Reviews

This sageuk drama feels a little off balanced

Edit: EP 10 is the turning point. There is finally a purpose and a focus. The acting is sharper, the characters are better defined. There is even a hint of bromance. I have lifted its score according. Let's see if this momentum can be sustained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I originally started this review writing about the soul swapping trope being used again so soon after Moon River. By the time I finished EP.8, my perspective changed.

Let's start with some fundamentals. Our writer-nim has a bone to pick about treatment of eolnyeos. To be fair, I have not seen many shows based on that. New material is good. ;) The prejudice against them is a hidden malady of the Joseon era.

My issue is not with the social justice angle, but rather the ham-fisted way the story and characters are constructed.

Let's be clear about one thing. The Joseon era is all about classes, orders and rules. Very Confucius. Everyone has a place in the hierarchy, from the King down to the lowest slave. There are rules and etiquette about everything. A lowly peasant knows nothing about courtly etiquettes, but they certainly know they are in for a beating if they looked at a nobleman the wrong way. This is where this drama is doing my head in. I have watched dramas where the rules are relaxed, but usually in isolation. This is literally the palace and the capital.

OBTW, I have no problem with the romance of our leads and their chemistry. They certainly delivered on that front. I have been a low-key fan of theirs for ages. This is not a bad show per se. It really pains me to have to pen this just to get this off my chest.

My problem is the setting of this series seems to be a Joseon-lite alternate universe. There are elements that are instantly recognisable, yet some aspects are oddly disassociated. The show appears to cherry pick bits that is useful to the plot and leave out the "boring" bits.

The biggest impact is on how characters behaves and their bearings. The ML doesn't behave like a typical Grand Prince. Sure, there is a certain gravity to his character, but most of the time, he just do whatever he likes. There are few consequences to his actions. He plays merry hell with the establishment and faces scant consequences. You can pass it off as being the "playboy" prince, but it goes deeper. It is hard to work out if a plotline is important or will get sweep underneath the straw mat.

It is even more pronounced when it comes to the FL. She is the titular eolnyeo. Her social status is about equivalent to a servant, yet she is a court physician. She roams around freely at all hours of the day. Nobody pays any attention to her status except when the script wants to make a point. When you consider the rules governing female around that time, it is very unusual. Of course, this means she can be at the right place, at the right time so the plot can move along. Same goes for the ML. Very convenient.

BTW, she is also the Robin Hood-esque thief in the title. She appears to be a good martial artist in the opening episode. After the ML arrives on the screen, he took over the manly duties.

To further complicate things, she ends up marrying into the antagonist's household as a concubine. It is a sore point as the show made it abundantly clear that this is her best option due to her lowly status. Yet she enters and leaves that house without a care. When you consider a noble house can be hellish for a low status woman, it is mind boggling. She dresses like a lady, but she is almost invisible unless she steps forward. What is her status? Why is the antagonist so kind to her?

This type of confusing characterisation is everywhere in this drama. Our antagonist is painted as the usual scheming Minister of the State, but other than some token scheming, he doesn't come across as evil at all. His youngest son has a dark secret, and he is out to get the FL . . for reasons. He is also some kind of attack dog for the family. He can be cruel at times, but he also has his innocent side. I assume there will be a redemption arc for him.

This is the same for several other key characters. They are wishy-washy by design. An odd and unsettling choice when you consider most sageuk dramas are heavily scripted. This feels very loose. It makes more sense if we frame their behaviour in a modern context. It feels weird when you try to shoehorn them into their proper historical setting.

I'll update this "review" as I go. I had high hopes for this drama. It seems to have taken the scenic route thus far. Maybe it will work out in the end. I'm sure we'll get the HEA ending . . right?

I almost forgot . . "Another day, another prince soul swap with a female commoner. It must be Joseon Tuesday!" (This is all I salvaged from my original review) Peace.

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Don't drop this, based on ep 1. IT'S A FUN RIDE, later! Need that Zombie Hunting S2!!

As a Crime Thriller enthusiast, I have watched different Collabs of Crime investigation (Police dramas) with others, like Police dept collabs with
Private Detective or Criminal Profiler or Psychologist or Prosecutor or Forensic and even Court Room dramas.

This is NEW & DIFFERENT -- a Collab of a Police Detective and a Neuroscientist.


***
Initially, I'm not sure of how well Neuroscience can be a part of Police Crime Investigations and proceedings
but it's interesting, the way it is made.

