Mildly Disappointing - Not Good, But Not Bad

This was mildly disappointing? I don’t know what sets this show apart from other historical dramas centered around power struggles and scheming, but this was only okay. Jo Jung Seok and Lee Kyu Hoe both delivered the best performances of the show and were generally delightful to watch. Especially JJS has great screen presence and created tense atmospheres out of nothing. One second, the scene is normal and in the next he’s scary and intimidating.

I liked his chemistry with SSK whose performance was alright. I liked her crying scenes a lot (which… she had a lot for some reason 😭🤭), her tears were like diamonds rolling down her cheeks, I can’t explain it. The female lead’s revenge was… I don’t know. Lacking? So-so? Wishy-washy? Can’t put it into words. I think the lack of character development (for all characters) at the end of the show also disappointed me. Did anyone change or grow? I don’t really think so… meh. Also… the fact that everyone believed that MW was actually a man… honestly a bigger plot armor than my girl Ying Luo ever had. The writers decided that her dressing as a man was believable to every single character when it really wasn’t lol. It was believable in “Coffee Prince” for example, but here??? It’s because the writers wanted it lol.

The show generally has left 0 impact on me, and I probably won’t really think about it now that I finished it. It did pull me in – ultimately, it was the tension between Mong Woo and the king that kept me going and made me finish the show. The last episode was a whole lot of nothing that kind of dragged and felt a little useless not going to lie. Overall, “Captivating the King” was alright, but not crazy good!

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I love Yoongi so much and seem to forget sometimes how amazing he is and this documentary just reminded me of that fact again. Just like Hobi's "J-Hope in the Box", this documentary felt like an amazing insight into the process of creation and music making. Yoongi is always hard working and critical, but his music is always on point and perfect. His hard work and sleepless nights and frustration when something doesn't work out the way he wants really paid off; "D-Day" is an amazing album from start to finish! Seeing the cameos of his celeb friends like Steve Aoki and Halsey was really cool too because it's always nice to see when BTS and its members gets appreciated for who they are rather than just their brand. So, to see that they seem to have some genuine friendships in the western music market is great! I also loved seeing Jimin's two seconds of screen time, that guy is always there to support his members, i love him so much :(. My favorite part of the documentary had to be toward the end with Sakamoto Ryuichi. You could really see and feel that Yoongi was talking to an artist he deeply respected and to see him be appreciated and praised by said artist was very heartwarming; the song they worked on together ("Snooze") is one of my faves on the album anyway, so this bit made it even better. The live performances of some select songs made the documentary a little more dynamic (Hobi had clips of the festival to show, but Yoongi hadn't gone on tour yet), and I just generally love seeing this dude perform. Overall, great documentary, great artist, great music<3

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The sound of flowers

The drama has come to an end, and I wonder whether I finished the drama or if the drama finished me.

This was a wonderful journey that I enjoyed from start to finish. I remember starting Pt.1 very randomly and watching the first four episodes all in one go. At first, this drama wasn't on my radar, but then I saw the poster and the title and thought "I need to watch this". I might not have known peace since episode 4 onwards since every other episode made me cry or sob or bawl from that moment on, but I will always cherish this wonderful show.

I cannot believe that Ahn Eun Jin received backlash when she was first announced as Gil Chae. Who doubted her skills? Because what I saw was a phenomenal performance of emotional depth and variety. She acted like rent was due, every second, every facial expression, everything was perfect. Gil Chae is a character that I will always talk about. Her resilience, her wits, her emotional strength, her cuteness, she is my everything. No character will have such beautiful character development. From a slightly narcissistic young girl to a strong business woman with an iron will to survive. A woman whose beauty was her greatest asset but also a woman who didn't think twice to scar her face in order to survive. Gil Chae from episode 1-3 would have never done that. But Gil Chae who survived a war, who was sold into sexual slavery would do it. I could talk endlessly why I love her selflessness, her character, her person.

