Reviews

Meeting Your Soulmate On Comatose State

This has always been the usual plot in the Xian xia world. Merging reality into fantasy and vice versa. It really caught my interest as I usually see this kind of plot in Kdramas. Reminds me of the drama The Rooftop Prince. And yes, this is definitely comparable with LBFAD. Almost same plot, yet, LBFAD still excels in most aspect.
It's my first time to watch Arthur Chen play a lead role for a Xian Xia drama. I think the last fantasy drama I saw him as ML was Ever Night. Yes, he's dashing as ever. His portrayal was okay but the character as powerful cultivator seem lacking. I guess, I was looking for more angst in his character. As for FL, Wang Ying Lu. My first time to watch her in a drama. Her portrayal was okay as well. Still, Yan's character seem lacking too. Specially her character in the modern world. It felt short. Like, what she is like as a novel writer. And that ending....just felt rushed and nothing more to it after the MC have met again.

The entire journey in the fantasy world seem stretched too long. This drama could have been squeezed in to 24 eps only. Too many fillers in between. The amnesia arc for both MC was stretched too long. And yes, am not a fan of amnesia by the MC. The supporting characters too could have been given their own limelight. Yet, it felt short as well in that aspect. The third wheel for the MC, not sure of the character name if its Yuan Shang felt very weak. I mean compairing to LBFAD, having Zhang Ling He as the third wheel is such a bias breaker for the ML.

As for the romance, chemistry was definitely there. Lots of kisses, yes. But, how it was delivered was not as satisfying as how ZLH, or DGZ does kisses in a drama.

Oh yes, the music kept ringing to my ears as everytime the MC would kiss, it felt like a warning sign that a kiss is coming up once you hear that music. But, it's a good one. Like, it had been played a dozen times that you could almost memorize the lyrics if only I could speak mandarin well enough.

Overall, for me this is a lighter version of LBFAD. It lacks in most aspect. Good thing, this drama was generous to kisses given that high rating here in MDL. I'll give this a fair 8 rating.

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a short series with a golden retriever and a black cat

Overall: a good short university series. Aired on the Shortime app (more info below). My invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i) Episode 1 is free on the Shortime app and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI4qD7xWii4&ab_channel=ShortimeOfficial 15 episodes about 4 minutes each.

Content Warnings: past bullying, manhandling, past held against will

What I Like
- when a character knows what he wants
- the miscommunication was cleared up fairly early and there was an apology
- dream kiss
- how they showed time passing with the moving frames
- good, non-cliche female characters
- good kissing at the end

What I Didn't Like
- manhandling, smoked and got angry
- tropey falls and kiss
- dead fish lip press


My Watch For Free Plan (updated Feb 2025)
1 friend referral code = 20 (1 time bonus) My invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i)

On the Rewards (popcorn bag icon page)
- check in = 5 (increases over 7 days up to 25)
- create a login = 20? (I did create a login because otherwise you only get 1 Always Win box instead of 3 per day, I think this was 20 popcorn)
- do the 3 random popcorn from the daily Always Win box = 30 (I'd normally get 5-15, around 30 in total)
- Watch Ads, watch all 10 ads each day, have to wait 30 seconds in between ads = 110
Because episodes cost 70 popcorn each, it will take you about a week to watch the series.

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Obsessive Detective and Mysterious Woman Carry the Show

A maverick detective and a mysterious woman with an organized crime background joined together to take on cold cases. The detective was haunted by the brutal death of his junior partner; the woman was working towards an unknown goal, which maintained tension, as no one was sure whose side she was really on.

The leads were exceptional in their parts. I'll look for more of their dramas. The criminals were over the top, like comic book villains. The poor police force seemed inept and perpetually late. But it was a well-paced paced show, and I was never bored.

Added a half star for Takahashi Issei and Shibasaki Ko's acting.

