Reviews

Not as cute as Only Boo and a red-flag character...

As always when "New" Sijaw is directing, most series glide into childishness and cringe. In this case it was more subdued then in most other series (Fourever You Part 1, Perfect 10 Liners) but it's still there especially in the first two episodes. There are times when childish beheaviour is appropiate but in most cases it's not.

The script is a mixed bag. The solution of the time-travel was a bit weak and Mr. Redflag (Van) side-couple felt a bit unrealistic. How he handles the situation is dispicable but also the script was quite lazy depicting it. Also there was not the budget to "age" the actors to make them distinguishable from now and the future selfs. So the production is ok, but it looks constraint by the few locations they had.

So overall it's on the "good" side of BLs we had last year. At least Sea "Junior" did improve a lot with his acting which is also a plus for me. Keen has the talent, it looks like it's easy for him. I will not criticize too much in this case, it's pleasant enough to watch and many will have fun with it.

Read More

From a rich spoiled kid to letting go of past regrets to becoming a new energy business boss

This is a good show. It really is. Despite my initial frustrations at the FL. Nie Xiguang’s lack of awareness and archetypal spoiled rich kid. the second half of the show was extremely good except for the last episode. This is the reason why I gave it a 7.5 because I feel giving it an 8 endorses this as a must watch but I can’t say that because of how they handled the last episode but I will get to that.

Our ML. Yin Lusen is a Doctor who has a car accident which ruins his left hand so he can’t operate anymore and goes into business with the backing of his powerful and influential family, even though, as his mothers son, he doesn’t have any inheritance rights. The FL is a college student also from a very influential and powerful family.

My initial frustration is the set up for the show where we see the spoiled rich kid female lead going into the workplace where she’s working alongside the ML yet she shows him no respect is constantly defensive and the atmosphere is pretty hostile if not a little toxic.

It turns out he’s always been in love with her and because her father’s first love’s daughter has been using her name for clout he misunderstands that his accident was caused because she wanted to see him and he was a little resentful to her because she never visited him in hospital but it turns out it was all a misunderstanding due to that wicked stepdaughter trope.

Anyway, one of my other really frustrating points about this show and I don’t know if this was by design but it feel again like another status quo propaganda piece from China. If you’re rich and powerful then anybody beneath you is not worthy of you. That was the impression you got from the 2ML, even though the FL had been pursuing him and he did like her, he could never tell her because he didn’t think he was worthy of her because he was from a poor family.

What was interesting after she started dating the FL and there was a big confrontation with the 2ML she said something that really disturbed me.

After he was too late in confessing to her and became a bit obsessed and mad, she made the point that she would’ve chosen the ML anyway because they were always going to be together. I don’t know if this was intentional, but it really reinforced that trope of status and power only belong together and if you’re below that you can just forget about it.

Anyway, we see the FL going from this very spoiled shielded up bringing little girl, with a stunning lack of self-awareness into this slow burn growth arc, becoming a powerful business woman with clear goals and ability. Our ML went back into medicine and became a leading figure in his field.

The main problem why I had to deduct points is because of the last episode. The time jumps just got totally out of hand.
It’s like the writers forgot that this was set around 2012 2013 and they needed to catch up so they just decided to throw it all into the last episode.

Firstly, we jumped two years to their wedding and we watched that for 30 seconds and I thought, okay, that’s fine.
Then incredibly, we jumped 10 years to 2025 and I thought, okay that’s fine, I guess, because the technology that they were trying to develop was in its infancy so they needed to catch up to modern times and I thought, fair enough. Just about. We watched that for about a minute.

Then inexplicably, we jumped another three years to 2028.

I’m not really sure why they did that because all these people now are near their 40s but of course, haven’t aged a day since 2012,

The other thing that slightly bothered me was the FL was in Saudi Arabia signing a big deal for this new energy business and when she came back I got the impression she’s been away for quite awhile because when they were talking to their little daughter, she wasn’t aware of her academic development, which is a bit troubling.
Also this last episode plodded along and it was just the two of them reminiscing about the good old days.

