PERFECT ASMR show frazzled tired days

ASMR .. if ever a drama was made for relaxing ONLY .. and putting you to sleep .. Have to give it to the team for pulled one off ..

It's like muzak (elevator music) ~ won't make your pulse speed up, worry you, plunge you, or even make your brain go into a tizzy. But it's not unpleasant .. just keep it running in the background as you go about doing other things .. you won't miss much or be bothered about missing either, if you pick and choose from any part of the show you soak in some village life ..

But it will be unfair if I don't mention that beginning was dramatic and had SO much pace and movement and going somewhere. The loss of friend and those scenes capturing grief (though too drawn out) were palpable and brilliant. The moving out to the country promised adventure .. and then it becomes a travel mag ;-p

I stuck around because the LEADS are too good looking to turn away from :-D
AND they are talented actors to boot .. BUT no chemistry really .. Li Xian tries so hard .. What a different role from GGS (Go Go Squid).

None of the characters make us worry about them ..

My fingers got sore from FFD ing.

SO MANY people compared it to "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" ~ THANK GAWD I didn't bother watching that either after an episode (when it had released).
I am not a fan of the ML in that .. he has no sizzle factor.

BTW it's NOT the SLOW pace that made me YAWN!! It's basically quite FLAT.

Compare a SLOW PACED RURAL setting show like "I'll Come when the Weather is Good".
That's great DRAMA IMO.
Not a travel brochure ;-p

YUP .. the first ASMR Drama I have watched

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Watch it at the risk of being crushed and bent over with ache in the chest!

Firstly : I am a 300 plus Kdrama show old person (watched - dropped - hopped - skimmed).
So I am not a newbie gushing in the first flush of Kdrama. I am pretty jaded and stop only for the best kicks.

The fact that I took the time to write this will tell you how much I was moved by this show.
I was surprised that NO reviews are there.
See if you want to read what follows in the rambling - and decide.

GO FOR IT.
GO for GO SOO.

I realised in the last many months (while browsing for GOOD shows that appeal to me) I was checking out some very old films, there is a TRUE OLD GOLD treasury!

So in that hunt this show came on my radar; and then it all started; with discovering an actor; Go Soo.

I had never heard that name before; when I went in watching "Will it Snow this Christmas?"

I haven't completed that show yet. (It's on hold). I was waylaid because I just got impatient, greedy and decided to stack up all shows of his that might hook me.

(It's something I do a lot - if an actor / actress catches my eye - I line up as many shows of theirs I can find and try them out usually starting with mydramalist ratings as an initial guide. WISFC had an 8.0 I think.

I am also good at 'dropping' shows. I don't waste time on anything where I feel the story-acting-directing is dragging /dipping /limping.
Occasionally I HOP and JUMP some dramas just to follow the main story because I get curious to know "what happens" (usually it's the acting or actor driven shows - in a not that great a drama - that makes me do that)

Back to Go Soo.
I was so taken aback with how well he acted.

HOW GOOD (heart thumpingly handsome) he looked. (Ok so he may not be your cuppa. He was mine ;-p)

I'll be honest ;-D
Swoony actors reel me in, BUT I stick to the show ONLY if the swoony face and bod comes in a top notch acting talent packet. (just to let you know who they are IMO : Kim Woo Bin / Park Bo Hum / Park Hyung Shik / Kim Rae Won / Nam Joo Hyuk - who dole out consistent top class acting.)

Go Soo IS that (swoony) & DOES that (acting) and some more!!!!

Go Soo films are driven by his magnetic power in general - add to that a well crafted MELODRAMA (not the, too weepy - logic-defying - black and white character laden ones). Add a great palette of other roles pulled off with panache and wonderful directing and story.

That is Age of Innocence for you.
How many times tears prickled, and how many times I couldn't breathe - LUMP stinging pain in the throat, such was the story at times.

I am not a masochist who picks show to break down over. But inadvertently I've sometimes got trapped in Melo's / dramas that left me with a hollow - a depressed feeling. Not that they were all BAD shows or I didn't like how things turned out. Beauty sn sadness come hand in hand.

Some example of Drama traps I walked into:
- Uncontrollably Fond
- V.I.P.
- Mr Sunshine
- Innocent Man
- Empress Ki
- Happiness

(I was on edge of the seat watching Another Ms Oh Hae, ready to collapse in grief .. phew! So much red herring signalling went on.)

With When a Man Loves a Woman (Go Soo show from Pre-2005) I fell into the sad Melo trap.
However, it was a lax script - weep fest - not a strong tale .. SO I hopped and jumped and wrapped it. It's ending left me unhappy and unsatisfied and I moved on to LOVE 911 (a movie - adorable Go Soo and this fave actress of mine from HAPPINESS).
That brought a smile at the end credit role.

I was now greedier - Go Soo's looks and act and face just grew on me. Addicted.

That's when I bumped into Age of Innocence.
It's a SOLID Top Notch LOVE TRIANGLE story.
A GOOD ONE.
Who remembers "What Happened in Bali?" this is BETTER scripted.
I LOVED Bali too BTW .. but this one gave me such rumbles of stress in my tummy wondering what will these characters DO NOW???

The threat of danger and explosion was hanging overhead .. the play of emotions under tight reign .. At one time I switched off and sat trying to predict " how will this end?" Will I DIE of grief? Will I DIE watching the Main Leads unfulfilled Desires and Dreams?

Then It ended. BITTERSWEET!! So so BITTER this last drop of sweet ..

