Reviews

Legend of Anle started out as such a fun drama and I loved Dilraba and Gong Jun together. It was my first historical cdrama where I didn't find ep 1 or 2 boring. Gave it a solid 7.0 because this drama storyline could have been more !! AND I MEAN IT BECAUSE it had lots of great moments, and the plot overall was trying to maintain that "legend" quality to the storytelling. There were some seriously perfect characters in this drama. The main leads and even some of the lesser characters could do no wrong, and got away with stuff other people would literally have died for. Also people were just too self-sacrificing at some points. I know they're all supposed to be nobles, but still....

The plot got draggy at some points. The whole second quarter of the drama, where they focused on the Princess competition and the bogus Di Chengen, could have been reduced to a 3-4 episodes. Whenever they kept to the Anle storyline, it was much better. I feel like they should give more scenes to LengBei/MoBei and AnNing rather than Di ChengEn. Their storyline has a lot of potential but they make it so shallow and meh. AnNing's death outcome is also so messy that I don't even see the Emperor's reaction.

The only thing I really hated about this drama was the way they wrote the story for the character Lin Lang. I feel like they turned her into a plot device instead of a character, a thing instead of a person. She never got credit for all the things she did to make the leads' plans work. The fact that her feelings were never acknowledged by anyone, in particular the 2ML, was just wrong, but I especially dislike the way they just "disposed" of her as a way to ensure that the bad guy was quickly caught. Even at the end, when the 2ML reminisces, he quickly glosses over her loss to concentrate on Ren Anle . So sad.

Overall the first half of the drama is actually really good and even the middle episodes however the ending of all other characters is very disappointing..I also think that the drama really slowed the romance down at the end when they should have given us more sweet moments. You should watch the extra scenes (I think they’re on YouTube) because they give us some of what was missing. Overall a fun drama that just falls off in the second half

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Fun binge-watch, nothing deep tho.

Was a really good modern social media revenge story, but honestly... it just felt kind of like a worse 'The Glory'.
Nonetheless, this show had me glued to the screen. I really liked A-Ri as protagonist for the social media setting too.
What I did not like was the ending though, which felt kind of rushed.
I also wish there was more development between the main couple, as in the end i could not really understand Ari for liking that guy and moreso felt like he shouldve ended up with Si-hyeon, as they had more screentime and chemistry together.

So yes, watch it if you just want something fun to watch that you can binge, but do not expect any depth or message behind it.

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AWFUL.

Wasted the set-up of season 2, copied "The platform"s ending but in worse.
Literally, the ending did not make sense. It didnt have to be a "the baby or gi-hun" and in order to get story to that in that last game, all the deaths were super forced. Characters didnt make sense anymore. It was stupid.
If they wanted to sacrifice Gi-Hun, they couldve done so by making a final game something where no matter how things turned out, only 1 person would survive from the beginning or just kill him off at a less expected time. Because once again, this was more than predictable.
Not to forget: the baby came out of nowhere. It shouldnt have been written into the story. And if they did, then at least make it obvious you had planned to since the beginning of season 2. With such a popular and big series you would at least expect them to plan 2 seasons properly and use some foreshadowing.
Also, the attempt at making gi-hun into a morally grey character was more than terrific, also how fast he switched up to being the good guy again. It felt rushed, as if they didnt have time for moral dilemmas and character depth.
But hey, at least they had symbolism with the entire baby ending right? Yeah no, if its not executed well, you cannot even appreciate that or the thought behind it -- it just all felt cramped and forced. Thats the best summary I can give for this season.

Also, what even was the sense behind the policeman side story? If they left all of that out and only did small clips, they probably even wouldve managed to write a more fleshed out story. But then again, maybe that was on purpose a filler to get the extra 2 seasons and more money.

In summary: i wish i hadnt watched this. In my mind the series ends after season 1 and Gi-hun did something from the outside world in collaboration with the police and his money to save other people going through the squid games. Wouldve been a great narrative: a new main character and squad for the squid game perspective and something actually useful happening from the outside world perspective through gi-hun (instead of policeman storyline. They couldve even worked together).

That being said: Netflix, if you need somebody to rewrite season 2 & 3, contact me.

