Emotional time travel story about selfless love

I'm a huge fan of time travel movies and when I saw it has romance with two main leads that I really like, I was instantly sold to watch it.

The story is about ML who is working really hard but struggling to pay his father's debt and FL who is striving to open a bakery shop despite her parent's disapproval.

Without spoiling much I can only say that the movie is more angsty than romantic. It has a great lesson about love and a happy ending. But 90% of the vibes are gloomy and emotional so don't expect a rom-com vibe to it.

My main issue with this movie is that it felt too short for me. There was so much about the time travel aspect that we didn't learn about. We were shown a particular thing about time travel and yet it was never explained! This lack of explanation lessened the emotional impact on me as it didn't feel particularly real. It was just too convenient and odd at the same time. It just all felt very ambiguous to me.

There is a side couple story that felt a bit unnecessary. I would have liked if the focus of the story was kept on the main leads only. ML's character, backstory and motivations were explored well but I feel FL should have had more screen time to deepen her character. She has a very important role towards the end of the movie and yet I felt the set up for her character wasn't particularly good to make the scene really impactful.

Overall, if you can look past the lack of logic and explanation about time travel, it's a nice and entertaining movie about the importance of selfless love.

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Nice, romantic drama to pass the time

It's a nice drama to watch while you are waiting for your top dramas to air. It's lighthearted and romantic, not to be taken too seriously. The story takes place on an island and I enjoyed seeing a historical setting but with summer vibes and more revealing outfit choices.

The story starts as ML’s father dies and in his will decides that ML as an Island Master will get power to defend the island only if he marries FL. So ML tries everything in his power to marry her. First half is FL falling in love with ML and about her heart disease. Second part is about ML’s parents' connection to FL, also about ML and FL connection from a past life.

FL is very silly and childish and ML is more mature and handsome, they have plenty of romantic scenes together which is the highlight and main focus of this drama. There is a side couple that gets together in the second half of the drama. I enjoyed seeing them even though their relationship didn’t get enough screen time. The side couple starts with unrequited love but unlike most dramas, instead of obsessing over the FL and ML, they actually move on and fall in love with each other.

The ending is happy which is rare these days for a xianxia. It's not a bizarre ending but there is unusual magic involved in defeating the bad guy. Overall it's an enjoyable drama to pass the time.

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High production historical drama but romance is sub-plot

I started watching this drama because of the high praise even though I'm not a huge fan of war dramas. From the start you can tell it's a very high production, with amazing actors, set designs and costumes. The storyline and characters felt very realistic for the time period it's set in. But be aware that romance is a sub-plot so you might be disappointed if you are mainly watching for that. The beginning of the drama is very slow and I'd say after around episode 12 is where it started to get really interesting.

CHARACTERS:
There are lots of characters that we follow throughout the story but I'd say mainly we see the story of the two girls who grew up together as best friends. The first princess is the female lead who is a tomboy, very skilled and intelligent. She is betrayed by her uncle at the start and looks for a way to take revenge for her family's death. The second female lead is her best friend (and uncle's daughter) that reluctantly becomes the new princess. She is very sweet, gentle and sensitive. Both have huge character developments and go through many intense challenges. In fact the storyline of the second female lead is one of my favourites as it's done so well. There are also three male leads that are love interests and closely connected to the war storyline.

ROMANCE:
I'm a huge fan of romance so naturally my enjoyment will highly depend on the romance aspects of the drama. Even though I loved the romantic scenes in the drama, they were not enough for me. Main couple is mostly about saving each other from life and death situations and the second couple has kind of a love triangle (but it's done really well, without jealousy or annoyance). In fact, the second couple has a more romantic feel to them but towards the end of the drama. There are no proper kiss scenes so as mentioned above, if you are mainly wanting to watch a romance story, you might be disappointed.

OVERALL:
It's a very well done historical drama, the war scenes are not too much or intense. It's about personal growth, overcoming challenges, friendships, finding love in the most unexpected ways and fighting for justice and peace. If you are not craving a lot of romance, this drama is perfect for you.