I gave the show a 9.0 because it broke my heart too badly (or else I was going to give it a 10) ..
(Not saying that the end was NOT GOOD) ..
I am saying it didn't allow the viewer solace or justice or comfort (I wanted to weep for Go Soo. I wept for Go Soo )

I gave the show a REWATCH of 9.0
But I WILL NEVER WATCH this AGAIN.
It's too painful .. not Painful in the way of Mr Sunshine or Uncontrollably Fond or even Empress Ki (I rewatched and cried buckets each time)
But INJURY painful.
So WHY 9.0 .. because it's like Van Gogh's Yellow Sunflowers - so bright and yet so achingly sad they appear .. (I hadn't thought of this famous painting in that way until the FL describes Go Soo's eyes as Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Your heart will shred.)

So yeah if you are a masochist - and want to be ripped to shreds for Go Soo. Watch it again.

WATCH IT.
For those who read until here and connected with my kind of actors / shows / stories .. WATCH this gem.


I almost bypassed the show because of it 6.9 rating!!!
I usually don't touch below 7.0 Rating shows.
At that moment I recalled that a few panned Dramas by viewer rating were a 8 or even 9 for me.
I decided to do the first 2 episode test.
I was HOOKED at HELLO ..

I looked at the profile of the folks who quit or rated it so low :
- maybe it was not a Melo day for them
- maybe they were too young to appreciate the crazy stuff life can throw at you (the stuff in this tale HAS happened to REAL people)
- Maybe it needs an emotionally mature audience, with triggers in the show that hark back to teenage and youth.

One would need the view from the distance of time (long long time) to truly appreciate the characters and the eddy they kept fighting inside.

You can checkout my WatchList to know my proclivities. If its a match I am sure you won't be disappointed - heart broken though it will leave you.

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The SHOW that DAMAGES you for a LONG TIME and traps you in a REWATCH cycle for its beauty

I HAVE been SMITTEN with the BRILIANCE of L&P, it's made everything else look uninteresting and pale in comparison.
I echo many of the L&P fans addiction to the show when I say "L&P has damaged me for dramas"

I have been puzzling over why for many it did not click.
- those who have dropped it inspite of being initially interested
- or those just didn't get the point of it
- couldn't tune into the 'sizzle' in the convos between the lead characters
- a reason for the many who did not enjoy and got tired, bored, dropped

It did require knowledge in Computerese (software AND hardware / Coding / Apps / Internet / Hacking / IT industry / future Tech, which played a BIG role in the "juice" and "thrill" of the show.
The entire dramatic suspense pivoted on 'understanding' even if just at basic general knowledge and current affairs level the world of computing / IT / computer hardware / game design / App and Website design / hacking / programming / viruses
There is so much 'technicalese' in the long convos amongst the characters, that would require unpacking :

- when and why Li Xun wins the Blue Crown Deal (the entire presentation for bidding)
- why it was a Herculean feat by Li Xun to have "rewritten" the bid AS WELL as the coding for the final website design
- how Zhu Yun was discovered and what was she up to at the Xiaobei computer lab
- how Xiaobei's understanding of the website design was so shallow
- why it was a genius leap to have come up with the App for Blue Crown over Website of Blue crown (Li Xun's vision for future of Smart Phone use when 4G is moving into 5G soon)
- Li Xun's ability to see the future of how Apps / Internet use can be harnessed for GREATER GOOD of humanity
- the brilliance of dreaming of a future for medical Science and reducing the rate of cancer deaths by 1% (propelled by the all consuming grief at the death of his mother) and HOW were they going to go about it; why it needed deep pockets and backers; to see in it the immensity of the idea's scope
- when and how Li Xun exposes the weakness of Fang Zhijing's Star Award winning product
- how the Invincible General Game was turned around from being a laissez faire product to a product for nerds / geeks and found its niche following
- why it was a HUGE touching moment when ZY purchases (with her own money) the HOST component and is trying to assemble (Titan) while we see LX has gone "shopping" for the same after taking the day off and not even intimating what he is up to.
- what was the Blind Box Game's allure (why it bothered ZY but all the males were cool with it, including her 'green flag' artist beau Xiu Jhu Tian) and why it would take 6 months even for any COPY to be made, unlike how easy it was for Old Gao to have copied Invincible General
- the significance of LX financing the Blind Box Game and becoming a majority shareholder at Flying Heart.

And last but not least amongst this listing is WHY it was clear that Old Gao was bright BUT mediocre, his goals materialistic ... while Li Xun was a visionary, an institution builder (are there shadows of Ayn Rand's FOUNTAINHEAD in his and Zhu Yun's character portrayal) ??)
OKAY I thought I could write several reviews the show .. But MDL does not allow that .. therefore today I posting additonal material :-D
And I can't stop sharing how the show looked from my LENS (I've been on the Discussion Thread also)

Here I copy-paste my comment, with the main intention of just freely expressing WHY L&P works for me, in an attempt to offer a 'different lens' to Li Xun's character and rescue it from the one dimensional view of him as :
- toxic
- red flag
- contemptible
- devoid of ANY redeeming features

I was JUST about to chip in with that. Li Xun can't be described as MORALLY GREY without some elaboration and examination of his behaviour and actions.
Right from the beginning we see proof that he does not choose to INTENTIONALLY betray, take advantage of, back-stab, take people for a ride - he knows what is right and what is wrong, knows what is evil and what is good. MOST IMPORTANTLY he know what it means "to break the law"(I'll get back to this with a few examples from the show).
Yes.
He definitely has a rude, impatient nature, a cut and cold way of speaking; is strongly opinionated in his own field of interest and pursuits; is single minded to a fault when it comes to chasing his ambition and dreams; is intolerant of mediocrity and isn't 'polite' about telling it as it is.

