Reviews

That's what mother can do for their kids.

A heartwarming story of a mother and son who are haunted by the past, affecting their life views and resulting in misunderstanding and heartbreak.

This drama shows that no matter what, a mother will always be with their son. Through ups and downs. As usual, great job for all the characters. The characters, both the leads and those around them, have excelled in their roles.

I also love the romance part of the story. Mi Joo is a wonderful woman, and Kang Ho, played by Lee Do Hyun, always smashes the character he plays. He was such a great actor.

Overall, you will cry, laugh, and everything in between. What a good watch indeed.

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wish it was told in chronological order

Overall: I was intrigued with the set up, but felt disconnected from the romance because it was not told in chronological order and the plot dragged at times. 11 episodes about 45 min each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/interminable-episode-1-15snedolols?lang=en_us (spoiler for the ending under a spoiler comment)

Content Warnings: past (murders, suicides, violence, blood, held against will, unwanted public outing, slap, manipulation); current (attempted murder, near suicide, manipulation, sexual harassment/assault, drugging, near murder, beaten up, death)

Watch Suggestions (to focus on the romance, in approximate chronological order)
- episode 1 watch 15:45-19:40
- episode 2 watch 7:30-9:35
- episode 3 watch 23-25:40
- episode 4 watch 25-28
- episode 6 watch 37-45:10
- episode 7 watch the beginning to 11:25, 12:45-15:15, 16:20-18:45, 22-29:48, 32-35:55
- episode 8 watch 34-42:30 and 46-49:20
- episode 9 watch 28:40-31
- episode 10 watch 13,15-14.45
- episode 11 watch 36-40:30
- episode 12 watch 4-11:25
- episode 12 watch 23-24:30

1947
- start episode 3 at 30 minutes and end at 51
- episode 4 watch 17:30-20, 43-49:15
- episode 5 watch 36-40
- episode 12 watch 59-1hr 1min 20 (or can watch until the very end for another time jump but I think it's better before the time jump)

What I Liked
- historical eras (1912 past, 1947 present)
- styling
- mystery element
- a supportive female character

Room For Improvement
- the biggest difficulty for me was I couldn't connect to the romance because we just kept seeing small little snippets of their relationship in the past instead of the full development of their past relationship. Then we spent such a long time in the past that I couldn't connect to the present 1947)
- had a slow start and dragged, then the finale went really fast
- the odd grunting in ep 5
- multiple love triangles
- wannabe evil wife cliche
- a character in the past was way too pushy and ignored boundaries multiple times
- a character almost always wore shorts and suspenders so he looked child-like in 1947
- in 1947 they made an odd choice but at least the couple talked about things
- side couple went nowhere
- the political drama was resolved off screen

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Yakuza... BL!?

This took me by surprise in the best way. I knew from the first scene it would be on the dark and gritty side rather than romantic and soft, which makes perfect sense considering this is a Yakuza plot.

For six episodes each 25 minutes long, I was deeply invested in this story. The feel of it is sad, intense, and quiet. The outcome was unpredictable given the violence that surrounded them. The character dynamic is definitely a unique; Odajima is ordered to kill Kataoka, an admired and compassionate man. The more time they spend together, the more Odajima struggles to complete his task, as they both end up learning more and more about one another, uncovering their unfortunate upbringings. They built a great bond despite their tragic situation that caused them to meet. Kataoka brought light into Odajima's dark life despite his 7 year long grudge against him, and Odajima brought meaning to his. I'm very satisfied with the ending, it was a beautiful series featuring dark themes. Their kiss scenes were to die for and I'd recommend this to anyone who likes dark romance.

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Unpredictable in all the right ways

A very fun series full of sparkle and character. The premise is quite simple, but it's perfectly fitting to be developed in four episodes and is well executed. Comedy is the dominant genre, covering at least 90% of the series, minus a few more sentimental and heart-warming scenes—not anything dramatic, though. The humour is really good in my opinion, but since it leans more toward slapstick, it might not be everyone's cup of tea. As for the characters, they were all very distinctive figures with their own sense of style and unique personalities, adding charm to the series.

Regarding the acting, Neo being a veteran of comedy and arguably the best in the genre out of all the GMMTV actors with a lot of experience, naturally nailed the role. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well the rest of the cast portrayed their eccentric personas as well. Their deliveries were excellent. I was also happy to see Marc for the first time break away from the pattern of his typecast roles and showcase a more interesting side of his acting in this role.

