Reviews

LOVE STORY IN THE 1970s — I FORGOT WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO TRULY LOVE A DRAMA. ?

I just finished Love Story in the 1970s and… honestly, I don't even know how to talk about it normally. 😭

Because it has been a very long time since I felt like this while watching a drama.

Lately, I've been watching dramas so differently.

I'd start one, watch a few episodes, then stop. Sometimes for several days. I could even move on to another drama, watch a K-drama, an Indian drama, whatever… and then eventually come back to the first one.

And sometimes, I was basically forcing myself to finish.

Not necessarily because the drama was bad.

Sometimes I just felt like I had to finish because I had already started. Maybe something would eventually happen. Maybe I'd eventually understand why everyone loved it so much.

Normally, when a drama really gets me, I'm done for. 😭

I can finish a whole drama in four days, even with my busy life.

But lately?

Nothing.

I'd take weeks to finish a drama.

I had lost that fever.

That urge to immediately press “next episode.”

That feeling of being completely absorbed.

That little spark that makes you forget the time and think:

“Just one more episode.”

I honestly thought maybe I'd lost that part of myself.

And then I found Love Story in the 1970s.

And…

OH. MY. GOD.

😭😭😭

I didn't just watch this drama.

I devoured it.

I wanted to keep going. I didn't want to stop. I had finally found that feeling again — the feeling I had been missing for so long.

And most of all…

THE LOVE STORY.

I think that's what destroyed me. 😭

Because yes, I love romance.

But what I love even more is healthy romance.

And this drama gave me exactly that.

Two people who are completely different at first.

Two people growing up in a world filled with its own realities, difficulties, limitations and hardships.

But even before they fall in love, they are already good for each other.

They help each other.

They support each other.

They respect each other.

They grow together.

And slowly, naturally, without making the romance feel forced just because the script decided they had to end up together, we watch them get closer.

They choose each other.

They become a couple.

Then they become a family.

And I'm just sitting there like:

“LOOK AT THEM. 😭”

They were so cute that sometimes they genuinely felt like two teenagers experiencing their first love.

And yet, they're actually adults dealing with very serious things.

That's what I loved so much about them.

They had this almost childish sweetness and innocence between them, but at the same time, they were capable of carrying real responsibilities.

Their relationship didn't feel like two broken people desperately saving each other.

It felt more like:

“I'm going forward. You're going forward too. But if you fall, I'll be there.”

And that…

That gets me.

😭

But it wasn't only their relationship.

The families.

Especially Fei Ni's parents.

I loved them so much. 😭

They weren't perfect. They had problems, disagreements and real-life difficulties.

But there was something deeply human about their relationships.

You could feel the love.

The support.

The history.

The loyalty.

The fact that these people had lived through things together and still chose to keep moving forward together.

And that's when I realized that what touched me so much about this drama wasn't just the romance.

It was the beauty of the relationships as a whole.

The two leads.

Their families.

The people around them.

The way they support each other.

The way they work for each other.

The way they grow together.

There were so many little things that completely melted me.

And yes…

I cried.

But here's the funny part:

I wasn't always crying because something sad happened.

I was crying because it was beautiful.

😭😭😭

There were moments when I literally cried because a relationship, a gesture, an interaction, a little bit of character development… was just so beautiful to me.

If someone had seen me crying without knowing what I was watching, they would probably have thought I was watching the saddest drama ever made.

Sometimes I was literally just sitting there like:

“LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL THEY ARE TOGETHER. 😭”

And then there's the historical context.

I don't even know whether to call it the historical, political or social aspect — probably a mixture of all three.

But I absolutely loved how the context of the time was integrated into the story.

The difficulties didn't feel like random obstacles thrown in just to make the characters suffer.

They came from the world they were living in.

Their time.

Their circumstances.

The social realities around them.

The historical events.

All of that made their journey feel so much more real.

And it gave weight to everything they were trying to build.

They weren't living in a little bubble where the only problem in their lives was:

“Will we end up together?”

No.

They had to live.

