I, like most people, began watching because of the high ratings (9.1 atm) and the intriguing synopsis. MC in a comic book trying to fight against her fate? Sign me up! The first few episodes did pretty well in setting up the story and world-building. You have Dan Oh who is headstrong and determined to change her fight as a sick girl who has a crush on Baek Kyung, Baek Kyung who treats Dan Oh like trash, Haru who tries to help Dan Oh change her fate, Joo Da who is your typical helpless female lead in the comic, Nam Joo who is your typical rich male lead in the comic, and Do Hwa who is your typical sweet second-male lead. However, towards the middle of the story, Dan Oh's goal switches and she turns into the cliche girl whose life now centers around romance and being with Haru. Scenes become repetitive as characters lose their memories, scenes successfully manage to be changed only with slight tweaks, and Dan Oh continuously suffers from her sickness without being able to do anything about it. You're up to the last four episodes and you're thinking, what's progressed between Dan Oh and achieving her sickness goal? NOTHING! The only progress there has been in Dan Oh's life is in the romance department between her and Haru. And of course, the last four episodes rush everything and almost nothing is explained or satisfyingly resolved in the end. Who is the writer? Why do shadows exist in the first place? Why don't the characters just get skipped to the next important scene automatically? How do the changed scenes affect the writer's planning in real life? What's the point of this whole drama if the characters will face the same problem in the other works the author writes? What happens to the characters after a story is completed? Why does Haru sleep in school? Is he homeless? Where's his parents? Why don't we know anything about him after 30 episodes other than that he likes Dan Oh? Dan Oh's best friend is Ju Da's bully, yet why does Dan Oh never do anything about it?

Pros:
- Unique concept (even though a lot of potential is wasted)
- Charming and complex characters (especially Do Hwa and shadow Ju Da)
- Superb acting despite messy storyline (major props to Baek Kyung's actor)
- Great character developments (Baek Kyung)
- Mix of historical drama background

Cons:
- Turns into your typical romance story with a high school girl infatuated with a guy and prioritizing him over her own life
- Undeveloped characters (looking at you, Haru)
- Sends bad messages (romance vs. life, no free will, can't change your fate, bullying)
- TONS of plotholes
- Not a lot of questions answered
- Repetitive scenes
- Terrible and rushed ending

All in all, if you're looking for a romance drama with a bit of a "forbidden love" twist and angst in it, this is for you. Just don't look too deep into the whole character-being-unable-to-change-her-fate concept. If you're planning on watching it because the synopsis sounds interesting, brace yourself for the disappointment. The rushed ending leaving millions of questions unanswered will crush you.

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Story-line wise, this drama is definitely not the best. I almost couldn't take anything in this drama seriously because of the large amounts of light-hearted and cringe-inducing scenes displayed in the first few episodes. They portray cops as incompetent and childish people who don't know how to do their individual jobs correctly. The main character, Shao Fei, especially continuously defies the commands of his superiors and always runs off from his police officer duty to fulfill his own agendas. All of the police officers fool around too much while on the job, which makes you wonder if they're even taking their responsibilities seriously. A lot of scenes make no sense. Honestly, many of the characters don't even deserve to have their jobs because of their lack of ability to perform their duties. However, if you don't mix this drama with reality and are able to ignore these obvious flaws, the drama becomes much more enjoyable and emotional to watch, especially in the later episodes.

Acting-wise, Chris and Jake definitely fit their character roles. Chris has the charismatic look of a gangster leader and has the perfect cold look, while Jake has the dorky charm. However, Chris needs to improve on his crying face as most of the times the tears look obviously fake. Andy and Jack also lived up to their roles, although sometimes Andy's happy expressions look fake and forced. All-in-all, the chemistry among the couples are great and enjoyable to watch.

Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed plot-wise (mainly due to the negative portrayal of police officers) and the plot twists weren't that interesting. However, this drama gives a lot of good life lessons and teaches the audience many things about the positive aspects of life and love. The characters were all also very lovable and the romantic scenes were very cute. I enjoyed the drama a lot and look forward to rewatching the quirky scenes between the couples.

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This is one of the best dramas I have ever watched, and it definitely deserves its high rating. I admit, the first few episodes of the drama (up to around episode 10) were pretty cringy to watch, mostly because of the weird CGI. However, please do NOT let this turn you off from watching the rest of the drama. It gets SO much better as it continues on. I genuinely started becoming invested in the story after episode 10, and every single episode after 24 I would consider a masterpiece. It is definitely worth it to bear through the first few episodes to watch the remaining episodes. What I loved most was that there were so many questions I had throughout the drama, but literally every single one of them got answered by the last episode.

Character-wise? 10/10. There is not a single character I hate in this story or that is one-dimensional (except maybe the first main villain, the Wen Clan leader) because their backgrounds are flourished out so well that you start to sympathize with some of them and understand their motives for acting a certain way. It will make you learn to think before judging or hating on certain characters. Wei Wu Xian is one of the best characters; he is very charismatic and may act childish at times, but is willing to become the scapegoat and sacrifice himself for others if need be. He has so many expressions and I give major props to Sean for being able to act him out so well for an inexperienced actor. I must also commend Wang Yi Bo, who did a perfect job as Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan is a man of few words and looks boring and stoic all the time, but it is amazing how Wang Yi Bo is able to display so many different emotions with just his eyes. All of the characters in this drama were cast perfectly. There weren't a lot of female characters in this drama, but the ones that did exist were all very charming and strong, which is a pleasant surprise, because in almost all dramas I experienced watching, at least one of the female characters were portrayed as ditzy and clumsy.

I also especially loved the relationship among the characters. There is so much growth and development among many of them, obviously including the one between Wei Wu Xian and Lan Zhan. This may be considered a BL drama but instead of explicitly depicting the growing relationship between them, their expressions and subtle actions when around each other are telling enough of how dear they hold one another.

The music in this drama is also amazing. Usually I don't pay attention to the music in a drama because they're not very catchy or distinct, but many times the music played at certain scenes has caused me to break down and cry.

Usually I am someone who is emotionless when watching dramas and I can only list a few shows I have watched in my lifetime that has managed to make me cry. However, this drama will definitely capture your heart and make you feel many different types of emotions, especially with the help of the music. It will make you smile, laugh, cry, angry, and spew out curse words. It teaches you many things, ranging from stuff about trust, loyalty, love, to sacrifice, betrayal, and familial piety. I would highly recommend this drama to anyone and there is no doubt that I would watch the drama again some time in the future.

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