Though little similar to that of a Criminal profiler (studies / analyses the psychology of the criminal),
Here, it's more from the perspective of how the brains of humans work (criminals vs normal people) and the analysis of their brains (medical perspective like imaging the brain when a criminal lies or speaks the truth).

THIS COLLAB -- POLICE DETECTIVE + NEUROSCIENTIST, IS VERY COOL AND INTERESTING TO WATCH!

Though involves criminal investigations n cases, this is a light-hearted crime drama.


***
As promoted, it's a Crime Comedy, indeed.
Approximately, 2 eps per One Criminal Case, along with the Personal Stories of Main Leads Detective Geum and Dr. Shin.

Story Narration and Direction are Good enough.
But Pacing is lil slow in few eps.
OST, Ending theme music is Good

Stories of each criminal case and personal stories of MLs are written well.

Than Dr. Shin's own case story, other cases are more interesting.


*** EPISODES:
Ep 1 is very boring (wanted to drop this drama but didn't, just bcz of my Watching Tradition -- Not to drop a drama, once I start watching, hehe)
Remaining eps are Good.

Got Very Interesting from ep 2
And from ep 3, it's Funny.

Eps 11 & 12 are lil boring -- Just Geum's love triangle and some communication between psychopathic doc in prison n Dr. Shin.

Finale ep is Very Good -- Psychopathic doc challenging the two MLs with a "brain sync" game n threatening them by taking their families as hostages -- The mind game played by Dr.Shin here, is Good.


*** CHARACTERS:
The Duo, Detective Geum and Dr. Shin, is funny -- Goofy Police & Manipulative but Smart doc.
Their bickering all the time, their Rivalry to Friendship, their Bromance, Everything is Very Sweet n FUN TO WATCH! 🤭

Geum's laugh is infectious, haha (I can still hear his laugh, while writing this 🤭)

Geum's ex wife, she is very sassy n funny.
His kid reporting to her mom about him, is funny.

Geum's Love Triangle (he, his ex wife n his cop captain) is Ok -- may not be necessary for a crime drama but since this is a comedy crime drama, a funny love triangle/family drama is ok to watch.

Actually, I found it sarcastic when the younger ML (Dr. Shin) has no love story but the older ML (Geum) has a love triangle, being a married man, haha.
Anyways, their Bromance is more interesting than the love triangle.

Geum's cop captain, that lady before n after accident, her personality changes are very funny.

Even Geum's Team head, the old cop is funny.

Also the team of 4 (Geum, Shin, cop captain n old cop), solving each case, is very funny.


*** CASES :
All criminal cases are written well, though not complex.
Explanation of Brain functions and concepts in each criminal case by Dr. Shin, is good n interesting.


CASE 1: Pop singer's death during live performance

(This is interesting)


CASE 2: Vietnamese wife murder, guy who doesn't know his wife's face

(This case's investigation is funny especially when the duo got stuck in freezer room.
Ep 4 is the funniest.
The duo is silly n goofy here)


CASE 3: Lil gal possessed by an evil spirit, dad's murder, cult group chaos

(Medical illness as a ghost possession, is written well)


CASES 4, 5: One man complaining to police about his missing wife (Virtual Assistant, Cherri) and Neighbour's murder

(These two eps are good)


CASE 6: Teen guys and mom's murder

(This is sad but interesting)


CASE 7: Gal's dead body, brainwash of a prison guard by the psychopathic doc

(Psychopathic doc in prison challenges Dr.Shin n tries to manipulate him)


CASE 8: Crime of Geum's daughter against her friend

(This is very interesting, the way Dr. Shin helps Geum to clear his daughter's name.
Dr. Shin's horror brain experiment / mind game with one of the teen bullies, to find out the truth behind the crime, is very good)


CASE 9: Murders of Dr. Shin's parents

(This is not interesting as other cases but this led to the capture n punishing the psychopathic doc)


*** RATING:
My Rating is 9/10.
(First ep is just 7, it is that uninteresting)

The end scene -- Ooh aah, Zombie scene in the climax ?! :O
Actually, it's a surprise.

Since I love Zombie movies, Need a S2 with this sweet funny bickering duo, going for a Zombie hunting!
Hope we get it soon :)

***

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Unexpectedly sweet CP

I watched this drama because of Zhang Lei and quite skeptical about Lin Qiting since they look don't match at glance but it was pleasant surprise, they are quite have chemistry in this drama.