Grow.

Work.

Deal with the realities of their time.

Overcome difficulties.

Build a family.

And somehow, through all of that, their relationship remained gentle.

That was probably one of my favorite things about the whole drama.

As for the people who were supposed to be the “villains”…

Honestly?

😂

I'm not even going to spend much time on them.

Sure, they contributed to the story.

But compared to everything else this drama had to offer, they were so insignificant to me that I barely remember them.

Moving on. 😂

And then…

Arthur Chen.

😭

I'm going to try to be objective.

But I'm not promising anything.

Because this man officially gained a new fan.

😂

This is only the second drama I've watched with him, and one thing that really struck me is how completely different the two dramas I've seen him in are.

And yet, he convinced me in both.

In Love Story in the 1970s, his character sometimes has this incredibly childish energy.

He almost feels like a big kid.

And then suddenly, you see him in certain situations and you remember:

“Wait… this person can actually carry all of this on his shoulders.”

He's responsible.

Supportive.

Protective.

Present.

He's someone people can genuinely rely on.

And I loved that contrast between his almost childlike softness and the maturity he shows when it matters.

And then I remember that Arthur Chen was born in 2000.

2000.

😭

He's a baby!

A baby playing responsible adults and making me cry in front of my screen. 😂

Seriously though, I thought he was incredibly talented.

And while the entire cast worked for me — genuinely, I didn't watch a single actor and think, “No, your acting isn't reaching me” — Arthur still managed to take up a tiny bit more space in my heart.

Let's say…

0.5 degree above everyone else.

😂

And let me be clear: that's not an objective ranking of his acting ability.

That's simply…

his place in my heart.

That's it. 😭

Because yes, there were characters in this drama who annoyed me.

But the actors behind them?

They did their job.

There wasn't anyone I watched thinking, “No, this isn't working.”

Everything felt like it was in the right place.

And honestly, that feels so good when you're watching a drama.

So, yeah.

I think this drama did something very specific to me.

Because I didn't just think:

“I liked this drama.”

I found something I hadn't felt in a long time.

The excitement.

The urge to keep watching.

The warmth.

The desire to stay with the characters a little longer.

That feeling of looking at the screen and thinking:

“I don't want this to end.”

And most importantly, I found that emotion I love so much in love stories:

watching two people become better for each other without needing toxicity to make their love intense.

Two people choosing each other.

Supporting each other.

Growing together.

Building something together.

Becoming a family.

And despite everything life throws at them, continuing to move forward together.

It was gentle.

It was beautiful.

It was human.

And honestly…

it's been a long time since I loved watching a drama this much.

So yes.

10/10.

Does it probably have flaws? Probably. 😂

Do I care?

Absolutely not.

Because for ME, this drama gave me exactly what I had been looking for without even realizing I was looking for it.

I recommend it 1000%.

And now I'll probably spend the next few days thinking about these characters as if I personally lived through their entire story. 😭

That's it.

I officially found my drama fever again. 🥹❤️

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Pulling off a romantic thriller…

…is not easy, but is certainly possible. Our Sticky Love does not, in my opinion. The plot itself has a lot of potential for a romantic thriller. However, the mixture of these two very polar-opposite genres simply does not work.

Combining a thrilling plot with a romantic—or rather, downright swoon-worthy—romantic storyline simply does not work. From a viewer’s standpoint, it feels strangely insincere: one moment, you are swooning over the main leads as they stand under cherry blossoms and take cute pictures; the next, you are on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out when the FL will regain another part of her memory. It simply feels wrong to root for the main leads’ relationship, almost invasive in a way.

In my opinion, the show would have been better off toning down the swoony-romantic side and focusing more on the psychological romantic thriller. The show could have been a lot more gripping if it had focused more heavily on the FL’s amnesia and on how her recovering memories would affect her relationship with the ML—a relationship that is, after all, built on a lie.