Overall, I do recommend this show to people who look for something completely unserious to watch and have a good time. It's a very solid mini series with the episodes being neither draggy nor tiresome.

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The perfect Korean short BL drama

YOU MAKE ME DANCE
Korea 2021 - Review

Another oldie review, and the kind I like a lot: Korean BL dramas. Why? The Koreans have this special touch to make short BLs which resemble the theatre from of the "Kammerspiel" - chamber play or chamber drama. I am rating a short in great part according to the aim, and a chamber play has a totally different goal that a grand series. It contains a short story with very few actors, usually a short time. Everything is limited and it reflects the beautiful art which Korea and Japan are so famous for: minimalism. To express much with very little.

In that it were 8 Episodes of around 15 minutes each, a story between a dancer in debt and his debt collector and their falling in love and overcoming difficulties. It was not one of those loud Thai BLs with BINGS and sounds and all, but a slow paced drama unfolding in its own perfection. The display of two people coming together and overcoming odds was like this minimalist, but not too little that brought this small serious IMVPO to a near perfect short series to watch. Like the genre of Korean short BL it was tender and had a harmony of its own like a center of gravity where any more would have been too much and any less to little. Like in dancing. Or cooking.

It is one of the few BLs I can clearly think to watch again sometimes, something I rarely feel about BLs, even when I like them, and most of them are these small, short Korean Chamber Play Dramas like this. As such measured on its aim and me having nothing much left to wish at the end, give dare to rate it a

9/10
Oldie Classic

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I love it when a series doesn't take itself too seriously, that's precisely where its charm lies. I had a lot of fun with all the chaos and silliness, as the show irreverently and skillfully played with absurdity and exaggeration, satirizing the cult of image and digital superficiality. But the true highlight of the series is undoubtedly its cast. Everyone delivered charismatic and vibrant performances, but Fluke, Lego, Yacht, and Neo as the Air Dolls stole the show with their extravagant costumes, energetic delivery, and ability to balance humor with more dramatic moments. Mick's evolution as an actor deserves special mention: his performance felt much more fluid and authentic.

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Retribution 101

The Double could easily be a daily soap. Thankfully it is not and it is much more entertaining. The Double dabbles in all the virtues and vices - self sacrifice, revenge, karma, selfishness, psychotic obsession, manipulation, kindness, cruelty, hyposcricy, cowardice and bravery. You name it, you got it.

The story is engaging. At the very center of it is Jiang Li a.k.a Xue Fangfei, a virtuous, loyal, beautiful young wife of a newly appointed scholar, who unfortunately catches the psycho princess’s eye. Under her pressure and his own cowardice, he not only loses himself but has to kill his wife. Xue Fangfei manages to survive because of brave kindness of a total stranger Jiang Li. Just for the crime of helping her, Li loses her life. Li, whose life is a series of tragedies and betrayals, makes Fangfei promise that she would help clear Li’s name from utterly false and criminally cruel allegations made by her step mother. And that’s where the drama begins. There after it’s a series of incidents that eventually not only restores Jiang Li’s good name but even punishes literally everybody responsible for ruining it in the first place. Along the way, Fangfei takes her revenge by destroying the would-be killers. And as a bonus, she gets her happily ever after with a handsome, enigmatic Duke who never gives up on her. At one point, he is the only decent man in her life. He sticks with her and she with him. Together they manage to save the kingdom as well.

This is the story. It’s melodramatic in the sense the villains schemes seemed OTT at some points. But at no point, Li seemed hopeless or lost in her counter-schemes. That shows that at no point the story had any confusion about the direction it wanted to go in. There are a couple of unnecessary tracks, which if edited out could have made the story even more tight.

The screenplay is not 100% in sync with the story. Maybe it was due to some weird decisions to edit out stuff. For example, I still don’t know why the Duke stared at Xue Fangfei at the very beginning. It’s shown as a kinda flashback. But I don’t understand the reason behind it. It also does not clearly tell why Shen Yurong tangled with the princess in the first place. Sure, she noticed him, but I am sure he could have avoided many if not all of those encounters. He was said to be a virtuous man who did not take bribes. So why did he let the princess get to the point of obsession? These small details actually are important which throw light on the characters and their motives. At least for me, these details decide whether I sympathize with a villain or not. Because this motive is never shown, I could not sympathize with the princess or Shen Yurong. Sure, Shang Yurong was kind of a tortured character but all I saw was, his selfishness and borderline narcissism which creates the whole mess. Princess, although has a backstory and battles with some serious PTSD, did not make me feel sorry for her. There was not a single act of kindness from that woman. For me, she was truly irredeemable.

