Reviews

Glory… to the FL’s omniscience lol.

Going into Glory, I already had a feeling romance wasn’t going to be the main point here, despite having romance as one of the main tags. I might’ve started this at the wrong time, or maybe I was just expecting a different balance, but either way, the tone became clear pretty early on.

The opening was rough for me. There’s an overload of names, faces, and tropes/themes all at once, and it took a while before I felt grounded. What did stand out early, though, was how deliberately unsettling everyone felt. No one felt neutral, I didn't trust anybody, including those were introduced to us as close with the leads. Some people were obviously scheming, while others hid behind politeness, filial piety, or concern, which somehow made them feel even more suspicious. There were characters who played pitiful a little too well, people who wrapped manipulation in "good advice," and those whose jealousy practically sat on their faces. I didn’t know yet who would turn dangerous and who just needed context, but the discomfort was very intentional.

What kept me watching was the dynamic between the leads at the start, though I still was confused who were who with the side characters lol. The ML, even with amnesia, was sharp, observant and even sly, not the helpless pawn I was afraid he’d be at the start. And the FL was clearly not someone to underestimate. Watching them quietly test each other, circling with their wits, was engaging and entertaining. Early on, it felt like we were being set up for two intelligent leads on equal footing.

That’s also when I started to see why this drama would be divisive.

It becomes clear pretty quickly that the FL prioritizes herself and her household’s reputation above all else, which on its own isn’t a problem. My issue is that the drama still insists on selling this as romance. But over time, a pattern starts to form: she quietly but boldly advances her plans, uses the ML’s wit and influence when it suits her, reassures him just enough to keep him close, and moves on. When he confronts her about being sidelined or disrespected, the conversation rarely goes anywhere. A smile, a deflection, sometimes intimacy, and the issue is conveniently buried before she ever has to take responsibility. The ML, being smart, knows this. He sees the pattern, calls it out, yet still lets it happen. She keeps making unilateral decisions that affect him deeply, often at moments when he’s most vulnerable, and he’s left to absorb it quietly. And then the cycle repeats.

She does care about him; I didn’t doubt that. But she consistently cares more about control, outcomes, and her family’s reputation. Some argue this makes the show female-centric or "empowering," but I don’t buy it. Emotional manipulation doesn’t automatically become empowerment just because the character doing it is a woman. Independence doesn’t mean making decisions while dismissing others’ feelings when inconvenient. Strength isn’t just dominance. It isn’t always being right, staying one step ahead, or avoiding the consequences of your choices. You can be independent and strong while still making hard decisions without using someone else as emotional collateral, respecting those who trust you, and facing the impact of your actions. Empowerment comes from accountability, allowing vulnerability, and treating people who stand by you with respect rather than tools. This isn’t a critique of women-centered dramas. In fact, I enjoy complex, emotionally responsible female leads, but the way FL's character was written here would have frustrated me no matter who was written this way, even when genders are swapped.

What made it even more frustrating is that, again, the ML isn’t stupid. He knows what’s happening. And yet he keeps running after her. He keeps forgiving. He keeps absorbing the emotional cost. Watching a character that is that capable slowly get reduced to "he endures this because he loves her and she's all he got" was exhausting. It's frustrating because the drama teased something better early on. I wanted to see two sharp leads working together as equals, combining strategy, trust, and mutual respect. Instead, the story increasingly centered the FL as the solution to everything, while the ML’s struggles, history, and emotional weight were sidelined until very late, and even then, rushed. For a drama with two leads, it often felt like only one of them was important.

At some point, despite all the romantic scenes, it just stopped feeling romantic to me. I kept watching anyway, because I’d already adjusted my expectations, and to be fair, the story outside the romance was still entertaining.

Without the romance, the plot would have been at its strongest. The FL's world felt busy, and this was where the writing felt the most confident. The mix of heritage, control (monopoly even) over the tea industry, internal power struggles, and moral compromise was compelling to watch and unfold. You could feel the weight of legacy pressing down on everyone involved, and the consequences of decisions were elaborate. Supporting characters weren’t just there to orbit the leads; everyone had motives and agendas. At different points, I found myself second-guessing first impressions. It kept me alert, and it made the political and familial conflicts feel vital.