In short, he's NOT a touchy-feely guy - it very quickly becomes evident (and the evidence keeps piling up as we watch the episodes, getting to learn his backstory, watch his actions.
He was probably born with a strongly introverted personality, so when tragedy struck (father passing away when he was very young) his life script switched on a style of defence mechanism not uncommon in such personalities. And he's GIFTED, a GENIUS. He has learnt to shroud his 'sentimentality, and softer emotions' from the world.

ONLY those most intimate to him, know this side of him.
ONLY those he feels understood by, those who manage to get close enough to seep into him with their genuineness and warmth; those who can rattle him, make fun of him, (Zhu Yun / Old Gao), challenge him, question his way of thinking, threaten him, press triggers in him that elicit reactions. He's been used to for too long of being feted, due to his REMARKABLE BRILLIANCE. He is an outlier one can easily gather from how his abilities are portrayed in the show.

The most intimate to him include his sister Li Lan, his mother. Li Lan is the one we get to hear from the MOST about LX childhood, what it was like for him growing up. He without wallowing in self pity stepped up to wear the mantle of guardian to his mom and sister, selflessly working to 'make money for the family' and be as little of a burden to them as possible. He is a self-made human from a young age since his father passed away.
We see such warm touching, affectionate moments with his mother, the softness in his gaze when he looks at her, tends to her. We hear Li Lan telling ZY how deeply he cared for his mom, so much so that it led to a falling out with her also. In his teen mind drunk with grief he told her off : "if you gave up on mom, leave me alone now" - meaning "stop fussing about my health now" when she was worried and insisting on him getting a surgery.

He sank even deeper into a pit and hid after his mother's death, unable to even keep in touch with his sister over the years. Probably grew a few more prickly thorns and a harder shield.

One can only imagine what transpired for him from the moment he became an orphan, was kicked out of school, lost a school year, survived on his own, and YET came out on top as HIGHEST scorer of the batch - retaining his reputation as a GENIUS.
When Li Lan resigned to her "destiny" : "All in all this our destiny. We have to admit it."
LX was ALL determination steaming from his red eyes, swollen with grief, his face plastered with tears, he countered with: "I won't admit it" meaning he'll never allow that to become his mantra.
In an act of rebellion he declares to himself and to the world (dying his hair blond after his mom's death, knowing very well that his "uncommon look" will draw attention and might even affect his school admission: "Even if everyone in the world admits the fact, I want to be different from them. Nothing can beat me down. I won't give in. I can only depend on myself."
Pu Shu's song playing in the background - at the concert that LX has bought ticks for Li Lan and ZY - how much more of hidden knight in shining armour can you get - BEAUTIFULLY highlights the moments of this back story scene.
"Just so Young ,
Just so Crazy.."
His dorm buddy Fu Zhio instinctively knows this aspect of him, and 'likes LX' A LOT and sees through all his tough and rough and gruff, and thus is one of the RARE folks in the show that LX goes over to off load his inner disquiet (Ren Di is like his alter ego, the ONLY other person we see him seek out when his mind and emotions are in a muddle).

And then of course there is Zhu Yun.
After a bout of Zhu Yun's initial negative impression of him (which incidentally is Zhu Yun's trigger to squash him and show him his place by ridiculing him at the Fresher's Night StandUp Cross Talk; and then teaming up with Old Gao, to challenge his academic superiority during the fight for LX's Programming Base vs Old Gao's Interest Group Computer Club) she slowly starts to see that hidden side of him too.
Of course his STUNNING HANDSOME LOOKS, good enough to be a model, ;-p also plays a role (a well established TROPE in Dramaverse *chuckle*)

The side of him that is :
- humorous, (he makes that silly pig virus, alluding again to the Little Piggy joke ZY cracked on stage, as the HW she was sent to collect by Fang ShuMiao, for her to download and submit. he calls her Princess and jokingly introduces the princess he has 'especially invited' to the Base - Old Lin had a role to play in coaxing ZY to join the base ..and one suspects Old Lin might have also exchanged words on that with LX .. since he was waiting just outside his class when ZY emerges after Lin's "talk" to her )
- playful (how he teases ZY .. when she persists on getting him to do HW / attend morning study class etc; connects with her by lobbing / flicking things at her - paper pellet, keys of the roof, bread packet he's bought her as lunch that boinks her head. ..
Close friends do that .. joking and kidding around ..
- jealous, (of Volleyball School Champ - Jiang Xing Chi whose making moves on the girl who he by now clearly fancies; of artist friend of ZY - Tian Xiu Jhu when he sees him drop ZY off in a fancy car and she seems very close and friendly to him
- warm, kind, loyal, upright
- capable of self reflection (when Zhu Yun explains to LX why Gao is upset and that he should make amends .. LX meets him on the roof and tells him that he wants Gao in his team and together work on the goals)

Examples of which start to build up as the drama progresses :
~ LX even as a down and under kiddo, never takes a penny more than he needs - 1000 from his game buddy in middle school when he's trying to make extra cash for his hospitalised mom, even though he offers a LOT more;
~ 140300 from Fu Zhio for breaking into the school grades system even though he says he could get him millions for sure;
~ refuses to take Fu Zhio's money and ZY seems to KNOW there is NO WAY LX will accept Fu Zhio's hard earned savings;
~ does not throw his buddy Fu Zhio under the truck when they are found out for cheating, IN FACT it's Li Xun who GOES to the Director Liu (in the Rain dripping like a wet crow) and BEGS her to let Fu Zhio off and asks to take the full blame for it; (which self serving person would risk doing something like that!!);
~ refuses to accept Xu Lina's funding even when she is throwing herself at him, and then failing that, she disguises it under "you don't need to marry me .. just take my money as an investment" .. in his upright heart he knows it would be wrong to use XuLina's money when she is so clearly in LOVE with him .. He won't "use" her, not for this.

