My fav of 2021 so far

If I have to rate it according to how much joy I felt watching this it would be a 100/10. But like everything else there are flaws but I won't be focusing on that because it is very little.
I thought at first this was gonna be a remake of a Korean drama named secret garden, and I loved Hyun bin in that so I just wanted to check out how Zhang xincheng will topped it despite body swapping being one of my least favorite trope.
And this drama is so much more enjoyable than secret garden and this is definitely not a remake.
I absolutely love the story.
First, the cast is perfect. Liang jie and Zhang xincheng absolutely nailed it. And the chemistry is top notch. I knew they were both good actors but I never expected them to be this good together.. And how natural they are with each other. The romance and the chemistry wasn't right to your face, it was very natural. It almost seems like they are not acting. I guess that only shows how good of an actors they are.
Second thing I love about this drama is how healthy the relationship between the main characters. And I actually find myself envying it the most.
Third, the comedy. I had to pause many times so I can actually laugh. No other drama has made me laugh like this. From the first episode this drama made me very happy. I think the scriptwriter did an amazing job
Fourth, the lack of villains. I love how it doesn't have any.
Fifth, it did get a lil heavy towards the end It was necessary for the story so I am fine with that.
And the real ending was a bit underwhelming and leaves me wanting more because the vibe and energy doesn't really match the entire drama. But I guess they purposely made it that way.
Overall I Don't have much complain.
I enjoyed it very much. This made me very very happy. My face hurts from laughing and smiling so much.
And highly recommend it to anyone wanting to have a lil more happiness through drama in their life. Or if they want something light and funny when they are going through a tough stressful week.

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i love love love love this drama.  loved the roller coaster ride i had.  i cried i laugh i cringe but this drama is so good.
first of all,  the story revolving around these five women and their growth was fantastic.  they were so real.  they weren't perfect and i fell in love with their flaws which are so relatable.  not many dramas can bring such elements out
secondly,  the simplicity.  i love how simple it is yet so complicated.
thirdly,  the everyday trouble they gets into.  the success and the failures,  the struggle of a being a middle class.  the preference of a male child in backwarded family,  
these five women and their friendship was the highlight of this drama.  they weren't bad people,  yet they were judgemental about each other, which exactly shows how human are.  i could go on and on and on about this drama,  so i will a stop here but i gotta say, fan jie/Xiao mei was my absolute favorite.  she made me cry  a whole bucket of tears.  i would highly  recommend this drama to those who are looking light hearted not very serious genres.  plus there's  wang kai,  i love him ????????

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if i had come here right after watching, i would have given 10/10 for all regardless of the ratings.  but i went and watched the Chinese version and had to deduct some points here, because the original was so good. I understand the criticism this one got.
anyway not here to review about the Chinese version but the korean version. first of all i have to say, i loved this drama...  i had stopped watching kdramas for almost seven years because it got so monotonous and boring, then came across this with no recommendation and no expectations  i didn't even  read the synopsis,  and then wow just wow,  the story got me hooked. coming to the second point,  the cast...  They were all pretty :)  and then there's lee junki my all time favorite.  but kang ha neul caught my eyes  i loved him as wang wook, 8th prince.  and iu  i guess she did Ok
Lee junki was a standout though.
thirdly, the music  the soundtracks...  well some of them had English words and rap,  which kind of didn't fit the historical settings  but damn they are all so good,  the soundtracks was one of the best I have to say.  

and lastly i couldn't get over this drama for weeks.  it left me shattered, normally I don't watch tragedy  but this drama is worth it.  worth all the tears and emotions u are going to invest.  

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wow...  just wow!  this could be perhaps the best thai lakorn i  have ever seen.  well to that it's not without some flaws..  and that i would say u get used to it after watching few thai lakorns,  
loved the story..  i cried everytime yaya cried and Mark , he's already my favorite thai actor  and it's easy to love him, no matter how much i hated his character in the being.  the angry young man role suit him very much.  
won't spoil the plots over here.  but this drama i would recommend for those who love revenge, hate to love genre.  plus the chemistry is amazing between the leads.  the only problem with me was the second leads i fast forwarded their scene.  they were boring to me.  
overall really really good..  Mark and Yaya  looking forward to your more projects together

