Reviews

Arranged marriage trope at it best

Ongoing review ahaha I’ll finish later, just wanted to start for myself with some pointers after finishing


General points :

1) the costumes were gorgeous to me. Also like the hairstyle
2) fighting scenes were well done and filmed. I like this director style and work, it’s my third drama of him. Impatiently waiting for Shadow Love.
3) Music was okay, not the best osts to me, but the closing song grow on me
4) Great landscapes and scenery
5) I think everyone in term of acting did a good job, top acting from leads to support cast
6) Good cast and I think they fitted the characters. Also the characters had chemistry
7) No love triangle or third wheel

- Qiao Man :

- Wei Shao :

- Qiao Man & Wei Shao :
* First look : the first time they met and say each other, the expression on both their face spoke. His face was like softening and I said how he is probably thinking how beautiful she looks. Even her, she seemed I intrigued or something
* Wedding: I like how early it was, episode 5.



- Wei 4 guards + advisor :

- Wei Liang & Xiao Tao :

- Lady Xu : I pretty much liked her character.

- Wei Yan :

- Bi Zhi & Qiao Fan :

- Qiao Ci :

- Liu Yan :

- Su E Huang : feel like this was a good ending for her, the realization. The actress played this scene very well. How she wasted all that time, scheming and whatever she was doing. She missed 3 times, 3 man who actually loved her. All her fault and bu her own bad choices.

- Wei Liang’s death : it’s even more sad to me watching edits on TikTok, I was crying earlier. I was hoping he wasn’t death a few times, but when Wei Qu got him, I knew it was real. The scene of the 4 generals admiring the moon and how they were like they hadn’t done this for a while and they should do it again. Like that whole scene, we could feel that meant something was going to happen, I was expected at least one death because of this scene. When Qiao Ci I told them he was death…. That room was like filled with some guilt and everyone reaction got me. Wei Qu, who was suppose to go, but made him go instead. Wei Shao who is the one who send someone there. Qiao Ci, who think he should have died instead. Qiao Man, her uncle’s betrayal lead to the death, etc…

- the scene of Wei Qu getting Wei Liang’s Body : that scene was very good to me. Felt the heartbreak and emotion. The actor acted very well. Very cool scene, him puting him on his back, no matter what he will bring him home, when he was fighting too, that looked awesome to me. He is badass. I was so scared for a sec that he would die.

- liked how the 3 women, FL, ML’s mom and grandmother become closer and closer has the drama progressed. His mom finally accepted her at some point and in the last ep, how the 3 of them stayed strong together. After she gave birth, the 3 lady of Wei. The mom was annoying at first, she got some character development.

- Plot in general :

- Ending :
* Happy ending
* Felt a bit rushed to me :
* Disappointed we didn’t saw ML and FL reunite after war was over or him seeing for the first time their daughter
* I liked the scene of Xiao Tao and the 3 Wei general, saying their goodbye to Wei Liang. Their bond is still strong as ever and I appreciate how she’s also close to them. Beautiful scene and emotional.
*

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I loved it. It’s 100% better than the first installment here is why

If you watch the Donghua/ read the manhua it starts off exactly the same! The only detail I noticed at the beginning was they switched Qu Zhou to have a bigger role than Zhang Zheng, to which I disagree with. Zhang Zheng is a way more useful confidant/ left hand man than Qu Zhou. To this I gave it 9 stars for the story of Zhang Zheng (played by the amazing and wonderful Ryan Ding) not being a bigger part of the masked daoist.
The main story is spot on and develops exactly like the donghua, if not better! For a 10ep. donghua of Huai Zhu and Hong Ye the screenwriter actually develops their love story where they encounter each other, experience the longing and parting, the deep love and conflict, the heroism of the masked daoists, the righteous and honorable duty of Hong Ye, the tacit understanding between Huai Zhu and Hong Ye, the calm/rational beauty of Huai Zhu, the romantic/gentle/kind/brave Hong Ye, lastly the supporting and protecting of e/o (which is explored more in the adapted drama). It exceeded my expectations and I love the donghua (watched it many times). Their love is the most precious and regrettable thing about wanting to change the world. And the acting of ZYL and Shishi was very natural their on screen chemistry for 85liners is still really good. Their aesthetics was spot on for the characters.
All the side stories were fillers because none of this matters in the actual FSMM world (it’s based on the reunion of lovers between humans and demons in their reincarnated life, not humans). But of all the side stories ZZ and A’yuan was my second favorite (I wished it was explored more at the beginning like I said) b/c the acting and complexity of the characters. Yitan and Zui (although don’t actually have a love line in the donghua I appreciate the screenwriter adding the childhood sweethearts). Mu Mie and the red leech demon (another side story filler that was nice but necessary) I liked the confession portion.