He steers clear of people and things he thinks is a 'waste of time" - in his opinionated world - he's a man in a hurry to get things done ..
Things IMPORTANT in his world view : building institutions and a future where tech serves the greater good .. an App that reduces the "cancer detection and cure rate by 1%" ..
That long haul project becomes his mantra! The main product of the business set up he has been planning for - probably EVER SINCE his mom died. They were not aware of this drug Levartini because of lack of info and shared knowledge in the medical world.

In its scope he has taken on a gargantuan project that will need to align with hospitals across the nation and collate millions of data points from medical diagnoses (that is what we see him preoccupied with in the second half of the back story of college .. he has even dropped out of college to fast track this business plan - it seems like he wants to prevent deaths due to lack of info as soon as he can launch this App.

He is a visionary and he's written into the character as a person whose goals are lofty .. and because his eyes look so far into the future of the IT industry and he has a sharp searing intelligence that cuts through low quality b.s. ideas (in his qualified, fine critical judgment ability), he seems unable to or even interested in slowing down.

(You know this is the reason 'gifted' children are put into separate programs to cater to their super speeds of absorption and cognitive abilities - they are often loners because they cannot understand their peers, vice versa. While emotionally these gifted kids are often lagging behind a lot .. and thus special teachers are assigned to them who understand their minds.)

Winning the Blue Crown website Bid, making the Blue Crown App for sale, is all in alignment with how step by step he is planning for the start-up venture ..
He is not one to back down even if it means killing his body and health speed coding - writing revised bid documents that run into hundreds of pages .. all the while reading up and staying abreast of current advances and needs of the industry (ZY is amazed at when did he even gets the time to find out SO MUCH about Blue Crown .. including personal info of their owner's wife ? or was it mom? being an expert in Chinese Medicine).

Using up hours and hours arguing and explaining his strategy, his design ideas (especially when he senses a 'denseness' in the questions asked) dearly tests his 'energy level'.
He is probably anyways always functioning at the edge of his exhaustion limit, with the amount of sleepless nights he spends on the roof on that rickety back ache-y seat, and at the base slouched over his laptop, setting deadlines for himself AND delegating work for the large team he is already leading.

The fact that he loses patience; and often allows his team members to learn from their mistakes, rather than stopping them; asks them directly to decide if they can take the "pressure of the work"; asks them to trust his leadership skills is quite understandable and worthy of consideration in assessing his reactions, actions, behaviour.

NO ONE understands or condones his attitude and behaviour at college (not Old Gao, not Fang Shumiao, the other kids are too in awe of his 'mind' to even consider approaching him ... NOT EVEN Old Lin .. who is a a SENIOR professor and although he holds Li Xun's abilities with tremendous respect he also chastises him for his 'arrogance' and sometimes, bullies him into participating in 'competitions' that to Li Xun is again a TOTAL waste of time, FAR BELOW his capabilities.

Li Xun already belongs in the big bad adult world of professionals and entrepreneurs competing for a foothold when his peers are simply 'students studying from books'.

The Base is his idea .. and his pitch must have been SO FANTASTIC (given he's a noob freshie at college) to the College board that they immediately constituted a "profit aspect" AND "credit aspect" to the work done there in lieu of STUDY periods .. which according to him was wasted on books .. when all the learning in Programming HAD to COME from "breaking a few keyboards" and working within the real world industry.

I am NOT sure if my long long piece explains anything about the DRAMA's build up, action and character and themes.
Whether it adds .. clears up anything about it's MUCH reviled ML - Li Xun.

Bottomline : not everyone is going to be interested in watching a SLICE OF LIFE kind of show -
~ about a character like Li Xun and Zhu Yun,
~ or a show that has Computer and IT jargon as BED ROCK of its action and dramatic tension;
~ has ML descend into the darkest pit possible in "dramaverse" (short of murder - as in Cruel City);
~ with character arc of the lead being a slow burn evolution;
~ where even in the end you JUST ABOUT BARELY start to see the flecks of sunlight flickering in his eyes .. and his body get more easygoing, his persona open up allowing the entry of many more humans (flawed and pock marked).

I could keep writing .. endless are my observations as I keep rewatching the drama for the beauty of its script, construction, cinematography, mise en scene, music which is a potent punch to the scenes unfolding); the audio track that goes pin drop silent, or listens in on the ambient sounds, or cues up music; the direction; the the acting; casting choices; set design; production quality.
The symbols that appear .. Lighter / the usage of Princess as it appears in its many connotations / ZY's many different reactions to being called by that name.
Character analysis of the MAINs other than ML and FL .. Gao / Xu Lina / Fang Zi Jing / Fang Shumiao / Ren Di / Father Zhu / Mama Liu The nature of their inter-relationships amongst each other.
Anyway I'll stop now ROFL ..

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WHAT A TRAGIC LET DOWN of a TALENTED BUNCH of ACTORS and ROLES

SCRIPTWRITER - DIRECTOR BUTCHERED an ENTIRE BUNCH of BRILLIANT TALENTED ACTORS!!!

Yes from me the Drama got 7.5 / 10
ALL for the actors .. and SOME of the PATCHY goodness in the ideas and creation of a MATURE non-infantile FL .. Some gorgeous CHEMISTRY shots, fabulous outfits .. great camerawork, elegant sets.

The Script - story's ROUGH NOTES were selected and then thrown in the bin ..

When I started the Drama EPs 1-10 or so I was SO STOKED!!
WOW finally adults who seem to be behaving like adults (especially around being physically attracted to each other).


!!SPOILER !!