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Warm, beautiful romance

To be honest, there’s nothing special about this drama, but that’s exactly what made it stand out for me. They took the regular “boy meets girl, falls in love, chases her and they live happily ever after” and made something extraordinary out of it. The story was executed perfectly well and you could almost feel every emotion the cast was feeling. SWL as usual was phenomenal in this show as we could clearly see the battle between his head and heart when he was chasing the fl. He executed the role of a man falling in love beyond his own will perfectly. He’s supposed to hate her, he knows in his head that he’s supposed to hate her, but he can’t stop his heart from falling and that was just beautiful to see because it was as if his heart was way ahead of his head. If there’s a role ZJM knows how to play well, it’s the role of a younger, shy, innocent girlfriend. She played it well in Aasol and she did it well here again. Given that her taste in men was abysmal at first lmao, we can see how she subconsciously goes from this bright, shining light that isn’t afraid to express her feelings to becoming guarded because of her experience with her first love. Another thing I really enjoyed about this drama was the fact that they gave the fl enough time to heal and move on from her first love, and they cleared all misunderstandings between them before they started dating officially. The romance was cute, their banter was amazing and the chemistry was just everything. The side actors also did a phenomenal job at portraying their characters, (I hated the sml for real😂), I also liked how they didn’t just give up on her relationship with her father but instead tried to mend it as much as possible. Her mom was a total baddie, I want to be like her when I grow up lmao, and I think her cousin might be my favorite character on the show.
The cinematography was meh at the beginning (I legitimately cringed at the horrible green screen) but as we moved on, it became so much better. A friend of mine commented that this show should’ve been called Eat on me and I agree because they were always eating 😂.
The best thing about this drama for me was the music, all the OSTs they used were phenomenal to say the least. The sounds fit perfectly into the story without disturbing the scenes.
The only downside about this drama for me were the company scenes that felt boring and a tad too unrealistic. While I understand that her family owns a chunk of the company’s shares, it didn’t make sense to me how a young recruit that just joined the company already has so much knowledge about everything and was even taking on and heading projects on her own. She didn’t have a single superior coworker and was reporting directly to the GM(which was also her boyfriend). It felt too much like y/n and the CEO for my liking. Apart from that, everything about this drama is wonderful and it’s perfect for those who are just getting into cdramas or for anyone wanting a light watch.

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MEH.

In comparison to season 1, this one was really disappointing.
It had a lot of potential, but I remember watching this when it just came out and being bored. Its not a thrilling story anymore, moreso just "oh i know this and that will happen, gi-hung and his group cant die anyways because its all big actors and blablbla". It was just way too predictable and the characters were in comparison to season 1 way too shallow.
In season 1 Id be crying for every character, here id just think "oh well saw it coming" or i dont care enough about the characters.
And theres no excuse for that, as season 1 had the same amount of episodes and introduced + concluded the entire squid games, while this game needs 2 seasons to do so and doesnt deliver. Its still a fun watch, though predictable, but you have hopes theyd use season 2 as a great set-up for season 3 (spoiler: they didnt).

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Ugh

I am very late to this cdrama because this didn't really appeal to me until a couple of days ago when I finished watching The First Frost and saw that this was sort of connected to it. I don't normally like cutesy female leads who can barely talk like a normal human being and this had exactly that. We start off with 8 episodes of the teen FL pining after the ML. These episodes were so boring and cringy and just kind of strange at the same time. I'm not sure why they focused so much on their interactions when she was underage. At least they changed the child that was playing the FL in the beginning cause that was super weird. Tbh even with the actress change later on, it was borderline creepy at times because the actress was doing this ridiculous voice that made her sound like a child. So I was just weirded out by their interactions. I pushed through since I can get over some dubious shit in dramas and I can ignore it somewhat if it's not too much. So I got through these 8 episodes and finally made it to the adult life bits excited to finally see some actual romance. And um, the same childish cutesy behaviour is there. Unlucky me I guess.

I still persisted and hoped that the romance would make up for the first 8 episodes. And nope. The romance is bad. I didn't really buy their chemistry. The fixation on the age thing seemed so strange. He's 5 years older, not 50. Although based on the immaturity of the FL, I guess the age difference seems larger and more significant. I don't think him falling for her was shown properly. They have some interactions and all of a sudden he likes her I guess. He wasn't really conflicted, didn't hesitate at all and just went for it. His flirting was so cringy lol. I guess when you don't buy the chemistry, it's bound to seem cringy. And the FL is still acting in the same way as before. It's so jarring, at times it honestly seems like she might have some developmental disability. Feels pretty harsh, but that's how it looked like to me.

Anyway, I still persisted and wanted to keep watching to see what this relationship will look like once they start properly dating. And ugh. I think their relationship is so weird. Her juvenile behaviour is so jarring and him being attracted to her when she is so childish is giving me the ick. I also really hate the way he keeps bending over to study her face from up close, it's so odd lol. I genuinely think that if she had an adult woman's voice and behaviour, it would make this much less weird and tolerable.