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Visually beautiful + slow paced + romantic

PART 1: 10 ⭐
I was hesitant to watch this drama because some reviews say it's boring and there is too much torture. Good thing I decided to give this a chance anyway because this drama freaking exceeded my expectations. From the visuals, the storytelling, the characters, the acting and the music - everything is done so, so well. There is not even a single boring part and the torture scenes are very timid and not horror type at all. I binge-watched part 1 in two days and it was the best thing I ever did.

Main couple is super cute and I really appreciated that for a Xianxia drama the FL is strong-headed, clever and resourceful. The ML is very cute, devoted and strong-willed. I also love mermaids and in this case I love seeing a story about a merman. There are also two side couples that are adorable. In fact I love all the characters, even the villain's personalities are done really well.

Visually it's beautiful, the music is lovely when the ML is singing. There are no more words for me to describe how pleasantly surprised I was with this drama and it's totally worth the watch.

PART 2: 7.5 ⭐
Second part of the story is consistent with the look and feel BUT not as good as part 1. The first half (10 episodes) pacing of the plot is very slow and not much happens. It's quite heavy and dark so not the easiest to watch but the beautiful kissing scenes in between the depressive scenes made up for it. Second half (last 10 episodes) was more enjoyable, the plot moved well and wrapped up the series nicely. The ending of the drama leaned heavily on the dilemma whether all the couples will have a happy ending or not so if you like that kind of angst, you'll enjoy that. The final battle scenes were enjoyable but not as impactful as I would have liked (compared to the first part).

OVERALL: 9 ⭐ I enjoyed the visuals, storyline and romance of the story so I'll highly recommend the drama.

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Heartwarming & meaningful story about youth, love & friendship

This drama tells the story of five students and their journey from school to adulthood. The plot mostly focuses on the main leads however we do get separate episodes for the rest of the friendship group (the second couple and a guy friend). I did appreciate those episodes with the rest of the cast as it made me really connect with their friendship.

Main couple is a slow burn romance, friends to lovers vibes. They are caring and supportive of each other, so a wonderful relationship that anyone would want in real life. Male lead is quiet, introverted, calm, and a green flag. He is a bit stand-offish at first but turns into a very caring guy. Female lead is sweet, kind-hearted, cheerful and less shy than the male lead but still timid.

Second couple is such a scene stealer, perhaps because I love enemies to lovers trope. They had all the angst, teasing, bickering and sweetness. I enjoyed them as much as the main couple.

POSITIVE:
- Lots of fluff and cutest school vibes
- Feel good vibes all the time
- The best portrayal of friendship
- No cliche plot lines
- Small misunderstandings that are solved in the same episode
- No love triangles
- No red flag males
- No annoying characters
- The most beautiful and sweetest happy ending

NEGATIVE:
- Dating starts at episode 19 for the main couple so it was quite slow for me. It made sense with the story but I just wanted a little more.
- There is no unnecessary drama and boring cliche storylines which was great BUT some episodes I needed a little more excitement.

OVERALL:
I highly recommend this drama to everyone that wants to watch something that makes you feel really good. The vibes are like eating sweet candy and receiving warm hugs. Even though most of the drama takes place in school it doesn't feel childish so anyone can watch it.

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Great chemistry between the leads with engaging plot and enemies to lovers vibes

This short length drama tells the story of a CEO (male lead) and a new worker (female lead) who after a drunken one night stand have to pretend to be engaged for three months.

POSITIVE:
- great chemistry between the leads
- sexy and real kiss scenes (and more)
- cute romance and nice comedy
- cool small plot twists
- bad characters are punished well
- enemies to lovers trope (my favourite)
- engaging plot
- happy ending

NEGATIVE:
- rushed but happy ending. However the last few minutes opens the potential for a second season. Even though the story is finished there is a small bit of it that is not answered. It's not really a big deal but it can make the drama feel unfinished for some viewers.

I highly recommend this drama for hopeless romantics who love enemies to lovers with fake dating tropes.

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A ray of sunshine vibes, with fluffy romance & important life lessons.

I started watching this for Chen Zhe Yuan and it has become one of my top favourite modern cdrama. Every episode I watched I kept thinking "wow I'm really loving this", and this feeling never went away until the end. This drama really touched my heart.

