Reviews

missed opportunity with the leads

The premise really started out nicely. But as the series progressed, the main point or storyline got lost.

The series is quite long with 35 episodes, but it felt like the main couple just started their real journey towards the last two episodes. May I also add that they stopped acting like teenagers around the last episode only?! Truly, what a missed opportunity this show was. The main couple really had chemistry and it was a pleasure to see them interact on screen. But their interactions are always so limited and felt lacking towards the end.

It was sad that the secondary couple got more exposure and more couple development than the main leads. While their story wasn’t as exhausted as the main leads, it was still a better told story than the leads…

Read More

Great drama - skip second half of episode 40

HEED MY WARNING!!!

I reaaaaally never leave reviews but will just add a warning for this one, in general I loved it, acting, the story, even the evil guys had a reason and some even got character growth, even though the main couple was so slow burn it didn’t bother me…
I loved so very much Duke Su’s sidekicks

But seriously if you see other comments saying to skip everything after minute 31 of episode 40, DO IT

It was so unnecessary, we already had a happy ending, why kill off my 3 favorite characters all at once and in the last 10 minutes of the show

I had read somewhere this had a happy ending so wasn’t expecting this, I got surprised when Liu Ju was killed, caught me totally off guard, I loved him, so then I tried to make peace with it like okay, well Xiao Heng and Wen Ji will take him home… 30 seconds later Wen Ji is massacred with arrows, I literally screamed!! My funny and adorable Wen Ji!!! I wish I had a brother or best friend like him.

Then there was no question what was going to happen to our dearest Xiao Heng… outnumbered … not going back to A’Li after all. The last moments where he met her at the tree were definitely his last delusion before meeting his end, even in a white horse, he never rode white horses, only in the after life it seems.

And seriously that woman deserved happiness with her man after everything she went through, and finally chose the right man…

This will definitely leave me with traumas or either gonna try pretend I never saw those 25 minutes

Read More

Shaw Brothers took a slightly different angle from their usual kung fu revenge fare with A Deadly Secret’s story. Instead of a kung fu film with a little bit of tragic romance this film was a tragic romance with a little kung fu mixed in. The love story would need to be stronger than the kung fu, a tall task to accomplish.

Ti Yuen is thrown into the depths of the jail on trumped up charges. His cellmate appears to be a deranged wild man. Every month, Ting Dien is dragged out to the magistrate and viciously tortured. All he needs to do in order to be freed is to tell Ling Tui Si what the Deadly Secret is. Ti Yuen’s sifu is hoping that Ting will break down and tell Ti the big secret if he stays there long enough. Ti can’t figure out why Ting doesn’t break out with his superior kung fu skills and why he cares about the flowers on the window sill they can just see through the bars on their window.

This film had potential but a few puzzling issues dragged it down. The Deadly Secret was both a kung fu secret and the location of the lost treasure of Emperor Liang Wu. Now in order for either of those things to be helpful the person who passed the information to Ting Dien must have done the Vulcan MindMeld on him because the transfer of information was nigh on instantaneous. Everyone assumed that the dying man must have told Ting the info despite Ting being a stranger. Jumping to conclusions was a major pastime for the people of Jingzhou. Soon poor Ting was being hunted by every greedy highborn and lowlife around. The only person not after The Secret was the magistrate’s beautiful daughter, Ling Seung Wa. The two lovers were eventually betrayed by her father whose only desire was for the treasure and he was willing to sacrifice his daughter if that would bring him closer to The Secret. Also, numerous people failed to grasp that actually killing Ting would make it impossible for him to relay The Secret.

Another problem I had with the film was that much of it was filmed in the dark or low lighting. It was hard to follow the action while straining to see. The one fight filmed in daylight ended up being hilarious as a corpse was used in a giant game of “keep away.” The final fight seemed pointless. Chan Dik Hak and Hsu Hsia’s choreography was far from inspired.

Jason Pai and Shih Szu made for a sweet couple when they were shown together. Ng Yuen Jun wasn’t terribly compelling as the naïve Ti and this movie needed all the acting ammo they could wring out with the weak script. There was a story worth exploring buried under a pile of soiled hay and wild hairdos. Greed was shown as the great equalizer between the poor and the rich, for the greedy there was never enough, no life was worth more, and the price was never too high. I bumped my score up just for the karmic payback of the finale. A Deadly Secret wasn’t terrible but it could be deadly dull in places. As always, rated on a curve.