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A fantasy romance with ++kissing and chemistry and magnetic leads

Short Review - This show does almost everything perfectly. There is amazing chemistry between the leads which showcases romance and intimacy while having some lightness and humor that does not detract. It feels like the creators stripped out many of the most frustrating plot devices and focused on developing a deeply romantic relationship that spans multiple lifetimes. CGI and OST are a little suspect in some places, but not enough that it truly detracts from the whole. If you love xianxia, romance, and lots of kisses you shouldn’t miss it.

Pros – 2 words: Sima Jiao. Powerful chemistry with 2 likeable leads. Humor and melodrama are used delicately so it never tips too far in either direction. It avoids needless misunderstandings and separations that drag on unnecessarily- no contrived break-ups. Although the leads occasionally hide things from each other, it feels understandable and not contrived.

Cons – Second FL (Ye Ruling) is evil in the first incarnation and I could never like or trust her again, she was never held accountable. The ending could feel like a bit of a letdown if you want to see a concrete reunion and final kiss. OST was a little over the top in a few places, and the CGI was hit or miss, but they not dealbreakers.

Romance / Skinship – So much of both, and you don’t have to wait terribly long for it to start. The dual cultivation scenes are by far the most sensual and numerous of all shows I’ve seen in this genre. They are not graphic or overt, but contain heavily implied meaning.

Pacing - lots of screen time on leads rather than unrelated secondary characters, Each of the 3 arcs (Immortal, Demon, Human) have diminishing screen time, leaving the final arc very short and less developed (but this is a minor issue imo). In a few areas it focuses a bit too long on the villains, who were not particularly interesting.

Notable Tropes – Hiding critical information to “protect” someone, main characters die but not really, Amnesia (but used well, less annoying that usual).

Ending – Happy (-ish?) FL comes back to modern world and in the last couple minutes runs into ML. He asks if she knows who he is, and she says yes, but it is not blatantly clear and you do not see them “get together” at the end.

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Slow beautiful drama about being 40yo

When I read the manga this drama is based on I got an idea of how this drama would be. Well, I was mistaken. This drama has a lot of jbl clichés, and the slow pace can make some people decide to stop to watch it. But, I loved it, and for me the slow pace was one of the things I liked the most about it. And even when the main character made some not popular decisions, I think they make sense within the story and what the character represents.
Now, this drama is not perfect, some episodes could have been better, the pace in some of them were not good. The side characters stories were, in my opinion, important, but there were better ways to introduce them. They did rushed the final episode like a classic jbl but I still liked it, there were enough scenes for it to make sense and have a good ending.
The actors (of the mains and sides characters) were really good, the crying and almost crying scenes were good and believable.
Overall, I would watch the series again, I mean I've re watched some episode already.
For me, it is solid series, and a great BL.

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Sometimes slice of life, sometimes slice of why ! A drama that forgot its own starter pack/list.

On paper, this drama had a lot of potential with the premise of Tojo Suzume turning 40, staring down his uneventful life and deciding to tick things off a personal "before it's too late" list with his younger colleague Tanaka Keishi, who slowly becomes more than just a friend. Sounds charming, right? Unfortunately, that charm didn't last long. Somehow, what started all this, "the list", was forgotten completely, and too many fillers were in the second half.

The first half of the drama had a light, slice-of-life feel. The height difference between them was adorable, and they had this awkward yet endearing kind of bond. It is simple and digestible, almost convincing me that we are crawling towards a warm, slow burn romance with character growth.
But then the second half arrived and there was a tonal shift that was somehow very contrasting with the first half. The list that started all this conveniently became a forgotten prop. And instead of focusing on their relationship or individual growth, we were served with irrelevant subplots.