And then there’s the grandmother. I understand the narrative role she was meant to play, but wow, she was exhausting to watch. Her control, cruelty, and lack of faith in her own family caused more damage than any external enemy ever did. Instead of protecting the family, she strangled it. She pitted her granddaughters against each other, measured worth through alliances and appearances, and weaponized authority instead of guidance. The fact that she came from a matriarchal background yet upheld some of the most suffocating patriarchal values felt tragically ironic.

There are also other things I appreciated. The sisters, for all their scheming, actually grew on me by the end. Their conflicts were ugly, but there were lines they wouldn’t cross, and eventually even they recognized how much damage the grandmother’s rigid ideals had caused. Also funnily enough, I've felt more yearning and emotion with the sisters' love stories than the leads. I'm happy they got their real happy endings. Other side characters who initially felt threatening were given enough context to make sense in time, even if I never fully liked them.

Unfortunately, with so much narrative weight given to the FL’s arc, the later shift to the ML’s background felt uneven. The conflicts tied to his family were rushed and compressed. We’re introduced to his mentor, his biological father, his blood brother, and his larger “family,” only for everything to be wrapped up in a handful of episodes in the end. His backstory was supposedly sad, but the drama doesn’t even give us enough time to feel it. Even the issues dealt here was supposed to be for the ML, yet the FL had the spotlight. I also wanted him to have a real chance at happiness, especially with reconnecting with his brother, but of course, that was taken away too. In the end, it just reinforces why he keeps running back to the FL: she’s all he has left, for real this time. And that makes him one of the loneliest male leads I’ve watched in a while.

And then comes the FL, trying to end things for what she thinks is for their own good just barely after that arc, as if the ML had just not been emotionally beaten and drained by his family. Telling him to stop their relationship so she can remember him as he was, before the power and ambition that might change him like his father. The irony made me roll my eyes knowing that she's becoming almost as controlling and emotionally rigid as her grandmother, the very person she just confronted to change ways a few episodes back. And yet, despite her cruelty, he still chooses her, giving up his power to be with her. This may be a happy ending in his point of view, but I just see this as an ending that was very much still controlled by the FL's desires.

By the end, I wasn’t angry nor frustrated anymore, I was just tired. I don’t regret finishing this drama, because I was invested anyway. At the very least, it was consistent in what it chose to be. But my final takeaway is that the “glory” promised by the title ultimately belonged to the FL alone. Everyone else, especially the ML, just had to adapt around it. Maybe it would've been better if the poster had only her on it lol.

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What the hell?

There is no amount of Me and Thee, Sangmin Dinneaw and Jack and Joker lunacy could have prepared me for this. It's good that it was done with the most outlandish plot cuz nothing else would have worked. You want to but you can't look away cuz you have this need to know what else could they possibly do. Turns out, a lot. Pockets of entertainment.

Overall, there were humerous moments throughout with a heavy dose of melodrama. The father was a trip. Loved his performances. He had the uncanny ability to show up just at the right moment. I liked the craziness of it all. It was light, fast moving and ultimately entertaining tho a bit redundant. Too many unnecessary clashes.

Donut's voice is something I cannot get used to. Even with a lowered volume and 2x, it felt like a drill into my brain. Didn't like it in TBNW and here. I will say he has potential as an actor. Forth is effortlessly natural. They're good for each other.

Is this format a plus for them? Who knows. I'm reminded that TleFirstOne began with a 2 min vertical series and their popularity has grown enormously. So here's hoping they get to that level also, tho I consider this a step down from TBNW. Probably they haven't found their niche.

Brain activity needed - none. Watchable - yes.