They made a bit of a mess of it so I can only give it a 7.5 as it is good but it is definitely not a must watch.

Read More

Masterpiece in the making. The communication and teamwork is amazing

This drama is not soapy at all... I love it.
I love the communication between ML and FL, e.g. start of ep 3. Everything is said, and it is said in a ... polite and sophisticated way, to the point. They are both smart and observant

This drama started so fluffy, flaunting the good looks of ML, but it turned into ... well.. how to call it? psychological melodrama or psychological thriller is not the right word ... there is no sticky feeling in this drama... ... This drama has a HEALTHY vibe ....

This drama is about ppl communicating honestly, using the communication to learn something about the other and about themselves! being self observant and realizing how they feel and think, and saying it and acting on it

it turned into an extremely deep drama about how people communicate and grow

I love ep 3 it is so meaningful and so deep, the script is great, and acting is stellar.

Read More

Laws of Attraction — A Story That Respects Love, Justice, and Reality

Laws of Attraction is not a BL that tries to please everyone — and that is exactly why it is exceptional.
At its core, this drama is about injustice, power, and the cost of survival in a harsh world. Romance is not used as an escape from these realities, but as a force that tests, exposes, and ultimately transforms the characters.
Charn begins as a morally compromised lawyer — intelligent, self-aware, and deeply flawed. The series never excuses his actions, and that is one of its greatest strengths. Instead of romanticizing his behavior, the story forces him to confront the consequences of his ideology: by helping the powerful, he only made the rich stronger and the innocent weaker. His redemption is not sudden or easy — it is painful, gradual, and earned. He loses things. He feels guilt. He changes not because love magically saves him, but because love no longer allows him to lie to himself.
Tinn is equally compelling. He starts as a man with strong moral clarity, representing justice and anger that is fully justified. What makes this drama special is that Tinn also changes. He does not become corrupt — he becomes realistic. By the end, he understands that the world is not black and white, and that protecting the people you love sometimes means accepting harsh truths. Their relationship evolves into something beautifully morally grey, balanced, and deeply human.
The romance in this series is often called “reserved,” but I strongly disagree. Romance here is not about constant physical intimacy — it is about trust, restraint, loyalty, and emotional connection. The lack of rushed kisses or NC scenes is intentional and necessary. Intimacy before moral alignment would have felt wrong, and the series understands that. The yearning, the resistance, and the slow emotional closeness made the love feel stronger, not weaker.
I also want to praise the second couple. At first, I did not expect to care about them — but their storyline surprised me. The show allows us to understand their pain and motivations without excusing their bad behavior, which again shows the maturity of the writing. By the end, I found myself rooting for both couples equally — something that rarely happens for me.
Yes, the special effects are sometimes cheap, but honestly? They did not matter. The strength of the plot, character development, and emotional weight far outweighed any technical flaws.
In the end, Laws of Attraction delivered something rare:
a BL with realistic stakes, ethical complexity, and love that grows through accountability rather than fantasy.
This drama did not just entertain me — it resonated deeply with how I see the world.
That is why it earned a 10/10 and a place in my perfect BL list.

Read More

Season Three Returns With A Fervor that is Unprecedented!!

Taxi Driver is back with Season Three. The taxi is better, bolder & darker!

