Oh my god. So cute. I came in for a cute rom com, what I got was not only that, but also 1) deep social commentary and 2) beautiful literature.

The chemistry between Xiaoqian and Han Shuo is wild. Both very talented young actors playing very believable roles. The plotline is also very unique, and the whole "stuck in her own script" discussion with fellow storytellers thing added so much fun to the story. My most hated drama trope -- where people lie to each other to be considerate of each other but end up hurting each other -- is used but also thoroughly made fun of. I also love how the fruit analogies stuck til the end and really made me laugh (you'll see what I mean).

I accidentally spoiled myself watching a Taiwanese critique of the drama before finishing the drama, so I was on the lookout for the points the YouTuber discussed -- the social commentary. It's very obvious what the scriptwriter wanted to tell us regarding gender equality in the last few episodes. And I think that the element worked very well in this drama, not only because it makes the audience think, but because it was also a point of consideration for Xiaoqian's own scriptwriting (hence served an important role in the plotline).

I would totally go rewatch all those cute scenes again. Including the ending oh my god it's the best. Looking forward to season 2.

PS: heart rate monitor best cameo.

Leia Mais

Hilarious and unpredictable comedy

This was an amazing watch as a follow up to "My Youth" (a completely different drama featuring the same male and female leads). You'll see completely different sides of the two actors, given the wildly unrealistic and over-exaggerated funny moments here (vs. the cheery coming-of-age feel of My Youth). Plus the female lead's psychiatric disorder has multiple personalities, so it's fun seeing her act out all of those scenarios too.

What I loved most about the plot is that while there are many "jealous female characters trying to ruin the female lead and her relationship with the male lead," the scriptwriter tries to put a different spin to the scenario and the result is always unpredictable, funny, and exhilarating if you're rooting for the female lead. The bad characters get what they deserve in the most unexpected ways. There are also a lot of times when the situation gets really cringey and then a character says exactly what us audience members want to say about a villain character or a drama trope situation. The scriptwriter is real meta.

Side note: there are 3 separate couples in this drama and all are cute in their own way!!! No stupid love triangles YES
Side note 2: I'm not a fan of the last "2030" arc but it did bring an ok wrap up for the drama. Everything before it though? Amazing.

If you require that all your dramas be logically correct and maturely handled, this would not be it. However, if you're willing to forgive the fact that that psychiatric disorder the female lead has is very questionable, and that the drama's sense of humor thrives from its illogical and wild plot development, then you'll love this drama. If you read Chinese and have access to streaming sites with those comments flying by on top of the window, you'll enjoy it even more -- The Chinese netizens' funny comments definitely improved my viewing experience.

Leia Mais

1st half sweet romance, 2nd half amazing comedy

People say the story got slow after the 1st half, but I beg to differ.
The story got FUNNY after the first half.
The first half is typical rom com trope -- main characters get together, second lead creates some misunderstanding between them, they break up.
And the second half could be really infuriating to watch if you don't like the second lead winning the lead's heart, but I found other more enjoyable things that made the watching process super worthwhile: the comedy.

The comedy stems from the characters' complicated relationships. Essentially we have our female lead who falls in love with an intern at her work, only to find out this intern is her new boss's son after they break up.
Also, this new boss and second male lead are friends, so new boss encouraged second male lead to chase the female lead and steal him away from male lead... only to realize later that the female lead's ex-boyfriend is his own son.

Also, second male lead has a niece, who is classmates with male lead, and confessed to the male lead...
but then later on the niece and the female lead's younger brother start dating...
(so if Minmin x Canyang and Luming x Fanxing were both couples... how do they address each other and their family members LOL
For Minmin, are the female lead's parents grandaunt/granduncle or mother-in-law/father-in-law?
For Fanxing, is Minmin her spouse's niece or her younger brother's wife?)

The step-by-step realization by the main characters, as well as by their colleagues, was a HUGE watching point for me as their facial expressions were often very telling. The family drama is also A+... the characters have so much chemistry.