Now I'm at the end of episode 18 and I can't persist anymore. He's just bent over AGAIN to get close to her face and talk to her like he's talking to a child and that was the final straw. I can't take these two anymore, it's time to drop it and move on to something I'm actually enjoying.

I knew I wouldn't like this back when this first came out and everyone was raving about it. Nothing about this appealed to me and my instincts were right. I blame The First Frost for this lol. If I hadn't liked it, I would have never watched this.

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Where Pain Meets the Brush: Finding Yourself in the Lines of Life

I went into The Lines That Define Me because I wanted to see someone finding meaning or healing through art. And that’s exactly what I got, which is why I ended up really loving it. I watched it, finished it, and then just sat there for a while. Not because anything huge happened, but because the feeling stayed with me.

The movie is quiet and slow in a very intentional way. It doesn’t try to shock you or force emotions out of you. Everything happens gently, and a lot of it sinks in later rather than all at once. The way it shows grief and figuring life out feels real nothing dramatic or overdone, just steady and ongoing, like ink slowly spreading across paper.

At its heart, this story isn’t really about sumi-e painting. It’s about standing in front of an empty space and realizing you still exist, even after life has taken so much from you. Sosuke Aoyama isn’t chasing success or recognition. He doesn’t even know if art is his thing at first. He’s just drifting, unsure of what he wants, until life unexpectedly puts something in his path and asks him to try.

Sumi-e itself is simple and unforgiving: black ink, water, and space. No erasing, no fixing mistakes. Every stroke stays. And maybe that’s why it reaches Sosuke the way it does. When he encounters it for the first time, his body reacts before his mind can catch up. He breaks down without understanding why. That moment says everything: sometimes pain recognizes beauty before we’re ready to name it.

Kozan Shinoda, the master, isn’t the kind of teacher who lectures life into you. He embodies it. He paints the way some people breathe without panic, without apology. What he teaches Sosuke is deceptively simple and devastatingly profound: art is not about copying what’s in front of your eyes, but revealing what has already taken root inside you. Skill is secondary. Presence is everything.

And then there’s Chiaki brilliant, burdened, sharp edged with expectation. Living in the shadow of genius can dim even the brightest talent, and her struggle feels painfully real. Watching her move through self doubt, pride, resentment, and longing is like seeing someone untangle themselves from a legacy that both shaped and confined them. Her connection with Sosuke isn’t clean or romanticized it’s tense, awkward, and human. They help each other quietly through art, challenging one another, sharing small moments of understanding, and finding a way to stand on their own while still meeting in the space between ink and silence.

The visuals are impressive, and the acting is so good, really bringing the story to life.

What makes this film quietly devastating is how it understands contradiction. Love that nurtures and wounds. Care that exists beside cruelty. A past that both shapes you and suffocates you. Sosuke’s history marked by neglect, violence, sacrifice, and emotional whiplash doesn’t get neatly explained away. It lingers. It stains. Just like ink does.

The visual language mirrors this perfectly. Sumi-e paintings aren’t loud. They don’t beg for attention. They leave space. White space. Breathing room. And in that emptiness, meaning grows. Watching Sosuke paint feels like watching someone slowly grant themselves permission to live. Every brushstroke becomes an act of defiance against numbness.

This film believes something quietly radical: that people are not finished products. That we are unfinished lines, constantly redrawn by pain, love, chance, and choice. That even when life breaks us, it doesn’t erase us. It just changes the way we move across the page.

It isn’t flawless. It doesn’t try to be. Some moments are familiar, some emotions arrive softly instead of explosively. But that’s exactly why it works. Life rarely gives us climactic speeches. It gives us mornings we didn’t think we’d survive and somehow did.

By the end, The Lines That Define Me doesn’t leave you with answers. It leaves you with a feeling: that it’s okay to start where you are, with trembling hands and an unsteady heart. That meaning isn’t found it’s practiced. Daily. Imperfectly. Honestly.

Watching this film feels like borrowing someone else’s grief and realizing it fits disturbingly well. Like discovering that healing doesn’t always look like happiness sometimes it looks like sitting still long enough to let yourself feel again.

This isn’t just a coming of age story.
It’s a quiet reminder that even after everything, you are still a blank page.
And the lines you draw next are yours.

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I love this drama so much !! Like the story and script is top notch for me and the cast is amazing ✨ I can't imagine other actor of actresses playing role of Manman and Wei Xiao. I gave the story 9.0 because the story has some plot holes like Big ones. People making completely random decisions (I’m looking at you, Qiao Yue and Da Qiao). Some storylines vanish. Others stretch belief. But the rhythm works. The emotional arc had momentum. The humor landed often enough. And the supporting cast was pretty solid.

