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The plot degrades the real empress in the actual history
I kept watching the early part of this show just because I did not check the information well. I thought it was Dugu Ban Ruo, who was the real female protagonist. After I knew that Dugu Jia Luo was the female lead, I skipped a lot and speeded up a lot.First (when I thought that Dugu Ban Ruo was FL), I really liked the show. Like, wow, this was the first time I saw an independent and active FL; wow, she really got a brain; wow, she was not foolish and childish; wow, this was the woman all girls wanted to be, even trans or gays also wanted be as awesome as her!
Later, I was told by someone what Dugu Jia Luo was the female lead. I was very disappointed. Really? this childish and lack-of-enthusiasm girl would be the powerful queen? The only one answer is IMPOSSIBLE. I think this FL role is for diminishing the ability of the real empress in the history. It degrades the historical powerful woman.
Similarly for the father of 3 girls, he did not seem like a great nobleman or the leader of military at all. His role was very weak, and he talked to his daughters like he got no job to do in real life. He was like a househusband taking care of the relationship between his daughters.
Although I have liked Jeremy Xu before watching this show, I did not care about his character at all. Yuwen Hu character is very boring, just like those toxic and narcissistic male protagonists, where you could easily find in almost all of the Chinese dramas. More than 90% of Chinese dramas got this type of male leads, both in modern and period setting. Even in 2026, there are still plenty of this type of male leads.
I do not blame any actor. The problems are fictional characters and plots.
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This review may contain spoilers
HOT TAKE.
This drama had the potential but failed to deliver it. It was good till the midway. Idk what they did in the last 4 eps, it felt like they completely forgot the plot.This drama started really strong with FL who wanted to be the director couldn't achieve her dream, and the ML who -as he says- borrowed her dream and made it. The school time was really nice and they had the innocent and pure first love vibes. Still, I wanted the drama to show more of the yearning for her rather than the childhood moments. I think that is where the drama failed to deliver what was promised.
Him breaking up and going abroad was totally justified and acceptable. -He was young, abused and just wanted everything to stop. His father forced that choice out of him. And even though, he could've communicated properly or end things and handled everything better - it would've been better. BUT, her breaking up in the last episode was just for filling up screen time and mothing more. And she comes back and they just continue where they left of? How does that make any sense?
And also the reason my rating went soo down because I had anticipated this a lot and this was a huge letdown for me.
- I think Woo Soo Bin was written really bad. Him telling her not to pursue her dream felt so much not like his character. Whatever the 11 episode showed WSB, he would've not said JYJ to dream. That was so much out of the plot. I think it was wriiten because they just wanted him to behave that way because then they could conveniently break them up. And then a second later he is understanding and supports her decision to go. The last episode was a mess.
- then the 3rd couple? idk why there was even a plot for them. I mean, why did they break up in the first place? She felt guilty? for what? conducting a dating show? there relationship was okayish in the beginning and had some potential to be explored. but, they just- idk what happened, didn't continue there story line and ended it.
- and more importantly the ML's father. What was even happening at the end? the mother announces she is getting divorced and he just let her?? And why wasn't he reported? The ML completely forgot about his father and went easy with him. He should've been roting in the jail rather than being a doctor. I hate that the ML father was not punished for uis abuse. And I hate that he was not involved on all of the drama that happened between woo so bin, oh hana, her mother and all. They shwed that some nurses in the hospital noticed the news -but left it at that.
I actually enjoyed watching this the first few weeks and would qait for each episode to air. And then it went downhill in the second half.
Yeahhh that's my rambling. bye;
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"BORED"
Dream to You starts off well with an interesting school-drama setup that feels fresh and engaging.The early episodes are enjoyable, but as the story progresses, the drama slowly becomes boring and predictable.
The chemistry between the main leads is good and gives the romance some enjoyable moments.
However, I personally found the side couple's emotional journey more interesting and impactful than the main couple's.
