Reviews

Love The Female Lead

Amazing female lead. Very good male lead. Amazing writing. Overall, an amazing drama with well written characters, plot, and a smart female lead. Loved it! I love a smart female lead , who isn’t boy obsessed more than anything and this drama delivered on that.

90% of cdramas for some odd reason (sexism) write pathetic female leads or they like to torture the female lead with never ending trauma. Or the worst, is when they write a grown adult female lead that acts like a child and speaks like a toddler. I personally think it’s fetish of sexist writers and it needs to stop.

This drama was so well written. I loved the plot and every character, even the bad ones. Just really mature writing. Pair the writing with the amazing acting and this is one of my top shows of the year. Loved it.

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Super Star Main Leads Paired With Bad Writing

This drama is such a disappointment because you have an amazing female lead actress and a good male lead actor but the writing is horrible, such a waste of acting talent.

Why do writers think we want to watch the female lead be emotionally tortured and chase after an undeserving man episode after episode. The female main character should have stopped chasing the male main character after the 5th or 6th episode, he was not worth her emotional effort or time.

Then the writer had the audacity to have the female main character’s mom be a pathetic woman pining after a married man. WRITE BETTER FEMALE CHARACTERS. Women are strong, smart, mature and independent. Writing boy obsessed female leads in this decade is crazy. What did that boy ever do to deserve her devotion? Nothing. Just bad lazy writing.

The writer had two amazing lead actors and decided to write a crap story. What an absolute waste. Any stars given is because I love love love the main female lead and I love love love the main male lead. Zero stars for the writing.

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Such pretty dumb boys

Lack of communication trope will kill me one of these days I swear.

Acting:

It was pretty solid. I could feel the loning and the hurt and the love. Nothing overly noteworthy, but nothing bad. Solid performances all around with what they were given for a stroy/characters.

Writing:

I feel like there could have been a better way to tell this story. It felt oddly rushed at times and drawn out at others. Not my favorite way to put all of the tropes in this story together. And the ending scene was SUCH a weird thing to end on… Like I have NO IDEA why they chose to add that in.

Chemistry/Romance/Kissing:

These two beautiful men had pretty decent chemistry. Nothing crazy in this story, but there’s something there. This is an okay romance, it could have been executed better, though. The kissing was alright, though I do wish we had more of them when the characters were happy rather than when they were upset.

Music/SFX:

Pretty typical corny romance music and solid SFX.

This was a cute little watch. Nothing too heavy and full of lovely actors/actresses.

Now, for some highlight from my notes:

- They are so prettyyyyy
- So cold, this one
- Damn everybody wants a piece of that Dao
- Bro needs to learn how to express himself in words properly fr
- We could just… Say what we’re feeling for once
- We could just… Explain
- We could just… not do nothing
- I’d kick Phoon’s ass for pulling this shit fr why are we going along with everything
- Everyone is so desperate in this show relax
- Phoon is actually lowkey a bit of a dick unfortunately, Kluen is a coward and a dumbass, Dao is just a mess but keeps getting blamed for everything for some reason lmao
- Hand delivering an invitation to your wedding to your ex at their place of work alongside your fiance is CRAZY work
- Very odd ending scene there

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Ten Years of Unrequited Love: When Sacrifice Becomes the Story

🔹This trope struck me as all too familiar, leaving me longing for a sense of novelty that just wasn't there.

🔹 Would I rewatch? No

✨ Ten years can change a lot, but can it truly erase that first love?

📕 Overview
🔹 24 episodes, romance/melodrama
🔹 Based on the novel Shi Nian Qing Cen by Yi Bei
🔹 Ji Shu Yi plays Lin Miao Miao, a woman who trades love for her father’s health
🔹 He Chang Xi plays Cen Si Yuan, who still carries feelings even after being pushed away
🔹 The setup is clear: a mother’s ultimatum pulls them apart, and time only deepens the ache
🔹 At the time of this review, 8 episodes have aired, enough to show the break, the promise, and the uneasy reunion

🌸 How It Felt Watching
🔹 The short episode length creates urgency, but it often feels too swift for the emotional moments to resonate.
🔹 The weight of their past sorrow lingers, but the warmth of their shared memories reminds them that love can endure even the most complex trials.
🔹 The themes of sacrifice, family pressure, and rediscovered love are at the forefront.
🔹 This trope felt all too familiar, leaving me yearning for novelty.