The love between Gil Chae and Jang Hyun was simply ... tragic yet beautiful. Massive push and pull, but they got what they finally deserved in the end.

Very shortly some points I don't want to flesh out in full sentences:

- Crown Prince and Princess got great development (especially the Prince), their ending was tragic, they deserved better
- The King died too late, how did no one impeach him... the man was a lunatic istg. Also, his concubine ?? what was her scheming??
- It is clear the crew didn't have much time to film the last episode as some questions are left unanswered: what happened to Ryang Eum? Was he found in the forest where JH left him? Why was he imprisoned? Also, the long-awaited beach scene was not as battle heavy as expected. The cinematography was a bit eh in the reunion scene between the leads. I wish MBC had given the crew and actors more time to give a more polished product. The acting didn't suffer though, it was 👍🏻👍🏻
- The Qing Princess ... felt too much like a plot device rather than a real character. She saw JH as a toy and wanted to possess him, she didn't love him. She got on my nerves unfortunately...
- Yeon Jun the most useless character in all of Joseon. I mean c'mon now. A piece of untoasted white bread has more dignity, character and wits than this "scholar". Absolutely hated his guts, he did not deserve Eun Ae
- Eun Ae deserved better?? Where was her character? I understand the actress was pregnant but... eh still. The fact that she took YJ back is also... a major nono for me

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Started out SO good, but left me disappointed in the end

Final edit now that I finished the show.

A couple things ruined it for me:

- The moment Nan Chu became famous. It changed the whole show, I didn't like it, and I felt like her character changed all of a sudden. We knew her as a rational, level-headed girl, and suddenly she was oh so willing to go against everyone's advice to enjoy her dating life. What do you mean you didn't expect the papps to follow you to the funeral, girly you're a star now (though even that felt weird)

- Da Gang's death?? It felt unnecessary and weird, I don't know why they added that

- The ambiguous ending. You can try to reason with me all you want, but unfortunately, and against my own best wishes, I also believe that the male lead died, and I HATE it. Don't watch the last 15 minutes, they're confusing lol.

Overall, the show was good, although the last 14 episodes felt like a completely different story to be honest. Some episodes felt tedious to finish, and I felt weirdly disconnected to it, which is a shame because I loved the first 26 episodes. Certain plots were either brought back (the annoying senior actor and the starlet), or introduced (Nan Chu's parent's love story) that I simply didn't care for. I found myself skipping half episodes to get to the point simply because they felt like fillers. From the beginning, I was "eh" about the 40 episodes total, and after finishing the show I can say that it dragged in the last episodes. It did not need that many, and I would have preferred a clearer ending. Either he is dead, or not. Not something that can be both or just the one, based on your own interpretation, especially in a show like this where it's literally between either life or death. A clear cut would have been better.

I was about to give the show 7/7.5 stars to be honest because of the things I didn't like that ruined it for me. Sudden stardom and a weird character development, unnecessary plotlines and the ending just kinda left me disappointed. The actors did such a good job, and I will definitely pick up another Huang Jing Yu drama because his acting was especially great in emotional scenes. The romance was perfect for me when Nan Chu and Lin Lu Xiao just started getting to know each other and slowly developed a mature relationship. I also really liked the comradeship between the firefighters, they really felt like family. The last two episodes and the episode with the banquet fire (30, I believe) sort of made me give the drama very weak 8/10 stars - it did manage to pull my heartstrings one final time.

(edit: changed the rating to 9/10 because I am in L O V E).
(edit updated to episode 26: I still love everything about the leads and their relationship. It's mature and sweet, both are very confident in their partner and support each other wonderfully (be it emotionally or regarding their careers). This has to be one of my favorite romances in a while, it brings me so much joy to watch Nan Chu and Lin Lu Xiao together, the way he softens when she's around him is just absolute madness! Now, we have gotten a lot of conflict within the station in the last couple of episodes, and I'm excited to see where this will be going, and how this will be resolved, since we have 15 episodes left. Overall, this show makes me incredibly happy, and waiting for new episodes is both exciting and excruciating. I'll be going away for a little while, can't wait to find weird ways to download the episodes so that I can still catch up with everyone because reading your comments is really fun! 🥹👍🏻 AnywhO, I hope those who abandoned the show too early, or who were unsure whether or not they should start it, give it a second thought. Under all the firefighting (propaganda), you do get a mature romance and nice bromance and relationships between the characters; it's a very heartwarming show so far!).