The drama has some nice moments, but it struggles to maintain the same energy and excitement throughout.
Overall, Dream to You is a decent watch with a strong beginning, but the later episodes make it feel average.
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Addictive series
This series is what I would call astounding in every area from script, direction, production, cinematography, costumes and exceptional acting, especially by the two leads. For me, the male lead, the young, very handsome, magnetic, multi talented wonder, He Yu, is definitely one actor to follow. Wow...such range.. powerful actor! This series kept me hooked, totally invested in these characters and their history. Praise goes to all the creative geniuses involved in this series. It was very obvious to me that this production had everyone involved dedicated to producing something brilliant, something of value that would stand out, and they definitely accomplished all that.Was this review helpful to you?
Here it is! Jeremy could make it!
About Jeremy Xu: The guy showed up in the second half of this show. His role gave me a Wow! Previously, I watched Braveness of the Ming, and Jeremy's character is the funny fool, like, the character who will die first in slasher films. During the time, I watched Legend of the Phoenix and Dugu, his role is just the stereotyped male lead and not interesting at all. For here, Whispers of Fate, his performance is definitely awesome. The characteristics of the character are like Joker, Riddler, and villains in old Disney film. It's the male character with queerness or sissy. If you want to know more, please search with keywords "queer-coded" or "queer-coding" villain in scholar article websites. Most academic works interpret that this is the negative role of character. I have never hated Jeremy Xu for that, but what I want to state here, is that, he could make it. The only skillful performers could do this. Jeremy could perform as many different characters, from the funny fool, the funny male lead, the stereotyped boring male lead, and here!! he could act the sissy villain role. This guy is more than talented, he is the REAL excellent one.About the show: Whispers of Fate is something special for me, because it had been for my family series night for a month, and I don't know why (our previous series nights are way more interesting, like watching IT, FBI, DUNE, Chucky, The Boys, Arrowverse). Everyone in the house sat and watched Whispers of Fate together without skipping, even I felt bored in many episodes. You know? In some episodes, the characters just drank tea and talked for the entire ep. In some ep, some character was just sick and did not do anything. In some ep, they just played hide and seek and nothing happened.
Something I like: My favorite thing about this show is turquoise and red scheme of some background, which the pair of colors later have been used in many drama cover/poster and women's outfits.
Something I dislike: Thing I do not like about this show is that there is no female role model for girls to learn and imitate. Both female protagonists were weak. One of them knew how to fight, and her master said that she was intelligent. However, she was not that. She got captured, and many male characters had to go out to save her. I was very disappointed.
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Active Female Character and Unexpected Ending!
When I was young, I watched a lot of movies made in Hong Kong. I watched few period dramas, but a lot of modern movies about cops and mafia gangs. There are lack of films with female characters who could be a role model for young girls. Many dialogs also negatively stereotype women.However, in this show, The Resurrected, I see active female characters. They got brains, and they got plans. They were enthusiastic and full of motivation. When I saw this show, I did not expect the good ending. I thought it might be just like those movies I watched when I was young. I could see a part of post-feminism in this show. It's the friendship and relationship between female characters without being lesbians.
I watched this twice actually, even I could still remember the plot.
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OBSESSED ?
oh my gosh I'm obsessed with this drama 😭 another episode please. Best drama of 2026 for me. I just hope it continues like this till the end. It wasn't even part of my watchlist, I had nothing to watch and just randomly tuned in an now I'm obsessed. It's such a refreshing story. Throughout this year, all the released dramas have been the same script with different actors. It almost sent me into a cdrama slump. who knew this drama I tried on a random day would be this good that I had to drop a review for the first timeWas this review helpful to you?
Slow and Sleepy
I do not know why this show is so famous. I watched it 3 times without being able to remember. Every time, I skipped, like, I watched every third or forth episode. I might skip and see different episode every time I watched this. The plot is very slow. Not only plot actually, because in many scenes, the editors or vfx made them very very slow. I watched it at 2.0x, but all characters still moved slower than usual.