The plot of the daughter traveling back in time to find her parents is quite novel and funny. Actually ML and FL are playing a role-playing game but the daughter misinterpret and travels back to 10 years ago. At that time, FL is a domineering school beauty and ML is a poor, academically gifted but they had no relation at all. But after the daughter appears, they start pretending to be a loving couple SML and SFL were not traditional villain but they bring the comedy for the drama.

The cons is the daughter becomes merely a decorative element on later episode losing the core of the drama.

Still decent watch.

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This is more leans into political drama.

I watched this last year and had this drama on hold for some reason. Decided to watch back and it was decent despite the abrupt ending.

This drama really due gender reversal perfectly Woman Rules while Man obeys.

The logic and details are reasonable, the plot unfolds naturally, and the pacing is tight and smooth. FL is courageous and resourceful, strategizing meticulously, with interconnected schemes, utilizing all available resources, making no wrong moves, and ultimately achieving a successful comeback, not only avenging her family but also reaching the top. Moreover, this drama is not a pseudo-1vN story so there is no kissing or romantic moment between FL and 3 MLs-even though FL created her own harem.

Recommended to watch if you want to watch gender reverse political struggle.

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Exhilirating Ride into the Tombs

The storyline is rather typical where a group of tomb raiders got together to break into undiscovered tombs, each with their own personal agenda. Crisis breaks out when there was suspected snitch among them that served a different powerful authority of nearby population.

Where should I really start? I watched this quite a long time ago but Gao Wei Guang and Xin Zhilei left such a deep impression on me that I kept rummaging for their works. I totally loved Hong Gu Niang character that was a badass all throughout the show. Gao Wei Guang did not disappoint, which is why my eyes were set on him, especially when he has quite a unique face for a Chinese. It’s a wonder he rarely landed many main role projects cuz i really thought he had the full package, looks and talent. I guess it’s a tough world out there and the competition is harsh, where luck definitely plays a huge role.

I totally love the action mechanics of the show, all those cave-ins, bugs obstacles, tomb traps etc managed to keep me at the edge of my seat. The plot doesnt look ridiculous, the mystery is engaging and everyone performed exceptionally well. I have seen many tomb raiding installments but i must say this belongs in the top tier, where there hardly any boring/preachy scenes or awkward sloppy romance forced into the plot.

I was disappointed when the show reached the end - it was too dang short 😭 - and even more disappointed that Zhuge Shao wasnt the main character in any of the other candle in the tomb series. But anyway, it was a worthwhile time spent and honestly I dont mind a rewatch just for a dose of Zhuge Shao and Miss Hong.

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anime is better

I haven't read the manga, so I can't say whether it was a good adaptation or not.

I have however watched the anime, and it has very similar scenes to the anime – almost 1:1 for some, which I liked.

As I've seen the anime, to be honest, I skipped most of the hetero scenes. While I consider the anime to be one of my top 20 animes I've ever watched, since it captured the melancholy and loneliness of love well, which this live action did too, I was never much a fan of the hetero scenes portrayed. So, i did myself a favor and did not go through them again.

The GL scenes were disappointed, though. Much more bold in the anime, here it felt they had to censor most of it. Ecchan's actress was quite good, but Hanabi's actress felt lowkey uncomfortable during their intimate scenes. Which was sort of the point character-wise, but still quite differently portrayed than Hanabi in the anime.

They did show the hetero nude scenes quite a lot and had no problem doing so, so it couldn't be an age issue.
Perhaps it was the director. Akane was also much more bold in the anime, whereas here she seemed more shy.

But just like in the anime, and probably the manga too, I did like the ending. No spoilers, but it was very mature. Nothing I've seen yet in high school dramas.

Recommendation:
- If you want to go deeper into the melancholic vibe, have more boldness of the characters and their choices, and especially the same GL nudity as with the heteros, then watch the anime.
- If you'd rather prefer it to be more subtle, and more "private", then go with the live action drama.
I'd always recommend the anime more, though. (Maybe because of the GL, yes.)

~02.02.2026

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Driven By Chemistry, Heart, and Tropey Non-Tropes!

As a Kdrama watcher for 15 years, I can say that this drama as previous users have mentioned, had a ton of tropes, but despite that the show manages to remain engaging and fun throughout its run, while putting some new spins on classic things we've seen. It's fluffy goodness wrapped in a sizzling hot package of chemistry, and I ate this one up quickly. Jang Kiyong and Ahn Eunjin's acting, along with Ahn Eunjin's mom (Cha Mikyung) in the show were fantastic actors. I think having a basic storyline is okay as long as you're going to do it well---and I much prefer this over contrived uniqueness & completely misleading your viewers or failing at it at this point in my dramaland journey, honestly.