Another thing to watch out for in the later half is male lead Yuan Song's attempts to win female lead Fanxing back. He has his parents on his side (omg when his dad found out his ex-girlfriend was Fanxing... that reveal LOL), as well as a new female colleague who was kind enough to lend him a hand.
His eyes and his hidden smiles when the female lead reacts according to his wishes...
beautiful "giving Luming a taste of his own medicine" work haha (in terms of being calculating in winning the female lead)

In the final few episodes we see some early themes come back. The leads' relationship started with the female lead saying things to male lead while drunk, and *re*started with the female lead drunk-calling male lead again.
And the ways they got each other to accept their love was also essentially just mirrors of the same conversation (and Yuan Song acknowledges this by saying "isn't this scene familiar" in the hotel room)
I'm all for dramas that do scene throwbacks like these because it shows the scriptwriter really put an effort in making things come full circle.

Finally, the side characters' quests for love and marital happiness were also super interesting to watch -- a huge fan of the cheating husband arc involving the female lead's best friend; it really added to the story about women in their 30's.
And the main characters' character development -- beautiful.

Leia Mais

Full of draggy tropes but enjoyable for different reasons

Like everyone else in the reviews, I was not a fan of the tropey draggy parts in the 2nd half of the show
and I went into this show knowing I'd be expecting to see some appalling "they fall in love but they break up due to a stupid understanding and there's this weird conspiracy that's trying to destroy them and the male lead disappears for n years" stuff

But this drama was still enjoyable (and hence an 8/10 instead of <7.5) because of an amazing male cast and some funny easter eggs.

Let's talk about the male lead Zhang Yujian. I found out about him from Le Coup de Foudre and he was this very mature, quiet guy when you first know him but secretly very clingy and funny. Here, he's an immature idol actor with not exactly a lot of character development, but there's a certain charm to this character setting *precisely because Zhang Yujian plays him.* He brings Yi Han's weird antics to life and if you look closely you can see some of that Yan Mo (his character in Le Coup de Foudre) as well as his authentic self (according to his media interfviews) sprinkled in. His portrayal of a man in great pain in the later parts of the story pretty much brought me to tears...

You'll recognize the second male lead (Lin Tiannuo played by Gao Hanyu) from a super big-hit drama this year Love is Sweet. The bromance between him and Yujian's character Yi Han was OFF THE CHARTS and those scenes are worth watching out for. The other second male lead -- Lu Ming (played by Wu Chen Xu?) is new to the drama business, but he's so cute and I love forward to seeing him do more in the future.

Finally, if you watched Le Coup de Foudre, you'd recognize some of the amazing easter eggs they sprinkled in:
like certain keywords they placed in the lines (like a discussion of how they don't like the world)
and the actor choice for the drama-within-the-drama -- Eden Zhao.
YES! The second-male-lead brother in Le Coup de Foudre plays first male lead in the drama-within-drama where Zhang Yujian's character Yi Han plays second male lead.
And Eden Zhao's character makes a joke about it too.

I guess there are also some other themes of Coup de Foudre to look out for, and it's especially a treat to see Zhang Yujian play such a different character in this drama (with a hint of similarity).

Leia Mais

This was such a cute periodical police procedural + love story.
The main villains are political bad guys (like they usually are in palace stories involving emperors and stuff), but the main leads stay pretty level-headed the entire time and don't do stupid stuff that get them in terribly scary situations.
Watching them solve different crimes leading up to the one big bad guy was also super satisfying and added to the rom com experience.

Now that love story -- omg the chemistry is <333
Both couples had so much going on and like I was super sold shipping them together
Also apparently this is the male lead's debut? Excuse me? His romantic male lead act was A+ and I was truly in love.
I had watched his Sparkle Love before but this drama tops it in the non-romantic plot and in the romantic chemistry.

Would watch again for allll those satisfying kiss scenes.