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Mongolian sound
I don’t know if this can even be called a film. It is so experimental and complicated that it would fit better if it were screened somewhere in a museum accompanied by an explanatory note. The film shows close-ups of static things that feel more like photographs than cinema, accompanied by strange sounds.The sounds are sometimes present, sometimes absent, sometimes just noise, sometimes a murmur, sometimes the sound of construction work, and sometimes a Mongolian song. I think the director’s intention was to place the emphasis on the sound, so that we listen to his film rather than watch it, but the problem is that the sounds also seem random and it is hard to connect them into any coherent whole or story.
A story can be vaguely discerned, yet it is still difficult to say what is reality and what is imagination. The film is abstract and somewhat depressing. I got a little refreshment from the audiovisual experience of Mongolia in the film. Watching this film is certainly a real experiment. I had a similar experience watching it as when I was renovating a room in our old house together with my father.
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It means a lot for me.
I could relate to the 8th episode of this show. I wanted to die like the main character of this ep twice. First, when I was a student. My teacher's double-standard grading ruined my life. There was no way to get a good grade from him. The second time, I felt like that, was when I worked. I worked 7 days a week and also at night. I lost my goal and destiny, and I had no life-expectancy. I wish all students and all workers would be fine. I just pray for them. You do not have only your job, but you also have your life and your family too. Cheer up to everyone!Was this review helpful to you?
Fell for the plot stayed for everything else
That was pretty good. Unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment because I had higher expectations for the series, but it was still a nice and enjoyable watch.You can watch it on iQIYI: https://www.iq.com/album/connecting-to-you-2026-2fbr7b78pud?lang=en_us
Things I liked:
1. Humor. Sometimes a bit cringy but overall nice and funny.
2. Acting.
3. Cinematography.
4. Interesting plot. It is definitely new and exciting.
5. I really liked the intro to the series. As well as the OST.
6. Main character's friend. Funny and goofy.
Things I disliked:
1. They really went from zero to a hundred in mere seconds. I'm not complaining too much, but I would've preferred it a bit if it wasn't as rushed.
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Like a beautiful poetry wrapped in a drama
To the Wonder is a visual feast. Some people say it feels like a documentary film and I would agree. The sights, the sounds, the people and conversations, it's like a beautiful poetry wrapped in a drama.The mesmerizing landscape set in Northwestern China serves as a backdrop to the story structured around characters striving for a new life: a budding writer seeking purpose upon returning home after a failed attempt for success in a big city, a Kazakh horseman silently battling for his individual rights in a family steeped with tradition and obligations, a young widow with two children fighting for her future, and a headstrong, independent widow still grieving the loss of her husband. Through these characters, we witness a way of life that's both unfamiliar and relatable. Aside from the nomadic lifestyle, it's about the everyday conflicts arising from clashing of cultures, generational gap, the reluctance to let go of traditions due to inevitable modernity. The story is sometimes funny, sometimes serious and sometimes heartbreaking and tragic. As you start to feel for each character, you wish for a happy ending for all. And although not everyone will get what they deserve, it's in the journey that, in spite of everything, you understand on a deeper level for these characters.
If you came for the romance like I did, I think you'll be in for a sweet ride. I especially love how Zhou Yi Ran and Yu Shi portray this aspect of the drama. I find Zhou Yi Ran's Wenxiu lovable and comical. The way Wenxiu lights up when Batay walks into a room; you can see her heart soaring and makes you want to laugh with how endearing (and how resonant) it feels. Yu Shi as Batay is an absolute hunk. He's a natural in this role. I loved the duality between this confident rider and the young man experiencing first love. When he finally opens up, his desperation, vulnerability, innocence, and love come across perfectly in these moments, that it's still etched in my mind.
These days, dramas feel ephemeral and indistinguishable from one another. However, this drama is one of those rare gems that lingers in your mind and makes you smile with the mere thought of it, and the more you think about it, the more you appreciate it. It's an unforgettable drama.