I'm giving this an 8/10 for now but I am in love with this show. The first episode was already extremely impressive for me, the cinematography did not disappoint. I don't quite know how they filmed these burning buildings etc., but it looks so real!

I already love the female lead and male lead; their chemistry is so good despite them not having too many scenes with each other just yet. I like how they are both very mature and serious without being boring. You can see in the female lead that she is a strong-willed and hardworking young woman, and I love the actress so much for that. She was already really great in >Lighter and Princess<, and she proves herself as a capable actress again. Zhang Jing Yi is such a natural actress, she becomes the character with ease and makes me believe every single word she says! Huang Jing Yu plays his character very well as well. The way he is able to have a gentle, dreamy expression when he looks at the female lead (not always, but sometimes homeboy is entranced by her, can't blame him!) compared to the other two actresses (within the show, actresses playing actresses ha!) is just *chef's kiss*. But then, he is also the capable firefighter, who saves lives and lectures his disciples! Yet you can see that he cares deeply about his people and job.


I like the music a lot too, it's very fitting in every scene and emphasizes the emotions of the characters very well.

So far, the romance is very little, but very good. We get sweet little moments between the leads that got me kicking my feet and giggling, but I'm excited to see it develop into something more serious and solidified.

Now, this is a firefighter drama, so it does feel like propaganda.... but they kinda got me here. The comradeship and bromances between the firemen are actually really cute lowkey lmao.

I'm excited to continue the show, but for now it's a yes and thumbs up for me🥹👍🏻

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A beautiful gem

I usually don't watch on-going dramas for the simple reason that I know I will like them and I don't want to wait every week. But for some reason I started this, and while the wait is excruciating, I have the best time watching this gem of a drama. So much so that I finished another show with Namkoong Min to shorten the waiting time (also, he is a great actor!).

This show has everything: a great story, amazing characters with depth, action, intrigue and a (bitter)sweet romance. The latter blossoms very slowly but makes your heart flutter like crazy, trust me! I love Gil Chae as a female lead a lot. She may be bratty and spoiled and maybe a little narcissistic but you can't really blame her. Imagine a whole village thinking you're pretty... let's not pretend like it wouldn't get to you head! (Also, she is still young) But to have her confidence... uff I would do a lot. Like she is her own hyper-person: she feels sad? she'll just look in the mirror! BAM, happy again. What I love about her as well is her bravery and the responsibility she took to protect her friend and the maids. She takes leadership, she uses her brain, she is able to make smart decisions very quickly and she listens to Jang Hyun despite bickering with him. And I love the consistency of her smart leadership. Every episode, she continues to be strong when she needs to, be it physically or mentally; she is a great female lead in my opinion! She continued to be resilient and selfless until the last episode, and the despite heartbreak it caused, I still understood her decision!

Jang Hyun... ahhh. He is an amazing lead. Namkoong Min manages to make his character charming and witty. His chemistry with Ahn Eun Jin is great and I love his longing gazes a lot. He is a very expressive actor that can use his face very very well (which I could see in >One Dollar Lawyer< that I just finished). Subtle acting is not easy but he does it perfectly. You can see the love his character feels for Gil Chae in his eyes and his whole body. I wish he would give those longing stares directly to Gil Chae so that she could SEE them as well and stop thinking that he's just playing with her (and finally forget that loser Yeon Jun lmao). The last episodes were a masterclass, he made me cry so much with his expressive eyes, what an actor!