Leia Mais

Gripping cautionary tale about elite education

TL;DR: Neighborhood/family dynamics like Desperate Housewives; extraordinary plot development like Quartet
story about how a tutor can change the whole family like Kazoku Game.
With some take-home messages for parents who put too much stress on their kids.
(and if you grew up with that sort of stress and overbearing parents, then it might be slightly triggering--

This was much more than what I imagined it to be.
Parts of it are super relatable to any person in the modern education system, and then there are extra plot points that are just friggin' wild (yet completely believable given the main characters' backgrounds)
And I love it.
It was 19 episodes of intense development
then just as I was about to complain that the 20th episode was a letdown, the writers bring back some themes to make it go full circle
I love the foreshadowing and the way they would show some scenes to briefly insinuate points that don't need detailed explanation
makes the whole story just so much more intense because whatever scenes they do show, they are necessary to our understanding of the characters.

The acting too. I think all the roles are very well-done, and it's no wonder why SKY Castle swept 4 prizes at the Baeksang Awards. Ofc the veteran actors are great; but young actors-wise I'm particularly in love with Kim Hye-na's actress -- you'll see why as you watch on.

As someone who grew up in a high-stress environment, a lot of the dialogue is relatable and slightly triggering
but at the same time I was just happy to see that some of the crazy myths I grew up with are discussed and debunked in this show
And I really hope that more people would watch and learn from this show.

So yup. Would recommend to anyone looking to kill 20 hours with something addictive and exciting.

Leia Mais

Mixed feelings about this one.
Zhao Wei's directing debut -- so I wasn't a fan of the choppy development. It also got boring at points so the fast forward button was my best friend.

But the way the story was handled left a weird (in a good way) taste in my mouth. The whole setup and plot development really just builds to the end, where Zheng Wei says "youth is just something for us to be nostalgic about"
And then the major reveal at the end really made me realize that no one was really at fault -- everyone was just making bad decisions because they were young.

Did I like how the movie felt? Yes
Did I love the acting? Yes. Everyone really spoke to my feelings.
Would I watch it again? For the few major quotes, maybe (I'm a huge quotes person)
Was I a fan of Zhao Wei as a director? Not my cup of tea.

Leia Mais

Such a cute romance drama! 30 episodes but covers a lot of ground; the whole idea of integrating game and real life is pretty new for 2016 and is pretty well-executed (cf. Memories of Alhambra, 2018 -- urgh).
Only illogical part is people having so much trouble figuring out who the game players are in real life because the names provide so many clues. And the villain girls' motives don't really make sense to me; but it's a youth drama so you know, that can be forgiven.

The two leads... omg... chemistry was fuming hot. First time watching both of them act (actually, everyone; since I don't usually Mainland Chinese dramas), and oh my god I stan Yang Yang now. The character settings might be a bit cliche but I think the development of their love story was truly fulfilling.

If you're down for some cute fluff I highly recommend.

Leia Mais

This story started off really slow -- each episode they solve 1 person's grudge, and the goal is to solve 10 grudges by the end of the month so the female lead doesn't need to rot in hell.
However, as the grudge-solving goes on we see bits and pieces of the female lead's past... and as we start to put the pieces together, we realize that the story is a lot more put-together than it seems. The foreshadowing that happens in the first few episodes builds up into major plot twists, and the last 1/3 of the show is pure dramatic bliss. If you're into foreshadow-hunting and plot twists then stay on board... it's a really rewarding watch!

Wishing I got to see more of the second couple though :( They're so cute.

Leia Mais

This is an extraordinary rom com with many twists and turns on the traditional drama tropes, and will leave you laughing from the story and crying for your mom.

We start off having the traditional lead character setup: male ruined female's life, then they accidentally fall in love, but male couldn't tell female he was responsible for ruining her life, then ???, then happily ever after. So many melodramas are like this, it's not even interesting anymore.

HOWEVER.

We also have something supernatural on the male lead's side, which really added to the foreshadowing/suspense/mystery element of the show. And despite the sad circumstances of the female lead, she is not a dumb character who holds everything in. We also got real villains in this story (more complex than the "jealous second female lead" or "male lead's disapproving rich mom" tropes), and people's lives are at stake. The foreshadowing along with the "will they/won't they change their fate" element really hooked me in, and I can't believe I nearly missed this gem because of the crappy drama title.

