Vix
This review may contain spoilers
Typical Contemporary Romance Cdrama
Modern romance drama that revolves around the love story between Chu Li, an aspiring editor, and Zhou Chuan, a highly successful debut author. This was a drama that I had looked forward to ever since they announced the lead pair. I had enjoyed watching Ding Yuxi's "Romance of Tiger and Rose" and really liked Esther Yu in "Find Yourself".However, what started as a solid 9/10 drama, slowly devolved to 6/10 for me. Mainly because of how absurd the ML's behaviour was. I tolerated his antics in the beginning because I thought he would change for the better as the drama progressed. But, 30 episodes in, he still behaves like a child instead of the 27-year-old adult he's supposed to be. At the beginning of the drama, he treats the FL as his own personal assistant, even his housemaid at times, and no one seems to even point out how wrong this is to the person himself although certain characters do remark upon it. Later, after the leads get together, he continues to demand the FL's attention knowing fully well that she's busy at her job and not ignoring him on purpose. I get that in dramaland this behaviour can pass off as cute but imagine if this happened in real life?
Other than that, my only complaint is that nothing really happens in the drama. This would have been a much better-paced drama if it had been 24 episodes. Instead, we have to wait for more than half the drama, around 18 episodes just for the leads to get together. The drama had nothing new to offer, except for maybe the glimpse into behind the scenes workings of the publishing industry.
Nevertheless, I liked our FL and almost all of the female characters. Their story arcs were much better written, believable and relatable. Chu Li was determined and stood her ground despite how harsh her workplace was to her. Even though I wish we could see Esther Yu in a more serious and not-so-typical role, she played the bubbly and unintentionally funny FL to a tee.
I may be overreacting here, but I'm just really tired of the unreasonable MLs. If you like slow-paced, slice-of-life-ish romances or if you are relatively new to modern cdrama rom-coms then this drama might be for you.
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One of the tightly written plots I've seen in a long time, no filler episodes. Flawed but interesting characters. This is my first time watching a law drama that deals with the shady and business-minded side of law rather than the usual "Justice will be served" court dramas. But I have to say what kept me hooked was the unusual romance between Hee Jae and Geum Ja. Those two were cute beyond measure and I enjoyed every moment they were together on screen.
Recommended for those who are watching out for strong female characters, uncommon romantic relationship dynamics, and a fast-paced plot.
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I liked the action scenes which were, of course, Jackie Chan quality. The side couple was adorable, and Wang Zhi was probably my favourite character. Certain female characters were annoying and there was too much politics involved for my taste in the latter episodes of the drama. But still, it was a decent watch and some cases were definitely interesting.
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THIS IS NOT AN OBJECTIVE REVIEW
Writing this literally after I finished watching it. I feel so empty. I wish I could erase my memory and re-watch it.The highlight of this drama has to be the fact that there is no drama, whatsoever. It's not exactly slice-of-life, but not so far from it either. We witness Shengsheng, a talented up and coming composer with a beautiful voice, and Mo Qingcheng, an acclaimed voice actor and a doctor, fall in love with each other's voices and slowly with each other. Their journey as they get to know each other, supporting both their respective careers is just so beautifully portrayed by Zhou Ye and Tan Jianci.
The setting of the story is very much focused on voice acting and singing, and even though I cannot guarantee the accuracy of how it is portrayed in the drama, I feel like it treats that subject matter with a lot of respect. There's a running theme of found-family and friendships that formed within the close-knit voice acting community. The music of the drama is definitely a main character, there are so many beautiful songs I can't even choose.
Note of warning, make sure you have food near you, or you've eaten plenty before watching. Food is pretty much the love language of Shengsheng and Qingcheng and the drama prominently features a variety of delicacies with detailed shots of them being prepared. Apart from that, you can feast your eyes on exquisite scenery in Yangshuo and Qiandao and of course the visuals of our main couple (❁´◡`❁)
As much as I love this drama, it is definitely not for everyone. I have seen some people express their displeasure about the lack of conflict and I see where they are coming from. Which is why, I would recommend this drama for people who just want to relax, unwind after a long day as it transports you to a musical, love-filled dimension with great food.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched this drama on a random whim and I'm sort of regretting it because I'm obsessed. I loved everything about the drama even though certain parts require a suspension of believability. What I liked:
Pretty much everything. Believable acting, lots of eye candy, cute and fluffy romance, and Jaylerr. Every time he came on screen I probably didn't look at anyone or anything else. His expressions of falling in love and heartbreak were perfect. James, of course, nailed it as a girl in a boy's body.