Obviously, avid fans were ecstatic when Season Three was announced. Once the deluxe taxi’s meter starts running, it doesn’t stop until justice is served. This season was no different; assailants were caught or even punished harshly based on their degree of offense. Somehow, the show stems past the earlier seasons; the storytelling is crisp, grittier and accentuated. As the main protagonist, Lee Je Hoon tons different hats; his costumes are quite colorful and sometimes hilarious. But Kim Do Gi’s personality thrives on these variant avatars that he undertakes while delivering justice to the poor victims. This season, Pyo Ye Jin seems more settled in her roles as An Go Eun; I loved watching her chirpy mannerisms while investigating criminals. Teammates Kim Eui Sung, Jang Hyuk Jin & Bae Yoo Ram complete this perfect potboiler.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/taxi-driver-season-3-series-review/

Read More

Bland narrative, bland directing, other than great fighting.scene, there is nothing this drama tried to offer. there is enough material the story will become engaging, but it's never materialized. Non of the character relationship has some short of memorable. All the actor here are underutilized. This is one of Gongjun worse performances I've seen. But i blame the writers for make his character insipid with no meaty material to work with. Talking about Sumuyu principal colluded with assasin world on paper is interesting enough but never been challenged and has great consequences to him that make me care about the conflict. . This drama is just has so many character with little substance. At times this drama is just too obviously preachy.

Read More

Gel Boys changed my brain chemistry

Gel Boys genuinely changed something in my brain. I went in expecting a show and came out feeling like I’d witnessed a piece of real life. This wasn’t just refreshing — it was electric. From the very first scene, it felt different. No stiff direction, no obvious scripting, no forced moments. Just people existing, feeling, messing up, loving, breathing. It felt so real it almost hurt. Every interaction felt accidental in the best way, like the camera just happened to be there while something important was unfolding. The pauses? Devastating. The laughter? Warm. The chaos? Perfect. Nothing was polished, nothing was overly explained, and that’s what made it so beautiful. It trusted us to feel instead of telling us how to feel — and that trust paid off in the most incredible way. I loved how Gel Boys let emotions linger. It didn’t rush through moments or wrap them up neatly. It sat in the awkwardness, the longing, the confusion — all the things that make life messy and human. The characters didn’t feel like roles being played; they felt like people I somehow knew, people I cared about way too fast. By the end, I wasn’t ready to let go. It didn’t feel like a series ending — it felt like saying goodbye to a chapter of my own life. Gel Boys is raw, intimate, chaotic, and honest in a way that’s so rare it feels almost unreal. This is the kind of show you don’t just watch — you carry it with you.
No notes. No skips. Absolute masterpiece. 💙✨

Read More

Less Plot, More Thought

Death’s Game is a show whose central message I fundamentally disagree with. From the outset, its moral framework feels shallow, heavy-handed, and more interested in preaching than in genuine exploration. That said, my biggest issue isn’t even the message itself—it’s how quickly the show abandons whatever thematic confidence it initially had in favor of spectacle and artificial stakes.

The series begins with a promising psychological fantasy tone, flirting with existential ideas like fate versus free will, personal accountability, and death as an inevitability. For a brief moment, it feels introspective and willing to trust the audience to sit with uncomfortable questions. Even though I didn’t agree with what the show was trying to say, I could at least tell the writers believed in it.

Then the show introduces a villain—and everything collapses.

That single decision triggers a major tonal shift. What could have remained a character-driven, philosophical exploration suddenly becomes a crime thriller. Instead of centering the protagonist’s internal struggle, the narrative externalizes conflict. Accountability shifts outward. Reflection is replaced with reaction. The protagonist stops looking inward and starts chasing a “big bad,” flattening the very message the show initially seemed committed to.

This is especially frustrating because the strongest antagonist was already there: Death itself. Death, as an existential force, was far more compelling than any human villain could ever be. It was thematic, inevitable, and deeply unsettling. You could feel that, at some point, the writers genuinely believed in this idea. Unfortunately, they didn’t trust it to be interesting enough. They chose spectacle over substance, drama over meaning.

That lack of trust bleeds into the characters—particularly the main character. The first episode presents him as intelligent, driven, and calculating. But from there, his writing becomes wildly inconsistent. He knows he could die at any moment, yet does nothing to prevent it. He makes no real plans, avoids sensible decisions, and reduces his motivation almost entirely to money, and later, revenge. The loved ones he supposedly left behind—central to the show’s moral guilt-tripping—barely cross his mind unless he physically runs into them by chance or is reminded of the by something in his current life. It’s ironic, considering the entire premise is meant to force him to confront the consequences of his suicide.