Tojo Suzume gave me the vibes of someone who buys a lot of self-help books but abandons each after skimming through the introduction. I felt like he was never evolved in 11 episodes (excluding the finale, because everyone gains wisdom here). He was adorable with his awkwardness in early episodes, but somehow still timid and hesitant till the end.
I get the self-doubt, really I do. Midlife crises are messy, and the feeling of being stuck just doesn't easily go away. But I was expecting sprinkles of self-acceptance here and there in the latter half but what we got was a man eating rameyon, assuring himself that he is better off alone rather than actually talking about it to Keishi or even to himself.
And even if you choose to stay alone because there is nothing wrong with that, I expected him to communicate better.

Tanaka Keishi, on the other hand, brought a very different energy. Even though he was almost 10 years younger than Tojo, he was very accommodating, calm and understanding. Initially, it looked like he brought colour to Tojo's life but that thought was challenged too.
The main conflict between the couple was due to Keishi's blurting out the denial to his friend in front of Tojo. While it was harsh and somehow uncalled for or could have been worded better, he isn't the villain here in my eyes. There was regret on his face as soon as he said it. Considering how Tojo was reserved and shy, plus Keishi was also paralysed by panic in the moment. Again, not justifying the line, but Tojo cutting all the contact with him rather than hearing him out was the main reason for angst.
"This is for the best! " This is one of my least favourite character traits, where one of them makes decisions for both without considering the feelings of the opposite considering both were involved equally.

The chemistry between them was sadly not convincing enough for me. They had all it takes to be good teammates and friends, but as lovers... those sparks from the initial episode didn't last, and I am not talking about the over-sanitised physical intimacy. They did come around at the end on that, and it was indeed sweet and surprising.

Acting-wise, both the leads performed decently. Though emotional/confrontational scenes of Shoji Kohei as Tanaka Keishi could have been better, especially in episode 11.

Totally unrelated things that I liked and don't know how to categorise-
^ I love the plushies and the little pep talks it gave.
^ The editing in the last episode was smooth, and the list finally made an appearance.
^ A running reunion scene. Japanese BLs would be incomplete without it.

Overall, this was a decent one-time watch. It could have saved itself if it were a bit shorter, maybe 8 or max 10 episodes. Someone said this gave "Old fashioned cupcake" drama vibe, until it suddenly… didn’t.
It's not unwatchable, but compared to how it started, it felt very average towards the end.

Will I recommend it? That's a tough one. I love J-BLs for their slice of life, cosy vibe and unique storytelling and if you are out of J-BLs, maybe give it a try with tempered expectations.
But if you are looking for sparks, chemistry or good development, look elsewhere.

Thank you for reading my review! <3

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What a lovely... second version of Old-Fashioned Cupcake!

And so we will not avoid to draw comparisons between old-fashioned cupcake and this one for obvious reasons: there is an age gap, office romance and both are japanese series.

In my personal taste, Old Fashioned Cupcake still rocks it miles in comparison with this one. And I am a little bit sad for saying that maybe because I would love to see at least something on the level of Old Fashioned Cupcake.

I mean this one had the biggest hopes because the age range is very similar, the topic is very similar. It's as well again Japanese boys love genre series. When I was trying to discern why is that, maybe one of the things that play significant role in it is I am a fan of age gaps, I am not a fan of height gaps. But before you accuse me of anything, listen, it's not I hate it, it's more I don't care about it so I don't see why would anyone do a thing of it. Now when this one is out of the way, another thing I think plays a significant role in why I still love Old-Fashioned Cupcake way better than this one is because the tone of the series of Old-Fashioned Cupcake was much more serious (+ heavym, yes) in comparison to this one. So to explain it in reversal, I am not a target audience for this specific type of behavior of the male leads, I mean of the characters of course.

You see, I can imagine adult people behaving like adults did in Old Fashioned Cupcake. I don't see them behaving the way it was in this series.

It is not that it is something bad, I love that someone experiments with sweeter, lighter tones. I love that there is such a representation in series. But it does not change the thing that I am personally more on the darker side of spectrum and so I appreciate more the darker things than is this one and I came into watching this not knowing what is it about or who is gonna do what. I did not know the original material for this.
After all of this is said, I just want to note here that no matter how much I love Old-Fashioned Cupcake more, there are definitely moments and instances where this series and the story shined. I did appreciate, stand above, and in the context of the whole series I did not expect them, which is a praise.