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soft and nice bl

Rating: 8/10
Perfect Propose is a soft and comforting Japanese BL that I enjoyed overall, even though it didn’t completely blow me away. The story is simple and warm, focusing more on emotions and daily life rather than heavy drama, which I appreciated.
The chemistry between the main leads was good and felt natural. Their relationship had a gentle, healing vibe that suited the tone of the series well. It’s the kind of drama you can watch when you want something calm and easy.
However, I was really frustrated with the main lead’s boss. He was extremely strict and unreasonable. The fact that the main lead couldn’t even go to the festival with his boyfriend because the boss forced him to work more made me genuinely angry. That part was realistic, but still very upsetting to watch.
Overall, it’s a good series with a nice atmosphere and decent performances. Not perfect, but still worth watching if you like slow, slice-of-life Japanese BLs.

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I don't understand the reviews

I think perhaps it's because people are more used to other Kdramas. But I don't think this is worth such bad reviews. It's a good show. It's quite unpredictable, and it's clearly a coming of age story where the main characters all find where they want to be in life and how they want to be living along with coming to terms with how the real worlds functions. No, it's not supposed to be hyper realistic. It's fiction. But I don't think anything that happened is unjustifiable with the circumstances presented, especially when you know how hard and how far one of the parents pushes their children. If you want something pretty different from most kdramas, it's good. If you want something similar to most kdramas, you might not like it. But as it stand by itself, it's good.

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2 only for Xiao Ding

Things I loved

1 Xiao Ding. he's the only one in this drama who deserves wasting my time to write a review. It was already clear that he would be a great actor and he is. In all of his other dramas. The rest is dull, stupid and frustrating to watch.

Things I hated

1 Yes, you may call me superficial, but I don't see why to show her character we should go as far as give her that atrocious hair cut. She's beautiful and people can be beautiful and come in all kinds. Stupid as the heroine, kind, mean etc. So this hair cut was just to make us hate her? It was mush better in the last episode.

2 The last episode. So much time wasted in nothing and only 2 minutes in the main couple.

3 The FL character. other than the haircut I thought the actress was decent. But her character was awful. I didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for her and that says it all.

4 The whole script was flat and had no swoony or fun moments. Just angst and unoriginal scenes. Awful.

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50-Minute Test of Patience, Free Time, and Emotional Endurance

Tide of Love is the kind of show you decide to watch purely out of free will during your free time thinking it will be a light and enjoyable experience. However, once it starts, you quickly realize that you are signing up for a full 50 minutes of emotional resilience training. And you just have to really endure it all trying to make sense out of that shitty storyline.

The storytelling tries very hard to be romantic and heartfelt, but instead delivers an impressive amount of awkward moments that make you pause, sigh, and I just find my self laughing because what else to feel?

To its credit, Tide of Love does succeed in one thing: it keeps you watching, not because it is captivating, but because you want to see just how much more awkward it can become. It’s the type of show that works best if you enjoy cringe story with lots of cuts or need background entertainment while questioning your life choices.

Overall, Tide of Love is not something you casually recommend, but rather something you survive. A unique viewing experience, unintentionally funny, mildly exhausting, and strangely memorable.

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A Nightmare at School

Enigma tells the story of a shaman who pretends to be a teacher and teams up with a student from a prestigious high school to find the culprit behind the terror targeting the school's top students.

Enigma has a unique premise, it mixes high school life with the horror supernatural genre. I love how it combines typical high school genre trope like friendship, future dreams, rivalry, and parental expectations with black magic and supernatural incidents at the school. For me, they executed it quite well. The visuals and cinematography are great, and the actors suit their roles perfectly too.

However, I'm not fond of the romance. I would have loved it if their relationship had developed purely as a friendship. The script also has some pacing issues, and I expected a bit more from the story overall. But maybe because it's only 4 episodes, they made the right decisions with what they had.

Overall, it's still an enjoyable watch for me.

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i have the need to rewatch the whole show all over again.

