My Decoy Bride (2023)

Intriguing drama with its own FF button <3

I stumbled upon this drama and decided to plunge right in without much research or thought. Wow, it turned out to be a fun and entertaining ride.

What I liked about this drama:
- The plot was intriguing as many things were going on. There was a lot of action. The plot was fast-paced. Things happened. Things were revealed.
- The ML was "da bomb"-- handsome! He could be cute. He could be suave. He could be manly. I enjoyed watching him!
- The FL was not a damsel in distress which was nice.
- Everything was explained and well-linked. Everything was tied up nicely despite the fact that this drama was a mini-series. I liked the sense of completion and closure.
- The fighting scenes were quite nicely choreographed.
- There was plenty of "skinship" between ML and FL which was, to me, very lovely. I liked how they sort of could not keep their hands off each other. I liked their hot kisses and their interactions which were full of (sexual) tension.
- I was entertained and intrigued. It was a fun short ride!

What I didn't like:
- This mini-series was a little too rushed in my opinion. Everything seemed to be at 1.25 or even 1.5 speed.
- The jumps from one part to another seemed very "touch and go" -- "here's the explanation, take it and off we go to the next" was how I felt.

Overall, this is an exciting and entertaining mini-series with cute ML! I watched him in "Royal Rumors" but he is finer in this series. I'd say watch it! It's very good! :o)

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Snack-size drama, but solid entertainment

Even though the episodes are only 11 min long, the overall quality of this drama makes it appear more like a full-length drama (but without the draggy bits).

While the plot is classic false-identity/revenge fare, this drama has many strong points that I would wish to see in normal length dramas:

Despite some twists, the plot remains coherent until the end.
There is a strong female lead and all the female roles manage to avoid the usual, dreadful stereotypes of damsel in distress, moronic maid, obsessive delusional cousin/sister/love rival, etc.
It isn’t a big production, so the cast is quite limited, but it doesn’t feel like more people were needed. The acting by the main cast is pretty decent and the martial arts sequences look well choreographed.
There are plenty of romantic scenes between the main couple, but thankfully without any of the usual cheesy tropes like viewing lanterns/fireflies, falling blossoms or slow-motion/repeat scenes. Their chemistry is sufficient to not need any of this to show their feelings.
The drama did not lose its momentum in the second half and the ending felt sufficiently fleshed-out.

If I had to point out one thing that I disliked about this drama it would be the ending OST which I found quite unbearable. Every time that squeaky voice hit the high notes is felt like fingernails scratching on glass.

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