This review may contain spoilers
It's good as long as you turn your brain off
I'm a huge sucker for contract marriage dramas, so I was really excited to watch this one. I didn't care for the first few episodes (everything felt contrived and it was all very predictable), but things got a little better as the drama went on. I'd even say the last ten episodes or so were a lot better than than the first 25, a rarity in Chinese dramas.PROS:
--The leads have really really great chemistry. Their interactions feel very natural and believable
--The soundtrack is really cute
--I liked how the English title actually had something to do with the drama itself-- we all know how Cdrama titles usually go, but iQiyi seems to do a better job than other channels.
--The leads' story is really sweet.
--The main leads' acting outshone the writing and storyline. They've both got bright futures ahead of them-- particularly Gong Jun.
--Gong Jun was a pro by himself. He crushed it in this drama. Honestly, I couldn't have made it through if it weren't for him.
--Hot man who's good with kids in the last ten episodes. My heart was melting the entire time XD Gong Jun's interactions with Lu YouYou were very natural and freaking adorable.
--THE FINALE WASN'T RUSHED. That's almost unheard of for a Chinese drama. The final episodes' pacing was actually perfect. They had enough time to wrap up everything they needed to.
CONS (aka my rant and major spoilers ahead):
--I had so many issues with the plot devices used in the show. Near the beginning, they give the ML aphrodisiacs without his knowledge so he'll have sex with the FL. That's literally rape. Even if it's the woman doing it to the man, it still counts as rape to drug someone into having sex with you. So I didn't like that. Not to mention that marriage is NOT consent. Ling Rui refused to have sex with Lu Fangning (once he found out that's what she wanted), and she should have respected that. It is totally possible to rape your spouse. I didn't like that either.
Then there was the whole fiasco of Lu Fangning keeping Lu Youyou a secret from Ling Rui for the first six years of his life. BRO. You need to give your ex-HUSBAND the opportunity to be a part of his child's life. There are very few reasons that a child should be kept from his/her other parent, and "I didn't know how to tell him" or "I didn't want to disrupt his life" IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I just couldn't forgive Lu Fangning for it, even if Ling Rui did. There's being stupid, then there's what she did. I only made it through the rest of the drama by turning my brain off and trying not to think about it.
--The drama couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Did it want to be self-aware of how cliched it was? Did it want to be a dramatic drama or a light, cutesy drama? It never quite made up its mind. Though a lot of the dramatic scenes were well-done, they felt jarring in contrast to the light, cutesy feel of everything else.
--The drama was a little too long. I think they could've cut it back a few episodes and it would've been perfect. They spent too much time on the second leads, though I fully acknowledge that I almost always skip through the second leads' scenes anyway. A good indicator of whether a drama has been stretched out too long is when the old villain comes back to wreak more havoc, which happened here.
--Lu Fangning was *almost* likeable, but then she kept doing really stupid things (like trying to rape Ling Rui and not telling him about Lu Youyou, making decisions for everyone else by herself, etc.). I started wishing that Ling Rui would find someone he could actually trust, since Lu Fangning showed many times that she was not trustworthy. I was so angry at her for running away from Ling Rui without explanation. She could've, you know... just talked to him about Germany and worked something out? That was never her decision to make in the first place. And yeah, he should've told her about it before he rejected the study abroad, but what she did was way worse than that. I don't know how Ling Rui was able to trust her at all when he saw her again. If it were me, I would've been completely done with her.
I know I expected too much of this drama. It really is an ok watch as long as you don't think about it too hard. The last part was particularly well-done. I'm excited to see Gong Jun in more complex roles in the future, since he really made this drama for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The first lakorn I actually hated
I love me some ToomVill, but this was a disappointment for me.STORY: Honestly, this drama's huberis was its story. The premise was unique, which was good, but very poorly executed. The storytelling was choppy to the extreme; at one point in the drama, Vill twists her ankle, and Toomtam has to carry her. Then the next morning roles around, and it's like the ankle never happened! Frankly, unless Vill has superhuman healing powers, that ankle was a deus ex machina if ever I saw one. And that was certainly not the only time something like that happened.The villain made me laugh. He literally shouted about all his evil plans right outside the OPEN DOORS of the house. Seriously, no one EVER overheard him? Was everyone in this drama deaf?Wathit was just downright terrible as a character. Not a single scene depicts him even feeling SAD about his brother's death, and then he goes and makes a play for his dead brother's wife, all without ANY remorse at all. Any normal human being would have a raging internal battle at the very least, feeling attracted to the dead brother's wife but wanting to honor the brother's memory. But apparently Wathit was above such petty matters. I almost wanted the villain to get the girl, because in my eyes, Wathit was more villainous than Denkhun.