I don't want to talk about Yeon Jun to be honest because he annoys me haha, same with the king. The man is more concerned about his chickens and palace than his subjects that die for and because of him. His son, the crown prince, is not any better. The scholars are all so useless because all they do is talktalktalk but they don't actually DO anything. It's terrible, but I guess that's the reality. The poor and defenseless will always suffer while the rich and powerful survive on their backs.

The cinematography is absolutely mesmerizing and astounding, I love it so much. The music as well. I may not be the biggest ballad fan, but the show has such a great OST I could cry! The only other costume/historical drama that I have seen was >Alchemy of Souls< (PT.1&2) and the catch was that it had fantasy. For some reason, costume dramas intimidate me to be honest but I just had to watch this one and I dot not regret it. The balance between action, politics, characters and romance is so nice that I hardly realize it's not a modern drama. And to be honest the historical aspect makes it a bit more romantic because of the elevated language and because the actions sometimes speak so much louder.

Overall, I have nothing but praises. The show got me screaming and bawling and giggling and kicking my feet and I adore it. After finishing the show, I can say it's a new favorite. I bawled my eyes out, laughed and got all excited watching this masterpiece. I understand if the characters frustrate you in the beginning, but overtime you will love them for their resilience, strength and bravery. Gil Chae is such an amazing female lead, I adore her, and my heart broke for her in the last episode, what a dilemma. In the end, she gave up what she loved most, I can't blame her but I cannot wait to see how Pt. 2 will wrap things up. How it'll develop and how our couple will meet again. I don't want to brace myself for a sad ending, but I don't want to get my hopes too high either haha. I am so happy I started this because it gives me so much happiness (despite the uncontrollable crying lmao) and I hope many more people will watch it because it is simply amazing and I am sure you will love as much as I do. 💗

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Could be great, but ultimately quite lackluster

I started this drama with great enthusiasm, but with each new episode I grow more and more disappointed. The show could be really great since the premise itself is interesting, but unfortunately, I feel like it is lackluster. Something is missing, the extra spark just isn't there.

- The acting is only so-so
--> I quite liked Pyo Ye Jin's acting in "Taxi Driver", but I feel like the script for "Moon in the Day" doesn't give her the same space to give a great performance, especially since her character seems washed down from the earlier episodes, she resembles a damsel now
--> I haven't seen anything with Kim Young Dae so far, but I wish he was a little more expressive; I also wish we could have seen goofy Jun Ho a little while longer because I liked KYD's acting in those first 2 episodes but alas... We got some silly Jun Ho back in the last episode, but that didn't last long either.

- The script is lacking, the writing is lazy
--> The plot is simply inconsistent and it really frustrated me the more I watched.
>> The male lead is supposed to be a super famous actor, why was he never working lmao. He did one script-reading session, and one session practicing archery and then boom! never on set ever again.
>> Speaking of the male lead's fame. Only when it served the plot, his fame mattered. He could walk around the neighborhood, the hospital with a lame ass cap, the market, the Han River (granted, at night), and no one would recognize him. BUT, if he needed to be recognized for the plot, you can bet the masses would take out their phones and scream "OMG, HAN JUN HO!" (as in: taking off his cap at the hospital and boom! he's recognized? Is he Annabeth Chase? Is his cap an invisibility cap? Where are we??
>> Male lead's black mark. Again, when it serves the plot, it was visible. Otherwise, it was not. Be consistent.
>> Male lead's powers?? He had some powers as a ghost, but he only used them like twice? Again, inconsistent!
>> The female lead's development is tragic. She went from cool and independent to a little damsel. She knew how to fight/how to do self-defense, where did all those skills go (looking at the last episode...). I don't expect her to beat the villain completely on her own, but the way she ran away and stumbled (...) in the woods was giving me cheap horror movie production. I felt a little disrespected on her behalf.
>> The villain is ... boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring. His motives are petty, ut not the good kind of petty, it's just plain stupid. Didn't enjoy it, glad he died.
>> They recycled the same scenes too many times. There was no wow-effect and the revelations were certainly not clever to be honest. It was tiring having to see the same three major scenes pop up again and again. They didn't do it well enough for me to think they had any impact. They weren't illusions or insinuating anything. They simply cut the scenes at the most critical moment, only to show the full thing at a later time. That's not a clever, mind-blowing revelation. It's annoying and badly done.
>> I didn't buy their romance... WHY did they like each other, be it in the past or present?? I don't know.