✨ Cast & Acting
🔹 Ji Shu Yi made Miao Miao’s pain and choices easy to resonate with
🔹 He Chang Xi gave Si Yuan a mix of longing and frustration that made his side of the story believable
🔹Their chemistry convincingly portrays both the heartache and the desire for reunion.
🔹The mother’s character felt like a familiar trope. For me, she was serving as a barrier for the couple without much depth

💫 Relationship Tension 💫
🔹 This doesn’t play like true unrequited love. Both leads still hold strong feelings, but their backgrounds and family expectations weigh heavily on them.
🔹 It’s a push and pull where love is evident, yet obstacles keep dragging them apart.


☕ Tea Notes
🔹 Ten Years of Unrequited Love drew me in because of the leads, even though the story relied on familiar tropes.
🔹 The title felt misleading since the love is mutual, not truly unrequited.
🔹 Short episodes made the pacing brisk but also rushed, and the mother’s role didn’t add much depth.
🔹 Would I rewatch? No
☕ SpillTheDramaTea’s Rating: 7/10 — a steady cup, heartfelt but familiar

✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, I liked the leads more than the story plot. If you’re in the mood for something sweet and comforting, this drama will hit the spot.

✨ Would you wait ten years for true love, or would time set you free?

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The Journey of Legend 赴山海: A Hero’s Path, Three Faces

🔹 What would you do if the only way to survive in your world was to live as someone you're not?

🔹 Would I rewatch? No

✨ When the lines blur between reader and hero, can loyalty carry you through a world not your own?

📕 Overview
🔹 40 episodes, wuxia
🔹 Adapted from the novel Shen Zhou Qi Xia (神州奇侠) by Wen Rui An
🔹 Cheng Yi as Xiao Ming Ming: an ordinary man pulled into the pages of his beloved martial arts world
🔹 Cheng Yi as Xiao Qiu Shui: the young, impulsive swordsman he becomes
🔹 Xiao Ming Ming uses his company's immersive writing system, the Magic Compendium, and unexpectedly finds himself living in his own novel, where he must evolve from a novice into a true hero.
🔹 At the time of this review, early episodes have aired

🌸 How It Felt Watching
🔹The narrative shifts quickly from contemporary life to a martial world, focusing on clans, loyalty, and moral challenges.
🔹For me, it felt nostalgic and warm, like stepping back into a beloved old martial arts paperback.
🔹 Themes: loyalty, courage, righteousness, family bonds, and identity.
🔹 I enjoyed the energetic fight scenes and the message, but the slow pacing and heavy filters occasionally distracted me.

✨ Cast & Acting
🔹 Cheng Yi as Xiao Ming Ming / Xiao Qiu Shui / Li Chenzhou: committed in action and expressive, although his emotions sometimes felt repetitive.
🔹 Gulnazar as Xiao Xueyu: is likable, I liked how she balanced out the tension around her
🔹 The supporting cast brought in some laughs and created tension, but the female characters often felt a bit shallow, which made me wish they had more depth.

🎞️ Production Style
🔹 The atmosphere embraced classic wuxia elements with dynamic choreography and a nostalgic, retro aesthetic.
🔹 The costumes were detailed but not extravagant, prioritizing homage over spectacle.
🔹The CGI was inconsistent; at times it had a fun, nostalgic style, while at other moments it felt distracting.
🔹 The pacing began slowly, and the side characters were not as well-developed as the main characters.

☕ Tea Notes
🔹 What worked: Cheng Yi's dedication, loyalty themes, and nostalgic martial arts elements resonated well.
🔹 What didn’t: The CGI is inconsistent, the pacing is slow, and the supporting roles lack depth.
🔹 Would I rewatch? No
☕ SpillTheDramaTea’s Rating: 7/10
🌿 Tea-Scale: A plain cup, fine but needs a better pour

✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, I loved cheering for the scrappy hero.

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The whole story made no sense.