ACTING/CAST: The acting was good for the lousy material given. None of the actors could shine because the script was so bad. Denkhun did do a good job as the villain though, and ToomVill's comedic timing was downright PERFECTION.
MUSIC: The music was awesome. I listen to the soundtrack for this drama all the time, even though I have never rewatched the drama itself.
REWATCH VALUE: That's a funny joke.
Was this review helpful to you?
This drama was cute. It's not one that I'll rave over, but it was short and fun to watch.
The cast mostly contains people who are new to acting, so they tended to over-act. But I was impressed by the leads, they had good chemistry and even though they were an unlikely couple, the lead actors made their love completely believable. They were shaky on the sweet scenes, but did a decent job.
The plot was simplistic, with just enough originality to spice the drama up a bit. The modern girl stuck in the past has definitely been done before, but modern girl trapped in another girl's body whose spirit keeps switching out with hers is definitely different. The solutions to problems were superficial but adequate.
Honestly, the best thing about this drama (besides the leads) was the music. The use of modern music in a historical drama made for an interesting contradiction that kept us in the female lead's head.
Overall, nothing amazing. "The Eternal Love" is a cute drama that you skip through on a weekend if you want some fun romance that's not too taxing on your emotions. I might rewatch the parts with the leads, but probably won't invest in the entire drama. I'm looking forward to what they do with season 2, though.
Was this review helpful to you?
Overrated but a decent watch
This lakorn was not my favorite, but then again, I've been spoiled with really good dramas recently.PROS:
-Yadech was a great casting for this lakorn! I'm a little cautious with Yadech not because their chemistry isn't fantastic, but because I want them to pair with other actors and hone their skills more than they have. I will say, they both fit their roles very well.
-Production value. Holy cow. This lakorn is nothing but production value. Gorgeous sets, amazing scenery, beautiful costuming, there's nothing lacking in that respect.
-Lip kisses are always a plus! Especially since this came out in 2018, back when that still wasn't the norm.
-I really appreciated the way the romance was handled. There wasn't a lot, but what was there was believable. A forbidden romance between a princess and her bodyguard must be very restrained. However, I liked that they didn't play too much into the whole "we can't be together" trope.
-INDY. OH MY GOSH. He was honestly the highlight of the lakorn for me.
CONS:
-There is one con that made this lakorn so average: THE STORY. GUYS. As a veteran lakorn viewer, I predicted every "plot twist" before it happened. I knew who the villain was from episode one, while the big reveal didn't come until episode 10. This lakorn was basically every other lakorn plotline with fancier costumes and a fictitious monarchy. I would rather the production team spend less money on filming in Holland and pretty outfits, and more money on an actual unique plotline.
-So many plotholes... also the palace security must be TERRIBLE if it's so easy to make an attempt on a monarch's life. Multiple times, no less!
-This lakorn probably could have been accomplished in 9 or 10 episodes instead of 12. It felt like most of the subplots were thrown in just to fill time.
All in all, a decent watch if you don't mind lakorn tropes and need to get your Yadech fix. Otherwise, look elsewhere. I doubt I'll bother to watch it again.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A light, fun watch that never tries to be anything more than it is
I just watched this drama on HBO Max, and I *thoroughly* enjoyed it!PROS:
-Everyone's already said this, but the costuming and set design are phenomenal! Su Wenli looks gorgeous in her period dresses, while Vengo looks mighty fine in his tailored suits. The design crew did an amazing job of taking the viewer into the era-- there's hardly a moment in the series that doesn't feel like 1930's-ish Shanghai.