10 March 2026
Trigger warning: A rather gruesome torture scene early in the film. Attempted suicide.

Read More

It was nice but the version I've watched was a bit choppy and I didn't like that very much.

Still, the story was very enjoyable and the two leads were great together, even the bad characters did well.

The only thing that bothered me is despite the good acting they didn't pull off the whole crippled/blind thing that well, it was a mess dare I say, and that made the whole things even less enjoyable, since it's not a funny drama but rather dramatic.

However, I shall keep an eye on those two leads and their next work cause they were good, the ML reminded me of Pei In from some angles, and the FL is so cute ~

Read More

All that potential ruined. I

Is this really a BL story or just a straight drama with a BL couple in the background? Jiho and Sangjun's chemistry and acting were spot on, but it was lost due to a script that didn't give them what they deserved: a well-developed story. Honestly, do these characters know how to talk? I think they weren't made to live in society because they just run away and don't talk about something easily resolvedn in a 5 minutes conversation. I wish the main leads had more screen time, more physical contact, and more couple moments beyond just holding hands on the bus at the last minute. Anyway, great actors, promising plot but poorly executed.

Read More

Rom Com of fantasy AI world?

I am usually very selective with K-dramas, but I decided to binge this one mainly because of the leads.
Here’s my verdict—purely my personal opinion.

Rom-Com: 💯
This drama is structured as a sweet, lighthearted rom-com, so it’s best not to expect too much narrative depth.

Theme:
The concept is interesting, especially the idea of an AI boyfriend. However, I felt the premise had much more potential than what was actually explored. The AI theme ends up feeling somewhat wasted. That said, I did enjoy the school arc—it was one of the more engaging parts of the story.

Angst / Character Growth:
Naturally, there isn’t much here. As expected from a rom-com, the story relies heavily on familiar tropes—pride and prejudice, misunderstandings, and miscommunication. We also get the classic “ideal male lead” whose heart and attention are devoted entirely to the female lead. While charming in a fantasy sense, it doesn’t feel particularly realistic. Because of this, I didn’t really sense a meaningful growth arc for the characters.

Acting:
Both leads performed well. I’m actually surprised to see some of the harsh comments directed at Jisoo. Personally, I thought she did a solid job here—although I still prefer her performance in Snowdrop.

CP Chemistry:
The chemistry between the main couple could have been stronger. Perhaps because there were so many well-known cameo appearances from other male leads, I found myself distracted. As a result, the main couple’s relationship felt somewhat plot-driven and a bit superficial.

Other Relationships:
I really liked the lady author character—her ending felt particularly bittersweet to me. I also found the dynamic between the editor and the author quite interesting. The female lead’s best friend stood out as well; among the characters, she felt like the one who experienced the most growth.

Final Thoughts:
The drama touches on the idea of AI relationships replacing human ones, and that’s something I find troubling. If we choose to live in an idealized fantasy—whether in life or in love—how do we learn from our mistakes and grow? Real relationships require tolerance, compromise, and acceptance. Without those struggles, it’s hard to build something truly lasting.

If you want something to past time and feel mild fluffiness, this is. fun watch.

Read More

Ok Story with good moments

The Unclouded Soul is a fairly typical xianxia story, with the usual elements of sacrifice, love, destiny, and cultivation that are common in the genre. The question is whether it stands out compared to other series in the same category.

Personally, I would say it is average. There were no moments in the show that particularly impressed me. The Dreamshard Immortal arc was probably the most interesting part of the series. It draws clear inspiration from the historical story of Qin Shi Huang and his search for immortality, adding an intriguing philosophical layer of obsession, power, and the cost of pursuing eternal life.

However, the second half of the series becomes more problematic from a narrative perspective. The story introduces a time-loop dynamic involving Xiao Yao, in which Future Xiao Yao's actions influence Ning An and ultimately shape Past Xiao Yao's fate. This creates an unusual causal structure in the plot.

The implication seems to be that Future Xiao Yao’s actions directly affect the events that lead Past Xiao Yao to become the person she eventually becomes. In other words, her future self is partly responsible for creating the conditions that shape her past self.

As for the romance part, it's a typical story of misunderstandings, resentment, and sacrifices, and how they overcome them. Nothing really new, no real twist to the age-old formula.

Those who watch this ultimately would compare it to Love In The Cloud; both have their pros and cons. But I am guessing a lot of people who watch both would be big fans of Hou Ming Hao.

Read More