In a way, it could have been similar to Flower of Evil, where the thriller is driven by the intense deception within the central relationship and the uncertainty surrounding it. In Flower of Evil, the suspense works precisely because the romantic relationship is at the center of the thriller: the more the FL discovers about the ML’s hidden identity and lies, the more her feelings for him are put into question.

Instead, Our Sticky Love feels like a strange mixture of genres, where both could have worked well on their own, but simply do not work when combined in this particular way.

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OVERALL UNNECESSARY

Had many cute and funny moments but overall felt unnecessary and ultimately left me dissappointed. The sequel felt more like a bunch of moments put together rather than an actually plot.

TheePeach:
I wanted more of them being domestic husbands taking care of their kids but the writers seemed to forget about their children and TheePeach barely interacted with them which was very disappointing. I think LookPlub interacted more with them than their own dads.

MokRome:
it was lovely to see them finally together but them breaking up then getting back together pretty quickly afterwards felt so pointless as there was no time to actually develop that plot line.

TawanAran:
Pretty irrevelvant in this special and I never cared for this couple even in the original series as Tawan was an awful person. I’d rather they not end up together but Perthsanta is too popular of a ship for gmmtv to let that happen so instead Tawan had a total 180 personality shift and is suddenly the perfect boyfriend. I honestly would’ve been fine if they never showed up in the special eps at all.

MiraPlub:
Very cute and I love emibonnie. With only 4 episodes there’s very little time to actually develop any relationship between these characters so they instead just suddenly like each other so it was hard for me to really care about this couple as there’s no time to get emotionally invested in them.

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Decent show, but not one of my favorites

I actually completely forgot I watched this show until Netflix popped up with it on my "Watch Again" List. When I first finished, I had thought it was pretty memorable, it was emotional, the story was really good, the music was decent. I knew immediately that I wouldn't put it in my favorites, but I at least thought it'd be something that was memorable to me, and why I forgot it, I am not entirely sure. It wasn't the longest show I have watched (although maybe the timing for everything could've been improved and better aligned with the story, if that makes sense), but it did get boring a lot but it did have some suspenseful moments.
But honestly, it isn't something I want to rate really high, mainly because it just didn't stick with me-even thought it had all those memorable qualities. So I rated it as a 6.0 -it just was not something that I would rate high, but I really liked the story so I rated it as a safe 6.0, close to the middle.

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The Romance Wasn’t Romancing

Honestly, I think this drama is kinda overrated. I still enjoyed watching it, and the plot was engaging enough to keep me interested, but the last few episodes felt pretty rushed, with some rather clumsy and unsubtle narrative choices.

The romance was one of my biggest issues. The two leads barely interact, so their feelings basically come out of nowhere. I was expecting an actual slow burn, but instead, their relationship felt forced as hell. Even the second lead had more chemistry with the female lead, and that’s saying something.

I was also pretty disappointed with the female lead. She goes back in time with all the memories of her previous life, along with knowledge of certain events that are supposed to happen, which makes some of her mistakes really hard to excuse. She still falls into the same traps despite being in a position to anticipate them, and that just felt frustrating to watch. I often felt like she was mainly there to move the plot forward rather than actually drive it. Aside from her strong personality and her tendency to stand her ground, her actual impact on the story felt pretty limited. Her potential as a character honestly wasn’t explored enough.

More generally, I felt like the characters needed way more development, and I only really grew attached to Yanlin and the princess. That said, the fight scenes were genuinely well done and definitely helped elevate the drama as a whole. Despite all its flaws, the story was still entertaining and engaging enough to keep me watching.

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s a bad drama. It’s more like a drama with a lot of potential that, imo, wasn’t fully explored. I definitely expected more from it considering how hyped it was.

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Another School JBL TW: MINORS!!! Grooming!!!