I was so WOW when in such an early episode (SO UNUSUAL for DRAMA-WORLD) the ML zoomed in for the kiss and then she pulled him back in for a deeper kiss. PHEW!!
I LIKE when women have agency and ability to respond with their own intense reaction to intimacy.

And the way it was framed by the camera - the lighting!! The ninety degrees of lip and face alignment - the SEXIEST SIDE KISS EVER - SIZZLE HOTTTT!!

I was like WOKAY .. BRING IT ON!!

Then WHAT happened .. the ML's kid sister and various people kept walking in juts as they got sexy again .. tooo MANY times to be funny or fun any more .. Extremely annoying and contrived.

The biggest let down that happened was that the magical physical intimacy *chemistry* completely disappeared mid-show onwards.
As did their own relationship arc ..

The show got confused between 'women's issues / family dynamics issues / man-woman relationship issues' . It lost it's way so badly that started to sound like a Public Good Advertorial on :

~ how to be careful when marrying /
~ to recognise signs of domestic abuse /
~ to beware of online dating App and websites /
~ to beware of money-scammers /
~ to go to a therapist for resolving issues (although I'd be SO WARY of a weird therapist like the one the show in this drama).

It was splotchy with disjointed bits of nice stuff - what the screenplay needed was a GOOD editor and several DRAFTS of reworking .. it WAS so LAZY ,, did the writer just fall asleep?

The FL who was SO good in her role (BTW she is in Three Body) .. started to drone on and on and she was made to just TALK TALK TALK ..
For large portions of the drama the ML just vanished.

One of the things that BOTHERED me a LOT was the heckling of the "guy who ghosted" his date.
That came out ALL wrong!!
I was like what is with the vigilantism and bullying?!
To post-justify the act was ridiculous!!

Would have made SO MUCH more sense had they confronted him / his agency BECAUSE they FOUND out about him being married and the company using MEN to fake as 'eligible' bachelors.
THIS way it made our FL look UGH ;-( and demented as did her office people!! Such THUGS they were reduced to.

Same creepy feel about the Therapist.
WHY would he PAINT and redecorate a room JUST for ONE patient!!!
HELLO ?? What was with this constant expressing his attention and availability for her, and her only .. he seemed to have no life of his own .. where are the other patients .. where is his mentor .. IS he her close friend / cousin / relative that he is giving her such exclusive care??

What happened to the Second Woman and her daughter?
Such a half baked arc.
And what was the reason for the LingZhi Chairman's disappointment of his son and how did he meet this bright boy he chose as CTO?
And the WHOLE father - son thing got sorted by ONE overheard convo ??

And where was the SO CALLED elder brother who was the bane of ML's life??
We never see him.

And how ridiculous that he should take his gf to see his parents without any inkling of how they will treat her?
HOW COME he doesn't look for her after dad has been settled.

JUST TERRIBLE SCRIPT ..

Did the producers of the show fire the scriptwriter - took her/his rough notes and patched together a leaky tattered drama that received VERY LITTLE LOVE from the PRODUCTION HOUSE .Seemed like they just wanted to ride on their TWO stars and a very promising CAST ....

Can't beyotch enough about the LAST SCENE !!
It's like .. "Oh we almost forgot that FL and ML need to patch up and we need to make a happy ending - oops "film stock" ran out .. (or our booking for this venue is over so let's quick wrap).
Let's just take one shot of them in the rain walking together - that should be enough to hint at HE.

Forget EVERYTHING that should have been explained ..

I wanted to run after them with a baseball bat - them being the PD Team of the drama.

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WXY CAN KISSSS ;-p

After my appetite for Wang Xing Yue (Meng Xiao Dong) was whetted by briefly watching him in AaSoL I wanted to look up shows he's done.
Although he had a powerful role to play (as Zheng Zhe) in SOKP I felt the directors failed to draw out his skill (he could have been that heart tugging SML that many are injected into a GOOD drama).
His role and acting in AaSoL proved me right ;-p
He SHONE so much that there was a chorus of viewers (as proven in the AaSoL Thread) who wished the scriptwriter had developed that arc fully.

I found this show and decided to test it out.
A 7.7 MDL rating usually doesn't look very attractive to me.

I decided NOT to read the comments thread NOR even the brief beyond 1-2 lines ( I looked mainly at the TAGS .. as long as ROMANCE is there I am game LOL).
Why? Because recently I've been bumping into shows that MAY NOT be perfect but were ones that I'd have regretted missing had I TRUSTED the comments and bypassed it.

Example :
~ A Journey to Love
~ Princess Silver
~ Fifteen Years of Waiting for Migratory Birds

OMYGAWD what a rollicking guffawing time I had!!

I'd rate is as one of the MOST satisfying PERIOD ROM-COM I have watched .. since KDrama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds"

It had one of the BEST comedic ensemble cast and dramatic treatment of such a SIMPLE story .. of a discomfited, tantrum filled crown prince and a witty, intelligent, genius chef who comes to work at the Crown Prince's kitchen (because he is SO FUSSY about his food).
ALL the characters who fill up the drama are given such 'warm' roles that you'll NOT want to skip the scenes AT ALL.

It's a cosy, tingly, lovely lovely drama MINUS any cringey humour IMO .. and SUCH "healthy" outlook on "plump women" who LOVE to eat .. and OF COURSE the ASMR of the best food and food eating I have seen in a LONG LONG LONG time .. MORE than "Wok of Love".

The FL is SOMEONE I wanted to reach out and HUG .. WHAT AN ACTRESS!!! It's my first time watching her - I felt she did an award-worthy role.
I LOVE how they portrayed her as someone with ambition and a mind of her own. Sweet-sparky without being loud or 'aegyo' ..
And our WXY is such a loveable CLOWN .. immature but heartbreakingly SILLY who trips over himself and his tricks so often.
(Reminded me SO much of KDrama's Wookie -Ji Chang Wook - in Empress Ki).