Positive:
- Alan Fang was the only one worth watching. the other's acting skills are just so so.
- the second couple are more fun than the first couple.

Negative:
- The story made no sense. Whatever books the FL was looking for would be important after there is peace in the desert. Once the peace was achieved as ML worked so hard for, they will have plenty of time to look for the book that would benefit the people. The FL was so self-centered, felt that she knew it all and she was always right. She endangered everybody's life for her own purpose and got everybody else killed.
- the ML had no backbones when the FL was concerned. He always said that he had more important things to do and he did. He should defeat the tyrant and unit and bring peace to the desert. But whatever the FL wanted to do, he would drop everything just to protect her.
-The ML and the SML practically live in the two concubine's palace openly, without the tyrant finding out until the very end.
-At the end, the FL killed the tyrant almost all by herself with her flute ??? The ML magically appeared and they lived happily ever after. How about their friends and a lot of inocent people? They die for nothing because of the FL.

I don't even know why I even finished the whole thing. Maybe because it was not as long as most C-dramas. I was hoping it would get better. But the end was the worst.

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Not just your typical strong FL,this is screaming a Nutjob

Indeed A fantasy Drama which has a Satisfying Ending. The screenwritter actually knows how to write a story and satisfy the audience. Literally everything i wanted to see at the end i got to see,and it was ended very pleasantly. Hardly found any loopholes though its a drama obviously there'll be some but u could easily ignore them.

Direction, Plot,Screenplay is 10/10 from me.Episode ending doesn't look like a cliffhanger but it will make u wanted to watch more,That's the beauty of Fantasy-Mystery drama and the director nailed it.

Acting?? For me This is PSH 's best performances she really look like a Demon in her demeanor. Other supportive character or guest character all are so good at acting that i literally cried many times specially in the last few episodes. Talking about ML? actually he did well what he was directed too,i think his character doesn't have much to do just a help to plot and FL character development. He did quite well.Off Topic: He is adorably Handsome too.like Kang bitna said. The Final villain succeeded to make me hate him,obviously a brilliant actor.

OST- Don't remember any specifically but Background music is perfect and scary sometime.

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I had a hard time rating this show and I have mixed feelings.

I really liked the first half of the show where we see Eun Jung and Sang yeon deal with the aftermath of Moonee's death. I think it was a great representation of grief. You feel the emptiness and the denial through the screen. I felt the hollowness and even though I knew she passed away I still couldn't accept it. Eun Jung being reminded of Moonee when she met Kim Sang Hak. Her completely loosing it when Kim Sang Hak wasn't answering his phone when they went on the trip, thinking something really bad happened. Sang Yeon finding out more about the brother she thought she knew. Her watching the Chinese Odyssey, looking at his old film photos. Looking back at how quiet and kind she was after realizing what she was struggling with the whole time. Finding out that she was trans and that she had a life and a world that Sang Yeon never got to enter. The ever growing distance she felt with her mother, herself and the world around her. I think that was one of the strongest parts of the show. As someone who lost a sibling when I was younger it just felt reminiscent in a way.

I didn't quite like the messy love triangle, though I understand why they wanted to include it. It showed Sang yeon's ever growing bitterness but really it just felt out of place and a bit too much.

I'm not gonna talk much about Eun Jung and Sang yeon's relationship because thinking about it makes my head hurt sorry, I feel like other's have articulated their relationship much better than I can even try,

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Splendid and exceptional!!!!