- The characters are quite frankly very flat
--> What is the purpose of Young Hwa's roommate for example? The actress barely has a place in the drama and only serves as a poor "second female lead" for a romance plot with Jun Ho's manager that no one cares about (the romance, not the manager lol). She pops up every now and then to remind us that she exists, but that's it...
--> I also generally feel like there aren't many memorable characters in the show lol, we got the leads/Min Oh/Seok Cheol Hwan who I guess are the principal characters of the show; for drama purposes we got a boring female antagonist in Yi Seul, Jun Ho's manager and Young Hwa's roommate... they're just kind of there but serve no real purpose. They might as well not exist since they don't advance the plot
>> To that I will add that the secondary characters were useless, and that the actors were underutilized. They felt more like cameos than side charcters, what a shame. Very unbalanced.

- The balance between the historical and modern/present-day plot is basically non-existent...
--> I mean, we're on episode 10 out of 14, and we still barely know anything of Young Hwa's past life
--> Where is the plot going, where are WE, the viewers, going? (edit now that I'm done: we didn't go anywhere.)

To me, the episodes drag although they're only about an hour long, which is not long at all (in my opinion), and I'm just a little disappointed so far that an interesting idea got sort of wasted along the way. It started out fun, but the last couple episodes didn't really offer much information that felt new or important. We'll see how episode 10 will be like, and how the last two weeks will wrap this up... but so far, the show is a bit of a let-down. (edit now that I'm done: The ending is not satisfying at all lol, what was that? I guess they both reincarnated and finally meet again, but for some reason, I don't appreciate the execution, I don't know.)

Overall, I cannot recommend this show, unfortunately. It's inconsistent, underutilizes its actors, doesn't give the leads any room for depth, the writing is lazy and the finished product is plain disappointing. Sorry to anyone who enjoyed this lol.

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annoying bore

I saw the trailer on twitter right before the show aired and was so! excited because I knew the actor from "A Romance of the Little Forest" already (and because the trailer looked fun).

Instead of getting a fun little office romance, we got an incredibly draggy bore that didn't seem to ever end.

- the nepotism: our female lead basically got every high position served on a silver plate. She didn't need to take care of her own resume, she got the team leader position upon entering the company, contract A (the best of the three within the company), got promoted to director after only 2 months, etc. She did work hard while in the company but she didn't work hard to get to those positions.

- female lead's character: girly was a little jumpy. Her reactions were unreasonable and childish at times, especially when it came to jealousy. When the male lead got jealous, she teased him but then she got unreasonably jealous as well, like ??? pick a struggle please.

- in favor of female lead's character (because we are fair here): Her getting blamed for Xu Yan Shi giving up the interview was so unreasonable. The one time she keeps something to herself for him to finally get what he has been waiting for, it backfires. Only because HE decided against the interview, now his teacher is blaming HER?? She didn’t even tell him the company was in hot waters, he found out from his boss. The teacher is being unfair and unreasonable here. She never said he should give up his dream for her to work in her family business. That was all his decision that he made WITHOUT telling her anything. The teacher should be mad him, not her. Telling her she is selfish and whatnot. That is the one time she wasn’t being selfish haha!

- the length: the show was too long and did NOT need 32 whole episodes that were quite long with almost 50 minutes. To me, the whole thing was super draggy and boring most of the time. In the last 10 or so episodes, I skipped a whole lot because none of the things that were happening interested me (and I did not really miss anything!)