What I disliked:
I could have done with more Love and Taengmo scene. Those two are precious.
Beware, despite being known as a BL drama it is not, in my opinion, a BL. It is more similar to The Shipper than your average BL.
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What I liked:
I got to learn a lot about ice sports that I didn't know, before watching the drama I had no idea that a sport called short track skating existed. Also as a drama with several side couples, and various other characters, it was nice to see that a majority of them were their own person with their own struggles. Not to mention great chemistry be it romantic relationships or friendships. I have to mention the male lead, Steven Zhang, he stole the show for me with his expressions ranging from cool and focused God of Ice to the adorable BingBing he was whenever Tang Xue was concerned.
What I disliked:
The draggy second half of the drama. Frankly, this drama should have been around 30 episodes. In my opinion, they introduced some really unnecessary plot points just to make this 40 episodes.
In conclusion, if you like dramas that are centered around sports and the struggles that athletes encounter, cute couples with great chemistry, despite certain cliche elements in the plot, then this is the drama for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
It all starts with one murder..
This was such an unexpected hit. I did not expect to like this drama when I first started watching it. This is easily one of the best dramas of 2021 for me. The fact that the story while revolving around one murder case, managed to follow multiple characters' stories weaving them intricately without losing steam for 16 episodes is amazing in itself. An extremely well-paced story with 3D characters who have their own problems and motivations, what more could I have asked for.The glimpse into the lives of law school students and how various cases are handled in general, albeit being fascinating, lacked a little bit of realism, in my opinion. Although I am no expert on law, it would have been impossible for certain courtroom scenes to happen in real life. But what's a law drama without that little bit of flash and bang in courtrooms. Apart from that, my only complaint about this drama is that despite each case having antagonists and villains of their own, ultimately everything lead to one main villain which was a tad predictable and lacked that little amount of punch for me.
Other than that, I absolutely loved everything else. Yangcretes who couldn't help but give lectures even in the courtroom, Professor Kim who used the bad guys to eventually make the good guys win, Sol B who I initially disliked but grew on me as the story progressed, stoic faced Jiho, brave and beautiful Yeseul who's final courtroom scene made me cry, soft-hearted Bokgi, kind but a little lost Seungjae who managed to find his way back in the end, and even Yebum who manages to say the wrong thing almost every time.
Of course, one of the best parts of the drama for me was the will-they-won't-they couple JoonSolA ^o^ Even though the drama didn't specifically confirm that they ended up dating, in my mind, they are endgame periodt. Their little interactions sprinkled throughout the drama were what I looked forward to in each episode and they are what I'm going to miss the most about the drama.
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I admit that after watching the first three episodes I wasn't very motivated and considered dropping the drama. Nonetheless episode 4 somehow did it for me and I knew I wanted to keep watching it.
The plot was quite intriguing and had a really nice pace. However around episode 12-16 it starts derailing. I don't know why the writers did what they did. My biggest concern wasn't the ending but the way the story got to that point. It had been a very promising story with a slow burn romance between the main couple and an even better supporting cast, but ended up making a mess of it in the middle.
What kept me going until the end was Xiu Xian, Xiaoju and Kuanyong. They were inarguably the best thing about the drama and why I would suggest anyone to watch the drama.
Acting wise I feel like everyone did well except the actor who plays Helan Jingting.
I didn't really pay much attention to the music therefore have no opinion about whether it's good or bad.
I might rewatch the scenes with my favourite trio but as for the rest of the drama not so much.
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But several episodes into the drama, I almost dropped it. I'm not saying that I did not enjoy the drama, because I did. But it was just at the moment of watching an episode. After watching one, I had to find the motivation to watch the next week's episode. Why would I force myself to watch it if I don't like it? I usually would not have. But I really did like all the characters, Junwan was my favourite followed by Seokhyung, and I wanted to know what happened to them, to all the couples I shipped (Please don't hate me, but WinterGarden was not one of them). And when the final episode aired I was so relieved that it was over.
I tried to keep my rating as objective as possible because despite everything it really was a good drama, and I just happened to not like it as much as everyone else did.
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A beautiful and poignant story of two childhood friends who fall in love with each other, the plot despite being a bit KDrama-ish at the end was more than I could have asked for. The characters were written excellently and Jung Eui Soo's and Han Gi Chan's portrayal of Gook and Tae Joo was just marvelous. What with their undeniable chemistry, I cannot imagine anyone else in their roles.
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