Usually,I would like to write a review in detail regarding a drama, but, Twelve letters, in my honest opinion, is a very brilliant, excellent MASTERPIECE💯👌👍
Everything about this drama makes it a MUST WATCH drama. The plot is intriguing adding a slice of suspense, through a cat and a mailbox.
As the story unfolds, it take us on an emotional rollercoaster ride. This drama made me cry, feel sad, disturbed and frustrated over the character of Ye Yibo, feel anxious, angst , mad and finally brought me a bit of relief and smile for the last episode.
Seriously, I cried bitterly in few situations of the drama.
I liked each and every character in this drama,Tang Yi Xun, Ye Hai Tang, Yu Nian, Shen Cheng, Zhang Quan, Cha, Rat, Zhen Zhu, Miao Miao, Tan Xin,Shen Xiao Jun,and the bookstore owner, except Bao and his gang and the sinisterous father, Ye Yibo.
All the actors did an outstanding and excellent job in portraying their roles.
The whole drama is fabulous and mind blowing😊👌
Any one, who are thinking over watching this drama, I would suggest, please WATCH THIS DRAMA, you will nit regret watching it, else you will definitely miss an EMOTIONAL MASTERPIECE OF LOVE!!
A TRUE LOVE STORY ,between two timelines connected by a cat and a red mailbox at midnight, only to face many hurdles and challenges , and finally unite as one, with help from the people from future and avoid disasters and alter their future, hatsoff to Tang Yi Xun, Ye Hai Tang,for staying strong and supporting each other and Yu Nian, Shen Cheng, Zhang Quan and Miao Miao, in helping Xun and Tang alter their fate.
Highly highly recommended drama!! 🤗

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SPELLS AND EVERYTHING

it's been a long time since i've watched a series with such a well-executed plot. the acting was superb. while it didn't seem great at first, the development and conclusion were very good. i love themes involving temples and spiritual elements related to chinese culture. this series was one of them. the eight-character theme apparently comes from the four pillars of destiny a.k.a. bazi, which in turn is related to the chinese astrological signs. still, it brought them together beautifully. jiang chi's decision was great and admirable. it was beautiful how they talked about everything. their love was adorable. the ending made me say "oh shit." but it was satisfying. i'm glad they aired a special episode so we could get a wonderful happy ending.

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Pretty Good

I’ll start off saying that if it wasn’t for the leads, this drama wouldn’t have received as high a score as I gave it. Initially I wanted to say the only thing that saved it was the music, but changed my mind after watching it all the way through.

The casting and acting for every role other than the leads felt like I was watching a middle school production. Editing was bad in several places and the supporting cast was super weak.

I could tell from the first appearance of the ML’s brother that he was the villain. His smile was too fake, his praise and friendliness was artificial. He had no concept of how to look genuine but be a slime ball. His wife was a little better, but not much. She was too obvious.

The FL’s ex, who happened to be the ML’s cousin was just a terrible actor. You could tell he was nervous by his aggressively over-acted “passion”. His kisses were forced and awkward. Every kiss scene with him looked like he probably gave the women a swollen lip because he crashed into them repeatedly.

Even the ML and FL’s grandfathers were extremely awkward.

I preface this by saying that I apologize if something had happened to this actor to cause speech issues. I am saying this S someone who has no knowledge of his oersonal life experiences but you could hardly understand him as his words were so slurred and blended together (kudos to those who managed to extract anything intelligible from his speaking).

The ML’s grandfather was supposed to be a domineering retired CEO but he was more like a bullied student who relied on a practiced false bravado enforced by his clicking cane shoe tapping.

There was bad editing as well as sound effects. For example, the scene where the ML steps out from behind a tree that the FL is looking at straight on and his shoes are making noise on dirt and grass. And just before he steps out from behind the tree, the camera had shown noone behind the tree as they showed her looking at it. Tgen the scene where the FL was in the “forbidden” bedroom and had picked up a framed photo to look at. initially it was facing the wall opposite the headboard. But when she put it down it was facing the bed. When they showed the FL leaving the room the photo was back to its original position even though she hadn’t touched it again.

Like I said, the leads carried this drama. The script seemed to be pretty well done for a short episode drama, but there was a lot of time spent on reminiscing the past in the last few episodes. So the production fell a little short also.

The leads were very cute together and seemed to have good chemistry. Their acting didn’t feel forced or awkward. Their physical contact wasn’t uncomfortable to watch, but seemed like they truly had affection for each other. Their facial and eye expressions were also on point.

If half of the cast had been left out, they still would have carried the rest on their performances.

Even though this review seems negative, I actually enjoyed it even though I am not a fan of short dramas. If you take anything away from this review, take this:

Watch the drama. Toss aside logical thought for a while and enjoy the leads. It’s really not that bad.

