The perfect winter romance with billiards as sub-plot

This is the perfect winter romance to watch on a cold night, wrapped up in a blanket and drinking hot cocoa. It’s one of those rare green flag dramas that can easily warm your heart with love while watching. The drama is about how two sports players meet on a snowstorm night in Finland and fall in love. Every episode is filled with fluffy, sugary romance and beautiful snow landscapes. The episodes are slow paced, we follow the daily lives of the main leads and how they fall in love with each other which means the audience spends extra time watching them cuddle, eat and walk around the city. The chemistry between the leads is so hot that you always feel like you are peeing into their most intimate and private moments in the best way possible.

The first half of the drama is focused on the relationship build up and mostly takes place in Finland. I preferred this half more as it had the perfect sugary romance.The second half of the drama is focused more on the plot as it revolves around the sports competitions in the field of billiards (snooker and nine-ball). This half is more serious with some sadder moments and mostly takes place in China.

POSITIVE:
- Natural and hot chemistry between the leads. Their eye contact, hair touching, hand caressing is EVERYTHING. I always feel I’m peeping into their most intimate moments as if I'm watching a real life couple.
- Hot kisses. Yes this needs a separate point because the way male lead is pulling her for a kiss is FIRE.
- Romance that makes you swoon, squeal and blush like crazy.
- No stupid love triangles.
- No annoying break-ups.
- No annoying characters.
- Beautiful snow/winter cinematography.
- Support cast shines as much as the main leads.
- Top-notch winter romance that’s perfect to watch on a cold night with hot cocoa in hand.
- One small misunderstanding that was resolved quickly.
- Heartwarming vibes all the way.
- Main leads that have small normal flaws instead of being unrealistically perfect. They still make mistakes like all humans and learn from them.

NEGATIVE: (4 small things that bugged me but they didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the drama)
- Plot in the second half of the drama (revolving around sports competitions) wasn’t the most exciting to watch.
- 2 sad/depressing episodes. I didn’t care about that particular plot line and I felt it had too much screen time. I would have preferred if the drama had only happy moments without sad parts like one of my favourites dramas (I won’t name it here).
- No second couple. Before the drama started I read that the actor WXY will have a love interest so I was excited to see that. But he didn’t have much screen time and his love story wasn’t explored. In fact it ended up being unfinished.
- I feel too single after finishing this drama (this is more of a joke but you get me right).

OVERALL:
The drama is perfect if you are a hopeless romantic who wants a slow paced romance that will feel you with heartwarming vibes, butterflies in your stomach and wants a male lead whose gaze is so hot it can literally melt Antarctica.

Leia Mais

Themes of death, loneliness, disability, worthiness, opening to love and family

The drama is about the cheerful and disabled female lead who goes back to her small hometown for a vacation and meets her aloof high school crush. Themes of death, loneliness, living with disability, worthiness, opening up to love, family and emotional trauma can be seen throughout the story.

The female lead looks carefree but is struggling with feelings of unworthiness due to her disability (amputated leg). She puts on a smile while hiding her emotional pain. The male lead is aloof due to his childhood abandonment trauma and has closed his heart to love. He works as a funeral make-up artist which is a big part of the story.

There is a Lover in my Hometown is the previous and also very fitting title. The main plot of this drama is watching the main lead’s navigate through their inner emotional struggles, insecurities and inner desires for a relationship. Woven into the plot are the main lead’s jobs, their family members and life in the small town.

POSITIVE:
- Mature and raw dialogue.
- Realistic and mature plot about life and adult relationship issues.
- Flawed main leads (inexperienced in love). Their thoughts, emotions and decisions always made sense and were portrayed well.
- Great portrayal of the female lead as a disabled woman (amputated leg) that’s woven into the story in a realistic way.
- Great chemistry between the leads.
- Lots of kiss scenes.
- Hilarious grandma-grandson relationship moments.
- Fun relationship portrayal between siblings.
- Push and pull dynamic between the leads.
- Nice cinematography with interesting colour schemes and camera angles.
- The cutest high school flashbacks.

