Reviews

A very very slow burn, but once ignited, it is lovely

I once started this because of the fake relationship tag and watched about halfway before dropping it as I was so confused at the extremely slow plot. I decided to come back and give it another shot and was very pleasantly surprised at how lovely the story developed between the two main characters.
This is not a slow burn, this is a barely smoldering ember you could leave alone for days and not worry about any change or damage. I would honestly say any actual plot only started around episode 10, and up until then was just a lot of character development and laying of the foundations of their relationship. It was a bit of a slog to be honest, but they came together in such a natural way that all the slog in the beginning made sense. A true strangers to friends to lovers (or I guess, strangers to spouses to friends to lovers). It was beautiful, but I don't think I could rewatch it lol.

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A good time loop story, but person

For someone not used to time loop stories, this would probably be a really fun and interesting plot to follow. But I've read some top notch time loop fanfics so this was good but I cant rate it 9/10. The mystery was good, and I liked how in each loop they learned more about the mystery but also more about each other. I liked how the main characters were written and I feel the actors did a good job portraying their inner turmoils. This is definitely a healthy main's relationship as there is no unnecessary cheap drama between the two leads. They come to rely on one another first through a need for survival and then because they only have each other to understand. Obviously they should fall in love with all that forced proximity, and so obviously they do, but the story doesn't really focus on gooey moments between them. It's more like "you and me against the world" and they are both on the same page about it.

I personally find it a bit boring to rewatch anything with a mystery plot, and since this is a time loop I feel that I've seen enough repeats in the actual show to not want to rewatch it again.

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Artsy, dark vibes, oozing toxicity and bad decisions...And frustrating!

This Thai BL features a trio of characters that meet in a bar and are trapped into ultra toxic relationships (professional and romantic) inspite of themselves. The series can feel highly frustrating because of the waste of potential, however, there are also quite a lot I appreciated. Do I regret spending time on it ? No, certainly not because it made me think a lot. Unfortunately the attempt at social commentary regarding Art and AI fell apart with the conclusion, which was truly disappointing.

Cast is one of the strong point of this series but also one of the downside. Indeed Gun, Off and Dew are doing a very good job at acting out those broken human beings. The tension scenes with the intimate moments or the painful moments were also very well acted. However, the way couple pairing are working in Thailand clearly removed part of the interest / turmoil of the series as the ending seemed predictable because of the CP but was not convincing because of the plot itself.

I would recommend this drama to people looking for an artsy BL featuring a fare share of angst and pain. It is for sure not without flaws because of its odd and too slow pacing, unconvincing ending and frustrating because of the waste of potential. But it is also a very different kind of story, truly thoughts provoking, with a captivating muse-artist relationship. Even if it unfortunately does not hold its promises, the actors and the very good production value with some truly impactful and memorable scenes, make it worth the watch.

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Initially interesting characters flounder and flip flop by the middle and never stop

This started out so well that it was a ten for me up until the leads both reached Bliss Palace. First it became questionable whether Zhao is allowed to make any decisions on her own. Then it became questionable whether any of her decisions make any sense. Instead of letting the leads spent some time apart and let them get in some good pining so that they may come together stronger, the male lead forces their paths to cross at every turn in either icky or straight up nonsensical ways.

For a sect drama even if it is not full-fledged wuxia, the fight choreographies are pretty one note and incredibly short until the last episodes. Zhao seemed to be a cool fighter at first, then she just does the same move over and over. The only impressive fight she gets is against one of her uncles.

Whenever the leads make up again they are on the outs once more just as fast. Sadly, Generation to Generation is a downward spiral. The Man in Black is an interesting enough mystery to keep me speeding through the leads' seemingly endlessly repeating woes. By the 26th episode I simply wanted to know if that damn villain is the guy I thought he would be or the lame guy I thought he would be. It was the lame guy.

All the male characters belong in the garbage except Zhao's incredible little brother. The female supporting characters are no more than plot devices except for the master's wife. Barely any character develops. There is just foreshadowing that goes nowhere each time.