And that brings me to the characterization. Since it’s based on a novel, characters are all predefined. The drama does not have a lot of leeway. It can only deviate so much from the main source. They can only pick and choose which characters to keep. This drama does a solid in that section. 99% of the characters aren’t superfluous. They serve a purpose and carry the story forward.

Which automatically leads to the actors. All the actors have done pretty decent job in the drama. Wu Jinyan excelled in the scenes when she returns to the capital under the guise of Jiang Li and inadvertently crosses path with her would-be murderers. You can feel her rage, hurt and pain in these scenes. At the same time, her pretend contriteness when she first returns home is not over done. Well balanced acting.

Wang xingyue played an enigmatic and borderline cruel Duke Su. I enjoyed anytime WXY was on the screen. But I gotta be honest, at times he appeared wooden and awkward in some scenes, especially in the close up scenes where he had to smile or soften towards Li. Duke Su’s cold and calculating demeanour was perfectly captured by WXY, but in the romantic scenes it was a hit or a miss for me. Some of their flirting was done so naturally that it gave me a melty feeling but some was so wooden, that I was frowning at my screen. At the risk of getting tarred and feathered, I will say that there was no natural chemistry. Any chemistry that I saw and liked was mostly a product of story, careful editing, and my natural desire for our leads getting together. One thing though, not at any juncture, the story tried to become a romance. It had romance but that happened in the background. At no point, it overpowered the essence of the story.

It is around 40% about leads, the rest is villains. There were so many. That’s why it felt like a daily soap. They just kept coming. Sure, our leads managed to overcome them every single time. But I also felt somewhat exhausted with their scheming and general villainy. On that note, I do not agree with anybody who says the princess or the step mother are grey characters. Nope, they are not. They had backstories, yes. But at no point, they showed any mercy towards their victims. At no point, they behaved like good people and in the in the very next, would happily slit throats. Nah, they were just cruel and evil. The only grey character was Shen Yurong. He was so delusional that he wanted to get back with his wife he tried to killed. He kept helping her through out. But all of that was not counter balanced by his initial atrocity. He, for me, is a grey character.

I have one gripe though. The deaths of duke’s lackeys was so so so unnecessary that my jaw dropped when they happened. They happened in the last 10 minutes of the show. Why?why would you kill perfectly healthy, skilled warriors - not one but both? What were they even thinking? SMH. IMO, that whole battle was senseless and way unnecessary. Those last 15 minutes could have given us a good epilogue where Li slowly humanized the Duke. In stead they gave a 5 minutes extra episode which felt very choppy due to its disconnect from the last episode.

Anyhoo. The positives are lot more than the shortcomings IMO. If you have any doubt about watching it, watch it solely for Duke Su’s fans and WXY’s martial practices. It will get yiu your money’s worth.

Overall, I’d put in the solid green in my entertainment ledger.

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Boom's Tears Need Their Own Salary

I just finished rewatching this show for the first time since it aired live, and a second watch had as much of an impact as the first watch. I have never read the source material and so some things there might be clarified, but I am simply going off of the show. Do let me know if I need to tag this with spoilers.

Firstly, the cast and actors were all great, I truly believed the roles they were all playing, but the real standout performance was Boom.

Everytime he was on screen I was floored by how well he immersed himself in Akin and made him a 3D character. He was baby, he was sweetheart, he was professional while breaking down, he was crying during break up sex, he was a drunk menace and a confident actor who knows he's the shit, he was also easily manipulated and hurt, and don't even get me started on episode 10 and all the scenes with grandma made me cry because he truly made me live it.

The chemistry with Smart was on point, but I feel like although Smart did an amazing job his character was just slightly less fleshed out and he felt a little, at times, a catalyst for Akin's story. I wished to know a bit more about him as a person, about any family he may have, did they support his career, did he have friends apart from Mildy and Touch, just little tidbits like that would have made the character a little more full and so allowed Smart to shine next to Boom.