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A Drama You Have to Assemble Like IKEA Furniture
By the time I finished the drama, I was sure of at least one thing: I hadn't been sold a dream, but rather a cheap imitation of a romantic comedy sprinkled with a generous dose of bland melodrama. The paradox of the title in all its glory is right there: rekindled love, passion, ambitions, reunions, cinema, thwarted destinies... plenty of good ideas to develop. Unfortunately, like some tired gimmick, the project was handed to a competent director who had never directed a romantic drama in his life, and even worse, the script was entrusted to a rookie writer who had never written anything before. It's like handing the keys to a Ferrari to someone who has just passed their driving test. So, on a wing and a prayer, why not...? Well, actually, no. Dream to You sells you hot air and puts you through a nightmare of padding from beginning to end. Why did I watch it all the way through? Because by Episode 5, the second couple gave me a glimmer of hope after four absolutely disastrous episodes, both in substance and execution. So let's take a closer look at this drama, whose biggest flaw is ultimately its lack of substance, and therefore its limited appeal.When they were high school students, Woo Su-Bin (Hwang In-Yeop) and Joo Yi-Jae (Hyeri) dreamed of becoming film directors and imagined spending their lives together. But tragic events would separate them for fifteen years: he suddenly leaves the country to study medicine, only to eventually become a promising and successful young director; meanwhile, she becomes a journalist for a local television station, carrying the feeling that she has failed at life. He achieved his dream. She didn't. After the international success of his first film, just as he had promised himself, he returns to Korea to find Yi-Jae, whom he has never forgotten and who was his first love. Fate quickly brings them back together. Su-Bin then tries to revive the ambition she buried long ago, while also rekindling the flame of their former love. Around them are various people connected to their family or professional lives, including Yu-Geon (Baek Sung-Chul), their high school friend who never gave up on his dream of becoming an actor, and Oh Ha-Na (Lee Yul-Eum), a child star shaped by her mother, a former starlet who has since become the CEO of a production company.
Where do I even start? The main problem with Dream to You isn't ultimately its lack of ideas. It's almost the opposite: the drama has plenty of them, but it never really knows what to do with them. Rekindled love, cinema, professional ambitions, thwarted destinies, complicated family relationships, characters still trying to find their place in life: on paper, there was more than enough material to build a mature and interesting romance. But the script constantly feels like it's piling one element on top of another without ever giving them any real coherence. It's the classic IKEA furniture problem: you open the box, find a ton of pieces, follow the instructions... and then, at some point, some pieces no longer seem to fit, others appear to be completely useless, and you're left with a handful of screws you don't even know where they were supposed to go. Above all, the drama lacks a center of gravity, a central pillar around which its themes and characters could actually develop. It tries to show too many things, but the result is that it merely skims the surface instead of digging any deeper. The Su-Bin / Yi-Jae relationship, for example, is rebuilt far too quickly, unlike the second couple. As far as emotional sparks are concerned, better luck next time.
We're dealing with a mature romance here, so I expect a little seduction and chemistry, not a relationship delivered as a ready-made package. Hwang In-Yeop and Hyeri spend three-quarters of the drama standing next to each other, but never really together. I saw the actors, but I never saw the characters they were supposed to be playing. Worse still, during those endless flashback sequences—which are mostly pointless at the beginning—we get to see them dressed as high school students. Except that they're both over 33, so I don't see high school students; I see two adult actors dressed up as teenagers because it simply isn't convincing. The script explains their past, their wounds, their reunion and the reasons they separated, but it doesn't make us experience their relationship enough in the present. We know so much about them before they've even had a real chance to rediscover each other. And for me, the "why" is essential. This becomes obvious in Episode 5, when they practically disappear from the screen to make room for Ha-Na and Yu-Geon, whose storyline I found more interesting because their relationship actually develops in front of us, even if somewhat clumsily. They also have something the main couple desperately lacks: natural chemistry. The real mistake was adding yet another couple that ultimately serves no purpose other than filling the narrative gaps.