The drama is about the FL who moves to a new high school and becomes a desk mate with the ML. Their parents are long term friends and funnily enough have even betrothed them since childhood. At first FL and ML don't like each other but with time become friends and then lovers. It's their life story from high school (first 15 episodes) to university years (rest of the episodes).

STORY:
The plot was interesting from the start until the end, even though it is more of a slow pace, it never feels draggy or boring. The characters are well-developed, with realistic real life struggles that anyone can relate with. I loved how it was about "our secret" of loving each other secretly but at the same time about their individual life journeys. The focus of the drama was about romance but at the same time about career paths. Especially I loved how the drama showed the importance of not forgetting your identity when you are in love and to not give up on your career dreams because of love. And the most important lesson of never giving up no matter how hard the journey is. There is also drama with the strict parents of FL and parents issues of ML.

CHARACTERS:
ML is top of the class student, kind and protective and FL is shy at first, sweet and hard-working. I absolutely love all of their interactions together as they are seriously adorable. During their university years, there is SFL who tries to get with ML and SML who is in love with FL for years but they are not too annoying and don't create too much drama. There is one big, intentional miscommunication but other than that the main leads sort out their issues quickly and communicate in a healthy way. The side characters are also fun to see.

OVERALL:
Without spoiling it, I absolutely loved the ending, it wrapped up the story so well and it kind of has a full circle moment where we are shown additional scenes that totally warm your heart. I'd highly, highly recommend this drama especially if you love Chen Zhe Yuan. It has fluffy romance, realistic and logical plot, lovely soundtrack and portrays great lessons for the younger generation. 10/10.

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Heartwarming + healing kit when you are feeling down

I was fortunate enough to watch this drama after Till the End of the Moon (cast has the same main leads) because it has tons of parallels and references even though Love is Sweet was created years before. I found Love is Sweet the perfect antidote when you are feeling down and need a good sweet, heartwarming drama to light up your day and make you laugh.

The chemistry between the main leads is off the charts, they deliver the romance perfectly, the comedy, the mix of angst and passion. If you love bickering main leads with love-hate relationship - you will definitely love these two. Male lead is a cunning and confident businessman who is secretly afraid the woman he has liked since childhood will reject him. Female lead is a level-headed and no-nonsense woman entering the business world who deep down is sensitive and kind in nature. The two were childhood frenemies but after a misunderstanding lost touch with each other. Years later they meet in the business world and the male lead truly chases the female lead in secret, trying everything he can to get close to her and win her heart.

There is a second couple who is the opposite of the main leads because the girl is the one with the secret crush and chasing after the guy. The girl is a hopeless romantic whereas the guy is a scientific geek. There is also a typical second male lead who is the male lead's rival in the business world and tries to get with the female lead.

If there is one thing to take from this review is that I wholeheartedly recommend this drama as it's totally worth the watch!

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Hilarious, romantic and thought-provoking story on genre roles.

I started watching this drama as a fun way to pass the time BUT without realising I found myself binge-watching it. It seriously blew my mind how clever, funny, eye-opening and thought provoking this drama is. At first glance it appeared that this is a typical historical rom-com which it is but it's way, way more than that. I've never seen a drama where the gender roles are executed so well - it actually portrayed important real world views and problems in our everyday society. It was very insightful watching this drama as a woman and seeing how this fictional world shows a city/society where women are in power and men below them. I found myself thinking "wow, so this is how it feels to be on the other side, to be a man with power in the real world".

I absolutely LOVED all the characters, and I mean all which is rare for a drama. ML and FL had an awesome enemies to lovers relationship development and many, many cute romantic scenes. The side characters were done so well. I loved the SML and he became my favourite character. There is also a second couple that is totally adorable and I wish we could have seen more of them but I was still very happy with their screen time. The ending of the drama is just the cherry on top. SO WELL DONE.

In short, WATCH THIS DRAMA NOW. IT'S WORTH IT.