Everyone's goals feel all over the place except the male leads, but only because he is allowed to secretly go after his goals during most of the drama. Sadly, that is more handled to justify him interacting with the FL than anything else and is completely disregarded by the end. Their love story turns into a farce of obligation. Where that obligation comes from? Nobody knows.

5/10 for what could have been and the magiepie bridge song, which is a better love story than these two.

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A cute romantic comedy

This was such an easy watch, although I am not a fan of short dramas, I think the pacing was great.

It is kinda divided, first half full on AI dates, second half full on IRL romance.

And even with the short number of episodes, the characters felt fleshed out. I could see clearly why Mi-Rae acted that way and Kyeong-Nam too.

I loved the webtoons subplot, as someone who reads them regularly, it was a fun bit.

The leads had chemistry, their scenes together had me smiling like an idiot because they were truly cute together.

I wanna shout out Gong Min Jung, I've only seen her before on Marry My Husband, in a very dramatic and sad role and seeing her here as the excentric Yun Song was a joy.

I would watch Eunho sunbae´s plot in a drama if it was made into one lmao.

I normally hate when they drop all episodes at once, as I enjoy the conversation here weekly, but I think this was a great drama to binge watch.

It was very cozy and heartwarming.

I wouldn't rewatch because I never rewatch anything, but if I absolutely must, I would not mind watching this again.

Please don't mind the "Jisoo can't act for her life" hate train and give this an opportunity if you are interested in the plot, you would not regret it.

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This drama is one you need to let your imagination run wild with.

The premise is interesting and an alternate version of the omegaverse. They broaden the idea of “pheromone” to a virus that allows for more nuance to the relationships and the desire to be with one another, beyond their “innate” desire to be with the opposite type of the virus.

The story is okay. As stated, the premise of the plot was interesting, but the progression of the story felt like background to the chemistry of the two main couples. At times, the story felt as if the writers knew that the chemistry would carry enough of the show to allow them to leave logic and development to the side at times. There were times where the writing was well done, especially when they allowed for a deeper understanding of the different motivations and characterizations of the main cast, besides the FL— we’ll get to that later. The ML was the character with the best writing. The show goes into detail about what makes him who he is and how he comes to terms with his trauma in relation to his love for the FL. Also, the man can kiss!!! The chemistry of the main couple was almost entirely carried by the ML.

What made my ranking go from an 8.5 to a 7.5 is the FL after her—spoiler alert— brother’s death.
When her brother died, I was very willing to understand how this would be conflicting for her and how it would affect her relationship with the ML. However, the writers did not do a good job of letting her articulate what she was feeling, even just to the audience. When you are expecting her to feel conflicted because her husband doesn't feel sad about her brother’s death, instead, they have her essentially blame the ML for her brother’s death. When you think they have to separate to allow her to come to terms with everything, she is the one who pushes to be closer to him — physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, because the writer spends no time developing the actual character of the FL, her reactions don’t make sense to the audience. Why is he reacting this way? Why is she quick to get angry and push people away, but also incredibly quick to forgive? Why does she seem so naive, yet she is written as smart, observant, and quick on the uptake? We don’t know. The FL is there to help the ML’s character shine through and be better understood by the audience, but is not written as a complete character herself.

So basically, don't take the drama too seriously. Enjoy the romance and the MANY kiss scenes and let the chemistry keep you entertained.

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I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to watch this. It turned out to be much better than I expected.

The story kept me interested and the tension made it easy to keep watching. Sometimes you go into a series with low expectations and end up being pleasantly surprised — and this was definitely one of those times.

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A comedic drama with heartfelt moments and a supporting cast deserving its own story

For me, the side-characters Mr. Bai and the scholars were the breakout stars of this drama. I could watch a few extra episodes only with the scholars. It's been quite some time since I last cared about side characters in a drama or truly any TV-Show to this extend. The romance was alright but certainly simply a more interesting lead dynamic at the start. The leads are lovable, but I didn't really care about it compared to the scheming and the drama surrounding the nation. Therefore, during most of the last episodes I skipped some scenes.