- office politics: I found the office politics childish and petty. You're telling me we have some 40+ something men and women sabotaging some guy and his whole team (and the whole company) out of pure pettiness, simply because they're trashy characters? I don't know but the antagonists just felt dumb to me lol.

Overall, "Here We Meet Again" had a fun romance most of the time with actors that had great chemistry, but the story of some secondary characters as well as the overall plot just sucked. I am really disappointed in this show, but it is what it is.

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Disappointed

I actually didn't even want to write a review for this, but I do have some thoughts...

- the good -

> the bromance: I really liked the relationship between Woo Jin (WJ) and Geon Woo (GW), they didn't need much to become closer than brothers, their relationship was ride or die and I loved to see their bromance. Together, they were invincible and I loved their bond. Geon Woo was such a sweety and softie, meanwhile Woo Jin was a himbo, I just loved them both a lot.

> the action: man, those fight scenes left me speechless, they were NERVE wrecking and insane. I quite liked the choreography for the action scenes, and I don't care how realistic or unrealistic (re: Woo Jin getting stabbed several times and nearly dying in ep. 6/7) they were. I also loved Hyeon Joo's fighting scenes, it's a bummer Kim Sae Ron got involved in a DUI.... I also loved Da Min and her archery, that was cool even if we only got to see a little bit since she was brought in at the very end of the show


- the bad -

> Geon Woo's mom: this woman has no survival instinct whatsoever. The fact that she just took out that loan (knowing full well that her son has been working his butt off since middle school to help pay off their debts) without researching the people who offered it to her in the first place, just annoyed me. It got worse when the bad guys broke into her apartment and she thought it was GW. She really went to close her bedroom door, sensing that something was wrong, without a weapon. She could have taken the lamp on her bed stand or anything, but no. It's like she was asking them to abduct her.

> the tone of episode 7/8 and Hyeon Joo's departure: Since Kim Sae Ron (KSR) got into the DUI, she was written out of the show and as compensation we got Da Min (I think). It's understandable that the writers didn't have much time to change the script since most of the show had been filmed already. Hyeon Joo leaving the boys after President Choi's death just simply doesn't make sense. Her character was cool, stubborn and unafraid to fight. Despite the heartbreak of losing her only family, I believe she would have taken her revenge together with the boys if it wasn't for KSR scandal. The departure just feels out of character, but the writers did what they could. I also thought the tone of ep. 7/8 was very different from the previous episodes. For instance, I did not like nor understand the apparent time jump. Suddenly the boys are training and hiding in the countryside and I'm just wondering how much time has passed since Woo Jin's surgery and recovery for him to be exercising like that.... But okay. Also, GW suddenly had a different hairstyle that did not match his personality, the different styling was just a little surprising, is all.

> the DEATHS...: I was so PISSED off after episode 6 because all my good guys got killed. President Choi, my sushi restaurant guy and the knifer who was about to be a dad (and his pregnant wife as it seems). It all happened in the span of 10-15 minutes and by the end of the episode, I was so mad. It did not get better once WJ and GW collaborated with Min Beom and Kang Yong since Kang Yong and his team were almost killed as well. He and his male colleague survived, but the hacker lady was in a coma and we don't get any closure at the end of the show.... does she wake up or does she die or....??? When these three got attacked, I just got mad because none of the bad guys got any serious injury beside punches and stuff. I wanted to see Myung Gil (MG) and In Beom 12 feet under for what they did but... they just got a massive beating and will serve jail time... that's it??? Like, none of the bad guys died, but my boys lost almost all of their mates?????

> the villains and their.... research??: I thought it weird how MG and his minions didn't do a proper background check. You mean to tell me you backstabbed your former boss (President Choi) and let your bestie In Beom throw him out a building, only for said boss to disappear, which would insinuate he survived or got saved by somebody, and you DIDN'T keep tabs on him after all these years? They find out that the bookstore is President Choi's but they don't bother to look into his personal business, like his assets, or people he's linked to (even if the bookstore or any property wasn't under his name)???? What kind of villains are you? Not even staying up to date with your enemies lmao.