NEGATIVE:
- Death is a constant theme in this drama, we constantly see a lot of death scenes which makes it very emotionally heavy to watch.
- Harsh mother. She is not the worst cdrama mother but she was constantly unhappy and nagging. I easily get annoyed with these mother type characters and it got to a point where I was skipping her scenes as even her high pitched voice made my blood boil.
- Boring side scenes. It’s a family drama and a drama about a small town so I cannot fault it for that. It’s just a personal issue that I found the mother and grandmother separate scenes as well as the town scenes boring to watch.
- Too realistic. In general I do love the realism in this drama but many times it felt too emotionally heavy. I would have liked to see more softer and happier moments.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a realistic, emotionally raw/heavy and mature love story, watch this drama.

Leia Mais

Dark, toxic love with obsessive & abusive male lead

What the hell did I just finish watching, was my first thought as the end credits rolled. This is the darkest and most disturbing cdrama I’ve ever seen. You are not only getting an angsty, toxic love story but a full on psychological thriller.

The drama is about the female lead who pretends to be a Princess to avenge her family and the male lead, a Prince who is mysteriously scheming behind the scenes.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
- Love-hate relationship. In fact it’s more of a lovers to enemies trope.
- Beautiful aesthetics and cinematography.
- Strong-willed female lead.
- The epitome of red flag, toxic, obsessive, abusive and pretty much psychotic male lead.
- 1000% angst. Check the trigger warnings below. Nothing is sugar coated here and not many can stomach it.
- Republican era cdrama vibes but in historical style.
- Fantastic acting from the main leads. I watched this for He Xuan Lin and she didn’t disappoint with her fantastic aura on screen.
- Hot kisses (only those that were consensual). The male actor looks like a great kisser.
- Sped up politics/revenge. The focus is on the love story so the actual plot stuff is kind of glossed over.
- A very fitting ending that brought me to tears.
- A big contrast between the first and second half of the drama. After ep 12 the plot turns 180.

OVERALL:
Horrible things happen in this drama and yet it’s written well for the most part. Only the last few episodes felt quite draggy. I loved the aesthetics and the female lead as a character. My big complaint is that I didn’t truly understand why the male lead became so deeply obsessed and toxic with her but who knows, I might have missed that detail. Anyway, to be honest if I knew how dark the story would get, I probably wouldn’t have even started it.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Disturbing scenes of abuse, r*pe and forced kisses.

FAVOURITE QUOTE:
“I hope you never meet someone like me again” by the male lead.

Leia Mais

Angsty & forbidden love with sexy male lead

This mini drama is about the female lead who has to honour the dying wish of her sister and marry her sister’s husband (the Emperor). Five years later, a rebellion breaks out and the general who is the Emperor’s younger brother (the male lead) comes to their aid. This is a story of the main lead’s forbidden love and their loyalty to the crown.

POSITIVE:
- Very, very angsty (not for the faint hearted).
- Sexy/bad boy male lead (leaning on red flag).
- Passionate kiss scenes and se*ual tension.
- Forbidden love, jealousy and betrayal vibes.
- No love triangles.
- Lovely costumes (especially the female lead)
- Nice chemistry between the leads (it’s their second collaboration).
- Great acting from the three main leads.
- Unique way to end the drama (referring to the final two episodes).

NEGATIVE:
- Long dialogue that would sometimes take a whole episode (10 minutes). The dialogue was done well and felt angsty however it did make an impression on me that it was very long. I think the issue might have been the static camera work.
- The ending (it makes sense with the story and it was done well but a part of me wishes it was slightly different).

OVERALL:
If you are looking for an angsty drama with forbidden love and a very sexy/bad boy male lead, watch this drama.
Side note: If you love the main lead, I highly recommend you also watch “The Deliberations of Love”.

Leia Mais

The most stunning fairytale-like visuals with slow burn romance.

The longest promise tells the story of the main lead's promises to each other. What both of their promises are, you will find out when you watch the drama. The male lead fakes his death to escape injustice and spends his years cultivating in a mountain as a Priest. Years later, the woman (female lead) who is prophesied to kill him becomes his disciple.

First of all, the drama has the most stunning fairytale-like visuals, with beautiful scenery, fight scenes and CGI I've ever watched. The story's logic always makes sense, has great pacing, not too slow or too fast, there are no stupidly, annoying characters, no fillers. Most of the screen time is given to the male lead, female lead and second male lead. I honestly did not find it boring even for a moment.