I also wished to see a conversation about the breakup, I think that was important to their relationship and kind of got glossed over a little. However, the fact that I was so immersed in the story beginning to end, how Touch and Mildy prayed for someone to fill Jin's heart and give him purpose and meeting Akin made him have something to work towards, to stand equal to the person he admires and loves so, Jin deserves this happiness, as does Akin who was always in the limelight and never had someone of his own, all this pressure and expectations placed on him, he deserves to have someone support him whole heartedly, even if it's someone who's slightly immature and thinks he can do what he wants (which are all traits I love about Jin).

Overall, there was believable character building, a well fleshed out story, a satisfying ending, a whole plethora of emotions, and a really good soundtrack especially during the NC scenes. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And again, one last shout out to Boom, he had to cry so much and he did it all so well honestly I could watch him cry and smile and giggle and be arrogant all day every day.

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great start , dragged midway and unsatisfying finale ...

so this has been a roller coaster of emotions
a strong start , draws you in , fugui the emotionless solider who is looking for his father's acceptance , hongyue who only wants his son an emotionless weapon to kill demon to fulfill his promise to huazhiu also I think he got it all wrong you get to see it through the drama .

so the upside was you get well written charaters and great actors up till episode 12 when fugui left wangquan manor after that it dragged way too long the western reigons arc could have been summed in 5 episodes way did take like 12 or 15 episodes way too much.

qingcheng obseession with his sister what was that , I mean the only reason I could think of the writer putting that part was to keep Qingtong away from fugui for no reason what so ever maybe just to drag the drama for few more episodes truly disgusting and unessecary .

in the 2nd half of drama , I guess the written forgot there was romance in the category and qingtong basically disappeared , i mean she was the FL her scenes in the 2nd half of the drama were so little and no there was no development at all .

Quan jingting truly despicable he will do anything for power even killing his own son .

rumu and weiyun ending truly is heartbreak wished for a better ending for them .

they shouldn't have dubbed this drama it was truly annoying like you know it's not cheng yi 's voice .

cheng yi as the villain was great , he needs to play more villain roles .

the ending needs a review itself, truly hate it , fugui and qingtong didnt get a proper goodbye .

it didnt know what went wrong with this one but it felt like 1st half was written by a writer and 2nd half with a different writer 🤔
he was writing to add more episodes without building for the ending truly disappointing 😞

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No One Mourns the Wicked

I did not like Sang Yeon one bit, but if death is involved, and since the acting was top-notch, I could not help it: I am a crybaby at my core, I will cry if it gets sad. This show and its depiction of a female friendship that gets lost in a cycle of toxicity throughout childhood years until adulthood … aye, who did not have a toxic friendship break-up in their life? It hit hard. Sang Yeon’s reflections about her mother and brother towards the end, and how they died, also hit me on a more personal level.

SY is not a likable character. She is pathetic, self-destructive, and a saboteur. It honestly got intolerable once we entered the women’s adult years and they ended up working at the same place. She reached a point of no return there for me; at your big age you still act like a child? Her life wasn’t easy, her environment at home not as warm and loving as Eun Jungs’s, however, your circumstances are not an excuse to be a shitty person to someone else. Especially not someone who tolerates you using them as a punching bag all the time. This relationship between SY and EJ was emotionally draining, and once we got to the present bits it turned into this emotional manipulation to evoke sympathy. The “I have cancer”-card was pulled; “I know I should not be here with how I treated you”’s were said. Then leave. Genuinely, I don’t know if I could have been as strong, or forgiving, as Eun Jung. Sang Yeon, at the end of the show, was someone I gladly wanted to be gone. In her self-destruction, she took everyone down with her, ruining friendships and relationships, playing the victim, imposing herself when she knew she wasn’t liked that way, etc. Yet she complained that her life was awful, that she was alone … And whose fault is that? Of course, it’s easy to blame everyone else instead of yourself, and SY was a master at this. Playing the victim and thinking the world revolved around you final boss.

Unfortunately, I am a sensitive being, so if death is depicted, and you realize that at the end of it, they were just two girls again, it still hurt. Maybe because all this pain and loss was dumped on EJ’s shoulders in the end. She may have found some closure, somehow, but it doesn’t change the fact that it needed this drastic outcome for SY to apologize. And I am glad that EJ called her out on it, to be honest. I will never rewatch this show, because I would just get mad all over again, but also because this shit hurt… just a little! Great show, great acting, breezy OST that lightens the heaviness of the subject matter, but it’s one-time-experience.