The Good:

Chemistry. Oozing from every scene since the start of the show to its finish. I usually don't like love triangles but somehow the one presented in the show early on made the show more compelling, probably because both male leads were caring human beings and were entertaining to watch in their own right. The angst was something that felt very 2000s and I was here for it.

The Jeju scenes early on were so memorable for me and gosh did they look breathtaking together.

Jang Kiyong's acting here is probably the best I've seen him--I truly felt his care for Go Darim, and his microexpressions whether it was hurt, disappointment, fear, anger--gah. He did them all exceptionally well.

Go Darim's moral compass. Yes there were some moments early on where she may have done morally questionable things, but given her circumstances I do think many people in her shoes would have done the same thing if not worse. And the fact that she felt guilt over it showed us she did have a conscious. Time and time again they showed viewers who GDR was through her actions, presenting them as reasons why Gong Jihyuk fell for her. It felt nostalgic that show had this strong of a moral compass, which many shows these days don't necessarily focus on.

I loved that they represented a SML who was a single dad, you don't often see that in kdrama land. It's usually a single mom FL, and it's the SML/ML that's pining after her. So to see them put a spin on this trope was refreshing and honestly every scene with Jun was adorable--and I don't even care for kids very often in dramas.

Side characters were all entertaining to watch. The ensemble felt cute and relatable. I also thought it was unique that they focused on babies and mothers--a demographic often forgotten in dramaland.

Tone of the show nearly the entire 14 episode run was lighthearted. Even during sad moments, or towards the end where 2 major "sad" events happened that in older dramas or even other contemporary dramas would take 1-2 episodes to resolve, show did within half an episode or less. That I appreciated even though I was annoyed they were added in the first place. I do agree with others that the last twist the writers wrote felt unfair to the audience, so for that I docked points from the story, but honestly the way they tied the story together overall I could accept, and the ending credits' scene was so remarkable and well done it sort of made up for the annoying twists they added in the end.

The Meh:

The villains in this story overall had pretty low-ish stakes considering the ML didn't even care that much about retaining his status in the company from the get-go anyway. Low stakes isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just thought it was funny that show wanted us to care so much about his retention in the company since they painted him to be more free-spirited and independent in the beginning, it just felt more like meddling than actual high stakes. Which is fine because show's tone overall was lighthearted anyway.

All the business stuff in show was kind of whatever, made some logical sense surprisingly, although they brushed past one of the incidents that posed a danger to our ML pretty quickly towards the end. I did like that they showed entrepreneurship and environmental engagement in a good light though--so props to show for that!

SFL took me some warming up to do. It also didn't make complete sense for her to pine after SML for so damn long and so persistently, but I guess homegirl was in love? I did eventually warm up to her and liked her scenes with Jun. But overall I feel like second couple's storyline left a little bit more to be desired towards the end but I'm thinking that was their point, and this "non-trope" actually felt more authentic to the show.

Overall:

This is an easy, breezy show that has intense moments of chemistry which really are its hook, line and sinker. It's not meant to be super deep or share something super new, but the spins it does display are tastefully done and shown in a positive light. This makes show feel like a warm cup of hot cocoa--perfect for its winter release. And sometimes that warm cup becomes hot!

Jang Kiyong's acting was probably the most enjoyable thing about the show, you could tell he had a fun time filming, as did Ahn Eunjin. I'd also love to see Kim Mujun's work in the future. I think he did a fantastic job holding his own against JKY despite being a newer face in the industry. I also would like to shout out Cha Mikyung for her earnest acting, she portrayed GDR's mother very convincingly, and also her takes to GDR's decision-making felt real.

9/10 for me due to the strong acting, tight pacing, and consistent light and warm tone throughout the show. Despite some missteps toward the end of the show, I think it still proves to be comforting and an extremely addicting watch! Would recommend.

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The only thing worthwhile is the FL's personality

The only thing got me hooked to this drama was the female lead's personality, it was so full of life and well written that made me expect what she would do in the next scene, the actress definitely needs a major drama casting, she’s gorgeous! but, as nothings perfect, the male lead in the other hand, insufferable, at some point couldn’t take him anymore, they portrayed him soo unreal that was cringe, I mean, I know they wanted to make a innocent lead and such, but come on.. they made him too weak and shy, at some point I was really pissed off of his choices (not gonna spoil it, but argh, just remembering makes my blood boil).

Anyways, it was a fun ride, definitely worth watch once!

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