This review may contain spoilers
Take a deep breath, let the delish toxic-love fumes permeate you, its time to get seduced!!!
Damn the high of this series hits you right from the start!!! The delish, toxic, red-flagey and scintillating chemistry ... the push-me-pull-me angst....and the insane face cards...Woooooof!!!A tough undercover cop getting into a 'no-one-must-know' lust-love entanglement with young CEO who seems all shades of doubt, dark, and irresistible charm....with enough elements for conspiracies, scheming family members, big-company board politics, guns, blood, lust and angst-driven love....damn are we done for!!
This lands up right at the top of my watching-now list
Verdict: YESSSSSS!!! Watch!!!
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The Boy and I Who Will Break Up in 100 Days
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A hidden gem
Amidst a wave of BLs that feel increasingly repetitive and obvious, The Boy and I surprises with a mature narrative that deviates from expectations.Japanese series have an incredible ability to turn everyday themes into sensitive works with an impressive script.
I love the device they use in the first episode; the documentary style works really well and creates a unique edge compared to what we usually see. And then, the series surprises us, breaking the narrative into a construction that is sometimes slow, sometimes surprising, and sometimes melancholic.
The characters are very well-developed, and right up to the final scene, the series has something to say. The ending might disappoint, and honestly, at times we really root for them to end up together.
But the message here is more realistic, rawer, and yet, it manages to be beautiful and full of subtleties.
I wouldn't complain about a second season showing them together again. Without a doubt, it leaves you wanting more.
Definitely deserves more recognition.
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Bittersweet Love review
In a world full of over-sweetened romances, this series stands out in its somewhat ’90s brutality....
One more thing I must really appreciate. Actors have a particular problem with this, especially when they are so-called established actors. There are these moments where there is nothing prescribed for a character to do, think, or feel. So they are standing there as a person, not as the character. Here, with Guan Yue especially, but really with both actors, we can see that even when he leaves after a hug, in those milliseconds, in those unscripted steps, he is still being the character. Fan Fan’s mind is still running through his eyes and actions.
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This review may contain spoilers
The drama had potential, but it feels bland & neutered.
Every year I'm worried that tightening censorship & by association genre specific mandatory content will permanently prevent me from enjoying new cdramas. While hopefully we are not quite there yet, to me it feels like Genius Girlfriend is skirting that line. There is so much educational content & social engineering in this show that it's crazy. I think the first 18 high school episodes are largely poisoned by this & were barely enjoyable to me. It's not just the endless messaging about what high school students should be doing / focusing on, but also the entire setting feels super fake, written -or perhaps rather rewritten- by adults that have long forgotten what their high school life had been like. I'm okay with an unrealistic fantasy high school setting, but the fun police hit these kids a wee bit too hard & they were not really allowed to do anything other than the one off forming of a temporary band called Class Break of all things.17 out of 28 episodes is high school, so I'll keep referring to this as a high school cdrama. It's technically only 60% of the show, but there are flashbacks & the adult life is also based on the high school friend group. Though it's certainly one positive aspect of the drama that we left the teen years behind earlier than average in this genre.
It's rare that the ML is the dumber, less assertive one in a high school setting, despite all the negative sentiments that can be found in this overly verbose review, this makes me curious about the novel.
Unlike in most prior high school cdramas I've seen, there is basically no romance in the high school era. The boys have crushes & their own small rivalries, but there is no slow burn, since there is no burn at all. It's friends forever spam until the time skip, not even mutual attraction is allowed now I suppose. Romance is not mandatory in a drama's high school part, I get that, it's just super unrealistic that the girls wouldn't even have crushes that they would've discussed among themselves and let's not forget the title is Genius Girlfriend, not Genius Friend Girl. Nonetheless even if I completely ignored the lack of romance & tried to enjoy bro/sis-mances, it wouldn't be great, since most events & dialog in the high school era were rather bland & filled with educational purpose. Tian Xi Wei's own earlier drama `Lovely Us` is a great example to demonstrate how to make a good vibe drama in a high school setting, or we could look at how much more vibrant & livelier `A Love So Beautiful` is & could come up with at least 10 more examples.
Turns out Hu Yi Tian is too old to pull off a high school tenth / eleventh grader. Not only is this immersion breaking by itself, he also has a lot of awkward body language that makes this even worse.
Anyway mostly the cast is very talented, doing a brilliant job, but it's not quite enough. The sibling
Let me address the adult life part of the show. This by itself in a vacuum would be a solid 8 maybe even 9 out of 10. There are some minor issues here and there, like they wasted an entire epi on the twenty something FL not understanding why her heart is beating so fast in ML's vicinity, which imo is one of the stupidest tropes in Asian dramas, because while sometimes adult women can be unsure about romantic feelings, they are never unsure about being turned on, or being attracted to someone, shocking info I know. FL's post grad? plot is also really weird & filled with propaganda content. I suppose it's important messaging that even geniuses should know their place for the greater good or whatever.
Anyway I went a bit off tangent here, what I really wanted to say is that the adult era is enjoyable to watch. There are many touching scenes & the happy ending is decently long & overall quite well thought out.