I cannot get the OST out of my head it’s been on repeat since it aired and finished airing. Knowing that Shi shi sang Half Love and Yunlong (composing and singing) Bamboo Night. The chills I get from Zhou Shen Mandala and Zhang Bichen Like Smoke every time I hear it brings back the memories of tall the masked daoist and ZhuYe love.

Also, to all those who thought this was going to be a HE drama or hoping the screenwriter to change the ending. From the moment they released the IP and finished wrapping they have already marketed it as a BE/SE even in the donghua it’s the saddest story out of all of them. This gives way to the next story Wang Quan Arc. So don’t judge solely b/c it’s a SE. Every story has its journey and the most beautiful endings are those that leave the deepest impressions. The saying of “having lost is to know love” or “to know grief is to know love.” I still have yet to walk away from this drama it’s my 4th time watching it. Plus, rewatching it actually makes it more beautiful to understand Huai Zhu and Hong Ye.

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Not worth it, abusive male lead and jerk that gets the spineless female in the end.

I will start by saying this drama has NO re-watch value for me. It is very long and drags out. I had a hard time finishing it as the story strayed from reality of love and liking someone with the forced and fake second male lead becoming the real boyfriend. Plus his acting was boring. I got really tired of seeing the female lead cry all of the time. Then she would go into deep sorrow over her lost brother for a period, then shut that off for 2 or 3 episodes, then continue again. Really hard to take. Then the main nice male lead, the better looking responsible male lead, a real MAN, whom she used and let do everything for her (supposedly now friends), the one she led on and said for him to wait and she would open her heart to him when her brother is found. A straight up LIE. Dumps him at the 2/3 mark or so, but not by her weakness of not telling him, but by him being the true Alpha male, he could see it in their actions and glances. Then the second male lead syndrome, the jerk, was always a jerk and still a jerk at the end. People will disagree, but I will tell you why. He always grabbed her, pushed her and hurt her arm. Then supposedly at the end, when they supposedly liked each other, he grabs an arm forcibly, she whines, and then he strongly grabs her other arm, she said he hurt her. I am not buying the fake love written in the story. There was no emotion or like or love seen in any development between them, the writers just had it happen. 100% unbelievable. Then, even though they had not dated, they did not develop love, she goes abroad and tells him to wait, and the weak spine abuser says yes, he will wait. That would not happen. Normal guys would say heck no. I know writers like twists, but the two couples in the beginning half would have been better and more believable to stay together. Can you tell I became frustrated, yes, as they ruined that last half of the show with silly non believable stories and making too many episodes.

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A Beautiful Love is born within a tale of Torturous Depravity and Revenge

At first the story and its main plot is hard to follow. It weaves in and out giving us details to set the stage of what climaxes in the last 4 episodes. I have to be honest and say there were times where I didn't stick with it. Mainly because the writing and this "weaving" in and out the main plot to establish the cast of horrible villains was confusing. Scenes would change suddenly without much transition. Certain characters were meant to throw us off. This provided twists and turns, but it also made staying with the main plot frustrating. Luckily I came to kisskh and read a couple of reviews that said to stick with it to the end. I have to say, although this started somewhat slow, it ended with a bang. You won't regret watching it to the end.