The male lead is one of the most powerful cultivators, he becomes a Priest to hide his identity as the Crown Prince that was wrongly accused. He is mature, aloof and wise. Female lead starts off as being quite immature, reckless and foolish. But she is also street smart and very brave. The main leads have many cute and funny moments together however this is a slow burn romance. As the male lead is a Priest and also her Master, their romance is forbidden so don't expect to see them in a proper relationship. Their love is very subtle and unspoken, they care and protect each other no matter what. Male lead spends a lot of time teaching her not only powerful magic techniques but how to be more mature and responsible. I found their romance very refreshing as it was built on trust and care rather than insta-love.

A big part of the drama is the second male lead who has his own story that connects with the main leads. I very much emphasised his character and loved all of his scenes. He is not your typical second male lead that's obsessed with the female lead. He cares for her but also wants her to be happy with whoever she ends up with. Despite his tragic love story, he still has much love for his people and I admired everything he did in the drama.

The only thing I did not like about the drama was the final villain that appeared in the last two episodes as it kind of came out of nowhere. There wasn't enough build up to find out who he was, where he came from and how much of a threat he was. But regardless of that, I very much enjoyed how it all played out even if it was heartbreaking to see it.

If you've read this far, don't waste time anymore and just watch this wonderful drama.

Leia Mais

Slice of Life/Romance/Business. Best 2024 modern cdrama so far.

The best 2024 modern drama so far!!! To be honest, I initially felt apprehensive about starting this drama, seeing that it’s 40 episodes and usually those feel very draggy. But this one is truly an exception as almost every episode felt like 5 minutes long. The chemistry between the leads is definitely the highlight of the drama and the well written script and great cinematography make it a worthy watch.

The drama is about the female lead who quits her job to start a business and the male lead becomes her investor. We also follow the side stories of the two female lead’s friends whose main focus is on their romantic relationships. The tone is a mix of slice of life, rom-com and some business.

POSITIVE:
- Slice of life with focus on romance and a bit of business.
- Great chemistry between the leads (I was worried about this pairing but I instantly felt their chemistry from their very first meeting).
- Great kiss scenes and skinship between the leads.
- Awesome dating era (main couple).
- Eye candy (Xu Kai, the male lead, looks great in suits. His shirtless scenes broke the sexy scale).
- Great friendship portrayal (well aside from that one friend. So it is indeed realistic as not all friends are good friends).
- Platonic relationship between men and women (a rare sight in cdramas).
- Many cute rom-com moments.
- Support cast has their own stories but don’t take away from the main lead’s screen time.
- No stupid plot scenarios and cringe scenes.
- No fillers. None of the story or characters felt pointless at any point in time.
- Meaningful script.
- Great character development.
- Good pacing.
- Two side couples that enhance the plot without taking too much screen time.
- Secret crush trope (subtle).
- Cute university flashbacks (not a lot).
- Heartwarming, a tad realistic, life lessons, cuteness and hopeless romantic vibes.
- Realistic topics like sexual harassment, misogyny, corporate hell (at the start of the drama).
- Lovely OST (the english song is a nice touch and one of the songs is sung by the female lead).
- Great acting, especially from the main leads.
- Ao Rui Peng (guest role) stole my heart.
- Brilliant special episode. Truly one of the best I’ve ever seen.

NEGATIVE:
The last 8 episodes slow down the plot and there are two episodes that are a bit too melodramatic and cliche for my taste. But having said that, this did not take away from my enjoyment of this drama. During the last 8 episodes, the main leads continued to have awesome cute scenes together.

COUPLES (MINOR SPOILERS):
- Main couple: Girl boss and her CEO investor. Hot chemistry, great character and relationship development. Definitely a slow burn that I love. This romance and couple had everything you want: sexy, cute, angst, love.
(The two side couples I felt shared equal screen time between each other. But didn’t overtake the screen time of the main leads).
- Side couple: Posh girl and her love struggles. This love story felt realistic, relatable, not always happy and had a very important lesson of self-worth. One of the rare cases where a love triangle was done right.
- Side couple: Sweet livestream girl and her rich lover. The cutest couple in the drama. Bickering to friends to lovers. A sweet slow burn that will definitely make you smile.
- Bonus side couple: Female lead’s friend and ex-boyfriend. Yep, this is a pairing that not everyone would like. Girl code definitely didn’t exist for this girl who went after her friend’s ex. But still, I did find their scene wholesome and realistic. They had little screen time.