I recently started watching Gumiho related Korean dramas, because how interesting the story is. First my roommate is a Gumiho and now the Tale of the Nine-Tailed. Safe to say I'm amazed and happy that the writers and directors embrace their culture.
This show truly is one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. The acting, character developments, plot twists and so on are impeccable. Cast was well chosen and the storyline was messing with my head but I'm happy with this type of messing.
The only thing that I am not so happy about is the way they played out the ending, it had so many different possibilities.
BUT I started the so-called second season and I'm glad to see that one character there if you know you know.
Honestly I watched the show more for the brothers chemistry than the romantic side of it, but I still, loved every single relationship portrayed in there.

don't read from now on if you don't want any spoilers!!!!
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i bawled like a little baby when i saw Lee Rang sacrificing himself for his brother and everyone around him. it felt so unfair but beautiful to see him like that. character development to the max. also in the "second" season, i'm so happy to see him again, and with his brother and of course having someone other than Lee Yeon to protect. (i haven't completed it yet, but i will today).

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Why Would Anyone Drop This Gem? (FINAL THOUGHTS NO SPOILERS)

First, I think it is unfair to compare Chen Xing Xu's last drama, Love Between Lines, with his current one, My Page in the 90s, as they are vastly different genres.
Lin Huan Er was drawn into a book during a debate with a fellow reviewer (from 2025 to 1999). She was strongly opposed to the way female characters were depicted. The storyline is unique in that it uses a completely out-of-place animated pager to guide the female lead through her daily challenges so she can get back to her "real' life in 2025. Thus, the title of the drama. I don't understand why anyone would tank this gem without giving it a fair chance. It is not the serious drama that one expects; no, it is beautifully absurd. The acting is natural and hilarious. Because of the deadpan humor and overuse of ridiculous clichés, My Page in the 90s is so amusing and is a joyful viewing experience.

The chemistry everyone desperately looks for between the lead characters is definitely unmistakable. Chen Xing Xu and Wang Yu Wen are well-matched in acting skills here and visually make a lovely pairing.
As new episodes are released, the storyline grows more complex as the characters fall in love with each other. It is difficult not to laugh out loud when the female lead is going to such harebrained, risible lengths to prolong her time in the novel, leaving Gao Hai Ming, who has her heart and her love completely and utterly confused. Stick with it; you won't be disappointed as long as you keep in mind that MPIT90s is in no way supposed to be serious. It is ludicrous on steroids!

Will she make it back to 2025? What will happen to Gao Hai Ming's character from 1999? Will she meet him again in 2025? Will he recognize her as Lin Haun Er from 1999? Hmmm...

February 1, 2026 🌹FINAL THOUGHTS🌹
You all can not begin to imagine how much I have enjoyed being immersed in this brilliantly written drama. Chen Xing Xu and Wang Yu Wen brought their characters to LIFE in a way that depicted a quiet, unassuming, sweet, innocent love between two people who had never given their hearts away before. For any of you who are doubting whether this drama is worth watching...IT IS! I walked away feeling satisfied, excited, happy, yet very sad that their journey had come to an end.

Wanna hint? Pay very close attention to episode 1. It sets the foundation for the entire storyline.

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹HAPPY WATCHING!!🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
HAVE A BOX OF TISSUES HANDY!
#BLESSINGS


***WATCH WITHOUT COMPARISON OR PREJUDICE!***

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Wow, 我爱上了女主角

I went into Loving Strangers already loving the Korean original My Mister, which set the bar incredibly high. But honestly—wow. This Chinese remake doesn’t just live up to it, it completely surpasses it for me. The emotional depth, pacing, and atmosphere feel even more refined, and it proves that China is truly on the rise when it comes to high-quality storytelling and entertainment.

Zifeng Zhang delivers an absolutely outstanding performance. It’s hard not to be deeply moved by her acting—every glance, every silence feels heavy with emotion. She portrays vulnerability and resilience so convincingly that it naturally awakens a strong sense of protectiveness in the viewer. You don’t just watch her character; you feel her struggles.

Loving Strangers is quiet, painful, and beautiful in the best way. It understands loneliness, kindness, and human connection on a deep level, and long after the episodes end, the emotions stay with you. A powerful reminder of how impactful great acting and thoughtful storytelling can be.

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Finally, success.

Checkered Shirt succeeded better where most in this area faltered, they delivered believable performances. Building on the open ending from S1, Han Gyeol and Jeong U, after making plans, lost touch with each other and it took five years to reconnect. Dong Ho and Yu Bin are great together. Visually they compliment each other and felt natural in all stages of their relationship.