What did I like most? The acting was amazing. The actors were put into the right roles, and really brought their characters to life. The ML and the FL had amazing chemistry. The production was top notch, especially the lighting and music which added drama when it was needed. I loved, loved, loved the costumes!! For a period piece, it was nice not to have to see the usual palace apparel. This was still set in the Josean era, but the series was about a wealthy merchant family. Most of the actors were servants to this family, merchant trades people or guards. There was a lot of white and cream colored garments, that looked to be made of cotton or linen which was more true to that period (as opposed to the polyester palace garments that are suppose to be silk). The hats and head pieces were amazing. After seeing so many Kdramas set within the palace, it was nice to see a period piece set outside the palace walls.

As slow as this started out, by episode 8, I was glued to the story. The last 4 episodes reveal what everything was leading up to, all the pieces fell into place, and I was on the edge of my seat until I was crying at the end.

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Mystery sageuk falls flat with underbaked story elements

Lee Jae Wook once again returns with a sageuk k-drama but this time not as an heir of a mage family but of a wealthy merchant. One might think this is just a repeat of his role in Alchemy of Souls but that is completely untrue because in Dear Hongrang, he presents himself as the long-lost son of the merchant family or so we thought.

It doesn't last long though until we discovered the truth. Kudos to Jae Wook's composed and guarded personality it was truly hard to decipher if he's just a charlatan or the real Hongrang.

The mystery surrounding Hongrang's disappearance got me hooked, however, little did I know the writer failed to put some effort in writing the background story about the child-snatcher creature. I actually expected some fantasy elements to unfold to create a more rich and engaging narrative but it turns out there is barely witchcraft involved? Perhaps I got this wrong because this was not explained clearly at all.

Jo Bo Ah plays the role of Hongrang's stepsister, Sim Jae I, who carries the guilt of her brother's disappearance and never ceases to look for him. Bo-Ah consistently acts out the misery and despair she felt in the household ever since her little brother brother never came back. Her family alienated her especially her stepmom who is distraught as ever and blames her for Hongrang's disappearance.

Jae I thought her sea of sorrow would finally come to an end when Jae Wook's character claims to be as Hongrang. With just one glance, she argues that he's just another fake in contrast with the physical evidences.

Now that I think about, I feel like this Hongrang was not thoroughly assessed at all compared to the previous wannabes. I would just like to think that he certainly pulled some strings to easily match Hongrang's physical attributes.

In the first episode, Jae I was shown running away from thugs and gamblers after tricking them to earn some money to continue looking for Hongrang. However, this aspect was never brought up again and it left me wondering how Jae I deceived these delinquents every single time. This would have added more depth and strength to Jae I's personality. Not that I dislike her fear towards her stepmom and her yearning for her little brother, it's just that I believe her character could be so much more–be the stubborn and headstrong sister than this damsel-in-distress she came to be.

As the largest merchant family in the Joseon era, we also had a glimpse of how influential and powerful Hongrang and Jae I's family is. A tangled web of deceit and betrayal is just a normal day for them. I enjoyed this portion of the show because they made parallels and metaphors about authentic and imitation paintings which feels like a hindsight to Hongrang's true identity.

You can't talk about Dear Hongrang without mentioning the fiery chemistry between Jae Wook and Bo Ah. Though they are step-siblings, some tension is formed between them because as Bo Ah doubts Jae Wook's character. This strong dislike gradually morphs into confusion and attraction. This is a huge dilemma for Bo Ah since the little brother who is very dear to her is now someone she sees as a man. All of Bo Ah's pent-up emotions left her distressed and overwhelmed more than ever. Meanwhile, Jae Wook is the very flame that beckons the moth, kindling the fire in Bo Ah's heart. They were supposed to have a siblings bonding time in the woods but Jae Wook being the horny and flirty man that he is made it more sensual and flirty. This scene was definitely an unforgettable moment in the show.