First time seeing Eric Mun act, but this is my 3rd? 4th? Seo Hyun-jin drama. And her acting excites me everytime. I can see why Another Miss Oh is one of the fan favorites, because she really killed it with her character emotions. I also hated the villains' guts, so like that's great acting right there (just saying). Also, the chemistry between the leads is so strong! The rewatch value score completely comes from their steamy kiss scenes (shhh

When melodramas give female leads a nice family / mom, the mother-daughter scenes always give me (happy) goosebumps. One thing to look forward to in the drama is the way the female lead's mom expresses her unconditional love for her throughout the story. Not the Go Back Couple / Queen for 7 Days tear-jerking level, but still soooo much heart warming happened during those scenes.

Overall there are better rom coms than this, which is why this is a 9/10; but it's a must-watch if you're looking for some heart-warming family interactions and steamy female/male lead chemistry... and a break from traditional melodrama tropes.

Leia Mais

That was a very very wild ride. It didn't take me long to get into the story and once I was invested in it I just couldn't stop watching! It was a riveting tale about a time traveler who suddenly decided to marry a random girl because he was told it could save his life -- but the story turned out to be much more complicated than it was originally set out to be. Let's be real, I expected the drama trope of "guy marries girl to avoid dying --> girl finds out about selfish reason --> breaks up with him --> ??? --> happily ever after" and the scriptwriters gave us SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. I don't want to spoil anything, but it was full-on suspense/thriller/crime with a real bad guy and stuff. I loved the ride.

The only thing is while the ending did come full circle for me, there was *something* lacking. The foreshadowing delivered so well throughout the drama that I had really high expectations for the ending. It was nice but it wasn't fancy-nice, so now I'm just sad the show is over :(

It's my first time watching Lee Je Hoon act, even though I feel like I've come across Shin Min Ah somewhere. They are so loveydovey it's cringe sometimes but the chemistry is really there. It takes a lot for me to root for a couple through the good and bad times, and I was truly rooting for them all the way. Personally not a fan of Shin Min Ah's face shape, but I would dig up Lee Je Hoon's other works to see more of him. So cute omg. Also just realized Kang Gi Doong's real name is Kang Gi Doong!! I've been him recently in The King:Eternal Monarch and in It's Okay To Not Be Okay, and I love his acting! Always playing fun second leads -- I hope he gets more male lead roles soon!

Leia Mais

Honestly, I love this show for its attempt to normalize mental health struggles. The fact that the psychiatrist characters themselves also have previous trauma / their own mental journeys played a huge role in driving the message that "Everyone is a little bit sick. It requires a sick person to recognize another sick person." (an early quote in the drama). I'm happy that the kdrama scene is treating mental illness seriously and is making many shows normalizing the healing journey -- Soul Mechanic and It's Okay to Not Be Okay, for example.

The main line of mutual healing and overcoming the past is very well-done in this drama, as it is in Korean dramas in general. Everyone's recovery journey is reasonable and believable, and the writers really got us rooting for even the ones who might seem like bad guys at first.

However, there is one major flaw in the story line, and it is the main couple. I get that transference is a common treatment step in borderline personality disorder, but the chemistry is just not there??? So that really lowered the enjoyment level for me. I also couldn't see any other significance of the Gongbap little sister's role other than messing it up for everyone with the things she does -rolls eyes-

The acting is super on point though. Especially Jung So-min's role as a BPD patient. I've never seen her play a role like this before, and I think it greatly expanded her repertoire of potential characters. Despite her annoying character setting, she really made her character come alive and win the audience's hearts. All the older actors were amazing too -- no matter good or bad guy.

I don't think I would watch this again. But if I did, I would rewatch it for Dr. Noh. He cute.

Leia Mais

Originally I was skeptical about the whole "Americans trying to make kdrama" idea, but after finding out my (new) favorite actor Woo Do Hwan played a semi-important character in it I decided to give this a try! Worst case scenario I get to watch 2 hours of Woo Do Hwan acting cute in glasses, amirite?