If we avoid the comparison itself, it's a nice, cute, sweet, light-hearted comedy with deeper moments, topics of self-doubt and self-value. Introspective one, where one of the things that stand above in comparison with Old-Fashioned Cupcake (haha, we haven't seen that coming, right?) was, of course, the final kiss. I mean, there was this rumor that there is no kiss scene in Old-Fashioned Cupcake, which is not true, because there is a kiss just the episode before the last one. kone-sided (which is very doubtful, that it was one-sided, but like "kinda one-sided"). But there is not a kiss in the final episode, nor in the additional episode that came out later. But there is this final, rounding kiss of these two male leads. And that one kiss is basically like five kisses in one, which was very nice after all of this, after one not-necessary episode filler, after all of the complaining, coming to this thing and expecting nothing, paid off in rewards, and we have got the official final, you know, final episode kiss of the two characters, then bed scene (just sleeping what you thik aobout?), annd then again 1:1 parting Old-Fashioned upcake eating scene. Nicely enough, the kiss was nice, and it was a proper kiss, not the dead fish kisses we so frequently see, if the team don't want to do it in the first place. So I greatly appreciate the actors' efforts and the storytellers' and creators' creative decision about this.

From my viewer's perspective, it is a nice attempt and try at Old-Fashioned Cupcake number two, with its own merits. And now I would love to see another one where it's again darker, deeper tones with more of the good things from this series (and i don't mean only the proper couple parting kiss).

- I am up to no good.
Nox.

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Just vibes and well delivered pinning with fine flirting.

Kwon Jeong U is the whole show and honestly he deserves better.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. There is for sure more to enjoy than just Jeong U, but out of the two leads, he for sure was the one that stole my heart. From the extremely charming personality with actual emotional maturity, awareness of his shortcomings and reflection on his feelings, to the actually good performances that balanced well between the confident facade and the nervousness that came with the new crush. I loved how he knew exactly how much he can tease to keep it playful and not hurtful (and with the number of extremely embarrassing moments Ji Won got himself into, there was content to tease for for years)

On the other hand we had a lot of “verbal” set up for Han Ji Won and exactly none of that was shown on screen. He kept on “hiding” from the public because he was famous, wearing the cap literally everywhere and trying to stay low-key, but… we saw not one person have any really excessive (or any overall) reaction to him. The only people who talked about his “celebrity” status were people who knew, and they all did it in a joking manner. Then there is this “introduced and dropped right away” information about the abuse in his past team from the coach. We saw one google search from Jeong U, him saying to himself “I want to ask, but I don’t want to hurt him by asking” and then… he actually never asks, nor digs deeper… Nothing is done with that whole serious revelation. So why was it even there? Just let them be normal athletes with no additional set up - that would work.

Even if I was not amazed with Ji Won as an individual character, I did like the dynamics between him and Jeong U. I like the teasing and flirting, the push and pull, the amazing fluff they delivered. The angst felt flat and I was getting annoyed a few times, but since I did get a decent conclusion, I can look past that. I love how both of them had the shy and playful era, depending on what moment of the relationship we were witnessing. They were just a great vibe.

And you know what was a great vibe too? Seung Jin and Eun O. And you know what I need? I need them to get the Unintentional Love Story supporting couple treatment - their own show. We know they like each other, we know one knows and one is painfully oblivious to it. And I need them to give me a proper closure, because they hinted at the closure and then the drama ended. And that’s illegal.

As for the production… damn. I was decent for most part, but some of the editing was… questionable. We literally missed transition scenes. Especially during one moment we start a scene in a confusing time and place, with no real set up. I had to ask a friend if I skipped an episode or something, because that “transition” between plotpoints made zero sense.