Also, that drunk scene was such a delight—SZE running around like a mischievous little kid, totally unguarded, and him completely losing his usual regal composure as he chased after her. It was such a fun contrast to their usual dynamic, and she played it with just the right balance of innocence and mischief. Honestly, moments like that really sealed it for me.

The only downside to this drama is the last two episodes because it was a bit too rushed. Too many things happened in the last 2 episodes, especially, just to conclude the series. Ending was way too much details pumped into those episodes just to finish up the series. Overall, I'd give it a solid 9.0 out of 10. It could have been a perfect 10, if the ending was done properly.

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Good Premise, Bad Execution

I dont like writing long reviews so ill keep it short.
Ive watched lots of Reality TV Shows from many countries and while I loved the premise of this show, the execution was really bad. The first few episodes are really good and hook you, but as the show goes on, it really is a hard watch. Not only that but in many scenes you get the feeling it was scripted or people behaved a way that seemed a little too exaggerated for their usual behaviour.
Also, what bothered me a lot was how they disqualify Yanboh for a drug joke but not Baby for physically hurting somebody.
On top of that, later episodes seemed really stale, as there werent many challenges or crazy date/ group dates anymore.
I also think the show wouldve been way more exciting if there were actual couples to be formed or challenges where people would have to tell each other their opinions of one another, stuff like that that add tension in formats like Singles Inferno or Love Island.
ALSO MY BIGGEST CRITIQUE: When Oto tells everyone how she was literally raped, everybody is silent. Not anyone in the cast says anything and not even the moderators. It is just glanced over and in the next scene they go on joking. That was REALLY WEIRD and not okay to see.

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Chemistry was 100000/10

This show was amazing. The chemistry was one of the best I’ve seen in a BL in my life. The acting… oh the acting. The actors devoured their roles. I wish I could give this show a 100/10. But why the 8.5? The plot and especially the screen writing. I just couldn’t deal with it some things they said and some of their actions. I cringed a lot of times, I faced palmed a lot of times. Felt like they weren’t adults some times. But other than that I really did love it. I fell in love with the characters. Felt like they became family and in the end even tho I was frustrated with some scenes I found myself not wanting this to end. An applause for the actors

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Lowkey love this series so much !!! This has to be my fav chinese Bl ✨

this show gets a 10/10 from me because of its splendid cast and acting... Like the storyline, plot, character delivery, emotions, background settings, lighting and all NC scenes are top notch. There is something about it that is just so addictive and good. I really enjoyed it, and Fan Xio's seemingly impossible redemption came covered in glory.

Now, let's agree that the sexual tension that existed between them since they met was difficult to overcome. Script, acting, production - all excellent. I love that they adapted a dark love story and it stayed a dark love story - very rare. I can’t imagine another Chinese drama topping this in the near future and it may well end up my favorite from any country in 2026.

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I was not too impressed with this series as a whole because my expectations were a lot more from it. Now let's get started with ep 16; The episode seemed rushed but also full of fillers at the same time? We never got to know what happened to Gao Tu and how he went through the pregnancy alone without an alpha.

Also how come did Shen Wenleng not suspect anything when Gao Tu's father brought up the abortion to him? I get that their relationship is built on misunderstandings but also how did even Gao Tu's father conclude that the child belongs to Shen Wenleng given that he's perceived as a character with negative IQ? I just find it unrealistic for him to be so distant and neglecting but to somehow figure out all of that based on the little vague info he had.

Now this is my personal opinion but I just couldn't bear the idea of an alpha bearing a child, especially when it comes to Sheng Shaoyou. Hua Yong looks like an actual Omega and I get that this is how he was acting at the beginning to manipulate Shaoyou but he still acted in a submissive way even after letting him know that he's an enigma, and honestly I just felt like his looks were way too delicate and soft for an enigma but that's just my view.

It feels kind of pointless mentioning this scene but it was really absurd I had to talk about it 😭 the scene where Shaoyou's half-brother (I forgot his name and low-key don't care about him) invites him and Hua Yong tags along, HOW COME NEITHER OF THEM SUSPECTED THAT HE'S ONTO SOMETHING? I get that Hua Yong was role-playing as an Omega to film the whole thing but he still drunk when that guy forced him to do so and got his glands severely injured it just feels stupid.

I just feel like the whole thing was underwhelming, I was also really excited about the series since it's the first ABO series that features bl so it felt disappointing to have all of these visuals and budget go to waste just because the script was way too mediocre. Also I need to mention that I didn't read the novel/manhua so I'm not sure if they changed many things in order to adapt it.

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