AND WXY CAN KISSSSSSS. Yummy Kiss!! (That for me sometimes makes or breaks a SOLID romance)

Some of the support characters are so memorable; I WILL ALWAYS remember them. Written with SUCH LOVE.

It's also one of the most hilarious OST I have heard LOL ..

I'd recommend a watch when in the mood for something light but refreshing and filling at the same time - lemon Meringue - lemon tart comes to mind, rich frothy cappuccino on a sunlit winter afternoon.

I'll stop it here.

(Will be repeat posting this feedback with some tweaks to draw attention of ALL those who LOVED watching WXY.

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The Good The Bad The Ugly AND the EXCELLENT

*** SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER RIDDLED***

You will ONLY relate to the following IF you have JUST watched the SHOW .. OR remember the SHOW.








Honestly, this Drama evoked many different thoughts and feelings.
I'll first get the UGLY and the BAD out of the way.

# Shu Yin Jin #
------------------

The CASTING of the FL (Yang Zi Shan) Su Yun Jin (SYJ) didn't sit well with me.
The show started off SO well and she came across as an interesting character ... Not ditzy or given to unnecessary facial expressions as many actresses are.

Her calm demeanour in Ep 1, when the Xu-Wife (now we know she was an ex-wife probably) threw coffee at her and yet she kept her composure and wrapped up her scheduled office meeting unfazed.. She shot up my respect AND curiosity scale.
She had me on her side, at get go, wondering what happened and what preceded this?

Then Drama went pretty much wholesale into flashback mode and hooked me in for almost 12 episodes.
I LOVED the young Su Yin Jin (Landy Li) actress. She played SYJ young to the T.
Beautiful, grave, reserved, mature, sensitive; she KNEW how to say NO firmly.

(IDEALLY Landy Li should have played the ADULT also.
I mean it was JUST a few years later that they were in college .. right?
They took the College entrance exams and morphed? New set of Actors???)

And then came the college dorm years .. and SYJ was already on a slide for me. I had NO view into her inner self.
The script - director - actress steadily ERODED any sense of empathy and connect I had at the beginning for the character.
Her face and demeanour began to chafe and irk AND AGE.
Her naso-labial crease became SO prominent that she looked not like a young college kid in her twenties but someone who could be cast as a mid-forties, mother of a teenager.
A "cold FL role" need not also be CAST using an actress whose visuals are ALSO stiff / dour / dismal with a perpetual surly expression.
Her pinched, thin lips (she adds to it by constantly sucking it in making it thinner) are more suited to "the witch" who curses the baby princess when not invited by the king to the christening party.

The "cold" needs to be enacted .. not 'looked' like. (Landy Li does the COLD also but we FEEL her)

A 'cold' role needs to be condignly presented to the audience; requires a view into her true, vulnerable heart, her lack of self confidence around moneyed people from the upper classes, around high achievers; her weakness, her despair and her bottled up suffering (Landy Li does it SO effectively).

NOT once is she shown harbouring ANY warmth for the ML. (except when LAndy Li acts. Her ONE HUG speaks VOLUMES .. while grown up SYJ's hugs leave the audience feeling a freeze.
By the time ML Cheng Zheng (Elvis Han) and her have gotten together (beyond the midway point of Drama) the viewer cannot care less or be bothered with the couple.

In fact; was SO SHOCKED at my OWN response to DRAMA's OTP romance.
For the FIRST TIME in the 250 plus Drama viewings, did I FFWD ALL the hug and kiss and intimate scenes of the OTP.
It was pissing me off to see her puckering up - not only I FELT NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL, I ACTUALLY HIT the FFD HARD to not have to see her.
Elvis Han was DOING ALL the work!!! And that was SUCH TORTURE!!
She was made to play 'little Miss Prissy' - a FRIGID woman almost .. a adult woman who would NOT 'sleep with her guy' and made 'disgusted' expressions when CZ got passionate. Viewer would imagine 'she was faking' herself into a couple relationship. One HAD to agree and NOD vigorously when CZ laid it out to her; that she is a FRIGID "Beyotch" who had NO real emotions for him .. Her palm actually "DID NOT sweat" (MHY's explanation of what 'sparks' felt like) and she never showed ANY sparky reaction to him. Robot was not a wrong description of her by CZ.

The directors had JUST let SYJ devolve into a 'hated' character by the time she was 'supposed' to have achieved her 'changed' feelings and persona. There had been NO arc. The viewer FELT NO connect .. the opposite .. they managed make her a "DISLIKED" character.
She was made to go from morose-gruff to "smiling" in one leap. (smiling in quotes because it was bereft of any warmth).

Nothing softened her face, joy did not reach her eyes - inspite of the blurry lighting and camera.
She even had these HARD lines like double brackets next to her lips (visible in some lighting shots). So when drama kept having other characters repeatedly calling her 'pretty' / 'good looking' viewer was left even more aghast!!
Cummon!!! Zhang Hue was stunningly BEAUTIFUL .. Mo Yu Hua (MYH) glowed, so lovely to look at (and she played the "plain" looker??!!! REALLY??)
At that point I was HAVING serious doubts about the CASTING director being the same person because some of the characters FIT so well.

Thus SYJ's visual further emphasised her "HARD" heart. Her spartan adherence to principles began to sound SO PREACHY!! Gaunt-drawn faced, Nun-like Matron at a Girl's Boarding School.
She seemed to be 'working at loving him' .. Not exactly what drama intended for the story outcome for sure!!