OVERALL:
There is something about this script, the romance, the story, the way the male lead is gazing at the female lead, that gave me the warmest feelings ever. Even when bad things happened, it was meaningful and well-portrayed. All the characters felt real and multi-layered. The story felt wholesome, somewhat realistic with hopeless romantic vibes which I absolutely loved. I’ve never seen a cdrama quite like this, a truly wonderful watching experience, this is hands down my best 2024 modern cdrama so far.

Leia Mais

I swam through the galaxy to find the beautiful love story among the boring and repetitive scenes

I only started watching this for the main leads (Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu) and was able to finish this only for them. Last year I dropped this at episode 8 and this year I decided to give it another chance. Truthfully I probably did waste my time watching this but at the same time I feel good as I will no longer experience FOMO (fear of missing out).

This drama is what I consider a timeless love story, it truly feels like a classic. Both leads learn valuable lessons about love as well as go through their own personal challenges and inner struggles. The female lead in particular learns how to open up to love while the male lead is on the path of revenge.

The highlight of this drama is definitely the sizzling chemistry between the leads. All of their scenes touched my heart. Mostly, I loved the communication style between them. It always felt raw and authentic. There were also notable scenes with the support cast that I enjoyed. All dialogue in the drama felt mature and real for that matter.

The bad side of this drama is the many, many, many annoying side characters and filler/boring scenes. The plot was lacking big time and I constantly felt everything was repeating but with just different characters. The pacing was painfully slow which added to the boredom and frustration. FF/skip button was my best friend here.

PART 1:
Ep 1-10 mostly focused on the family (which irritated me), especially the grandmother who kept screaming and crying every 2 seconds. The scenes between the female lead and her mother were repetitive. The female lead is rebellious and doesn’t feel loved. The mother is strict and doesn’t know how to show her love. I get it. I definitely didn’t need 10 episodes and more of that same scenario to drive the point across.

Ep 11-20 had a useless love story between the female lead and the second male lead. If by the end I saw the female lead actually realising that she doesn’t truly love him and he is not the right man for him, I would have considered this story worth it. But nope. They break up only because of external forces.

Ep 21-27 finally started the romance between the main leads (even if it is a one-sided love so far). However there was tons of repetition of bullying that felt totally useless and just filler.

Overall, I would have enjoyed part 1 more if it was condensed in half without the many unnecessary side characters, fillers and repetition of bullying.

PART 2:
To be honest I didn’t pay attention to the episodes as I was on a mission to simply finish this. I did use the FF button A LOT, especially I massively skipped ep 40-50. Overall, I enjoyed the love story between the leads and the way they communicated with each other. But part 2 was extremely boring. I felt like I was again watching the same things as part 1. The best part was definitely the last 6 episodes which touched my heart and I even found myself crying at that one scene.

POSITIVE:
- Raw and real communication between the leads. Their talks always felt real, deep and authentic. They would fight but later talk about it and become closer. This to me portrayed beautifully how even if two people are at odds with each other, they can still work on finding common ground. With good communication and willingness to empathise with the other person, every relationship is able to succeed.
- Hot, hot, hot chemistry between the leads. All of their scenes are attention grabbing.
- Brilliant acting from the whole cast, especially the main leads.
- Wonderful cinematography and emotional bgm.
- The funniest and best matchmaker emperor in cdrama land.
- Mature, realistic feel with non-cliche dialogue.
- Gripping last 6 episodes.

NEGATIVE:
- Too slow paced, too drawn out, too many scenes that felt like fillers, too many scenes with side characters, too prolonged dialogue at times. In general, the drama would have been better for me if it was condensed in half and mostly focused on the main leads.
- Too many women vs women scenes, constant bullying, constant women against the female lead that felt very boring and extremely repetitive.
- Boring plot. Yes, many things were happening but most of the time I felt like nothing significant was happening for many, many episodes.
- No side couples. Instead of filler scenes with annoying characters who were against the female lead, I wish we had more romance.
- Repetition of the same conflicts (different characters that are doing the same thing to the female lead). This really made my blood boil.
- Love story issue. First part of the drama the female lead is engaged and likes another man. I felt like she learned nothing from that experience and was totally pointless. Their relationship could have just been a few episodes, not 10.
- No wedding! Seriously after enduring 56 episodes I cannot believe we didn’t get to see that.
- Many annoying characters. Like for real the drama just kept introducing more and more and more characters (especially women) that made my blood boil.
- Love like the galaxy where the love felt lost in the galaxy most of the time among the many, many boring and filler scenes.
- Took me literally months to finish this (you get my point).