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i only have good things to say for this drama
first of  all,  the 80's theme.  nothing could make me happier than 80's 70's theme and the music that comes along with it.  the cinematography is really good.
secondly, the story,  though it was simple and nothing complicated,  it brought out so many meanings..  like gender biased,  the korean society in 80's. the impact of cold war going in the whole world during that period.  communist capitalist clash.
thirdly, the cast..  they were really really good,  jung hee reminded us all of our high school crushes. loved her acting and her character as well.   the supporting characters were also very real.  from jung hee's mother to that aunty.  
overall,  such a good drama..  cried and laugh.  i wish there were many other dramas like this.  i thoroughly enjoyed watching this one.
ah,  and lastly the music.  I'm already an 80's music fan,  and the background songs like the silence of the lamb  was so good.  i would highly recommend this drama

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this drama started out so good.  the first few episodes were addictive. well to be exact the first four episodes, i was awed...  thought this was gonna be great,  the plot was also very interesting.   love the leads and the second lead cast.  the story is also good.  but then this drama  lost it's charm  by mid episodes, don't really know what happened to the writer,  went bad and and bad. and from then on i was just watching for the sake of finishing it.  not a bad drama but could have been better.
the soundtracks were really good though.

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one of those dramas that started out so good but gets really boring in the mid.  the story was kinda refreshing for me.  gaming world to the real world.  i have seen many high-school /University dramas, but i thought this was different.  it was fun at first,but got too draggy and boring.  
yang yang as a perfect guy, of course he looks like heaven, not that i have seen heaven but everyone assumes it's beautiful so was yang yang.  and even zheng shuang is very pretty. but other than being gorgeous they did nothing for me.  they were lovely couple,  chemistry wasn't convincing though.  the first ten episodes i enjoyed and then for me,  it was going downhill

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Okay so I haven't written reviews for any dramas in the past two years because I have dropped more dramas than I have completed. And the few I somehow managed to finish left me little to no impact, in other words forgetful.

This is one of the best dramas I have watched in a while, not in while but it's definitely going in my top3. I actually waited till it finished airing cause I like binge watching more than waiting every week, which is a torture

Firstly, I wasn't into it in the first two episodes, but the cast got my attention specially xiao zhan.

Then the moment I reached episode 6-7, something changed and I found myself totally and completely into it. I finished the drama in three and half days. Watching 12-14 episodes everyday.

The story only keeps getting better and better, there's no filler episodes or drag at any point, it's not slow paced or fast paced.

Secondly, I love the underlying theme... That was constant throughout the whole series. The conflict between moralities, individual and societal, the conflict between conscience.. Individual and collective. How the crowd follows whoever is the leader without having to form their own mind and opinion, and whoever contradicts is termed evil , the selfishness of the so called leaders, looking for a scapegoat to blame. Even though this is fiction, this theme very much applies to the present world.

Thirdly, the characters there's no absolute black and white. I love how they portrait the grey characters.
And my favourite is obviously wei wu xian, who I can't stop thinking about ever since I started watching this.

Fourthly, loved the acting. My only problem, that too just a little, was the person taking the role of wen qing. I haven't read the novel so I don't know how she is supposed to be. But there were times I couldn't feel what she's trying to convey.
Other than that, the acting were pretty fantastic. Xiao zhan and Wang yi bo were so so good. The chemistry between the cast was also really good.

The soundtracks are pretty amazing too.

As for rewatch value, I'm gonna go back and watch it again. And I think that's the only way I can somehow get over it

Overall, amazing drama. I feel so satisfied watching it. I laughed, I cried. I had an emotional roller-coaster ride. There wasn't a moment that I wanted to skip. Applause to the writer and actors.

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This was something I went with high expectations, full of melodrama and plot twists but It definitely didn't go the way I thought it would. MY disappointment was Not with the story but the execution of it. I did ended up enjoying it though , finishing it in one go.
I think for me what's lacking was mainly the script. It feels very lazy and lack of research. For example letting a lecture be done behind scenes or muting.
Another one was build up scenes which is supposed to very dramatic were often anti climatic. And some of it weren't satisfactory.
The whole investigation and trials feels very easy leaving me wondering why she didn't do it in the first place.
At the end of the day it doesn't feel like portrayal of strong character but just another damsel in distress, the main protagonist makes me frustrated.