The script at times was a little repetitive. The scenery in accordance with the budget and I will add, it was a bonus to see them outside enclosed spaces. This added a bit of reality to it.

Yu Bin has been building a catalogue with his performances, the last two I'm not a fan but he did show variety. With this I will say, he's back on top as finally we saw the depth of raw emotion he can tap into. Great.

Dong Ho, having only seen him in Blossom Campus, upgraded. Throughout this series, I was very intrigued by his reserved performance. What hid behind those silent eyes? He did better here. Would love to see more of him.

Sukfilm has returned to what they previously did well and that is hiring the best actors, building on their rapport and sticking to a formula that works. The scripts still needs some work to get there without unnecessary clutter and repetitions. They did well with S1 and S2 with this one.

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Shiny on the Outside, Empty on the Inside

Alright, I have a lot to unpack here so bear with me. I really wanted to express how I feel about this series because sadly, it’s not the hype people make it out to be, and I’m kind of tired of people doing this with the majority of CBLs. I think it’s unfair to glaze Chinese BLs just because they managed to run away from censorship. Yes, that part is awesome, but at the end of the day we still have to view them as a series and criticize them honestly. I’m not saying people didn’t genuinely enjoy this, I’m sure many did, but I feel like a lot of viewers are just blindly calling this and many others the best thing ever when it truly isn’t. So if you want to know what I actually think about The Sparkle in Your Eye, keep reading.
SPOILERS AHEAD, READ WITH CAUTION

I want to start from the beginning all the way to the end, and I’ll be honest, this series did not hook me, not even with the first episode. It felt very bland, I didn’t feel any connection or spark, and I was confused about almost every character’s background. Even for a first episode, you usually get a solid idea of who’s who and how everyone is connected, but here I was confused as hell and had to slowly unpack everything myself throughout the series through hints and passing dialogue. Maybe I’m the dumbest person alive, but for half the show I was confused and bored because the story didn’t give me anything to latch onto. Somehow it managed to feel like it was moving too fast and too slow at the same time, which is honestly impressive in the worst way. Some things did become clearer later on, but I still don’t know if the confusion was intentional or just a flaw.

This is not a fluffy story at all. I think we got some cute moments in the first two episodes, and after that it was just constant conflict and drama until the very last minute of the final episode. That brings me to another issue, why was this series so conflict focused? We barely got any genuinely sweet moments between Pei Jia and Su Yi. It felt like a chaotic and sad love story overall, which is fine and even realistic, but there was nothing solid to cling to emotionally. We got tiny bits of romance and even those didn’t feel rewarding.

Now let’s talk about the kisses, because they were not it. The first kiss made me think maybe it was awkward because Su Yi is a rookie actor, which would’ve been understandable. Then the so called good kiss happened and I remember thinking, wait… is this it? I genuinely hoped the awkwardness was intentional because they were still acting and still figuring each other out, but nope. Even after they officially got together, the kisses were still just lip touching and head moving, no mouth movement, no passion, nothing. Maybe they were still playing it safe because of censorship, but this was filmed in Singapore so I really don’t know what the excuse is. Either they’re bad kissers, afraid to kiss each other for real, or just didn’t give it their all. Whatever the reason, it completely disconnected me from their relationship. Like Su Bai says in the series when Fang Run Zhi wanted to remove the kiss scenes, being in a relationship needs passion. You can’t show passion only through staring and hugging. Yes, silent yearning is an art form, but in real life and in most series and movies, physical expression matters. We didn’t get that here. The kisses were so bland that I genuinely would’ve preferred no kisses at all and just tension and yearning instead.

Speaking of Su Bai, that leads me to my next point, and probably my second biggest issue. I hated, hated, HATED the second couple. There was no chemistry, they weren’t interesting, and I absolutely hated Yi Wei. Yi Wei is self focused, self oriented, individualistic, and just straight up selfish. He’s not the worst person in the series, we’ll get to that, but his behavior is constantly brushed off. He neglected his relationship by putting his career, success, money, and Fang Run Zhi’s approval above everything else. He was also disrespectful and insensitive toward Su Yi, especially during the dubbing scene where he completely crashed out on him and called him useless and a nobody. This is wild considering he’s dating Su Yi’s brother and knows better than anyone how hard Su Yi works and how passionate he is about acting. I’m sorry, but if my partner had a sibling, I would never say something like that about their dreams. I didn’t like Yi Wei at all. Yes, he helps expose Fang Run Zhi toward the end, but that doesn’t erase how awful he was for most of the series.