OVERALL:
This drama is NOT my cup of tea (but it could have been if it was condensed in half and mainly focused on the main lead). However, if you like slow paced, mature and realistic historical stories, you might enjoy this more than I did.

Leia Mais

A simple and fluffy story to de-stress

This drama is about two students that are linked together in the most unexpected way. We follow their journey through love, friendship and school/university years.

In short, the first half of the drama was enjoyable but the second half disappointed me. Second male lead was a much more interesting character to watch than the male lead. In the end, this drama felt sweet but didn't stand out to me. Their university years start from episode 17.

POSITIVE:
- Cute teasing/light bickering between the main leads.
- Fluffy/innocent romance.
- Second male lead stole the spotlight for me. I instantly liked him from the very first scene he showed up. The whole time I kept thinking why the heck the writers created such a compelling second lead, he really could have been the main guy. His chemistry with the female lead was so good. I almost wish the female lead had a twin sister so he could have a happy love story too. I loved that he had a lot of screen time in the first half.
- First half of the drama had the best fluffiness and heartwarming vibes.
- Meaningful story about love, life, dream goals and friendship.
- No outside forces (like family and other love interests) trying to actively break up the main leads.
- Very satisfying wrap up of the main lead’s story + (SPOILER cute wedding scene).

NEGATIVE:
- Second half of the drama felt bland and I started ff/skipping lots. The plot at times felt very boring and draggy.
- Sad moments between the second couple at the final episode that had no business being there. The scene did deliver emotionally but it should have happened earlier. How they handled the second couple’ story wasn’t satisfying.
- Second male lead syndrome was TOO strong. It’s not to say that I didn’t like the male lead but the second male lead had so much more going on. Male lead’s story was too simple, he was just a reserved guy. Whereas the second male lead went through many challenges, he was the bad boy with a good heart that I love to see. In general his chemistry and personality was more compelling to watch and I feel a big part of why the second half of the drama failed for me was that he didn’t have enough screen time there.
- Not enough cute, romantic scenes between the leads as adults in the second half. I just really needed more.

OVERALL:
This is a simple and fluffy drama suitable for people who are going through a stressful period and just need something sweet and easy to watch.

Leia Mais

Quite disappointing. A sweet story to pass the time but nothing more.

This will be the shortest review I've ever written. I won't even write positive or negative points like I usually do. Maybe I had high expectations but I was quite disappointed by this drama especially as I loved the other two similar mini-dramas "A Familiar Stranger" and "Provoke". The drama starts with a banging first episode. Intense and eye-catching fight scenes, suspense and beautiful romantic feel of the main leads. But it's all a lie as the majority of the episodes are about watching the daily lives of the main leads - sleeping, eating, cooking, going to the market etc.

I really enjoyed the first half of the drama as we got to see how the main leads fell in love. However the second half of the drama felt very underwhelming as virtually nothing big happened. I was really struggling not to fall asleep. The plot didn't intrigue me even one bit and the fact that the biggest conflict in the whole drama was resolved in the final episodes in two seconds by a random side character.

Overall I still may recommend this drama as everyone has different tastes and what I didn't like someone else might enjoy. But personally for me this was a huge disappointment plot wise which is a shame since the cinematography and cast were great.

Leia Mais

Soft & sweet rom-com with slice of life vibes

The drama tells the story of the female lead who moves to a new place and the male lead who is her neighbour. She hires him as a voice actor at her start-up company called "sweet games" (hence the title) for her game project. What she doesn't know is that the male lead (who is six years younger than her) has had a secret crush on her five years prior to their meeting.

The beginning of the drama didn’t grab me but after a few episodes I began to be invested in the story and really enjoy it. However around episode 18, a break-up happens and afterwards it got boring for me as there was no particular plot aside from work related issues. So the beginning and end of the drama are weak but the middle is super enjoyable to watch.