Headsup: this reveiw may be all over the place
————————————————————————————————————
This was another school JBL with nothing really special or outstanding about it. SPOILERS AHEAD
(Wasn’t good part had the TW)

The story: (Overal gist)
Follows an ex-soccer player, Kanata, stil struggling mentally over his past injury, who is learning to continue playing and a honors student, Akira, who has struggled with being gay since middle school. They’ve seen each other around school and curiosity eventually got Kanata to go see the lonely Akira during lunch, they start talking and find similar interests. They start hanging out more together and fall in love, but with obstacles. (Kanata’s soccer journey is a side plot about his character development, not really related to their love story). Akira’s past brings himself major doubts about him being gay, from his previous middle school crush who was disgusted and hated him after finding out Akira’s sexuality. (Although that friend was EXTREMELY touchy and intimately “friendly”) Akira had found comfort, emotionally and sexually, in his older brother’s friend, who also struggles with being gay and liking Akira’s brother. Akira would stop that relationship when he met Kanata, who is always unapologetically himself. The two finally confess their love and end up together. The end.

——————————————————————————————————-
What the show did well:
They did stray away from the normal cutesy bubbly type of BLs that we see from school JBLs. The did address some real life issues: Akira’s struggle with accepting his sexually, Kanata’s struggle with taking up soccer again, despite fears of failing again, and both their sort-of brother inferiority complexes. This gave the show a definite maturity that isn’t really found in other school JBLs. Both main leads and the supporting actors did well in this project and the main leads chemistry is there.

****I like how they included and highlighted these issues, didn’t agree 100% with how they dealt with / addressed them****

============================================
What wasn’t good:
We’ll start off small. This show followed the same basic structure as every other JBL out there (was hoping for something different given the mature setting). Two guys, one popular and the other a loner, meet up, hang out, like each other, problems arise, realize they like each other, then chase each other, then happily ever after. AND we can’t forget the flashback memory at the end of how they already met each other in the past (like are you kidding me, so overdone, so boring).

Now onto the SCREAMING issue with this show. TW:
THEY ARE MINORS. First off, what is with Japan and their minors in school trope. It’s fine for the cute ones, but this one has ADULT/MINOR SEX involved, we CANNOT be having that. IDK if school in Japan is similar to the US, but they are MINORS or barely legal 18 year olds. The story of Akira and Kanata is fine, as they are both senior in high school and they only kiss, but this show did some disturbing grooming and sexual relationship between Akira and Kanda Yoichi (Akira’s brother’s friend). Firsly, they met when Akira was in MIDDLE SCHOOL, he is like 14-15 and Kanda is a working adult post college or at the end of college. ( what were they thinking with this ). Kanda “teaches” Akira (grooms him) on how he keeps emotionally and mentally balanced with liking Akira’s older brother, who is straight, through sex. They start an intimate and sexual relationship between a grown ass adult man and a middle schooler for “balance” like WTF???!!!?!? (**** the show DID NOT have any intimate sex scenes between them, but it doesn’t matter, in the story it still happens and this is fucked up and disgusting ****). And on top of the grooming and sex, Kanda only makes Akira feel worse about being gay. Kanda doesn’t want to be strong and admit his feelings towards the brother, nor will he get over it, so he has sex with his crush’s younger MINOR brother???? Kanda basically shows Akira to always hide the fact that he is gay and Kanata was the one who pulled him out of that mindset.

This show, while addressing other real life issues, MISSED this GIGANTIC one and didn’t even address it in the show and played it off as caring and helping each other stay mentally stable. If this plot was given to a drama outside of the high school genre, where all these events happened in adulthood for every character and they addressed the grooming part, that would have made for a potentially good drama that could highlight the struggles with accepting sexuality and learning that someone may seem to want to help us, but only wants to helps themselves while hurting them more (the grooming part). BUT instead this show made it between a minor and an adult. That is definitely where a line NEEDS TO BE DRAWN.

————————————————————————————————————
This show gave screen time and most of the plot to the main leads, which was ok I guess. Overall this show was mediocre with major unresolved issues in the production team. I don’t understand how the rating is that high. I got bored about halfway through.