The Qiang state being behind most schemes was an interesting addition given its presence in both the Xia and Yan state harem. I would have liked to see Qian explored more. Even if the leads would have just found out the Qiang state is the scapegoat of the original story and then had hit like an invisible barrier when trying to communicate with Qiang because the state itself was never written into the original story. Basically, I think it would have been interesting to see more "out-of-bounds experiences" given the talk about 2D and higher level characters. Why shouldn't "2D places" exist too?

Despite skipping through some scenes, this is a drama that made me cry and laugh in equal measure. I actually teared up a few times and that usually only happens once when it's a good drama. As stated before, they truly had a great supporting cast, only FL's maids - both Mei and Hua Hua - were a bit too canon fodder flavored. Speaking of "canons", Mr. Bai's specifically designed arrows were great. The seizing of the capital was a fun action sequence.

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Icky romance but kind of entertaining

This Japanese movie is centred around the romance between a young highschool yakuza family heiress and her adult bodyguard disguising himself to protect her at school. If I did not find it boring, I for sure also found the romance icky from start to finish...

I certainly can watch and enjoy a wide variety of romances : from very cute and fluffy to ultra dark and taboo... However, unfortunately it did not work for me here. The romance took the regular shojo road of pretending that problematic stuff are adorable and charming when in fact they were just not. I have nothing against age gap story per se, but here the following combination :
- 10 years gap between the main lead (26 years old) and the female lead (hypothesis of 16 years old as she is in her first year of high school)
- grooming
- overpowering main lead yakuza
was a bit much to sell as "cute". The fact the male lead is also a real jerk sleeping around while pining for the heroine certainly also did not help...Overal that's a lot to take in for the viewer to root for them !!!

Acting was overall average, with male lead being simply a big block of wood! Honestly, if I found him more handsome maybe I would be less severe but well, he is not exactly my style so better acting chops would definitely have helped. Female lead is better but nothing extraordinary...and definitely looking too old for the highschooler role... However, given the plot, I guess it is for the best because otherwise the romance would have felt even more unpalatable.

I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better high school romance movie out there. In order to work better, the storytelling should either have remove the gap age aspect, either the tone of the movie should have be much darker without the classic shojo style to showcase properly the relationship, the gaslighting, the imbalance in power.

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Better than the drama (Love O2O)

I honestly liked the movie better than the drama. I've rewatched both this movie and the drama at least twice, mainly out of nostalgia. The original storyline from the novel to the drama to the movie has always been a bit childish/tropey, but at its core it is sweet, and that's why I like to come back to it every few years or so.

I particularly like that this version of the main characters were written to be less one-dimensional. No hate to Yang Yang (Xiao Nai) or Zheng Shuang (Bei Wei Wei) who acted in the drama because I think the drama actually followed pretty closely to the novel's story and the actors just followed their scripts. The novel is from BWW's POV and doesn't really give much insight into Xiao Nai as a person except BWW's perception that he's basically a perfect human. This however ends up leaving Xiao Nai as pretty much a blank sheet of paper with no personality to really extrapolate from. He's crazy smart, successful at everything he does, multitalented in a bunch of random things, and always able to think 17 moves ahead and outwit his opponents. It's like he's been isekai'd into this story with full knowledge of every single turn of events and is never worried or unsure of himself or BWW's feelings.
Here in the movie, however, Xiao Nai is still smart, handsome, and playfully arrogant, but he seems more real. He finds out Cao Guang is confessing his love to BWW (not really a spoiler it's the second lead c'mon now) and immediately goes over to do... something. And I say "something" because he literally goes over without a plan immediately to find out what's happening to the girl he has a crush on, and ends up doing nothing bc BWW resolves the situation. The drama version of Xiao Nai would look at this like a game of Go and orchestrate a whole unnecessarily complicated solution in order make himself look super cool at the end. In this movie he's just a smart dude with a big crush on a girl.