Overall, the drama is a mix of rom-com with slice of life. The male lead is adorable and for him and the cute interactions he has with the female lead, it's worth watching. The story follows a typical plot line so there is nothing extraordinary about it. Lots of parts are quite predictable but if you are looking for a soft and sweet rom-com with somewhat realistic work/life situations, you’d enjoy this drama.

Leia Mais

When two hot villains fall in love with each other

This mini drama is about the female lead who is a comic book character with her own consciousness. She always plays the supporting role of the villain however in the new comic story, she is unexpectedly the heroine who ends up falling for the villain.

The best part of this transmigration story was that the story takes place in a comic book which meant the writers had the creative freedom to bend the story’s reality in an engaging way.

POSITIVE:
- Villain/morally grey male lead and female lead.
- Lots of kiss scenes!
- Love story of a morally grey couple (very rare to see).
- Top notch comedy.
- Lots of cool twists and turns.
- Plot that is just as good as the romance.
- Hot second female lead (I always find these obsessive female characters annoying but this one was cunning and looking stunning)
- Binge-worthy (I watched it in one sitting)

NEGATIVE:
None! It’s truly one of those rare dramas where I can’t think of anything I really disliked.

OVERALL:
If you want a mini drama with crazy twists where two hot villains fall in love with each other, watch this.

Leia Mais

Great at comedy. Bad at emotional impact.

The drama started off really well and up until episode 17 it had this great light-hearted, adventure type feel that I hadn't seen in a xianxia before. It was super enjoyable to watch but then the script suddenly shifted and episodes 18-29 were a hit and miss (hit when it's comedy, miss when it's a sad scene), followed up with a mediocre ending.

THE PROBLEM:
What I very much liked is that the comedic scenes were very strong and I was seriously laughing out loud the whole time. However, what I strongly disliked was that the emotional scenes felt very forced. I feel like the writers wanted to create these super emotional impactful scenes but totally failed. The plot was done in such a convenient way to create more of a relationship dynamic between the main leads that it ended up looking artificial to me. One of the main issues I found is that there would be this super traumatic emotional scene and two seconds later it would be followed up with a very comedic scene which immediately lost the emotional impact and realness of the situation. The lack of emotions is what really bothered me because the characters were experiencing traumatic things but their reactions to them were not properly conveyed, hence they didn't feel real to me. Because of all this I sadly couldn't emotionally connect with the romance.

CHARACTERS:
FL really shined for me in every scene. She is perfect for the comedy scenes and if the script was better I could definitely see how her emotional scenes would have really impacted me (especially because I've seen her role in "Word of Honour" where she was a total badass). ML is very handsome and total eye-candy but too stoic. I haven't seen him in other dramas yet so I can't determine if it's the character or actor that was the issue. There are surprisingly lots of side couples and short romances in this drama. The second couple was my favourite and done really well, however the third couple (that received equal screen time with the second couple) was very boring, the characters very one dimensional and unfortunately useless screen time. The villains were non-threatening and flat looking. I believe a good story requires good heroes as much as good villains and this drama didn't deliver the villain part at all.

OVERALL:
I feel like this drama had great potential but didn't execute it well. I did enjoy the funny and silly comedy scenes so if you are looking for something with low angst and low emotional impact, I feel like you would enjoy this drama. Even though it has some small misunderstandings, the main couple mainly has a healthy relationship and communicates well with each other which is rare for a xianxia drama to see.

Leia Mais

Mystery + Everyday Life + Romance + Plot Twists

This drama is a mix of a few genres/vibes. Mystery aspect (the female lead is trying to figure out her world/the time travel stuff and the male lead is looking for his lost friend). Everyday life aspect (a big part of the drama is seeing the female lead working as a hairdresser/make-up artist and her struggles at work). Romance (more as a sub-plot but definitely there, the romance is darker and NOT a rom-com). Because of all the things mentioned above, the drama alternates every few episodes between very light and fun vibes and very dark and angsty vibes.

The drama tells the story of the female lead who has a car crash and believes she has travelled to a parallel universe and at the same time has jumped from 2025 to 2018. She meets the male lead who knows her parallel self and together they try to figure out the mystery of who the female lead is and how she ended up in 2018.