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Compelling acting and highly entertaining

This drama is an engaging and entertaining watch, boasting a solid narrative and impressive performances. The criticism directed towards the lack of romance between the lead characters is unwarranted, and viewers should make an effort to appreciate the series in its entirety. While some episodes could have been trimmed, such as the storyline involving the female lead and her brother, should have been the relationship between the male lead and his father is a more deserving focus, particularly in the series' later stages. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable series that deserves more positive reviews.
Pay no attention to the negative comments and enjoy this outstanding series for pure entertainment.

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Ou·ch ✈️ Just Keep Swinging °7.6° °VG+°

Arranged marriages? A bitter fight for the throne? One that turns otherwise decent people and caring siblings into mortal enemies? This is exactly like a Chinese historical feature. In TBWY, they exchange the word “corporate” for ”palace”.

He's on the run, but it half-looks like a circus performance. In order to evade his pursuers, he's flipping over tables while diners’ repast is undisturbed. He's that smooth. The opening seconds remind me of the 2004 French film District B13 (Banlieue 13) in which the street kids are all amazing acrobats (It's on Prime! Ima watch it again. Hey! We're in Paris, too!) Mei was just setting the cafe's sign out on the sidewalk as part of her opening ritual when Ou pauses for a microsecond to decide his next move. Then he flips right over her. Mei screams and ducks. She didn't have to do either, though. Mei is getting ready to return to China. She misses her bf. She's saying her goodbyes. Ou is headed back, too. Those pursuers? They were sent by his Fughee, chairdad.

TBWY is a 2019 release that is rated 7.7 on MAL. Lin Ji Dong (First Marriage, Hi, 30 Years Old!) is the Screenwriter & Director. It is 1 season consisting of 65 45-minute episodes, which is a bundle. Could it have been shorter? But of course! Unlike so many shows, though, they keep the pace steady and keep marching forward. They don't wander around. I didn't find myself getting annoyed, which is something that seems to be happening more quickly these days. There are so many shows that start to drag due to empty filler and plain silly stuff. None of that happened here. Chinese modern-day dramas aren't for everyone. There's a premium on simplicity & stress relief. They love their melodrama, too. Simple doesn't mean “dumb.” They have a good handle on human nature. Like old black and white movies, watching at first seems foreign (unintended pun) but the only way to assess if it is for you is to dive in. Precursor: China does NOT do realism. If your white sneakers are always 🥛⬜, and you tend to prefer realism, China is not your place. I love fantasy and sci-fi most of all with romance being a close 2nd. I would argue that a good romance IS fantasy, but I digress. Anyone who argues this show and ones like it are too low IQ is really saying that s/he prefers realism. That's hard-wiring. It isn't a matter of right or wrong.

In some ways the cutesy-wootsy dynamic of the 2 leads reminds me of my marriage. I was married to a guy who was always making jokes, always teasing, and always poking fun. I was more focused on goals and accomplishing things. He would pick on me until I laughed or yelled at him to 🛑! At that point, he would start laughing and say: "You're so much fun.” I'm not the fun one! He is! Ou thinks Mei is the fun one, but Ou is the FUN one, and he's always good natured. She's become his favorite plaything. He thinks she's a blast. It's adorable. He's adorable.

Of course, headed back to China from Paris, she's next to him on the plane. She doesn't remember him from the sidewalk, nor the way he made her scream. With all the security detail around him, she figures he's a star. So, she drinks too much champagne and bugs him for a selfie with her, and his autograph. He's had enough of her! It's a shame that he grabs her suitcase instead of his own. He's going to have to see her again.

Sun Shao from Long Bad Daddy is Ou Yang. There's no way this guy isn't naturally happy IRL. Ou's a good natured kid who recognizes a good girl when he sees one. This actor is a great male lead and he makes the show. His father is the chairman, a ruthless businessman who has stepped over the line a few times. His mother is what would have been called a “handsome” woman. That's all I'll say. She isn't happy. She's been drinking heavily. Wan Si Wei (The New Painted Skin) portrays the truly good and lovely “Li” Dong, Ou's bestie. He's darling and delightfully debonair. Chai Bi Yun from Be Your Own Light is Lin Mei Ya, our FL. Mei was a sickly child. She learned to endure pain and hold it in with a bright smile. She was in the hospital bed, but it was she who was cheering up her own father. Now, Mei is bright, sweet, and adorable. She leaps into her boyfriend's arms when he picks her up at the airport. She missed him so much! She's so happy to see him! It's a shame he's been cheating on her.