Performances were fine. Truth to be told, Choi Rak Yeong and Kwak Geon Hee did easily the best. I liked Choi Jae Hyeok since he SOLD the fact he was in love with his eyes, and I’m always weak for that shit. I liked Yeom Min Hyeok in most scenes, but I do think anything highly romance driven was his weakest. I didn’t really get that “I like him/love him” feelings. Not as much as I’ve got from Choi Jae Hyeok

Overall, this is pure rom-com vibes, nothing more nothing less.

Ps. Yes, the kisses were good.

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Great Music

I started and stopped and restarted many times. I'm a Liu Yuning fan and I think he did a great job but I just didn't care for the female lead and the her storyline. She is suppose to be smart but dumb when it came to having and child. She kept trying to have a baby with the male lead without understanding what it really takes to raise a child. The story was slow.

I actually really liked princess/prince Li. He Lan Dou did a great job. She was very believable and great to watch her grow.

Jason Zhang's music was fantastic. Alan Fang was funny. Chen Youwei was lovable.

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Bad Wigs, Worse CGI, and Icky Ending

For the most part, it's a lighthearted romcom with a cold man and lively girl: perfectly fine for a mindless romp. Both leads were enjoyable to watch, especially their interactions with one another.

The wigs were bad—think Halloween costume quality. I would buy that when a person gets a shot of magic that her hair could turn silver, but I find it hard to believe her bangs would grow six inches into a really bad wig where I can see the cap beneath the thin tresses.

The cat in the story was cute but, obviously, not a compliant actor, so much CGI was needed. Such bad CGI. I'm usually not one to complain about sets being really phony (like that ridiculous peach tree that had "fruit" year 'round), but, even I couldn't overlook such cartoonish CGI.

The ending? It nearly sucked all the joy out of the show for me. I've rewritten it in my head as two adults reuniting for a happily ever after. I suggest skipping the last minute of the show as it makes no sense and is unnecessarily stupid. If time travel makes sense, we can choose at which point in time we want to arrive, can't we?

I'd subtract an entire star off for that ending, but I like cats and the leads, so I'm letting it slide.

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Born & die together~The female General & her bewitched lover boy | Love is stronger than any sorcery

First of, I want to express my sincerest gratitude to this drama and all the people who made this possible as it became a huge source of support, relief and inspiration to ease the distress I was experiencing...it helped me attain peace of mind and motivation to move forward, so thank you very much!

I don't think my words are enough to describe how beautiful and inspiration this story is. I'm not the articulate type but I will do my best to deliver what my heart feels and want to express.

Diving into this story is one of the most wonderful experience I have had this year so far. It was sweet, delightful and heart fluttering which renders me into this euphoric state that allows me to see different colors of hope, happiness and peace. I know this has been sounding so poetic but this story truly gave me this feeling of extreme happiness and excitement.

The story was greatly written as it addresses all the plots twists, conflicts and revelations and didn't leave a plot hole for me to criticize on. The introduction gave us the right amount of information to set the mood and mysteries on the story, followed by the events that introduces us to the main leads and the beginning of their bond and shortly to the growth and progress of their romance. Something I am grateful about is their decision of not using overly tropey and cringey scenes because doing so typically kills the story for me. I am glad that they were able to keep its charm by showing us just the right amount of scene elements while making sure that all the crucial informations are being served systematically and naturally without overdoing it and throwing everything all at once.

Rising action, climax and falling action were all magnificently executed. One significant reason that made me say so is their proper utilization of the characters on each plot they have set up. Nothing was misused, overly used or left out and each of them was resolved and settled on their own natural way without being questionable and unreasonable.

The finale was exceptionally satisfying! Not just because they gave us a happy ending but also for making sure that we got a glimpse of the growth/development of the characters we cared for. I am truly grateful to the director and writer for giving us such ending because they could've easily pull a plot twist and offer us a tragedy yet they still chose the other way around and even provided us more than what we're asking for. I am ultimately satisfied of the story's outcome.