Yet in the last episodes we are expected (via her SPEECH) to BUY that SHE always had 'feelings' for him.
YEAH .. sure .. it came across as double FAKE; similar to the other ML character's wide smiley expressions - Shen Ju An - played by the excellent Toby Lee.

Now Toby pulls of the complex character of grey tones so convincingly .. one could have easily 'HATED' him in the role .. but one never stopped feeling deeply sorry for him and his frailty .. even understood and worried about him as he foolishly pursued his misguided notions of how to be "successful"; as he got more and more lost, one grew anxious for him losing everything, especially his compass.
Drama could have cast a less 'pleasant face' for him, to take the easy way out and make him a detestable character rather than the dubious sorry figure he was whose final redemption therefore is well earned and something we can root for and support. In the last few scenes his earlier "hyper-smiles" had dropped .. he didn't need them any more. He had found his grounding core.

# Second LEAD Romance - Relationship - Friendship #
-------------------------------------------------------------------

The development towards the relationship endgame of Dr Mo Yu Hua (MYH) and Footballer Zhou Zi Yi (ZZY) was dropped like a hot brick!!
Until close to the end it was a finely balanced, growing house of cards, delicately put together, which we couldn't take our eyes off.
It was Tan Jian Ci's stellar portrayal, so convincingly played. An easy, carefree, external silliness, an extrovert self that hid a LOST soul, an anger and pain. Coming from a broken home, he had nurtured a deep, complex parental resentment.
He is the classic Attachment-Avoidant (AA) Personality TYPE.
(google description)
"You value your independence and freedom to the point where you can feel uncomfortable with, even stifled by, intimacy and closeness in a romantic relationship."

This description accurately pins his attitude towards MYH (who he is of course drawn to).

Suddenly the rug was pulled from under us, that arc collapsed .. the House of Cards crashed.
No, worse!! VANISHED without trace, loped off.

ALL the time that was INVESTED on working on the complex dependancy on MYH (as well as on his childhood buddy CZ) - his blindness - his denial; careful build up of arc of MYH, actress's (Su Qing) beautifully and soulfully captured suffering, enduring loyalty and patience, was discarded.

Suddenly at the FINAL PARTY we are told that "they were together" - like WHEN DID THAT golf ball fall into the hole???

I felt CHEATED out of the RELEASE and CLOSURE; A PASSIONATE KISS (CUMMON) for THAT couple ..
Waited for it way more than the OTP's closure.
By the time I was deeply into the Drama, ZZY-MYH were FAR more engrossing to follow than any other thread.

(Caveat : Tian Ci Jian is on my list to check out in other dramas - he's excellent in the range he can cover .. from comic goofball to tortured and deep)

*** REST of REVIEW on DISCUSSION THREAD of this DRAMA has a 10000 character Limit :-(

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BEST VALENTINE DAY BINGE WATCH (if you aren't with your NamjaChhingu )

Hyper Chemistry!!

Kim Rae Won has a magic that make his FL's SHINE!! And he brings in the magic and chemistry .. WHY??
Because his HOT roles are consistent no matter who the actress.

He is one actor from the Kdrama stable who acts with HIS WHOLE body.

The show had an engaging story line - albeit borrowed ideas from other sources, but blended and adapted SO engagingly that it holds the attention ...

The FL and ML scenes / development arcs were JUST ADDICTIVE.

The 9.5 rating is 85 percent for Kim Rae Won and what he managed to get out of Kim Tae Hee (who is a so so actress .. in her other roles that I have watched).

It's a 10/10 for a ROMANCE genre show. One of the BEST I have watched. Also because it have one of the BEST EVER physicality I have seen on Kdrama .. SQUEEEEEE GALORE!!

Go for it this VALENTINE - you won't regret it IMO

It's ONLY on Dramacool I think. Use VPN on US server

How I wish KOCOWA or VIKI would buy it ..

I am 100 % sure it would find a HUGE following.

P.S. Not to forget to mention that this is a RARE Kdrama that wasn't afraid to deal with race issues (shows Black people / Asian Illegal Immigrant / Capitalist greed and corruption of MNCs that to this day are getting away with criminal acts in Developing nations. AND it highlights AIDs as a killer disease worthy of care and compassion and not a mark of shame.)

Thank you Screen writer and director for a GEM .. I hope it resurfaces almost 20 years since it first aired

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WOW!! You GO KDRAMA and JTBC!!! Hurrah for breaking stereotypes so BOLDLY

Finally and amazing show that explores mature themes of lust - love - intoxication with each other before even realising if it's what you want in the long term.

Here in this show the usual end of the Kdrama is brought to the front.
The slow rhythmic pace of the show .. the stylised exploration of "body touches" take on a meaningfulness so essential to the theme of the show.

LGBTQ shown so sensitively!! Two superlative actresses deliver SOLID punch ..

I will come back to review it in longer version once it's over.

I am dying here waiting for the week to pass .. waiting for the next instalment of these three characters ..


Ooops .. I came back for a look and saw that I had promised to review it more after finishing. Today is 9th Sept 2023???
Yikes.

Anyway all I remember is that the show ended SO ABRUPTLY at just 12 eps :-O
WhAT!!!

It felt like a plug was pulled and then the water was drained out with a power pump!
Am pretty sure it was harassed into non-existence.
The Plot / the Characters were left hanging in limbo.

K-Drama is yet to learn to handle "skinship" that comes "before confessing" .. LUST is not in its vocabulary.

I had expected the show to move backwards .. LUST first .. and then an arc that explores the borders of it and LOVE.

Anyway .. felt sorry for the scriptwriter and director and the superlative FL role as well as the ML role who couldn't get their way with the show.