Though I have to say I found the Jin Bai Hui X Lin Ze Qiu couple way more interesting than the main one. Of course it's a minor gripe that the toxic parents had a mini redemption scene. Suppose should be at least happy that they were allowed to register their marriage without approval.
Finally let's talk about AI. I'm very pro AI compared to the average population. I think it can be an amazing tool if used well with patience and restraint. In this drama however AI is used really sloppily without any tact. The quality of image / video generation is low, but that could be a budget issue, I'm alright with low quality special effects too, I consider myself very understanding in this regard, but some really awful AI imagery made it into the drama. No self respecting director / producer should have allowed these, since it wouldn't have been difficult to keep prompting for better results. Right away the entire intro is completely AI generated & mostly it's quite fine, but there are two scenes in it that are garbage, one is an abomination featuring LP records & the other is the mechanical device with rotating elements, scary stuff really..
I think 7 out of 10 is fair, though I cannot believe what a bloated review I ended up writing about a 7/10, food for thought, ha!
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The Sun from Another Star Special Episode
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Find a man who will slap ghosts for you!
Oh, Arthit, the man that you are!Fun fact: I was never keen on Arthit in the first series. I found him egotistical and brash. That changed once we saw him fall in love with Daotok. How that sweet boy became Arthit’s entire sun, stars, and universe.
As I said in my Besides the Sky special episode review, I feel blessed that we got one more episode from these wonderful characters. Seeing how much they still love each other and would do anything for the other’s happiness warms my romance-loving heart, because with any wonderful show and excellent characters, I easily get attached.
I loved this special episode – it’s actually my favorite of them all – and I will always think fondly of this world and go back to it for re-watches.
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Now we say goodbye for real this time.
Cute! Cute! Cute!How many times have we said ‘goodbye’ to these characters now?
Still, I could watch these slice-of-life episodes forever because I grew attached to Tonfah and Phoon.
It’s always sad to let characters go back to the book once a show is over, but we know these two will always have devoted love for each other.
I feel spoiled that we were given this special episode.
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Wonderful and romantic Cdrama. Interesting plot.
I loved this Cdrama and will probably rewatch 3 or 4 times. I liked it so much. I have become a big fan of He Yu. He was perfect in the role funny, clever but also vulnerable and very handsome. All the acting was good but he was the best. Story was not predictable. It had all the elements to make a good CDrama.the only thing that bothered me although it was important to the plot was how mean she was to him at first.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
When a feel-good, wholesome show comes along.
Oh my gosh, my heart is overflowing with how much I enjoyed this show.It was the perfect amount of feel-good and wholesomeness.
I couldn’t have chosen better actors to portray these roles. I love a great group of friends when it’s shown clearly in every episode, and I truly felt their friendship bond, to the point I wasn’t sure how I’d feel once we moved from the school era, but the show managed to retain those connections between them all.
I don’t get the ML hate I see in comments and reviews. I thought he was the perfect Jiang Yu Bai, who was just always quietly and understated by Lin Zhi Xia’s side, first as her only friend and then as something more. I loved how he looked at her and how diligently he worked on his own. I hated how he missed all those years with his friends through no fault of his own. No other ML could have looked at her the way he does. His love confession was one of the sweetest I’ve ever seen; my heart is still fluttering over it. If I could have these two lead actors in a show together again, I’d be a happy gal. Lin Zhi Xia will be one of my favorite characters.
Jin Bai Hui would have done better cutting ties with her parents altogether. I can’t stand when we’re given demon parents in a show. They’re absolute control freaks, and one little crying scene at the end is supposed to make the viewers think they’ve changed their ways. Hell no. Girl, you’re in for a lifetime of them trying to control your married life! If they can’t see that Lin Ze Qiu is the best man ever for their daughter, it’s their loss! I have to give a special mention to Lin Ze Qiu. He was a fantastic big brother. Every scene he was in just stole my heart. I wish his role had been bigger. (Also loved the Lin parents!)
Oh, Shen Fu Xuan. I loved his arc. (I did not like his grown-up hair, however; he looked like Eddie Munster lol) Though it was obvious he would never be the leading man in Lin Zhi Xia’s life, the scene when he finally let his crush on her go felt bittersweet. But it was even crueller to kill off his little patient. I know not every secondary character needs a romantic ending, but I felt his loss in my heart. What is it about this actor? He’s always playing the unlucky-in-love second ML. For the love of Zeus, please give him a happy leading role so the curse can be broken, lol.
The drawings at the end of each episode were just a lovely finishing touch that truly makes this drama stand out. If you’re searching for a low-angst show, definitely give this a shot (and I’ll say it again, the ML was great in this role! His proposal and love confession are worth the watch; you’ll be swooning your eyes out!)
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Worst Cdrama I have watched. Acting bad for both leads. Story -directing bad too
I couldn’t get past episode 4. I felt embarrassed for the actors it was so bad. The FL was the worst. story was stupid. Male lead seemed embarrassed since he is good in his other dramas. Also Fl looked much older than ML.. as the series progressed it kept getting worse. In one scene the FL was drunk and kept pouring wine on herself as she kept lurching in circles and then fell. Male lead was watching her as if she was adorable.Was this review helpful to you?
