jcfoung
This review may contain spoilers
Strong beginning that fizzled out along the way
The series started out interesting, if not very original, but then devolved into merely a love story featuring a wishy washy FL easily manipulated by the fate of her father's company. The ML honestly deserved better. And surprisingly my favourite character in the whole thing was the evil ex-fiance. He was really funny.Given the short format of this drama, I'm surprised that it could've been even shorter. There must've been many episodes that were 25% dreamy recaps of the MCs' interactions with each other. I'm glad that this doesn't romanticize abuse or anything like that, but it all became one note after a while.
As for the music I enjoyed the English songs that served as the soundtrack. It was nice not having to read weird translations of Chinese songs since my Chinese isn't good enough when the tones disappear. LOL.
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Watch only if you like those mean, abusive MLs
I guess I'm sort of spoiled right now. I just finished watching some pretty great series featuring mature characters/relationsips and realistic situations: New Life Begins Again, Hi Venus, and Chef Hua. and I have no patience for OTT caricatures: Elise, the shrew who can't get over the ML and insists on being mean to the FL, Victor, the ridiculously arrogant genius who has no self awareness and doesn't seem to value anyone else or their dignity. Then there's the FL's friend: the playboy Peter Pan, and the laughable villain, Boris. If there was just one of these characters, I'd guess I wouldn't be such a picky poo, but all of them are present and it makes it hard for me to enjoy any scene without them! I'm basically only here for the FL. I've enjoyed everything I've watched of hers so far: Legally Romance, and To Fly With You. I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately, the plot and lack of justice for some of these characters made me give a low rating.I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say that if you're a viewer who likes to feel a sense of justice throughout the series, especially at the end, just skip this series. I'm all for forgiveness, but forgiveness doesn't mean that you just roll over and take it. It also doesn't mean that you reconcile with the the person who wronged you either, no matter if they're related to you by blood.
The fabulous acting by the leads wasn't enough to save this one. If the verbal abuse and physical intimidation the ML heaped on the FL for more than half of the series aren't enough to turn you off, the preponderance of evil characters might do it. At one point I thought to myself that there were hardly any scenes that didn't make me mad because the evil people were everywhere. And the terrible subbing for Elise and all the bar singers (lol) might be the last straw.
With all of that, however, there were some pretty great aspects of this show. The acting by the leads was fantstic, specially by the ML. You wanted to hate him, but at the same time you felt his anguish, despair, and pain given the physical trial he was enduring. I was also touched by the end when many of the characters had become better versions of themselves. Overall, however, if I had known the plot of this series, I would have stayed far, far away.
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FWIW, I watched 17 of 18 episodes.
The premise of this is ridiculous as are both leads' characterizations. Of course no one should watch this with the expectation of seriousness. I'm specifically watching this as a break from a politically serious and plot-dense series, Sword Snow Stride.I'm considering this series finished, even though I didn't pay to see episode 18. Unless something ridiculously bad/annoying happened in the last episode, the first 17 episodes are what I'm reviewing.
They were funny, fluffy, laden with cliches and utterly ridiculous. I wasn't looking for anything monumental or serious, so it fit the bill. However, the series could've been even shorter, honestly, and there was a lot of fast forwarding through slow motion or awkward starting scenes. The music wasn't great to me since I really don't like it when non-English songwriters write songs in English. It'd be like me, who is fluent in Chinese but not well versed enough to write, let's say, poetry in the language, writing Chinese songs. I'd inevitably sound, at best silly, and at worst offensive.
Overall, this series was just fine if you're looking for something to completely veg on out at the end of the day or if you just need a break from a heavy series (or drama IRL). It was "unbelievably" cute.
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Lovely acting but slow pacing
This has a slow, torturous beginning. Honestly it was kind of hard to watch the ML be mean to the FL and she just smiles and stays bubbly.The pacing was slow too. I don’t mind things progressing at a natural pace but the episodes leading up to the leads being together draaaaaged. And then the writers inserted OW drama. Yikes. If it weren’t for the FL’s and ML’s character arcs, I probably would’ve quit this show.
I like that the FL wasn’t just all about the love she had for the ML. She wanted to be her own kind and professional person and that was lovely. I also love that the ML didn’t start looking around for someone else when the GL didn’t just make things easy for him. So despite the pacing, I watched this show for the mature and realistic development of feelings and relationship between the main leads and the two secondary couples. Lovely acting and fun music that you find yourself randomly humming throughout the day.
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A fantastic political wuxia drama.
This show had everything: family relationship, dense political maneuvering, and fantastic acting. I think probably the most amazing thing this series accomplished was the fact that I was able to empathize with every single character (well, except for the Emperor's daughter; she was not likable). I could understand their motivation and could even see myself agreeing with them to a certain extent. I even found myself rooting for the character who was the villain throughout the series. His was a sad story, for sure.Given that this series came out in 2021, I'm glad I watched it now since I didn't have to wait for the episodes to drop but could binge to my heart's content. My only quibble was that the pacing was a little slow at times. Will subsequent seasons be produced? I'm with the fan who respond with a resounding yes. Hopefully, we'll hear news soon.
(I don't generally re-watch series so ignore that value.)
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A mature, non-trauma filled love story
This was such a refreshing change from the crazy plots of some C- dramas. You know the type I'm talking about: the palace dramas with crazy harem intrigue, toxic MLs who treat the FL like garbage and she just takes it, etc. I just wanted to watch a nice and easy modern drama with sincere and likable MCs. This series fits the bill to a T. And I really enjoyed the secondary couple too. They were so cute.If you can get past the mean behaviour of the FL in the first couple of episodes, this one was a really great mature romance. The only reason I didn't give it more than 9 stars was that it was a little slow paced and the English lyrics for the them song was sappy and kind of cringe-y. I hardly ever rewatch any dramas, so don't let that part of the rating system deter you from giving this a try. It was wonderful.
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Just OK.
I can understand the frustration that many viewers felt at the end of this series. The ending was rushed and left too many unanswered questions. The surprise twist near the end also lacked gravitas as it literally came out of nowhere. There was no foreshadowing at all.Overall, this fell into the trap of other short length dramas. Although the screen time was utilized to propel the story forward at a timely clip, the everyday, mundane moments are really what makes the viewer understand and care about the characters. The acting was fine but the story was meh.
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Just say no to toxicity
This show kept popping up in my YouRube feed so I thought I’d give this a try. I’m glad I’m old enough now to recognize when something is not going to work for me.At ep 3, I’m out. All the ML has done “for” the FL so far is guilt trip, threaten, manhandle her, and choke her…and when he walks into the hospital room she seems him with a glowing aura of a saviour around him. Uh, what? She looks at him with stars in her eyes. At this point, I don’t care what happens later. Unless someone points out in their review that the ML apologizes for being a piece of crap and promises never to do those abusive things again to the FL, I won’t be back to finish this. Given that most C-drama MLS never do any such thing doesn’t fill me with hope for this series. Just say no to toxicity.
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