Overall, the show was a bit of a disappointment, I would have like for the bad guys to kick the bucket instead of rotting in a prison cell, and the last scene just left me ????. It felt underwhelming to me I don't know. The actors were great though!

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How to feel single for 25 episodes straight....

I watched this gem with my friend and we both loved it so much. This was such a fun, entertaining, and heart-fluttering show about friendship, first love, heartbreaks, and growing up - I thoroughly enjoyed it so so much! Zhi Zhi was such a sweety, cutie patootie and grew into such a kind young woman, who really fought for the things that mattered to her. Duan Jiaxu as a male lead ... I can't imagine anyone else other than Chen Zhe Yuan playing him. He is so expressive with his eyes, it's insane. His character had to go through many hardships being so young, but it was nice to see how he gradually relied on Zhi Zhi. Thanks to her, he finally felt like he could be loved too 😭 My only criticism would be that I wish they had casted a younger version for Jiaxu as well as they did for Sang Zhi. I think this way the age difference that is addressed in the drama anyway wouldn't have been that big of a problem to some audiences. Sang Zhi's young version just looked so significantly younger than Jiaxu that it's no wonder people were like "eh" at first. Had they used an actual teenage boy, I feel it wouldn't have been so "bad". Also... they were kind of inconsistent with the age gap of 5 years... qhen Zhi Zhi turned 19, Jiaxu later turned 26? Why was he suddenly 6 years older?? Didn't make sense lol. Regardless, I really loved the show and will definitely rewatch it should I feel like screaming for 25 episodes straight^^

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WATERMELON SUGAR!!! ?✨

Ah, I’m sad I finished this show… The characters were so fun, to see the band practices and the friendship tighten throughout the show was just so 😎👍🏻. Eun Gyeol’s unconditional love for his parents and how he tried so hard to make their lives brighter💗. Personally, I think they focused too long on Yi Chan’s crush on “Se Kyeong” (even though eventually they strangely made it seem like he knew for a while that “Se Kyeong” actually liked Eun Gyeol – I wished we would have gotten more of Yi Chan and Cheong Ah). I also think that Eun Yu and Eun Gyeol should have found out about each other’s identities a little earlier. But overall, this show made me cry, laugh and was a lot of fun💞.

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Never-ending schemes ?

If you think Xie Wei is one step behind, he’s actually two steps ahead. These types of revelations are actually my favorite because they’re satisfying and slightly unhinged. Making me believe that the situation is hopeless, but actually that was just a farce? The scheming and palace politics were really good, I liked how the characters all walked a fine line between being good and “bad”. Those who deserved a bad ending got one, and man was that satisfying. The scene with the eunuch giving Xue Shu the poisoned wine was so funny to be honest😭. The man was too happy to kill that evil woman; it is quite sad how she ended because she did everything to survive but that is what you get when you can’t scheme properly. In the end, she simply couldn’t match Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Wei😏.

At first, I wasn’t very emotionally invested in the show to be honest, BUT it pulled me in regardless, which is why I kept watching it. The more I watched, the more invested I got with the intricacies of the plot, the scheming and how the characters would act next.

The romance was an interesting one: sort of toxic and possessive, and I think Zhang Ling He did a good job playing Xie Wei, I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. I can say the same for Bai Lu! Can’t wait to watch more of her dramas, she has a long catalogue!😎💗

Overall, sort of different from what I usually watch but really nice!