In addition, I am overjoyed and gratified with the much deserved finale of our main leads. Because after chaos and constant turbulence they had to face on, they have finally attained carefree life and lasting serenity. To be free and unrestricted while roaming the world is the best gift and ending they could ever have...would have been great to see Jin'an getting stressed over their kids too. Haha!

Chemistry between the 3 CPs are great! Their synergy is oozing with immense charisma that you won't get tired looking at them. Qiao Er & Ouyang Jun for example got so much potential (it's not like they don't exude any in the first place) it's just sad that they didn't ended up together...well at least, Ouyang Jun embodies her values by adopting and raising abandoned/orphan kids. Similarly, Yu Xin & Mo Yin's were exceptional. I love their bickering moments specially when Yu Xin's being so shameless and Mo Yin got no other choice but to "always" surrender and yield out of his adoration, affection and love for her. Finally, Li Shuang & Jin'an/Duan Ou Deng whose chemistry went beyond and above. Didn't really expect much from them but damn! their compatibility is unmatched. One of the best I have ever seen recently. They're made for each other, that's for sure. Their aura combined is overwhelming and irresistable.

Action scenes and CGI were all impressive! Close combat fight scenes are unexpectedly good. The only disappointing thing about this drama are their fight scenes during the war—which are either off-screened/non-existent and/or lacking actual presentation and effort. Must have been a budget issue, but this is wartime themed drama afterall, so i expected quite a lot...at the very least they could have given us bare minimum at best? unfortunately they did not! CGI are great. Jin'an's transformation and all his action scenes were all pretty insane to me. They really all want out on making him look cool and badass. He was on fire! Also, I just wanna mention here Li Shuang's high yet soft tone whenever she's giving out orders. It was so soft and gentle sounding that I cannot take her seriously at times. I am so sorry. >_<"

Lastly, the Crown Prince...watching him grow from a wimp to a decisive, authoritative and ruthless ruler (to people who threatens him) was such a rollercoaster ride to me. At one moment I feel really bad and pity him then after several episodes, started spitting out fire and cursing him for how cunning and merciless he is. I understand all the things he's done was part of his coping mechanism for all the injustice and trauma he's suffered and of course as part of his characters growth but at the end of the day, I can't just stop myself from hating him. I am just glad that he still came to his senses at the end and still values Li Shuang's life and welfare. Because if not, I would have hated him to core.

P.S. All the blood sucking scenes, specially the neck blood sucking scene on Ep.5 was so sensually arousing to me. Cheng Lei was oozing during those scenes. Whataman!

Story - 10, Story was great! It was consistent from the beginning till the very end. Every conflicts and issues were addressed + they're remarkably efficient and considerate for giving us the best ending. Also, I will not take the war scenes against them as I will simply consider it as a budget issue. This is in consideration of this wonderful craft.

Acting/Cast - 10, Magnificent set of actors/actresses! Gosh! I don't know how to epress my satisfaction and gratitude that Song Yi and Cheng Lei got to lead this project. They're outstanding in their own ways but what stood out to me is how they complement each other as a love team (not just them but the 2 other CPs too) very well. Among everyone, I am really astounded on Cheng Lei's fluid execution of his characters. Him acting playful and gleeful in a childish way was unthinkable and is something I never expected at all. It's so refreshing to see him like this + he's so good in acting submissive. Wanna give some praises to Darren Chen for his seamless performance of Mo Yin. This man doesn't really age at all! So youthful and beautiful! Shi Ce and Liu Yi Hong was amazing in here too! Indeed a spectacular cast!

Music - 10, The chosen songs are perfect...they l're soft in melody and has this endearing tone that are like cotton to my ears + the accurate placement of songs that matches the vibe of the scenes is another notable feat of this productions sound team.