Overall Rating: 5.5-6/10

*** P.S. this reveiw is by no means hate to the actors, they did a fairly decent and good job, this is mainly about the plot, production team, and screenwriters ****

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SOME TINY SPOILERS !⚠️⚠️

Two burning hearts with passion for people and love, so when I say that this drama is everything I expected from it, I mean it.💖💖

First of all, Hou Minghao is one of my favourite actors since LITC and this drama has been feeding me more since I started watching it. 💗💗 I absolutely love his acting in this drama. The ML was a perfect fit for him and matched his acting skills perfectly. The small, tiny sparks between the ML and the FL were everything I needed to start blushing like crazy. Every little interaction gave me butterflies and the chemistry was speaking for itself. 💞💞💞💯

Next off, the plot; genuinely so smooth. The story is a mix of betrayal, parting, passion, pain, and a deep desire to rinse the dirty court of Southern Ye. The writing is impeccable, easy to follow but full of surprises. The start was a really good drive to the whole plot and romance. I don't want to spoil alot so I'll stop there.

If I had to talk about anything negative at all, I would say that the drama should have at least had epsiodes until 29 or 30. This would have made the ending a bit more reassuring or realistic in a way. If another episode was added, it would've been cherry on top. 🍒

The OST was great, loved all fighting scenes (especially ML with bloodshot eyes AND in armor) 🤩🤩

A small little spoiler: No kisses involved and I like a good kiss but this drama was soo good to the actual point it didn't need one.

Genuinely one of the best dramas that I've waited so long for and turned out to be THIS good. Totally reccomended. ❤️❤️
Again, this drama met my expectations to the core. ☺️☺️

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Different version of Merry my husband

I have to be honest as well. Like some of the other reviews also note this feels like an adaptation of Marry My Husband. Just not officially listed as an adaptation. Because Her Trajecting takes the brilliant revenge blueprint of Marry My Husband and injects it with fast-paced Chinese mini-drama energy, the episodes are 15 minutes long and not an hour. Meaning it fels way faster and not so slow paced like the Korean original. Also, instead of a corporate chaebol romance, it relocates the story to the entertainment industry with a celebrity male lead. Because it’s shorter, the plot trims down the filler, heightens the dramatic tension, and leans into the intense, immediate chemistry between the leads.
SO, i'd sat that its more of a reimagining that honours the original webtoon's soul plot by plot while standing entirely on its own unique merits with the slight changed in the setting.

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Can anyone else not form a solid opinion on Player?

I originally dropped it after finishing episode 7, but I recently forced myself to pick it back up and finish it solely for the sake of completion. One of my own fatal character flaws is that I love a toxic, angsty romance, so miscommunication is usually tolerable, but this series nearly did me in.

Storytelling and direction considered, it was well done. The characters were developed thoroughly enough that it made the series almost unbearable to watch. Ultimately, I think that is what leaves me so conflicted regarding my overall takeaway from the series: its ability to highlight some of the worst and most vulnerable parts of oneself--parts not entirely unlike my own--depicted in both Ploy and Pun simultaneously.

Ploy and Pun are so frustratingly layered. Their characters are despicable because, when you boil them down, they are really just two hurt individuals showcasing their fear of vulnerability in opposite ways. Objectively, they're unhealthy and horrible for each other, but to the trained--albeit unfortunately, through pattern recognition--eye, their intentions were never malicious. They were just acts of flawed self-preservation.

Ploy has a debilitating avoidant attachment style. Her fear of real intimacy drives her to the point of combative self-sabotage, hurting the one person she refuses to accept that she needs. She isn't comfortable with the intrusion of wanting something that isn't guaranteed or stable, so she mediates that urge with deflection and rejection. That way, the pain that she feels is self-inflicted, proof that she is the one in control of the situation.

Pun has a habit of wandering lost instead of asking for help, in fear of burdening the people in her life with what feels like endless missteps. She feels the need to bend and twist herself to be easier for others to stomach in order to keep the ones she cares about around, even if it means compromising her own feelings by making herself take up less space.