However, I did enjoy it. I think it has to do with the cast and very good acting. They were the highlight of the drama

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Definition of a light hearted rom com done right

A perfect rom com, done right in every aspect and exactly what I needed at the moment.
At first glance it may look like any other time travel light hearted rom com but no, the characters are unpredictable and the dialogues/conversations are very funny. Even the most serious moment had me cracking. Because there were situations that were so relatable. I don't know how to explain it but it's like watching the sitcom FRIENDS. A good laugh through out the entire series with interesting plot. The comedic part didn't feel force.

The supporting characters were actually very good. They didn't feel like filler or irrelevant.
Bai ji and zi rui stole the show for me to be honest.

Also the lead characters had amazing chemistry.
Ding yuxi isn't exactly the eye candy 10/10 perfect man you see in a lot of youth drama. But in some way he is very attractive and his expression are also very good. He instantly became one of my favourite actor.
As for zhao lusi I think this is her best drama so far,though I would love to see her in more serious role.

As for the story of course some part of it makes less sense, but them being inside a script made it proper and I didn't find myself questioning anything.

The soundtrack were okay, not that memorable.

Overall a very good watch, from episode 1-24,there wasn't a single boring moment.
My only complain would be wishing it had one more episode, so that the meeting in modern world wasn't as rushed as it was. It felt a bit less satisfying and left me wishing for more.

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Unexpectedly good

I went without any expectations and it was so good. I wasn't a fan of any of the main leads or second leads, I actually couldn't finish watching moonlight because I find her voice a bit annoying and I already had bad impression of Wang Hedi from another drama. I was neutral about Zhang linghe because I haven't watch any of his dramas before. Yeah I had little to zero expectations starting this. And I have to say perfect casting.

Things I like :
1) story itself. It's a really good story, really good script. Nothing was what I expected from usual xianxias.
2) perfect casting. I think Esther and Dylan had amazing chemistry and everything felt natural. Whatever bad impression I had before I blamed it on directors/scripts of those dramas because these two can act and are very good. Definitely looking forward to more dramas from them. Especially Dylan. His portrayal of Dongfang qingcang were mind blowing.
3) the music. The moment I finished the series I have been listening to the ost nonstop because it's just that good
4) fav characters. Apart from Dongfang qingcang, I really like fairy Danyin.
5) visuals.

Things I don't like : not much actually. The only boring part was when they were in mortal realms. And I didn't really care much about supporting roles love story. So I did ended up fast forwarding them.

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Okay I really really love this show. 2019 for me was less exciting in the beginning. I keep starting dramas then dropping it. Came across the untamed and I was so obsessed that I couldn't even get myself to like anything else. I'm thankful to joy of life for breaking that spell. These two are my top dramas for 2019.

My review for joy of life

One of the best dramas ever. It got me hooked from the very first episode.
The young fan xian was hilarious.
As the story progress and it keeps introducing new characters and every character were interesting. I keep wanting to know more and more about them. There's so many things yet to unfold. You think you know them but you will be proven wrong the next episode. I'm really really looking forward to the next season. I don't know if I can pick a favourite character because I have so many.

And at every turn at you will find something unexpected. The story got 10x more interesting after he reach Beiqi. I really didn't want it to end. I don't know if I can call this drama a comedic suspense but I absolutely love the humour, conversations, and surprise in it.
Acting was top tier. The actors were all very natural. I didn't find anything cringy or force.

It is not romance heavy and it was in the background and I'm thankful for that because the only thing I didn't like about JOL was interaction between lin waner and fan xian. I have always liked Li qin but her character was the most boring one for me. I didn't hate the character it wasn't annoying or anything but it was forgetful. Fan xian had amazing chemistry with Haitang dou dou and Si lilli.
The osts weren't memorable either. I didn't find myself running back to listen to it 24*7 the moment I finished the series. It wasn't bad but just didn't like it much.

As for rewatching it, I don't know if I will ever rewatch it because it is the suspense and surprise factor that kept me hooked and now its over I don't think I will watch it again. But I really can't wait for the next season.

I would recommend this drama to everyone. Historical, futuristic, suspense , Sci fic, comedy, romance, action, plot and planning. It has a little of everything and I absolutely love it.
Now I am back to finding everything else bland and uninteresting because this was so so good.

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