The relationships between the characters are rather shaky overall, and the connections between the main cast feel weak. All the melodrama piled on top of more melodrama is basically there to compensate for weak tension and a warm atmosphere that is almost completely absent, except perhaps toward the end. The only real stake in the entire series is: "Will they eventually manage to make the movie whose script Yi-Jae wrote back in high school?" The actual filmmaking process could have been a fantastic tool for developing the relationship between Su-Bin and Yi-Jae: working together, confronting their different visions, bringing old memories back to the surface, blurring the line between acting and real feelings, and revealing their respective ambitions. We do get some of that, but only during the final episode. Talk about a missed opportunity! The boredom sets in quickly because the padding becomes increasingly obvious. That's exactly what creates the feeling of a script stitched together from disconnected pieces rather than built around an actual backbone. Fortunately, the direction is good, despite the excessive use of green screens and AI-generated material, which is rather baffling. There are a few good moments, but overall, it's not enough to create any real sense of authenticity or emotional impact.
Most of the time, there are no surprises whatsoever. Everything is painfully predictable, but one feeling quickly takes over: boredom. It's often downright soporific because the drama is basically a pile-up of issues and emotions slapped next to one another, with no harmony, no transitions and no real flow. There are no meaningful stakes. Where is the passion? Apart from two or three scenes, there's very little. Hyeri is basically "doing Hyeri," just like in Reply 1988 or May I Help You?. I found her more inspired in My Roommate Is a Gumiho and especially in Friendly Rivalry**, where she was working in a darker register. Baek Sung-Chul, on the other hand, seemed more convincing and inspired to me. As for Hwang In-Yeop, I found him rather mediocre once again, because he mostly relies on what he already knows how to do. In the end,** Dream to You is a drama you watch without ever truly experiencing. It tells you a lot, but makes you feel almost nothing. A missed opportunity, and above all, a lot of wasted time. As proof, by Episode 9, I ended up watching on fast-forward—and I'm glad I did. The series wasn't a nightmare, let's not exaggerate: there are a few enjoyable moments, but it certainly wasn't the dream I was promised. What it really lacked was a solid underlying structure.
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Murthehelp VS Babylon
Season 1 of A Shop for Killers worked thanks to a subtle balance between a gripping, claustrophobic thriller and inventive action that managed to surprise at every turn. We followed Ji-An through a believable progression, we worried about her, and we anxiously watched her make one risky choice after another. The tension was constant, with twists in every episode. It was pretty difficult to figure out where the story was going because information was revealed little by little. Season 2 completely changes direction, and yet the first episode really whetted my appetite because it was clever and offered another great idea to bring both returning viewers and newcomers into the story. Unfortunately, I was immediately less convinced by what followed. Sure, the drama is as addictive as a good pack of Kopiko candies, but it completely abandons the novel in order to exploit the 100% action angle.The first episode starts with a rather original idea: it takes place during the final episode of Season 1, but from Jin-Man's point of view. We get to see what was happening behind the scenes, while also discovering his connection to Babylon's Japanese branch more than fifteen years earlier, before he founded Murthehelp. If Season 1 was a faithful adaptation of the first chapter of Kang Ji-Young's book, this sequel is a very loose adaptation that no longer follows the original trilogy's storyline at all. I'll be honest: I could have stopped right there at the end of this introductory episode. Why? Because what follows completely abandons the intelligent thriller side of the story and dives headfirst into much more generic action spectacle. I felt like I was watching a mix of Counter-Strike and Splinter Cell (the video games), with a bit of The Expendables thrown in. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it still needs to live up to the stakes. Unfortunately, this feels more like fan service than anything else. Overall, it's enjoyable, but nothing more. I'm a little disappointed because the narrative downgrade compared with Season 1 isn't merely a matter of degree.