The supporting cast is equally underwhelming, which is shocking given how stacked it is. Many capable actors give committed performances, but the writing boxes their characters into simplistic roles: selfish and greedy, or kind-hearted and doomed. We spend so much time anchored to the main character that everyone else feels narratively disposable. Even Death—the only character with real presence in the show—has so little screen time that her prominence in the marketing feels misleading.

To make matters worse, the show is suffering from a severe identity crisis. By the time it ends, it’s hard to say what Death’s Game is even trying to be. Is it action? Fantasy? Comedy? Romance? Horror? Psychological thriller? Crime drama? High school drama? Somehow, it attempts all of these within a handful of episodes, resulting in tonal whiplash rather than genre-blending. Nothing is given room to breathe.

The plot also prioritizes shock value above all else. Deaths are sudden, often illogical, and sometimes outright nonsensical. Instead of feeling tragic or meaningful, they feel engineered to surprise.

In the end, Death’s Game is all vibes and very little substance. It gestures at depth without truly engaging with its ideas, coming across as shallow and preachy rather than profound. I’ve genuinely never seen such a stacked cast wasted on such a nothingburger of a plot.

Still, credit where it’s due: the set pieces are visually impressive, and the production value is strong. Unfortunately, aesthetics can’t compensate for weak characterization and confused storytelling.

Overall, this was a lackluster experience. The show wants to be deep, but it doesn’t seem to fully understand the topics it’s tackling—and worse, it doesn’t trust its audience to sit with anything real.

Read More

A love story where two hearts becoming each other's comfort

Just finished the last episode and it delivers exactly what its title promises a warm love story that shines through with emotion and heartfelt moments. This slow burning romance between Lin Yusen and Nie Xiguang captivated me from start to finish, demonstrating how a patient and steady love story can be the most rewarding.

The story follows the cheerful and positive Nie Xiguang, a business school student whose journey begins with an unrequited crush. After graduation and some heartbreak, she joins Guangyu Photovoltaic where she meets Lin Yusen, a former top neurosurgeon quietly working at his family's solar company following a career changing accident. What unfolds is a beautiful tale of mutual healing, personal growth, and finding the love you truly deserve.

The first few episodes focus heavily on Xiguang’s college life which is a crucial setup of her character display and the base of the story. It allows her character to grow, move on from her past, and be ready for the mature and steady love that Lin Yusen offers. What makes this drama so special is the natural progression of their relationship. Lin Yusen is the definition of a green flag. His pursuit of Xiguang is refreshingly mature as he gives her the space she needs, shows up when she needs him most and loves her with patience and respect. Their chemistry feels authentic and comfortable like sunshine filtering through a gentle forest. Song Weilong and Zhao Jinmai bring these characters to life with such wonderful and convincing performances.

I particularly appreciated how the drama shows the contrast between a love that makes you doubt yourself and a love that helps you flourish. The way Xiguang feels at ease and confident with Yusen is a central theme. This also applies to her friendships contrasting the supportive environment at work with her less trustworthy college friends. The supporting characters add wonderful depth like Jiang Rui who is the hilariously protective cousin, and Xiguang's decisive mother and the entire warm work family at Guangyu.

My only minor wish was for more screen time dedicated to their life as an official couple as the 'getting together' phase takes up a large part of the story. However, the final episode showing their happy married life with their daughter was a perfect conclusion that many modern dramas fail to deliver.

Shine On Me proves that sometimes the most beautiful love stories are the quiet ones where two people simply bring out the best in each other and become each other's comfort and strength. A truly delightful drama that will leave you feeling warm long after watching.