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Moonlit Reunion was one of my most awaited dramas of the year.. But guess what, it didn’t live up to my expectations.. Maybe it’s just me.. Maybe I was in the wrong mood, or maybe my expectations were set too high.. I wanted more.. In the end, I could just barely bring myself to give it 8 stars.. The story felt a bit too stop and start for my liking.. Almost every time it seemed to be building momentum, it slowed down again.. With the kind of material they had, the drama really should have kept ramping things up consistently until the end, but it doesn’t..

The visuals were top notch and I really loved the cinematography.. The VFX though, were a mixed bag.. When they were good, they were really good.. But when they were bad, they were just plain bad.. Some scenes felt outright poorly done.. And the action scenes looked well coordinated.. It’s always fun to watch action mixed with magic, spells and demons and they did a good job with that..

I stopped counting the number of guys in her life halfway through the drama.. They really could have eased up on it after the incident with her cousin.. But no they had to bring in yet another guy in the very next episode.. The ML and FL already know they love each other, so what more do they need to prove?? Honestly they could have used that time to explore more important story arcs.. Twenty episodes in and we have only caught glimpses of how good the drama could have been.. If they had just cut out this unnecessary nonsense, the drama wouldn’t have felt so dragged out and would have been far more interesting.. Instead halfway through, we still don’t have an established story to follow, we are just stuck watching him get jealous over the nth guy..

They both have their secrets.. So how is this relationship supposed to work?? I can understand her reason for keeping it hidden, obviously.. But him?? He could have told her about himself, at least before marriage.. I guess his silence comes down to that promise he made to never speak of it again and the fear of losing the person he loves most if he broke it.. Still I think he could have handled it better.. Anyway, their breakup was inevitable.. When it finally happened, it was long, hard and painful.. But it had to be done for them to start over I guess..

Xu Kai was impressive.. He had very limited action scenes.. His fights, even though short and scarce it created expectations.. If he had a full blown fight, it would have been awesome.. That whole speech to the Miasma Demon after, ‘ Do you know what kind of person she is?? ’ was damn good.. And then the use of his sword with the line, ‘ Since it’s a secret, you should take it to the grave along with your life.. ’ Absolute 10/10 scene.. His face off with the FL was also really good.. Tian Xi Wei was equally impressive.. Their romance and chemistry were good.. Their romance was another thing we just didn’t get enough of..

I definitely need to talk about Wu Zi Shu, the FL’s sidekick.. Honestly, his track record is as evil as it gets.. He killed countless demons to harvest their cores to make her a full demon, without her knowledge obviously.. He kidnapped her while she was with the ML and unleashed the demonic fire, which could have killed countless innocents and the ML as well if he was an ordinary person.. He killed her evil cousin and his girls, revived her archnemesis Elder Hui and even released the dream demon to wreak havoc during her wedding.. He also had a hand in the demonic fire incident 18 years ago, manipulated Hu Zhu into a reckless chase that got her hurt and used that rat Elder Hui again to hurt Liu Tai Zhen and ended up killing Xuan Hui.. He said some nasty things to the ML that made the FL sound like an adulteress with immoral relationships.. On top of all this, he was the mastermind behind the demon uprising which he staged to lure the Changxi Palace to Chang’an and spark a war between humans and demons.. So, someone who did all of this and how did he pay for his sins?? With an easy death.. His last moments were the best he could get considering everything he did, that was kindness overflowing from the writers.. The more I think of it, the more it annoys me..

The last arc had its moments but again, it was underwhelming.. The amnesia storyline dragged on for too long.. The villains were defeated too easily and we still didn’t get a full blown action sequence..

I would say the script was good.. It’s just my personal feeling that’s swaying me toward so many negative remarks.. I am tired of good scripts being butchered for the writers kink for angst and jealousy.. This drama is a prime example of what could have been.. Such a powerful script with talented actors, not just the main leads but the supporting cast too.. If only they had refined the story and fine tuned it, it could have been so much better.. The ending comes a little too fast for my liking.. The last task felt very short and rushed.. And why did it have to be a rushed ending?? I mean you had 38 episodes to play with, yet we get another rushed conclusion.. Even though there is a post credits scene, it doesn’t feel like enough..

P.S. It seems the CDrama industry is blessing Cheng Lei with all its satisfactorily ending dramas…

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