After Season 1, we were expecting the return of Bale (Jo Han-Sun), the iconic antagonist, the psychopath, the unstoppable killing machine. He is indeed here, but unfortunately, he's little more than a guest appearance before giving way to the Sino-Korean Jin Kusanagi (Jung Yun-Ha), the head of Babylon's Japanese branch. She has about as much charisma as an oyster, and her best agent, Agent Q (Hyunri), is barely any better. I'm not against women being used as badass characters—quite the opposite—but seriously, was there really nothing better available? They simply lack presence, and more importantly, they never feel dangerous in any way. The Murthehelp team is still around, but many of them no longer have the same impact. They mostly seem to be there to make an appearance, before several of them are eventually taken out toward the end. We could have hoped for stronger bonds between Jin-Man and Ji-An. Nope. Everything feels artificial and predictable. I don't get the same hype as before, especially that wonderfully chaotic feeling that things were almost being improvised on the spot. The plot is so basic that Episode 2 is almost the complete opposite of the first. I genuinely thought it was some kind of elaborate joke. The rest isn't exactly brilliant either, and by the final episode, you can pretty much read the whole thing like an open book.
The story creates a stylistic clash between two rival organizations fighting for the parallel-market arms trade, supplying Third World governments, rebels, and private militias. Whereas Murthehelp was originally presented almost like a local business catering to the "killers in the neighborhood," it has now received a massive upgrade and is suddenly capable of almost going toe-to-toe with Babylon. The arrival of a whole army of "clowns" makes the series more spectacular and bloodier, with sound design that can sometimes be excessive (the knife impacts sound downright cartoonish). The violence is therefore turned up a notch, and the visual spectacle improves, while realism and atmosphere take a hit. Some characters we had grown attached to in the past aren't treated with much respect. A minimum amount of empathy, please—is that really too much to ask? Meaningful relationships disappear in favor of predictable and pointless behavior. Thankfully, the fight sequences are well choreographed, because it would have been something if they'd messed those up too. Special mention to Ji-An, who apparently read How to Become G.I. Joe in 10 Easy Lessons to make up for her previous combat deficiencies.
Technically, it's solid, no complaints there: the direction lives up to its ambitions. And if you're looking for fights, massacres, explosions, and mass dismemberment, you're going to be well served. It's a shame we don't get to see the uncle and niece together more often; they seem to spend most of their time avoiding each other. I wasn't convinced by the supposed-but-not-really passing of the torch: Kim Hye-Jun was better and more convincing in Season 1 than she is here. Apparently, somewhere between a stray bullet and a punch to the face, she somehow found time to get her hair done and her makeup touched up... Yeah, between a full-blown brawl and a beauty salon, priorities matter. Lee Dong-Wook does the job; it's clean and solid without being outstanding. As for Jin-Man's team, it's nice to see the old faces returning, but since I don't want to spoil anything, prepare to be disappointed and disgusted. The drama is short, just like Season 1, but the density is noticeably lower. That's undeniable. It feels like they spend several episodes circling each other before finally making an appointment for the big final fight. What a surprise!
In the end, Season 2 isn't bad, far from it, but it has lost what made the first season so appealing. Where Season 1 was constantly trying to surprise us, this one is mostly trying to blow us away. It works fairly well if you approach it as pure, unapologetically over-the-top entertainment, but much less so if you were hoping for the tense and clever thriller that made the first season such an addictive watch. We still have the characters, the weapons, the fights, and gallons of blood, but we've lost a large part of what made the first season so compelling: the tension, the uncertainty, and that feeling that everything could go completely off the rails at any moment. It's spectacular and occasionally exhilarating, but considerably more predictable. The entertainment factor is still there, but if the steak is bloodier, it doesn't taste as good. The conclusion is bafflingly predictable, but the good news is that the ending seems fairly definitive... Which, in my opinion, won't stop them from making one final installment anyway.
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