Read More

The Revenge of Repetition

Before season 3 of Taxi Driver began airing, I remember reading an article, I think a feature piece, on Lee Je Hoon and his thoughts returning to the series. Now, I may be mis-quoting him, but I think he talked about the general pitfalls of creating multi-season dramas - like Taxi Driver.

~~

According to me, these can range from anywhere between tiny changes or big overhauls like
1. Changes in storytelling format
2. Changes to the cast and/or crew
3. Réduction/increase in episodes
4. Lack of story to tell
5. A complete loss of identity and essence
And the funny thing is, Taxi Driver did not commit any of these faux-pas, it's been the exact same from the beginning, so what happened?

Maybe it's that - maybe it's because they've been executing the same thing for 48 episodes now. But that's not what let me down about this season. The formula was a little different from it's direct predecessor, and a lot different from the very first season (atleast for me), without losing track of what the show was initially and will always be about.

The heart and soul of the show is obviously and outwardly, revenge - but it's also about retribution, growth and second chances. The Rainbow Taxi team is the core of the story, and all three emotions and the elements I would associate with them are completely intact in this storytelling operandi.

So what was missing? I'd say.. a little bit of magic.

The thing that made Taxi Driver, Taxi Driver, was what was missing. The formulaic narration apparently made the writers think extra hard about what they wanted to do, and in all the effort they put, I think they forgot to ask themselves if they enjoyed writing the story, and if we would enjoy watching it. It's a very solid effort, you can tell there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into this by everyone who worked on it, but whether those were happy tears, I cannot confirm.

The excitement, the rage, the sadness and the relief - all emotions I felt prior - felt tamped down. But the worst part was, it's like they tried so hard to invoke them in spades, but fell extremely short.

Each individual case was new, the indication that this form of storytelling was popular was obvious through the immense scale of filming locations and the sheer amount of celebrity cameos, from popular Hallyu stars, Dorama regulars, and even guest roles by actors whose works I'm incredibly familiar with, and that got the blood rushing.
The cinematography was vivid and fast paced, the acting was on point and all the individual components, adjudicated as individuals, left nothing to crave.
But as a whole, a sequel and in retrospect - they left much to the imagination.

I still enjoyed watching it but it was hard not to be bogged down by the same things that bogged down the drama. Lee Je Hoon was amazing as always, and so were the rest of the cast, all the leads and guest actors.

But unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed.

Read More

started it good, but fell off

Toxic series of the year! It started with much potential, and fell off but to be fair the story itself is really hard to watch. The acting is fine, Hao Yiran is really good with his emotion and deliveries, Yunqi on the other hand did well despite being rookie and has great potential for improvement.
The biggest problem of this series is the ENDING, It felt like it was so rushed. One thing FX needed the most is nit YSL but a therapy. Also them being together is not needed.
Overall, series did great but no rewatch value. A new series with YunQi and Yiran with better plot is a must!

Read More

12 Letters: A Perfect Tapestry of Selfless Love

12 Letters is a flawless masterpiece, intertwining 1991's resilient teens with 2026's linked adults through magical letter exchanges. At its beating heart, the romance captivates with profound selflessness—the leads' unwavering support, quiet sacrifices, and tender devotion craft a bond that's deeply moving, natural, and inspiring.

Their chemistry ignites effortlessly, every selfless act elevating interactions into pure emotional poetry. Those giving, heartfelt moments beautifully showcase love's noblest essence, leaving a lasting glow.

Beyond that, the story's realism shines; strip the fantasy, and lives unfold vividly authentic. 1991's characters burst with rich depth, each a fully realized, relatable soul. Episode 8 delivers a brilliant emotional peak, amplifying these selfless themes masterfully.

Subtle side plots and intensities add enriching layers, while the letters weave clever "what ifs" into a seamless whole. Exceptional script and production values make it transcendent.

Blind viewing was a revelation—must-watch for cdramas blending angsty historical grit with modern resonance. Selflessness here redefines relationship goals. Absolute perfection! 10/10.

Read More