I was ecstatic for the ending because I would finally learn all the answers and secrets everyone is hiding. However, the resolution is the weakest point of the show. I was expecting they would have connected the plot points effectively but lo and behold everything went down the drain and felt rushed. There were too many loose ends to tie up, too many unanswered questions and too many WTF moments. I'm well aware that some explanations don't need to be spelled out and they are often up for viewer's interpretation. However, how are we supposed to connect the dots when the information that is doled out is inconsistent and ambiguous. It feels like the story never truly addressed the mystery and solely focused on Hongrang and Jae I being star-crossed lovers.

To sum up, what appears to be an intriguing mystery sageuk ultimately falls flat due to underdeveloped story and messy finale. With all that said, I still believe this is worth watching as I once again get to witness Lee Jae Wook's versatile acting and impressive swordmanship and of course, his face card that never declines which erases some of my criticisms about this show.

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Best historical drama of 2025

**🌟 A Masterpiece of Drama, Drama, and More Drama – “Prisoner of Beauty” Review 🌟**

If you love **scheming, swooning, and spectacularly over-the-top moments**, then *Prisoner of Beauty* is your next obsession! This Chinese drama serves up **revenge, romance, and ridiculous twists** with a side of jaw-dropping costumes and enough dramatic stares to power a small city.

**Why I’m Obsessed:**
✔ **Revenge Plot So Spicy It Needs a Warning Label** – The FL (female lead) goes from **wronged innocent to scheming queen** like a boss. Watching her outsmart her enemies is more satisfying than finally opening that stubborn snack bag.

✔ **ML (Male Lead) with *Extra* Vibes** – Cold on the outside, secretly whipped on the inside? **Yes, please.** His journey from "I hate everyone" to "I would die for her" is *chef’s kiss*.

✔ **Villains You Love to Hate** – These antagonists are so deliciously evil, you’ll want to throw popcorn at the screen. Bonus points for their **over-the-top evil laughs**.

✔ **Costume & Set Design = Visual Feast** – Every frame looks like a painting, and the outfits? **Stunning.** I need the FL’s wardrobe in my life ASAP.

**Funniest Moments?**
- When the ML tries to act all cold but **fails miserably** because the FL is just *that* charming.
- Every time someone delivers a dramatic monologue… and then gets **immediately owned**.
- The classic **"I’m pretending not to care"** trope, but the ML’s eyes scream **"I’M DOWN BAD."**

**Final Verdict:**
*Prisoner of Beauty* is **a wild, addictive ride**—perfect for anyone who loves **historical dramas with scheming, romance, and a sprinkle of chaos**. If you’re not watching this, **what are you even doing with your life?**

**Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Dramatic Gasps)**
**Would I watch again?** Already rewatching. **Send help (and more episodes).** 😂

#PrisonerOfBeauty #CdramaAddict #RevengeServedHot #WhyAreTheyAllSoPretty

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Scary 36 Episodes, but the makers didn't mess it up (more like a 8 or 8.25 tho)

I dread when I am starting a series which is 20 episodes long (the only reasoon I almost start Vincenzo but quickly switch to a 12 episode series).. so I was highly skeptic while starting this series. I started it because of the short where the blind FL decide to sleep with ML early on (both cos the scene was really touching and because this perticular disease runs in my family genes) and I had all the intention of leaving it in the middle if it felt draggy.
But I am happy that it did not !!! 36 episodes didn't feel too long thanks to the balanced story and it's pacing. The actors did a good job keeping us engaged and I throughly enjoy the show. The reason I gave it a 8.5 is because of my bias i.e. it did not felt draggy with a long runtime (which I absolutely dislike) and cos it hit close to my heart (due to my family history).

Response to some criticisms
- Too much focus on the money - I found this point to be stupid honestly..the whole story does revolve around money, AS IT SHOULD !!! Finding such large amount by a poor family will be their main concern, we can't just forget the anxiety and focus on romance etc (even tho I found enough of romance as well as drama in it)
- Long run time- Yes, but since it was well paced, I didn't bother me (also easily finding it on YouTube helped as well)
- The SitCom like direction- At some points it did bother me, but not too much. Cos we are used to Netflix like directions, we tend to be less open to other experiments

So overall, found it to be a good drama. Don't overthink, just start watching it !