It had such supreme promise - set apart from the flock as it was.

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A GORGEOUS FABRIC that got SHREDDED to bits in the end

Yup.

What began with a gorgeous fabric .. was damaged beyond repair in the last 1/3 of show .. It's like the writer lost track of what design of clothing she started out with .. or maybe thought she could decide along the way??

Once I completed the drama I finally understood why most comments in the discussion thread called it a disaster.
I was SO PUZZLED .. because I was SO ENTERTAINED for 2/3 of the show.

I watched the first half of the drama (pre-palace entry .. well actually even several episodes into palace) laughing, chuckling; RELISHING every bit of Bai Lu's role as the kick ass Gang Boss, she is written SO well .. the knitting of the tension so engaging .. the various ways she outwits and keeps being Top Dog in a tough man's world.

FOXY is such a delightful way to describe her ..

And then it starts to unravel .. by the end the drama is shred to a nuisance pile of illogical rubbish; to say that there are plot holes in the second part is a compliment; there is nothing of plot left to even make a hole in it (ROFL).

The script is so schizoid !!! I was like WHAT!??

~ 8.5 /10 (pre-palace segment)
~ 7.5 / 10 (few eps of early Palace segment)
~ 4.0 / 10 (Ep 30 onwards)

Overall because
- I LAUGHED so much and ENJOYED the Gang Boss in Silver City literally "twerp" / wink her way through "wins"
- thrilled to have discovered a HIGHLY talented ML - Leon Lai - with so much potential who delivers along with Bai Lu

I felt generous enough to donate 1.5 point extra to the 6.0 I was itching to give it .. the end left such a BAAD taste.
So it's a 7.5 / 10

Have fun tripping on Bai Lu (and Leon Lai) in Silver City .. and then go glug a gin and tonic with a drama buddy and have a roaring laugh at the absurdity the drama descends into once Changan is reached.

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Makes the Top of the Billboard of best Kdrama

On my second watch I have re - rated it to 10.

The narrative structure is so rich - the main relationship so realistically portrayed, the character arcs so believable and not to leave out the awesome sports camera work.

Look forward to seeing the ML and FL in future shows as leads. They are in the top of the league KDrama actors.

She is different from Kim Taeri's character in 25 - 21 as is the plot and themes.
But the feel of richness is the same.

The ensemble cast delivers.

The only weak point if I was to point out would be the weak development of the second couple arc.
It could have been a strong second line (like Park Hyung Shik and FL in High Society as the second couple which got as much heft as the main leads) in the story.. But fell short.
The second arc just felt half baked and that plot line's strong potential was frittered away.

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Park Hyung Sik is back with a bang!!

Whooey!!!!!! :D After a LOOOONG wait finally a kick ass FL.
LOVED how role has been written and the actress fits to a T.

And of course Park Hyung Sik amongst the MOST talented actors who can hold his act taut and without missing a beat.
He shone in HAPPINESS, Bong Soon, Heirs, and YES got second lead syndrome in Hwarang, stole the show inspite of being the second couple.

He's right up there in acting chops (and yumminess) with Kim Woo Bin / Park Bo Gum / Park Seo Jun / Lee Jun Ho / Nam Joo Hyuk.

And FL we can expect her to make her mark with this show.
Something about her is almost Kim Tae Ri.

How I wish I could have binged on this (all 20 episodes).

The fact that the writer of this show also wrote Romance is a Bonus Book / Discovery of Romance / Because its the First Time each with STRONG WOMEN roles I think this will end up with VERY HIGH ratings. Predicting a mydramalist rating of 8.5/9.0 at the least.

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The WORST CASTING EVER!!!

The casting is DREADFUL.

How does the FL look 15 y.o.!!!!!!!

In any other drama she’d be playing a dowager!!!!

And the General Xiao Qi ?? How is he “young blood”?

The production value was so lavish and gorgeous - the direction well executed !!!
The fantastic cinematography!!
The brilliant script - promising storyline … ALL JUST TURNED TO ASH in the mouth at first bite ALL BECAUSE -
actors are just THE most boring - and unimpressive - and low talent that I have ever seen!!!

I mean I am new to Cdrama (just 4 dramas in) but veteran Kdrama viewer been through saeguks of every hue - great ones (like Empress Ki / Hwang Ji Ni / Bloody Heart / Red Sleeves etc AND BADLY made ones too).

This is the first time in my 3 years of Asian Drama viewing that i have seen such a shocking mismatch of lead cast and drama.

What a waste of a great script and production !!

I think i was spoilt from watching my first 4 C Dramas : which were so skillfully directed / produced / scripted with pitch perfect acting that i had begun to look forward to more C Drama.
- Hidden Love
- Fireworks in My Heart
- Lighter and Princess
- Ever Night 1 (with Chen Fei Yu)

I was just thinking of the “picture perfect” casting in “Ever Night” .. now those two leads are a power enngine that drove the show on their shoulder!!!!

They looked their age and their acting was electric !!!

You will not forget Ning Que and Sang Sang …

So if you are not affected by leads mismatched in age -
FL is 44 y.o. Playing 15 y.o
ML is 40 y.o. Playing young general mot more than 20??

Or affected by the dead-bore acting (how pathetic to see two old actors behave “cute and aegyo” ) then go ahead have a blast

The high rating tells you how little so many viewers were affected by these factors.
The lavish style of the show must have been enough for them.

Go ahead have a look and tell me I am ALL wrong …

AND HERE’s my 7 Star Banner raised for Ever Night and its STELLAR ACTORS!! Chen Fei Yu was ONLY 18 and look at the STAR ACT he pulled off.

Sorry I had that as my benchmark for CDrama wuxia / historical show.

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