No-no-no-no-not bad! (pls pun intended)
It was pretty good! I loved the sibling dynamic (LZQ, the brother you are), and their friendships are genuinely heartwarming. The leads do have chemistry, even if it wasn't full-on fireworks—still completely enjoyable to see them together. Emotional scenes are definitely TXW's forte; she really had me cutting onions over here 😂 When she cries, I cry.It kind of reminds me of the past. The adolescent years are always bittersweet, with regrets and fond memories completely intertwined. Now that I’m getting older, I understand things better and appreciate the little things more. It makes you want to cherish the time we have left with the people we love before time consumes what's left. Life is a journey, after all.
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This review may contain spoilers
Waste of time
Just don't.The comedy was bare.
The acting wasn't enough to justify watching this.
I felt like I wasted my time. Unsatisfied isn't enough to describe my feelings.
It was a nothing burger. The guardian spirits were truly unneccessary and without them the plot could have worked just as much, if not better - because they're taking over the potential romance itself.
The constant bickering till the very end was irritating, it feels like for every pull there was between the main roles, there were 3 push backs just because.
Save yourself don't watch it unless you're extremely bored.
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This review may contain spoilers
It was clearly rigged
From the beginning it was clear that the judges wanted Sobin to win, despite her doing almost nothing, the bare minimum. From the first round instead of letting someone else to pass, they let her since it was the first thay gave a prediction, despite the fact that the other shaman gave more details.In the next round if it wasn´t for Seolwha she wouldn´t have reach the semi finals.
The producers were strongly against tarot readers when they were only answering the client´s questions and not yapping non stop like shamans.
Seolwha and Sobin did not deserve to be in the final. And bringing back two eliminated was not fair and costed the possibility of the youngest shaman to go to the semi finals when he got it right everything.
The winner only passed because he´s a man and he signs when the "connects with the spirits" instead of the girl that said everything that the client wanted.
I feel bad for the people that believe in this and actually pays money to the professional scammers, but at least many people saw that the fortune tellers tend to get their stuff wrong, especially shamans.
The second client was so lame trying to act as possessed lol
It´s good for killing time only.
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This review may contain spoilers
May be in the minority, but I loved this!
A Joseon-era villainess wakes up in the body of a modern day actress. She crosses paths w/ an arrogant chaebol heir, igniting an intense love-hate romance that transcends centuries. Will this duo continue to clash or will they finally find safety in each other’s arms?I was immediately addicted to this duo & was hooked on their every interaction.
The chemistry. 🔥
The yearning. 🫠
The humor. 🤣
The chaos.🤪
This is the kind of story I love. Ones with Leads who :
- are both strong individuals
- give major power couple vibes
- are captivated by each other
- are equally loyal & protective
- fully trust & cherish one another
- only ever have eyes for each other
- bicker & flirt in all the best ways
This couple totally delivered on all that & more! I loved the FL’s character growth as she adapted to her new surroundings as well as the maturing of the ML, who became the standard of men in love. This is enemies-to-lovers done right. And wow, what a journey. I legit swooned so hard & laughed so much. This was a surprising gem & I adored their happy ending 🫶🏻
The unveiling of their past connection happened at a good pace. The plot twist on her identity in the end was surprising. The secondary characters wins & losses were all well deserved.
I didn’t expect to enjoy this even half as much as I did. I wasn’t planning to watch it as the plot felt overdone & I thought it’d be too drama filled for me. And I’ve been in a serious kdrama slump lately so I’ve been sticking to cdramas instead. I am so glad I changed my mind & gave this a chance because this was freakin’ fantastic!
_________\\__________//________
-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-
.
…
….
……
The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.6💋
- Together : ep.8 👩🏻❤️👨🏻
- BreakUp: Nope 💝
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The Little Soup Princess
Was this a C-BL for the ages? Not really, no.To be perfectly honest with you, I started watching this simply because I had a bit of free time. And I stayed watching it because, by God, was it fascinating/comical to witness how over-the-top pathetic/tragic Lu Xiao Fan and his life were!
The poor penniless pauper sold off by his family to live with a bunch of snooty elites as a Little Soup Princess in the attic, studying when directed to, and cleaning, keeping house, and making copious amounts of soup and clinging with sad puppy-dog-like eyes to the one person who showed him any kindness while dealing with his old family trying to use him/his new position to their advantage, his new family looking down their noses at him, and being bullied and constantly accused of being a suck-up by his peers.
It was astonishingly laughable because just when you thought he couldn't sink lower, he would! His fragile spine would bend yet again, and he'd just stand there and wordlessly take it. The pathetic multitudes he contained? Simply astounding, I tell you!
Meanwhile, his "romance" with Bei Lu Qing was always fluctuating between possession and distance because neither he nor Bei Lu Qing would pry open their mouths enough to talk about what was going on between them.
But they somehow had chemistry between them, and when this pathetic man's spine straightened? It was glorious!
I may sound like I'm putting this drama down, but I seriously enjoyed myself SO much! Clear soup and all!
I recommend it!
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