POSITIVE:
- Several fantastic plot twists.
- Hot chemistry between the leads. I could always feel the intense love and angst between them.
- No plot holes. All mystery questions are all answered in the end and make sense.
- Suspense aspect is done well as I was always at the edge of my seat.
- Mystery aspect is done well as the story keeps you guessing what’s real and what’s not.
- Strong-willed female lead. She was abused, yelled at constantly for no reason and yet she stood firm and strong. Her character development was amazing (seeing her being anti-social to making long-lasting friendships).
- Cinematography is stunning, especially during rain and snow scenes.
- Acting is top-notch especially from the female lead.
- Happy ending that is wrapped up well.
- The portrayal of mind distortions are done well, especially when the female lead is losing her mind and seeing things.
- Hairdressing/make-up scenes were cool to watch as it was unusual to see in a cdrama.

NEGATIVE:
- Last few episodes focused too much on the female lead’s career and a particular side character which made the drama a little boring and draggy.
- Needed more cute romance. Only one fake kiss scene (which I can get past that) but I wish we had seen the main leads hug more and have more cute scenes together when they were a couple.
- In episode 7 the male lead is manhandling the female lead. I personally didn’t mind it because it’s fiction not reality but if you are sensitive to these things, it might be best if you skip this drama.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a drama that has mystery, career/life struggles, mental health issues, darker romance and cool plot twists, watch this drama.

Leia Mais

Silly, chaotic, transmigration, fluffy romance

This drama is about the female lead who is a modern girl that enters a comic book as a Mary Sue heroine but messes up the system and bonds with the villain (male lead).

Note, to pass the censorship, the last 2 scenes in the finale episode are most likely switched.

POSITIVE:
- Villain male lead (but in a cute way).
- Cute, fluffy romance.
- Kiss scenes every episode (not even exaggerating). Some are good kisses, others are dead fish kisses.
- Making fun of Mary Sue & NPC characters.
- Silly & chaotic plot.
- Transmigration into comic/game style.
- A nice turn-off-your-brain-while-watching drama.
- Happy vibes.

NEGATIVE:
- Nonsense plot. If you care about logic and get easily irritated about the lack of it, don’t watch this.
- Ordinary plot. If you watch transmigration stories, you’ve seen it all before.

OVERALL:
Turn-off-your-brain-while-watching mini transmigration drama with silly plot and cute/fluffy romance.

Leia Mais

From Zero to Hero. A love story about two immortal youths and their trials and tribulations.

I initially dropped this at episode 11 but later decided to give it another chance. Unlike most xianxia’s, this drama has a very youthful feel to it as it follows the love story between two immortal youths. This means that in the beginning, both main leads are shown as naive and relatively powerless characters, and their story revolves around growing up, facing life’s challenges and learning from their mistakes in order to become powerful rulers.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH THE PREQUEL FIRST:
Before talking about this drama, I feel it’s important to mention that this is a sequel to Ancient Love Poetry (ALP). Technically you can watch this without having seen ALP however I feel like you will miss out on all of the important details. First off, this drama throws you into the world without explaining much. In ALP, the three realms are introduced, as well as the different immortal statuses that characters have. This is significant in understanding how the world works in general and most importantly, the power dynamics between characters. Most importantly, the backstories of the big villains in this drama as shown in ALP. Again, this drama just throws you the villains and I believe to truly understand their motivations you need to watch ALP. Third and also very important point is that we see the male lead as a child in ALP. I feel like his character is quite misunderstood by many people but if you watch his childhood in ALP, you will definitely understand clearly why he acts the way he does. A big part of this drama is the Da Ze Mountain which is the place where the male lead grows up. I was only able to feel why this place held such an important part of him because I had seen it in ALP. (Note, if you do decide to watch ALP first, know that the production team is different so the characters' names have been changed).

IF YOU DON’T WATCH THE PREQUEL:
I have written a short comment explaining the world’s setting and male lead’s backstory for those that don’t want to watch ALP but still want to understand what’s going on. WARNING, it contains ALP spoilers.
https://mydramalist.com/698285-shen-yin#comment-15573701


THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS DRAMA:
Now, back to this drama. The best part is hands down the character dynamics and development. The main lead's growth is striking from episode 1 till episode 40, as we see them both start off as immature youths and end up becoming responsible and wise rulers. The dynamics between the main leads and the support cast is done well. We see the portrayal of many forms of relationships: friendships, romantic love, kinship, family loyalty, master-disciples.