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Nothing lasts forever

Kim Tae Ri needs to pay for her crimes. This is my second show from her, and she made me cry AGAIN. I understand why it ended the way it did. Also, the realization that nothing lasts forever, despite thinking the opposite. A moment could feel endless, but chances are… we won’t remember it. Hee Do is such a comfort character, and I LOVED KTR playing her. She was such a bean, so expressive and straightforward. Always so loud, always had such big feelings, and I loved her so much. This show… the cast, acting, cinematography, OST!!! Simply so good, and so worth the hype. Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M SAD NOW THOUGH! (Also, lowkey... the definition of "How do you know everything at 18, and nothing at 22", or whatever Taylor Swift said - so true)

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Intriguing

This is my first chinese historical drama that I actually committed to (I tried >The Long Ballad< but never continued after episode 2 and that is because I must be intimidated with its plot and length lmao), but I was too curious with this drama. I follow Shuxin on Instagram and when she dropped the trailer, I fell in love. So moody and dark and entrancing, I just had to give this a shot! I have seen Esther in >Moonlight< (My fave C-rom-com!) and >A Romance of the Little Forest< (Also one of my faves!), so I know her bubbly and cute characters, but from the trailer, it was clear that this role and character would show a different side of her, and! it! does!

I like both the main characters as well as the second couple and all the side characters. Poison bro is my fave, he looks good and a little devilish and I like it! Also, the fact that this show is the actor's debut project is insane because his acting is really good! The acting in general is consistent and amazing from the entire cast! The second female lead specifically is so great, i LOVE her voice acting as well, she is the perfect spy for Wufeng! I like how we slowly get the characters' backstories to understand their actions and motivations better. I love the music, and how grand and epic it sounds as well as the clothes/styling and setting in general. The fight montages also look amazing, they keep me at the edge of my seat!

What... is this ending, are they kidding?? They fooled us with the happiness and bliss and peace of the characters, and BOOM the last minute takes that away lmao. I mean, this screams season 2, but will we ever get it?? I did not expect to cry so much, but young master Xue's story was really sad and touching :( Also Elder Yue reminiscing about Yun Que :((( and the bracelet he promised her, their story was just sad and tragic :( The last couple of episodes - 22/23 specifically - were REALLY good. Twists and turns and revelations at any minute, it was amazing to find out who collaborated with who, i loved to see it. I think the last episode was really great overall, but this ending leaves me wanting for more (season 2 to be precise). This story was so good though... as mentioned above, the acting was really great, I loved every performance. No one was lacking, not even for a second.

Overall, I am super happy I started this show and will now finally watch some more chinese costume (fantasy) dramas, because my list is full of them... I was just a little scared to start them haha!

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Hard work pays off <3

seeing hobi being so serious and criticizing the chemistry of the dancers scared me a lil but that's why he's so good: the final product is perfect and he puts in the work. His hard work and dedication paid off well, and I loved seeing the members at his listening party as well as jimin at hobipalooza. It was nice seeing hobi a little more relaxed thanks to jimin's presence and encouraging words. Loved this solo project a lot, and the documentary was nice too! 💗🥹🧸 It's always nice to have this sort of extra content to see the behind the scenes and all the people it really needs to pull off such a big scale project. Everyone worked very hard and I hope we'll get to see more from hobi in the future (after his enlistment ofc TT, but I will be patient); and since he is so versatile, I know it'll be another 180° from jack in the box the way jitb was so different (and yet hobi) from hope world.

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Even more intense than season 1

This was an excellent watch. I cannot believe they managed to make the second season even more intense and action packed than the previous one. As I was scrolling through the clock app the other day, I saw some people comment how they found Ho Yul's "iPad era" cute and I didn't understand what they meant by that. By the end of episode one though I could only ask myself how the fuck they could "cutiefy" and romanticize him. Due to the events at the end of season one (and all his previous trauma he clearly has), Ho Yul basically went non-verbal and used the iPad as a means to cummunicate. The only cute thing about this whole thing was the fact that he decorated his device with stickers. Other than that, his trauma response and PTSD are not "cute" and I'm honestly a little annoyed how some people either decided to miss the point or weren't able to fully understand the severity of his mental illness. Moving on to better things than people lacking comprehension skills: the acting and story were even better in season 2 than in season 1, which is crazy because both things were already amazing before. There were talks of a third season, and I would love to see Jun Ho get discharged and reunite with Ho Yul to be honest.... Overall, an amazing and intense show!

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