Mei's father runs an outdoor eatery and he's sweating over a hot stove when she arrives at home. We intermittently go between Mei's reunion and Ou's. He's eating with his father, mother and sister at a table that could fit 20. The food is hot, but the climate is cold. His father's displeased with him for going to Paris and never telling the family. Zhang Qiu Ge (Xi Shi: Beauty of Spring and Autumn, 1911 Revolution, The Glorious Era) plays the Ou dad, Ou Chang Lin. The hairrrr. His hair says it all. Politicians wish they could coif like that. It's ramrod straight in the air and black and white like Cruella Deville. His head is quite large and the hair is doubly large. “Baba Ou” has largeness, but he has no largess. He seems oily and greedy, and he's thoroughly unlikable. Ou’s sister, Rui, always looks miserable, and his mother is detached. Fuhgee starts lecturing Ou about what he needs to do if he ever wants to take over the company. Rui is doing a great job, Ou points out. She should just have it. Sis, fed up, leaves. Mom then drops a comment like cold acid: “You don't want to give the company to her because she's not your real daughter, correct?” 🌬Brrrr. We cut back to Mei who is showing off her new cooking skills. Everyone is smiling and warm. Everyone but Mei's bf “Chen” Zhe (Zhang Tao from Nothing but You, The Old Dreams).

Later that night they discover the bag switch. They sort of get to know e/o by rifling through the suitcases. She watches his MMA fights. He reads her prose. When they finally begin the exchange, she goes to Ou’s company and learns that Chen works there! He never mentioned the new job that she can recall. She seems not to notice how uncomfortable he is with her there. By the end of ep3, Chen has broken up with Mei. WOOSH! He's gone. It's SO SAD. He did it at her father's restaurant. Right across the street, there's Ou, hanging with Li. They see everything, including Mei sobbing in the middle of the road. Ou & Li scoop her up. Li has been watching their interactions all day in near amazement. He seems interested in Mei himself. He's been watching her work the food stall from his family's restaurant across the street for years. Now, he sees the tension between these two.

One of the many trolls in the cave is Li WeiWei, Li's little sister (Shen Tao Ran from Stealing Dragon and Turning Cat). He got all the goodness & she got all the brattiness of the family. She sees Ou as her property (She claims he promised to marry her if she completed her 4 years of study in Japan without bothering anyone. He doesn't recall that). She notices that Ou is too differential to Mei, and he's spending entirely too much time with Mei, so she tortures Mei. Li has to step in and re-educate his spoiled brat of a sister. She keeps pulling deranged stunts and gets herself (and others) into no end of trouble. WeiWei is spoiled. At some point, though, Mei decides that Weiwei is cute and treats her well no matter what she does. It's a working strategy.

Ou is also immature. He doesn't want to work. Fughee is forcing him to. When he sees Mei pour wine on top of a snobby girl who insults her, he asks her to be his secretary. She needs a job and he does love a good fight. Also, he needs a secretary who can stand up to pushy interferers. Immediately, these two are comfortable with e/o. One could have guessed that as Ou's secretary, Mei is kickin’ it! He loves to tease her but he continues to reach out to her and help her. The ugly break-up Mei suffered is also weighing on Ou, who does NOT like Chen. He pieces together Chen’s career path; his stratospheric rise at the company can't be random. The way everything played out, he believes Chen has a rich and powerful female backer. He suspects one of the department managers. He has no idea it's his own sister.

DAYAM! Ou's sister and Chen get U.G.L.Y. - they ain't got no alibi, they UGLY! It's very weirdly typical of people who have done somebody wrong. Feelings of guilt make them angrier at the person they've wronged and they get even uglier, convincing themselves that somehow, this person deserves it. All they're doing is taking out their misplaced anger at themselves on the other person. Rui ends up pausing and changing course, which most people can't do. Chen remains selfish until the end - Chen’s insecurity led to pride which led to greed which led to him turning himself into a gremlin. It's a tale as old as time. As we watch Chen reflect on his life we'll see that he wants alot of things. He was an orphan with nothing. He doesn't want to love like that again. The temptation of marrying into the rich and powerful is too much for him.