-The mysteries are well-written and interesting. I guessed the murderer in a few of the episodes, but not all of them. I think that's a healthy balance. The plotlines aren't necessarily unique if you've seen other detective shows before, but the setting of Republican-era Shanghai and the focus on the unique culture of the time makes them refreshing and interesting. I think the only mystery that I didn't enjoy was the dressmaker mystery-- they gave a very obvious hint early on in the first part of the mystery who the perpetrator was and then ignored it, so I was disappointed that a) no one ever brought it up again, and b) that I knew who the murderer was from twenty minutes into the first part :(
-The romance is SO well done! I love how Su Wenli and Inspector Luo flirt with each other XD I also really appreciated the buildup of the romance-- they start with light flirting, then they slowly become more vulnerable with each other, then the flirting escalates, then they get more "couple-y" with each other. It felt very natural. Vengo Gao and Ma Yi Li also have awesome chemistry together.
-Ma Yi Li's character is really well-written. She is a strong, intelligent, capable woman who is also capable of being vulnerable. She saves herself a lot, but she can't always save herself. I appreciated the message that she's not a damsel in distress, but she knows her own limits and will ask for help when she reaches them. I feel like this was epitomized in the final episode (BIG SPOILER AHEAD):
she actually saved herself from Ding Rushan. She got in his head so he and his partner turned on each other. She was already safe from them by the time Luo escaped from his cell. Then he helped by finishing the job and trying to find a way out. Then they were saved by the police.
Asking and utilizing the help available makes Su Wenli a stronger heroine. One of my biggest pet peeves are "feminist" FLs who are actually just hypermasculine-- they beat up all the bad guys, are never emotionally vulnerable for one second, won't accept anyone's help ever, etc. These traits are mostly fine on their own, but are unrealistic all together. Su Wenli is a much more realistic "strong, independent woman".
-All the characters are likable and normal. They're intelligent and capable at their respective jobs. Even though Su Wenli is usually the one to solve the case, we see that Inspector Luo is also very capable and professional at his job.
-The music is super fun :)
CONS:
-If you're watching this for the romance, you might be disappointed. The romance is really an afterthought to the rest of the plotlines-- it is a detective drama and not a romance, after all.
-Some of the cases were really predictable. I'd say the majority were fresh and interesting, but some of them had annoying characters and predictable endings.
-SPOILER ALERT: I felt like the finale tied things up nicely, but I wasn't a fan of the archaeology/resurrection spell/an entire freaking TOMB underneath the university that apparently nobody noticed parts of it. The plotline was starkly different from the feel of the entire rest of the drama. It felt out of place to me. It was too supernatural for my taste.
The tomb really bothered me. It was SO unrealistic that someone could build an entire secret tomb with toxic gas that somehow NOBODY noticed??? Like what?
Overall, I highly recommend this drama. It's got good writing, great leads, an interesting story, great acting, Vengo Gao wearing tailored suits and coats (starts to drool XD), and it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Was this review helpful to you?
Not bad, but overrated
Most of what I have to say has been said in other reviews. Tor was hands-down what saved this drama. His fantastic acting and on-screen charisma were downright electric.I don't typically enjoy revenge dramas, so it's not surprising this wasn't my favorite.
The main issues I had with this drama were: 1) the female lead and 2) the stereotypes *gag*
The female lead was honestly completely unnecessary. I think they were trying to go for the "female lead softens vengeful male lead's heart," but I personally did not see that ever happen. He fell in love with her and she tried to tell him to stop his revenge plan, but I don't remember him ever listening to her. Tor just ignored every bit of advice she gave him.
I also didn't care for the female lead's character. She was very vanilla, as most female leads are in lakorns. As a viewer, I was completely indifferent to her.
Now for the stereotypes. Where to begin. There were so many scenes/lines that I saw coming from miles away. The part at the end where he gets pregnancy symptoms for her? That trope was funny the first time I saw it... nine years ago. It's gotten more and more ridiculous with each lakorn that uses it.
This lakorn was worth watching once to see the extremely talented Tor, but was unremarkable in every other sense. I doubt I'll watch it again.
Was this review helpful to you?
The definition of a crack drama
DISCLAIMER: I have only seen Boys Over Flowers once, which was about 8 years ago. I got so frustrated with the amnesia and everything else that I skipped to the end. Therefore, I think I went into this drama with a mostly open mind, since I've heard that the Taiwanese version was better than Korea's.When I started watching this drama, I had no idea what a roller coaster ride I was in for. It made me cry. Dramas NEVER make me cry-- not even the melodramas or the tragedies. I was a mess when the leads were in London on their date (hopefully that doesn't spoil too much) and they were crying. I lost it.
Yes the drama is extremely unrealistic, but isn't the point of entertainment to take us away from reality? I guess people want to be taken to different places in their fantasies.