Watching them bounce off one another as they unraveled and devolved made this series skin-clawingly hellish to get through. Its impossible to root for their toxic attachment, yet it manages to make that attachment relatable in a way that makes you question how to feel about them. Though they might have been so awful for each other, the plot storyline outside of their relationship was genuinely so gripping, and the side couple was one you could actually root for.

Overall, it makes this series ??? to rate or rank; it's unbearable to get through, but at the same time, its so raw and real. So far, amidst the start of my GL journey, this is the only series to leave me completely lost on whether i like it or despise it by the end.

I've never felt compelled to write a review on here, not even for the series' I absolutely adore and could spend hours writing praise-filled think pieces on, but here we are. I feel insane. I feel confused. Do I hate this series? Maybe. Do I like this series? Maybe. Did I spend too much time and thought writing this to still not know? Entirely.

Player, they could never make me form a solid opinion on you...

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Know When To Stop

This series was entertaining enough to warrant my watching it through 10 episodes. Sure, the FL wasn't very believable as a hot shot prosecutor, but there were enough heart-string-tugging moments for this old romantic to enjoy the series without too much jumping through the uninteresting side plot segments. As episode 10 was progressing I was thinking this could be the final episode only there wasn't much of a victory lap occurring. As far as I was concerned the ML and FL finally getting together with full knowledge of their fateful early encounters, surrounding by the good folks of Taffy Village, was a fine way to end it. When it was clear the writer had more in mind my first thought was "why?" So I opted to end watching this series at the end of the 10th episode. I didn't want to risk an "Iris" type ending or indulging a writer who felt the need to add to what was already an acceptable story.

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Please, find some decent writers

The whole thing felt like embarking on a rollercoaster of cringe. These days, it seems like the most anticipated shows amount to sad results. It was either abysmally badly written, or they hacked through it for the story to fit into the 12-episode format (I strongly suspect it suffered from both).
This drama's premise makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The basic idea was to match the career-driven heiress with a handsome prince - and, after all, why not. But the story keeps contradicting itself. She swears it's not for status, but later says it is. His apparent motives for agreeing to the match remain perfectly unclear throughout - until, of course, we learn that he's always had a soft spot for his former classmate. But why would she - who ultimately wants to take over the family business empire - marry into a status that prevents her from having a job? All the main characters were hinted to be linked by their past, as teenagers who all attended the same prep school - an angle that is either useless or was given up at some point. Characters who seemed to vaguely remember being acquainted and deeply wary of each other suddenly get teary-eyed at the idea of their steadfast friendship being betrayed. The not-wholly-bad antagonist turns full vilain in the last few episodes, ruining his whole arc and dynamics with the main characters.
All plot twists or dramatic turns are as badly crafted as they are clumsily brought about, in a series of supposedly suspenseful moments so cringey my teeth still hurt (the car chase probably being the most ridiculous) and a few of which were totally dispensable.
Even the cast appeared so embarrassed by the weak plot and their terrible lines they couldn't begin to make it work. Byeon Woo Seok seemed only too aware he was being used at the pretty boy with no depth whatsoever to his character and gave up trying. IU's character is found wanting, and even became redundant in a few episodes, her so-called feistiness amounting to a couple of winks, nods and grunts. They're both so fake the actors couldn't seem to find any ground for chemistry. I'm still wondering what was the point of casting Yoo Soo Bin in this production. While he's been doing his best to make the most of a flimsy character, his comic relief relies on him flailing his arms and running around. His supposed secondary love story brings no spark, interest or chemistry to the mix. The only graceful presence was provided by Gong Seung Yeon who definitely tried to bring more subtleness to the only remotely interesting character of the story.
The disastrous writing is even less comprehensible as the budget obviously wasn't an issue for this production. The indoors and outdoors palace sets were nicely woven into the episodes and they went for a refreshing and visually pleasing blend of traditional costumes mixed with contemporary wardrobes - except for the prince's, stressing the actor's lanky silhouette so much it didn't help his on-screen presence.
I didn't expect much from the show - yes, it seemed predictable from the get-go - and was only hoping to be entertained. I mainly found myself laughing at the show's expense in about every episode.

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