Rewatch Value - 10, For sure! Like, most certainly. One of the dramas I will not get tired of watching over and over again.

Overall - 10, A high quality drama that I am quite sure everyone can enjoy! I fell in love with this drama after finishing it and I hope I can share this unexplainable pleasure and happiness to everyone as well. A highly commendable drama!

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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Surprisingly good

I caught some of these short vertical dramas and most of the modern contemporary stories are very uninspiring. This one is surprisingly good for several reasons.

Overall, this drama moves fast and has all the tropes (boss-employee, childhood connection, nasty half-sister, greedy mother, no-good stepfather) so there are really no surprises. But you aren't watching this for a surprise. You want hot kiss scenes (you get a shower, under the bedsheets while listening to coworkers discuss you, and some bedroom scenes) and this show delivers this with a likeable hero who defends his lady and gets jealous when required, as well as a capable career woman female lead.

While there is some aggressive boyfriend maneuvers (lots of wrist grabbing, shoving her against a wall) since the female lead comes across as capable (and the end twist makes it okay), I didn't find it irritating or morally gray. Only hot. LOL. A hero who looks hot with glasses? Yes. This guy is really a cinnamon roll and despite the wrist grabs, he does think he might be scaring her so backs off (slightly).

The two leads have good chemistry and I found the acting pretty good. Even the villain came across as someone you might know (though her insistence that the ML was going to marry her got old, but she's an idiot so what can you expect?). I really liked the dynamic of the main couple relationship which was him respecting her intelligence, and her leaning on him for emotional support.

The producer/director made some smart moves here which elevates this drama:

1.) The sets. The backdrop is a hotel so while there are myriad scenes it all stays in one general location which actually had furniture, frames on the wall, coffee tables, couches, chairs, computers, carpet etc... which gave this little drama a good amount of realness. Most of these modern vertical dramas seem to be taking place in an empty gray room without any set design at all so using a hotel was a smart choice.

2.) Costumes. Because of the hotel set up the women were all styled in the traditional black jacket and skirt. This probably helped a lot with the budget for costumes and it made them all look well-groomed and professional. This is a big improvement over most of these vertical modern-set dramas where the clothes looked like they were bought at the local cheap off-the-rack department store.

The dresses by the half-sister and the female lead during the gala event were all very nice. Even the mom with the blouse that had a big rose on the shoulder looked well-dressed when she was holding her purse in front of her face to block the female lead from filming her.

3.) Story flow and continuity. I REALLY appreciate that when it flipped to the next app, it picked up straight from the end of the previous episode. This maintained story continuity and there weren't any odd jumps in the story like you find with these other vertical shows. If you pay attention to the framing, this was a very well thought out show for a vertical format. Everyone is in frame, the actors are balanced in their positions, and the close-up and cuts all flow seamlessly. Well done!

4.) Female empowerment. Our female lead, and the others she knows (the actress, and the hotel fixer) are all women and professional. You won't find the poor-Cinderella trope here. Thank goodness!

This would be a rewatch for me. It was fun, they had chemistry, good acting, good sets and costumes, and the dialogue, and while not breaking the mold, it was a solid show that made sense and was visually appealing (and hot!).

I found it on IQ but only through the app (look at the tab for vertical shorts). If you try to find it via your TV it doesn't show up on search.

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Worth the watch

I quite enjoy Transmigration or Time loop stories. This short drama is now probably one of the best I've seen so far.
The characters are enjoyable, the acting is mostly good.
The FL is fun, energetic and isn't whiny or annoying. The ML is rather sweet and caring.
The SFL has good reasons for her behaviour, without acting like a complete nuisance. The SML might be the weakest character, while he does have his reasons for acting in the way he does, it isn't very well explored and comes off a bit forced or unwarranted for.
I'm not a good judge of OST's so I won't comment on this.
The twists were sometimes quite obvious, but that's quite alright.
I recommend watching this if you want a short, sweet story.

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