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Destined Love rather than Poisoned Love

The drama tells the love story of a man and a woman who are destined to be together no matter the odds. The female lead is a voice actor who suffers from a rare illness (similar to sleepwalking). She meets the male lead who can help her cure her illness however she mistakes him for his brother.

The first half of the drama is very lighthearted with tons of rom-com vibes. I was smiling all the time while watching. The second half of the drama is more angsty and deals with male lead’s darker past and the female lead’s illness. It felt a little draggy and boring at times.

"We met each other the first time
It was a coincidence
We met each other again, the second time
It was inevitable
If we meet each other again, the third time
I’m sure that it must be destiny"
- quote from Poisoned Love

Throughout the drama, the theme of destined lovers is always referred to and we are shown many times that the main leads are meant to be together. I’m scratching my head why the title has the word poison. The romance is soft and the male lead is the only person who can cure her illness. A big part of the plot is the involvement of the second male lead (who the female lead initially believes is the person who can cure her). He is a bit of an obstacle between the leads. But I wouldn’t call it a love triangle since the female lead only likes the male lead.

POSITIVE:
- Fun rom-com vibes.
- Nice and supportive male lead/second male lead.
- First half of the drama made me smile all the time.
- Sweet and soft romance between the leads.
- Romance is the main focus.
- No filler scenes with stupid work stuff.
- Sweet kiss scenes.
- Support cast was good.

NEGATIVE:
- Second male lead’s love for the female lead can get annoying towards the second half of the drama. It's not a love triangle for me but he does get in between them. But he also gets redeemed in the end, so there is that.
- Second half of the drama felt draggy and a little boring.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a fun rom-com that shows two brothers who are kind and caring towards the female lead and help her heal from her illness, you will enjoy this drama.

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Psychological thriller with a dash of rom-com

I mainly watched this drama because of Gong Jun but also because I do like psychology. The drama is a mix of psychological thriller, detective style cases and a dash of rom-com.

I’ve studied hypnosis and been to many sessions so from my perspective that part was very accurately portrayed. The writers did a fantastic job in showing visually what happens in your mind when hypnotised. The psychology part was also very accurate and easy to understand from my point of view. However the actual cases were a hit and miss for me. I managed to watch the first 4 episodes in full but afterwards I fast-forwarded a lot of the cases. I enjoyed the cases where it involved the supporting cast however the others I had to skip as I simply didn't care about the characters.

The rom-com part was the best. The main leads were mature, super cute with great chemistry and funny interactions. That was the main reason while I managed to finish this drama otherwise I would have probably dropped it early on. I almost wish this was a full on rom-com drama with a dash of psychology as I would have enjoyed it a lot more. There are also two side couples but they don't take too much screen time.

I usually don't pay much attention to the editing but here it was definitely choppy and somewhat weird.

As many people have mentioned, the final 3 episodes with the revenge plot were super boring and I skipped almost everything in order to finish the drama.

Overall, I'll say that this drama accurately portrays hypnosis and has great psychological info however the way the cases were executed and the plot overall was quite boring. The romance was the best part of the drama and I wish it was actually a full on rom-com.

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Love the relationship dynamics but plot is boring

I'm saying this at the start because it's important: make sure to watch episode 37 which is a few minutes of epilogue to the story because in most websites you will only find till episode 36. I was drawn to watch this because it's a BL drama and I've never seen one before.

WHAT I LOVED:
I absolutely loved the relationship dynamic between the two male leads. One is a grumpy introvert with his love for bombastic side eye while the other is a flirty extrovert with his love for crazy eyes (with his loved ones he is a ray of sunshine, with his enemies his looks can kill you). At first glance it does seem like they are the total opposites but later down the story we are revealed a lot of things and see how similar and connected the two are. I love how they were able to portray their love and care for each other even though the drama is censored. Their relationship is the definition of actions that speak louder than words. They also call each other soulmates which is just the sweetest thing. There are also two young characters that are disciples of each male lead - one girl and one guy. The four of them have such a fun and crazy family dynamic that for me is the best part of the drama.