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MASTERPIECE! I WISH I COULD WATCH THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME

This is my #1 historical Cdrama for 2025. I was hooked from the first few minutes. I am so speechless as where to start. You can see how Wei Shao was captured by her beauty in the first part. When they finally got married, their bickering with each other is the funniest thing ever 🤣 Though you can tell they liked each other but how they were always "fighting" they sounded like a couple in love for years.
Despite what happened with their families, they are very strong minded individuals who want to protect their families and their people. They worked against each other to with each other - they are both smart and strong in their own way.
Xiao Qiao makes the perfect wife - her character was just perfect!

I am so happy when they confessed their feelings. LISTEN!! there are so many other things I could say but THEIR KISSING SCENES, oh jeeeeez!!!! It was worth it!!!! THEIR ON SCREEN CHEMISTRY IS 100000/10.
Wei Shao generals and advisor ? Oh Gosh, they are just pure comedy.

Overall, it was captivating, excellent storyline, you will get ROMANCE, comedy, brotherhood, family, politics and fighting.
I wish I could watch this again for the first time. Saying I wish it had more episodes would have probably made it draggy but that is how I personally feel after watching it because I didnt want it to end.

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Nice, light, and surprising.

I like how this one strayed from the typical beauty transformation and focused on inner beauty and development. It went a completely different direction with the ending than I thought it would, and I loved how it turned out. I was frustrated with some of the characters and what seems to be their definition of an "affair," which I don't think was ever properly addressed. But there was good character growth all around (for the most part) despite a throwaway character or two who popped in for a bit. I HATED how they kept calling the FL an "old lady" or "old hag" when she wasn't even middle aged yet. But I guess in the film industry, you're overaged as soon as you're born.

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Could have been EPIC... Could have.

This show had so much potential in my opinion, and also seeing others' comments here, lots of you think the same way.

Episode 1 was outstanding, it gave us a pretty strong start. From Ep2, the show started to exhibit problems as it progressed towards the finale. The plot slowly stopped making any sense, sound/voice issues started to emerge, the script and the direction were getting weaker as well (they literally said out loud all their thoughs and emotions LOL), plus the CGI was horrible. Man, if you don't have to budget, make a strong story and script, so they carry your show. The later you got in the series, the lousier it became, until hardly anthing made sense.

As for other aspects, the quality was fluctuating: the fight scenes were generally badly choreograped but there were some good ideas. Costumes were decent. Side characters' acting was good and bad. They didn't really do justice to the actor Neo, I think he can do better, I blame the director and the screenwriters here (and at many areas).

What was constantly good is the acting of Joss, Fluke and Mond. They would have carried a much more serious toned show on their backs as well easily.

What I missed:
- More lore-building (Vampires, power, rules, history, interactions, power seats)
- Better plot devices
- Less obvious plot twists
- Better dialogues
- Darker tone, vamps are meant to be a bit scary (even tho there are at least permanent deaths)
- A more detailed and meaningful ending

CONCLUSION:
By the final episode of My Golden Blood, it feels more like a project for your highschool drama class than a production for television. SADLY.

6/10

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Chanmina's Girl-Group Survival Show

Here's an idea: let's take all the budget for a girl-group survival show and allocate as much of that budget as we can on the finale and hold that finale in a packed 20,000-seat arena. We won't have a host or a narrator. All the earlier rounds will be filmed in various rooms around the agency, plus, maybe a small gym for one performance round to hold an audience we won't even bother to show on camera.

Honestly: it's great.

The popular rapper Chanmina and SKY-HI, the head of the agency, do all the work as hosts and judges, but even SKY-HI's role is primarily to echo the things Chanmina says and leave the production in her capable hands. There are a few choreographers and a solid vocal coach, but this series is primarily Chanmina's show.

Chanmina's idea for the group is to provide an opportunity for and develop the talent of women who have been rejected repeatedly by the industry. And she is wholly committed to the project. After the initial auditions and cuts take the candidate pool down to 30, she bleeds at every further cut, and so tries to do so as compassionately and transparently as she can. Unlike most other survival shows, there is no audience voting, and the cuts are decided wholly by Chanmina and SKY-HI.