BWW in the show is also similar to the novel, but that just means she's also perfect and beautiful and shy and demure with no minor or major flaws. I just think the show didn't do much justice to her character being a top student in a computers major beyond the first couple episodes. In the show she interns at Xiao Nai's company (which somehow has like 30 employees despite not having made a single game yet so idk how Xiao Nai is paying those salaries) and she essentially just acts like a mother to the group while working at the bottom of the totem pole. Not a problem to be more feminine and nurturing, but I just don't get why her character is supposed to be a top scholarship student in her major and year and then she doesn't go for the opportunity to be a real contributing member of the company, or why XN is .

In the movie this is different and more realistic. Xiao Nai's "company" is truly just a start up with his roommates and the main plot is him and his roommates being blindsided by corporate greed. XN is not an all-knowing all-seeing deity, he's just smart kid with a dream who faces a major setback he didn't foresee and is powerless to stop against. But BWW is able to support him emotionally and also bring the roommates together and give them the motivation to start over and work even harder than before. She also joins in as an actual member of the company to do her own work.

TLDR: This movie version of Bei WeiWei made a lot more sense that she was tomboyish and a little shy but beautiful and just innocently wanted to support the man she liked. Also that she's not absolutely useless once she gets a boyfriend. This Xiao Nai also made more sense bc he's an arrogant pretty boy but is so intrigued by Wei Wei when she isnt expecting anyone to be paying attention to her. In the drama Wei Wei was awkwardly unexpressive and puritan in her shyness and Xiao Nai was painfully perfect and one-dimensionally boring. Basically, I wish the drama was shorter and I wish the movie was longer.

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A bit better than these harsh reviews, wow!

This series is really in a three different parts. It starts out more of a dramatic with a darker tone, but eventually goes into a blend of some drama and comedy, followed by true drama with romantic storylines.
It kind of took me a while to warm up to the two protagonists, they didn't seem to have anything in the way of chemistry early on, but if you give it until the fifth episode, things do start to change for the better in all ways. The story gets more interesting, the cast begins to blend together, throw in one or two antagonists ... and from that point on, it's extremely enjoyable.
I have a feeling that some of these negative reviews were people not giving enough time to the story. In Hyuk & Jeong Eui really develop into a believable couple ... eventually. The later episodes gives the story an entirely new and fresh direction, correcting for anything you felt it was lacking early on.
The final episode is a dramatic and powerful last hour, giving you a nice conclusion to what really turns out to be a pretty good series. Things kind of go full circle, leaving you with a smile on your face at the end.
Little Woo Soo played by Yu Ho is absolutely adorable!!!

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The title doesn't lie: the dancing is an absolute 10. It’s hard not to be hypnotized by the technical display in 10 Dance. The execution of the dances is impeccable, and the camerawork masterfully captures that physical tension. It is pure cinema of movement.

The leads move in an incredible way; the technique, chemistry, and strength they convey in every step leave you speechless. Visually, it’s a delight that radiates a brutal energy.

The problem arises when the characters stop dancing and have to speak. The narrative structure is excessively simple and leans toward the conventional. It’s a shame the script doesn't possess the same complexity and elegance as the movements of its protagonists.

It’s worth watching for the visual spectacle, but don’t expect a screenplay that will change your life.

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Boring

Generation to Generation” could have had a better ending. The start of the drama was good, but it progressed very slowly. There were too many unnecessary scenes, which created boredom. I was waiting to see more of their chemistry, but he always focused on proving himself right. Two or three kissing scenes gave a spark and made me think that the story would improve.
However, in order to find the Black Mask man, the story included many trivial scenes. I don’t know why I watched this drama completely—maybe it was because of the main leads’ chemistry and the male lead’s team. I expected too much from the 37th episode, but it ended in a big disappointment.

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