What's not to love about this drama? It's so feel-good. It left me with so many warm fuzzies. F4 has awesome chemistry together and yes they are all tall, handsome guys. Darren Chen and Dylan Wang I felt particularly nailed their roles. Darren Chen's Huaze Lei made me flashback to when I watched Boys Over Flowers. Also, he's adorable.
Dylan Wang... wow. I was blown away by his performance. Playing a character like Dao Ming Si would be difficult, especially showing the slow character development he goes through. Dylan Wang made the 180 switch of bad boy-turned-good Dao Ming Si completely believable. He and Shen Yue have AMAZING chemistry. When they were together, it felt like they weren't even acting at all.
I also loved how there weren't annoying misunderstandings keeping the couple apart. They were kept apart by outside forces, which was still frustrating but much less so.
Overall, the acting, writing, everything is just amazingly well done. I will definitely be rewatching this drama multiple times. This drama made me believe in love again.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
About what we fans would expect
This was a satisfying conclusion to the The Eternal Love series. We finally got our big-budget drama of Mo Lian Cheng and Qu Tan Er!Things I liked about this drama:
-Our beloved main couple <3
-The humor-- all 3 of the dramas maintain the same feel and humor
-The costumes
-Mo Lian Cheng's bangs. They look way better now XD
-All the references to the past dramas, especially the first
-"I'm not satisfied"
-No breakups, no distrust, and LOTS of kissing!
-Yun Xiu!! I have no idea why, I just really really liked him and his character.
-The plot was more complex than the past two dramas, and I was really intrigued by the empress the entire time
Things I disliked:
-As was the case with the first two dramas, the plot was pretty all-over-the-place. The writer for this drama series has a lot of potential, but just couldn't seem to handle a bigger production with more episodes and budget.
-The middle (ep 13-22) was pretty boring. I can deal with the crazy plotlines, but heaven forbid I get BORED watching The Eternal Love!
-The side couples were fun, but they did absolutely nothing to move the plot along. The whole Yun Xiu storyline literally amounted to nothing. It was just a filler for screen time.
-For some reason, I had a hard time believing the whole "matriarchy" set up. I think it could've done with more "world-building," or showing us more examples of the matriarchy and the different world they lived in. That's something TROTAR did really well.
-The pacing was just strange. Things got so much better when Mo Lian Cheng recovered his memories.
Overall, I feel satisfied with this drama. I'm not sure I'll go back and watch it again. The storyline and characters feel tired and watered-down at this point. I love this series, but it's time everyone moved on to other projects.
Was this review helpful to you?
STORY: Absolutely frustrating. I wanted to scream at every single character almost every time one of them opened their mouths. However, the plot was well-paced and was not over or underdone. Such a dramatic plot is very easy to go overboard with, but the writers knew exactly which buttons to press to get our emotions riled up, and then left the story alone. I personally was a little disappointed with the conclusion because it felt foreign compared to the rest of the drama, but it wrapped things up fairly well.
For the couplings, I was super invested in Piak and Chaiyan and Sathit and Jee, but I felt that Dao and Jade were superfluous. However, I rarely get invested in side couples, so it was mostly me.
ACTING/CAST: Yaya completely blew me away in this drama. I've seen almost all of her lakorns, and she's always been good, but WOW. Jee was a very complex character, and Yaya pulled it off like nobody's business. Yaya created a Jee who seems tough and cruel on the outside, but she's really a caring, vulnerable person on the inside who had to learn to defend herself.
Mark did a good job as well. I still felt didn't quite reconcile the different facets of Sathit's personality into one without appearing to have MPD. Sathit is obsessive, but he's also cute at times and a real gentleman. Mark did an adequate job, but in the last episode, I wondered if I was watching Sathit or some other character I didn't know about.
Louis was a sass king, as usual. I especially liked how he showed that Chaiyan wanted to blame Piak completely for their troubled marriage, but that Chaiyan was also to blame in part. Also, when Louis cried, it was so real... he's not the hero with perfect makeup making tears fall, but he's the real person crying, screwing up his face and trying to stop the tears from coming.
I love Toey, but her Piak made me want to throw my phone at the wall, which was kinda the whole point of her character. Well done, Toey.