The show is otherwise pretty standard: the women are divided into groups and given pieces to perform over a few rounds to display their skills in singing, rapping and dance. However, whereas every survival show I've seen stops at the final selection of the members of the new group and announcing its name this series gives us one more episode to reconnect with every single member of that initial 30. And while the editorial choices in that final episode are unusual - we step back in time before the arena show for 45 minutes of the 80 minute episode before getting snatches of the other woman's performances in front of the stadium audience - the climactic performance of Sad Song by the top 10 and Chanmina is one of the most moving moments I have seen on any survival show.

Most of this series was filmed in August of 2024, and in an another interesting production choice, the final 10 are given 5 months to prepare for the arena show. Of course, the real reason for that long preparation is that Chanmina was pregnant, and she had her baby in November. The only mention of that fact occurs in the last 10 minutes of the final episode when Chanmina says that she now has seven daughters ... and her daughter. But, in terms, of appropriately assessing talent, it is hard to imagine a more fair way than giving candidates that kind of stage including all the stagecraft, back-up dancers and musicians as well as that much preparation time to really show what they are capable of. I can't imagine we would ever see its like on any future survival show, and the results are pretty spectacular.

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Worth watching but not amazing

Positives:
1. It's an expensive production. Quality sets, costumes, accessories.
2. ML - Liu Yu Ning, he's improving little by little with every role. I continue to be a fan of his efforts and his OSTs
3. FL - Cute capable actress but I have never seen her look so beautiful in costume dramas. She is so stunning in this drama.
4. Supporting cast - Many veteran actors and all solid choices for their roles.

It was an enjoyable watch where the plot is simple without many twists. Focus was more on the love story with a side of politics.

Where the story could've been better:
1. The push pull between leads needed to create that constant tension was not as good as let's say "Blossom" I mean.... it took 31 ep for ML to figure out how great FL is. It was good enough but not amazing.

2. Supporting cast storylines: Not as good as "A Journey to Love" (1st half). Other than the comedic relief from the chubby guard the other supporting guards hardly had any screen time to develop.

3. Broken flow: some parts of the drama felt choppy.

4. One dimensional bad characters pushing the story along feels like lazy writing.

Ending: some characters ending felt unnecessary for an otherwise less serious drama.

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Everything was amazing

This C drama was a masterpiece 😭. I will miss it the characters and the love the two family shares. This was a in if a kind masterpiece. And the ending wasn't bad. I loved the acting of the ml and fl there chemistry was 🔥 🔥🔥. Now that I have finished I kind of can't let it go. It will be much harder to find a another c drama to watch. I did cry. The actors did amazing. There wasn't a single boring episode. And I will definitely rewatch it in the future. This is the only c drama I watched that the ml carried the fl even though they hated each other. This c drama also teaches you to let go of your hatred even though it is hard. One more thing the OSTs were amazing! you can feel the emotions in he music to.

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Well-written revenge drama, but struggles with uneven pacing

The story is set up well in the first episode where the foundation for revenge is laid and many of the antagonists are identified. Even Zhi Nu’s transition into Zang Hai is well done, providing all the details needed while measuredly moving the story forward.

Zang Hai moves to the capital and the story immediately gets more interesting with the additional players being revealed, while the cunning moves he makes put him in prime position to exact his revenge. Unfortunately, once he manages to become a “trusted” aide of the Marquis, moving onto the aristocrat’s property, the story starts to become less interesting.

It did have moments of intrigue but mostly started to drag. The story was written as if it came straight from the novella with every character beat and backstory displayed in meticulous detail on screen. That’s great for a book but can be difficult to make interesting onscreen if the script is not written with broadcast entertainment in mind.

The ML, Xiao Zhan, is good in this as are most of the supporting characters. The chemistry between the ML and his mentor is perfect. Not so much chemistry with the FL. Their interactions were flat and the actress in the role wasn’t that great. Again, well written to start. However, this just couldn’t hold my interest. So I ended up dropping it.

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