothing and a lot of happening at the same time. There was a very dark plot point of abuse which i felt was not resolved well which leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Even the romance curve just goes whoosh whoosh, hot and cold, sense and no sense. Only saving grace were the leads individually. The did a great job as a stand alone but because of the plot point of the ML leaving the FL in the beginning (not a spoiler as this is in the trailer) , it just felt like the characters always had a wall inbetween them due to FL's lack of trust, Which led the chemistry to feel flat due to the lack of buildup. Overall, the actors did the best with what they Had. You can watch for the 2nd couple which was cuter for me.
Give it a watch only if you have time to kill.
This series is not exactly very bad. It just under delivered.

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