MUSIC: Lovely. It varies, which is something they usually struggle with in dramas. The music was passionate and dramatic, but also cute and loving. Pretty sure the same people who wrote the msuic for Piang Chai Kon Nee Mai Chai Poo Wised wrote the music for this one.
REWATCH VALUE: It took me a year, but I rewatched this one all the way through. I thought it was actually better the second time through, because I already had the story, so I could pay more attention to the actual characters and such.
Overall, this drama is for those who love drama and angst. If you don't look elsewhere. It's frustrating and will make you ugly cry, but the drama really is very touching and will give you hope that true love might actually exist.
Was this review helpful to you?
A solid addition to the slice-of-life genre
This drama understands exactly what it's about.I was wary of the parallel storylines before I watched this drama. I liked the idea of them, but I was worried that they would be messy/confusing. They weren't at all! It was always clear which storyline we were watching, and the transitions between them were pretty smooth. I particularly liked the times when the storylines converged.
Overall, it's worth the watch if you like slice-of-life dramas and want a twist. It's also short, which is a plus.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Great story (with the skip button)
Most of what I have to say about this drama has already been said, so I'll just summarize my own thoughts in a few points:-The main couple were AWESOME! They had so much chemistry despite their age gap.
-It's definitely a slice-of-life drama. It was more realistic than other dramas in showing how messy real life and love really are.
-He Fanxing was consistent, though I got very annoyed at her naivety after a while.
-The mom started out bad, but turned good. Mad respect for her character development.
-The characters were loveable and believable. The drama managed to develop their stories without taking the focus away from our beautiful leads.
-Even though he was really annoying, I LOVED Ye Lu Ming! I really respected how he let He Fanxing go in the end, instead of trying to force her to love him or selfishly holding onto her. That was a very mature thing for him to do.
A few things I didn't like:
-The breakup dragged on FOREVER. They put us through ALL that, and they only get back together in the LAST EPISODE???? SERIOUSLY??? Typical rushed ending to a Chinese drama. When I find a Chinese drama that doesn't drag the last 5-10 episodes then rush the ending, I will probably have found the perfect drama. I would've preferred if they'd used the last three episodes to tie everything up instead of doing it in the last episode. I also felt like He Fanxing should've recognized her love for Yuan Song wayyy sooner. I started wondering if she was just stupid after a while.
-It's not that I didn't like Professor He and his girlfriend, but they came off as friends more than lovers, at least to me. It also felt a little contrived, since the whole point of the drama is the age gap between his sister and her boyfriend.
All in all, it's a worthwhile watch if you can get through the draggy bits. But doesn't that describe every Chinese drama that ever existed? I think I'll enjoy it more during a rewatch because I can skip the annoying parts haha
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Mark and Mew make this lakorn
I thought I'd weigh into the conversation as a veteran lakorn-watcher.The thing I love about lakorns is that even though the majority of them aren't very well-made, they have so much heart. They leave you with happy warm fuzzies after the final episode.
That's the best thing about this lakorn.
Now, is any drama from any country perfect? No. There's always something that the writers messed up on, or that one bad actor, or that annoying music, etc. This lakorn is far from perfect. However, the big heart it has combined with some fantastic acting from the leads more than makes up for that stupid hacking storyline (y'all know the one).
I normally don't watch Mark Prin. I didn't like him much in Kluen Cheewit (I know, the forbidden words-- I didn't love Kluen Cheewit), maybe because of his acting or maybe because of the directing. I was a little hesitant to watch this one because of that. However, I must say that Mark and Mew made this lakorn. It's rare to see such solid, convincing acting in a lakorn combined with such natural chemistry. Both of their acting has improved a ton since their newbie days and it shows. Mew managed to pull off her character without being annoying at all. Also, the skinship scenes were... ahem... very enjoyable to watch.
I also love how the writers treated the leads' story. They didn't have any annoying misunderstandings or miscommunications. I loved that Mark had to work to earn his place in Mew's life again. He had to change for their relationship to actually work. I loved that Mew forgave him relatively quickly. Their romance is portrayed in a mature, believable way as Mark slowly realizes his love for Mew.
I didn't like the hacking storyline. It was dumb and felt out of place. I also disliked the fact that they tried to convince us that Mark liked Mew when they were in school. Um... doesn't that undermine the entire plot here? These are minor flaws, though.
I highly recommend this lakorn. I'll definitely re-watch it.
Was this review helpful to you?