And let’s not forget how he refused to move on from Su Bai. He kept pushing to get back together, and yes diva Su Bai said no repeatedly, except for the times he let him kiss him, and then suddenly in the last episode they’re holding hands? What is happening? This has the same energy as Pei Jia not liking Su Yi for the first two episodes, then one game of questions later Su Yi says he’d take Pei Jia to dinner and BOOM, feelings unlocked. Both situations make no sense, have no buildup, no proper context, and just magically appear.

Now onto Fang Run Zhi. I genuinely wish someone had magic powers in this series just to make him disappear. He was ruining everything, constantly. He’s annoying, manipulative, and should be in jail, like actually. I hated that we didn’t get proper justice or consequences for him. He caused Su Yi nothing but pain and misery, and the ending just felt unfinished. Yes, he was exposed, but then what? That’s it? This story honestly feels like it needs a second season, even though I doubt we’ll get one.

That said, I weirdly have a love hate relationship with the ending. I usually hate when shows resolve the conflict early and then turn the last episode into a random music video and filler content. So ending it where they did was bold, annoying, but also oddly satisfying.

Now onto the positives, because there are some. The acting was genuinely good. I was unsure at first, but the hospital scene where Pei Jia breaks down blaming himself for everything that happened to Su Yi really hit me. That crying felt raw and real. Pei Jia and Su Yi were both portrayed well, and you can tell the actors did the best they could with the script they were given. Su Yi especially did an amazing job showing the slow loss of hope and light, you can literally see the sparkle in his eyes disappear as the story progresses. That part was done very well.

One major issue though is the lack of background for almost every character. We never meet parents, we barely get personal histories, and everything feels emotionally shallow because of it. Su Yi hiding his health issues was frustrating, and the consequences were devastating, ending with him permanently blind, which just added to how heavy this series was overall.

To wrap it up, I’m not a huge fan of BLs centered around actors, it’s not really my thing, but I always give them a chance. Sometimes you find a gem, but just because something is shiny doesn’t mean it’s a diamond. This one felt more like a piece of glass. Acting within acting is hard, and I do respect how challenging it is to pull off acting times two. In that sense, the performances were impressive, even if the story itself wasn’t.

Sorry if this came off super negative. I just don’t think this series deserves to be overly glazed. The same thing happened with Revenged Love and others, they’re just not that good. It’s all subjective of course, but from a general perspective, a lot was lacking. MDL reviewers really need to be more honest.

My rating is 7/10. Before judging, I have my own rating system which you can check on my profile. I rarely go below a 7 unless something is truly horrendous. There’s more to a series than just script and acting. The music was good, the cinematography was good, and there were some strong moments. Because of that, I don’t think it deserves higher than a 7, and lower is debatable depending on personal taste.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this review.

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Can the director/writers be fired?

... because the director fully missed one of her/his most important tasks: to ensure that quality control takes place,
which definitively did not happened. The writers were also careless or incompetent (as usual, I may add):
obvious unacceptable mistakes appear almost everywhere, yet most in the first third of the series, but not only there.
The writers did such a bad job, that the actors had no other choice but to improvise and change the dialogs a lot - accordingly to the interviews given by the actors. Fortunately, the main idea is good and the actors are all extremely good; together with the rest of the working teams (camera, costumes, make up, music) they made decisive contributions to this overall valuable series. If only director and writers did their jobs, the series could be one of the very good ones.

What this series has and many other do not have:
+ beautiful views filmed outside (a lot in Canada and Italy, a few in Japan),
+ deeply motivated feelings and experiences,
+ psychologically motivated movements.

Despite its flaws, this series fully deserves to be watched.

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