This turned out to be THE BEST THING EVER omg.
So it's a Korean drama making fun of Korean dramas.
You've seen dramas like this before -- "Extraordinary You" as a very similar example.
But the fact that this is a short web series with a complete (and reasonable) plot, with bad guys the main characters have to fight, appropriate comedic relief that pokes fun at the old kdrama tropes, AND a glamorous cameo cast list (while being written by non-Koreans) made this 100x more exciting. The writers really did their homework with this one.

Let's talk about those tropes.
In the in-drama drama series, "Taste of Love," you got the typical rich chaebol (with a terrible mother and a bitchy fiancee) falling in love with a poor hardworking girl. And then Dramaworld starts to make fun of these setups -- like male characters always save the female character from falling, or the random hit-and-runs and drunken piggybacks, weirdly positioned product placement, kimchi slaps... Yes, they somehow worked a friggin' kimchi slap in there and it was pure comedic gold.

And then the cameos. I love the cameos. Just counting the famous ones I recognize, we already got Han Jimin ("Familiar Wife"/"Rooftop Prince"/"One Spring Night"), Choi Siwon ("She Was Pretty"/"Skip Beat"), Park Jinjoo ("Her Private Life"), Kim Byungchul (the bad guy in "Goblin")... They each popped up in a way that makes sense with the story and they were hilarious.

This is a drama that will keep you excited until the ending credits start rolling. Plus, a short drama means it's easy to fit into your busy schedule.
Also, Woo Do Hwan <3

---

Score breakdown
Story - 10/10 because of above-mentioned
Acting/Cast - 9/10 goes to the glamorous casting. Some major characters are relatively new in acting but it's bearable (and if anything -- is just yet another nod to the mainstream kdrama culture where some of the acting in rom coms is really........
Music - 8/10 not much "OST" per se to go on, but music is used in very interesting ways in Dramaworld (as comedic relief at times, see for yourself
Rewatch value - 9.5/10 because all those cameos!!! and Woo Do Hwan!

Leia Mais

Wow. I was initially turned off by the name when I had my Park Min Young phase and went through her dramas
but then I recently came across this again and saw the really good reviews and decided to give this a shot. So glad I did!

The first two episodes might be a bit slow/confusing because we don't know what's going on. But once the character backgrounds are setup, the story is good to go. And boy does the story go quick! It might be 20 episodes but I went through them in a breeze. There's no slow/draggy plot as the main characters are all smart and reasonable human beings, and they don't dwell on the standard melodrama tropes. They will be put in some awkward/dangerous situations, but the drama cuts the scenes such that the audience will see the behind-the-scenes of the main characters' plot later.

It's a really thrilling and refreshing watch. The main characters' chemistry is also super real.
First time watching Yoo Ji Tae and Ji Chang Wook act; will be back for more!

Leia Mais

WOW.

I don't know where to start. The synopsis sold it as a simple "travel back in time, kiss, and make up" story but it is so much more. I'm glad I took your advice to watch this.

Let me be clear, it's not 100% action-packed from the very beginning. The first 4 episodes are really the main characters getting used to their new life in 1999, so those kind of just set the scene. But starting from episode 5, I couldn't stop! The plot line was so captivating, the main characters all had their unique charm, and that second male lead syndrome, I tell you. I was secretly rooting for Nam Gil the whole time.

The two leads don't have screaming sexual tension, but what they had was many years of love for one another. It's refreshing to watch something like this over regular rom coms because their actions are so realistic. How they look at each other and what they do for each other in 1999 make so much sense. The actors played their respective roles so well and the chemistry in this regard was awesome.

I also really loved the female lead's family dynamics. I think anyone who is not currently living with their mother would relate. Honestly, I didn't cry for the main couple, but my tear ducts just went into full explosion mode when... that plot twist happened in her family. You'll see what I mean in the last episode.

This isn't the first "married couple go back and make up" drama I've watched. I watched Familiar Wife (2018) half a year ago, which had a similar premise. But I'd say Go Back Couple scores higher in my book because of the complex character development for everyone.

Umma saranghae <3

Leia Mais