CHARACTERS/ACTORS:
- Zhao Lusi (female lead) is the reason I watched this and she absolutely slayed in playing two distinctly different characters. She was cute and endearing as a Water Condensing Beast and badass, powerful and calm as a Phoenix. She was indeed the star of the drama and pulled me in all of her scenes, especially towards the end of the drama when she was a Phoenix.
- Wang An Yu (male lead) is an actor I haven’t seen before. I must admit that he is not written as the most likeable character at first (and for most of the drama) but he is perhaps more realistically portrayed as a flawed character who makes mistakes and learns from them. He hurts the female lead a lot (both intentionally and unintentionally) but also redeems himself big time.
- Li Yun Rui (second male lead), he is a big reason I continued to watch the drama after I had initially dropped it. I loved his character as a sly fox and the charisma of the actor definitely made his character shine bright. He had a great character arc and his love story was a lovely addition to the drama.

CGI/COSTUMES/OST:
This needs a separate section because I have mixed feelings. The CGI in some scenes (and the settings) looks vibrant and nice but most of the time (especially in the action/battle scenes) the visual effects were so horrible to the point that I could tell they were shot in a studio. I have read that the production was rushed so that could explain the reason behind it. So for this I’d say, have very low expectations and see it as a low budget drama. The costumes at the start were quite lacklustre but improved later in the drama. I especially loved Lusi’s costumes as a Phoenix. The costume that really bugged me was the horrible orange one for the SML/Fox guy that he wrote A LOT. It was one of the worst I had ever seen. I’m a big cdrama OST lover but the music was nothing special here as none of the songs stood out to me.

POSITIVE:
- Light-hearted xianxia (for the most part) without too much angst. It’s perfect to watch in the evening after a tiring day.
- Great character development for the main leads. We see them grow from immature clueless youths to responsible rulers.
- Nice character dynamics. I loved all the relationship portrayals: friendships, romantic love, kinship, family loyalty, master-disciples.
- Second couple’s love story was captivating. I actually wish they had more screen time together. Their relationship was the slowest of the slowest burns but worth the watch.
- No annoying obsessive/unrequited love. This is a HUGE positive as I absolutely hate the cliche plot line where the second male/female leads are obsessed with the mains and try everything to break them apart.
- Zhao Lusi slayed as the star of the drama. I loved her portrayal of two distinctly different characters. She especially blew me away in her mannerism and majestic aura as a Phoenix. If you love the actress, this drama is a must watch for you.
- Friendship goals. I loved the friendship between the four main characters as they always had each other’s backs.
- Main villains/antagonists were enjoyable to watch for the most part. In most xianxia they annoy me but these I enjoyed watching.They didn’t take too much precious screen time from the main leads like in other dramas.
- No three lifetimes/no human realm plot. In most xianxia we see the main leads reincarnating and forgetting who they are as they go through human tribulations but this drama was just one, straightforward story without these things.
- Cool father/daughter dynamic as antagonists. I rarely like the bad guys in xianxia but the actors really made me enjoy their characters. These two had one of the most loyal family relationships I had even seen.

NEGATIVE:
- Plot was definitely the weak point of this drama as it showed nothing new or unique. I feel like I enjoyed this drama only because the cast did a fabulous job and the characters were interesting. But if this had an infamous cast… it would have flopped for sure.
- Emotional moments didn’t hit me. I cry easily and yet the angsty scenes were just relaxing to watch. Nothing made my heart jump or gasp with shock.
- Bad CGI effects. This drama is said to be high budget and yet the quality can only be placed in the low budget pile.
- Not binge-worthy. It was easy to hit pause on this drama many times and to ff/skip some parts.
- Misleading title. It’s not an important point but I do love to connect the titles with the stories and this one feels all wrong. The title suggests that by the end there will be only one immortal left but that’s not the case.

OVERALL:
This is not the most unique or groundbreaking xianxia, it definitely has its flaws. But the story is enjoyable to watch (especially after episode 12) and the characters (+ actors) are the highlight of the drama. I had initially dropped this at episode 11 but I’m happy I gave it another chance.

I’d recommend this drama to those of you who want to watch a youthful, light-hearted (for the most part) xianxia that’s good to watch in the evening after a tiring day. It has great character dynamics and development, where the main leads start off as immature, clueless youths and end up becoming responsible rules. If you love Zhao Lusi and are not too fussed about bad CGI, you will enjoy this drama.

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