In the head-scratcher-and-other-notables department is Ou's hair, which is an uneven disaster. Additionally, Mei's Aunt comes to live with them. The fact that I couldn't reach the screen and choke her out was causing me major stress. Fate? We have a long string of coincidences bringing these two together, but when the show is 2/3 completed everything blows up on our couple. There's shocking revelations and shocking events. It doesn't look good for them. Ou goes on a fact finding mission but leaves Mei in the lurch without a word. This is the worst time of her life, and he's ghosted her! It doesn't entirely make sense, and it's brutal. The car chases, fight scenes, and action in general are quite respectable. Ou's father's dirt brown pinstripe suit may be the ugliest suit I've ever seen. Du Ruo Nan (see spoiler section for more on her) and her friend wear outfits that hurt my eyes, but Siyu's wardrobe is to die for. In ep37 Siyu's ensemble is stunning. She has an asymmetric hemmed off the shoulder white dress with a high slit and star earrings. The outfit set my heart aflutter. {Still ~~> Siyu- SEE YOU! So sorry, but they've been through a near death experience together. They've been forged together by combat. That's an unbreakable bond. You don't have a chance.} The proposal! Oh. My. It's inspiring.

There's some gems tucked away. The potential resolution is rather obvious, but that doesn't detract from the storytelling. The plot is on the intricate side & it feels like a cousin to the amazing Kdrama SKY Castle-9, which is a bit of a heart-stabber. One character goes to Li for advice, wondering if a situation is too hopeless to even try. Li says that the outcome shouldn't be the focus. Enjoy the process; nobody should give up before they try. Nice. “Can an emotion be given to others? Do you know what your kindness means to me? That is cruel. It's even an insult.” One character tries to step out of the way from a potential romantic relationship to make room for another interested party. It was a cruelty to try & give away that person's love. Very nice.



QUOTE🗣

We should be honest with ourselves in front of love.


IMHO〰🖍

📣7.5 📝7 🎭8.3 💓7 🦋6 🎨7.5 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚🤗6 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡5 😅3 😭4.5 😱3 😯2 🤢2 🤔4.5 💤1

Shazams: tried. No results. Spoti doesn't have anything either. There's a couple of very nice songs.


Age 14+ Language: R-rated w/ f💣s - not much.


Re-📺? It isn't impossible

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

🌐💓 -
C🇨🇳:
Find Yourself 8.9;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8; Everyone Loves Me-7.4,
I Hear You-7.3 ‘19 so cute but with many flaws,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
Meteor Garden-7.4 ‘18- 70% flowing 30% dragging,
Overlord-8.4 ‘20,
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5;
Wait, My Youth-8.4

K🇰🇷 :
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love To Hate You 8.9;
Touch Your Heart 8.2;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5


Romance junkies only: Accidentally in Love-6.5 ‘18 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch,
Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine but many object to an outrageous stunt the ML pulls,
Boss & Me-7,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
You are my destiny-6.8 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding,
Meteor Garden-7.4 - 70% flowing 30% dragging and BOF is better,
Hidden Love-7.8




⛔Spoilers⛔

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This is more of a venting session than anything else.

Our FL also plays “Du” Ruo Nan. We don't learn about Du right away but hints are dropped early on about her. In the teen episodes we learn that Mei has a twin. Mei was adopted out because of her heart condition. Her mother could not afford to get her treatment. Ms Chai plays two completely different roles in the show. Du is a warrior and her fight scenes are better than Ou's. She has to go up against the tide gangster at one point and that gangster dude is truly scary.

They bring the pain after episode 40. When dad's in the hospital, it makes no sense that none of these wealthy people in Mei's life help out. Ou's leaving for Thailand without a word hurt badly. They claim telling her that she's Ou's half-sister would devastate her, so they leave her alone and penniless to deal with her father in the hospital. It's awful, and it doesn't make sense. Then she's fired. She demands an explanation and he treats her cruelly, supposedly to protect her from being hurt worse. Boo-kan-aw! This is ridiculous. And it HURTS! Sure, he asked Li to take care of her, but it's still too cruel. Siyu is acting like complete trash, but what Ou is doing to Siyu is wrong. He's using her.

Why didn't Pops rat Chen out? What would he cover for him? Chen’s face when the family meets up and Chm Ou says Mei & her sister are his daughters. OH SNAPPITY-SNAP! Irony is a cruel joker.

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