The fight scenes and setting are worth mentioning because they look very beautiful. In typical wuxia style you have people flying around but what is quite different in this drama is that they incorporate parts of the settings to the fighting. You see really cool fights on a bridge, river boat, around pink trees. One of the male leads has his signature belt sword while the other uses a super cool fan. I especially loved seeing how the young girl fought like a true badass.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
My rating went down because unfortunately I didn't like the plot. There are tons of sects and names which I couldn't remember. The backstory is done as a mystery but the reveal is quite confusing because of all the names/places etc and honestly quite underwhelming. None of the other characters interested me and I skipped most of the scenes with the villains and sect talk because it was just boring. The whole plot is about opening an armoury to gain some secrets which does sound realistic but it was just not interesting to me. It is a shame because I love the main characters, if the plot was different I probably would have liked it a lot more.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall I think it's a great BL drama and I'd still recommend it because of the relationship dynamics. One of the male leads has become now a favourite character so because of him, the drama is worth a watch.

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Revenge + Romance

The cinematography is what first captured my attention as this drama is beautifully shot. The visuals from the costumes, settings and scenery to the moody night vibes really goes well with the storyline. It's a short drama so it focuses on the main plot of revenge, there are no fillers or annoying/unnecessary characters.

The chemistry between the main lead is top tier and their romantic scenes are really well done. You have steamy scenes, you have cute romantic scenes, you have thriller/murder vibes, you have friends to lovers trope. The male lead and female lead both have masks on and pretend to be other people at first. Male lead appears to be a ruthless, flirty, bad boy but he's actually a good guy and the female lead is first shown as seductress but is actually a sad, introverted girl. Both do everything in their power to get their revenge.

The drama reminds me of a novel in the way the storyline is done. It's got a great plot twist too. For me it's not a full 10 stars because the ending felt a little too convenient. But overall it's a super enjoyable drama and it has a happy ending so I highly recommend it.

Make sure to NOT watch this on Youtube because it doesn't have the original music. And the music makes a huge difference.

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Eccentric and ridiculous but fun

I've never seen a drama quite like this one. It's so bad that it's actually really good. It's pure comedy, breaking the 4th wall (actors addressing the camera), and even has a mystery plot towards the end involving the female lead.

The drama is a compilation of short clips (around 4 minutes each) put together to create somewhat of a storyline. A princess goes to a far away Kingdom as a peace-making marriage but upon her arrival finds out that the Kingdom's tradition involves marrying all the brothers. The five brothers all have distinguished personalities and play off well with the female lead. There is no real romance aside from some cute interactions with the first and second prince.

Overall I quite enjoyed this drama, it's pretty much like a 3 hour movie and I watched it in two sittings. The strongest point of the drama is the relationship between the brothers and the princess. They were some boring bits when the main focus wasn't the relationships but external storylines. If the whole drama was purely focused on the relationships I feel like I would have enjoyed it way more.

If you want something lighthearted, funny and no-brainer drama to pass the time, you will definitely like this.

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Opposites do attract! Rom-com vibes with very realistic and emotional life challenges.

This drama tells the story of two seemingly opposite people who unexpectedly fall in love. The female lead accompanies her father to the hospital where she meets the male lead for the second time. During her father's stay in the hospital the leads heal each other emotionally and fall in love.

The male lead is a surgeon, dealing with his psychological trauma of losing an important patient while the female lead is a college student, striving to become a professional cellist. They are the complete opposites. He is 10 years older than her, mature and responsible, she is free-spirited, goofy and emotional. He is an introvert and a neat-freak. She is an extrovert and a queen of messiness and clumsiness. And yet they find a common ground and slowly fall in love.

The romance is slow burn (but when the leads get together there are tons and tons of cute kiss scenes!!!). The beginning is very angsty and emotional as the story focuses on FL's father who has serious health problems and the ML who is dealing with his past trauma. Around episode 10 the drama switched smoothly to more fun and light-hearted vibes which I loved. From episode 10 till the end it truly feels like a sweet/emotional rom-com but with still very realistic life related issues.

Overall I truly enjoyed this drama, although the beginning was very heavy emotionally. If you want a realistic rom-com, family dynamics and characters who deal with real life issues and overcome life's challenges this drama is for you.

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