very bingeable leads

Watching Tears in Heaven right after Princess Agents is like seeing YanXun & Chun'Er meet again in a later life & start their relationship anew. I have to admit this pair is the only thing that kept me watching.

Tears in Heaven follows Du XiaoSu (Li Qin), a spunky interior design graduate who could only find work as a gossip writer until she meets Shao ShenRong, a doctor treating an elusive celebrity she's chasing for an interview. They fall in love, to the consternation of ShenRong's mother, and an untimely tragedy leads XiaoSu into a direct clash with ShenRong's best friend, Lei YuZheng (Shawn Dou).

It's a captivating story, but one filled with stereotypical characters who lie to, & misunderstand, each other from one situation to the next. Deep dark secrets abound both at home & in the office, which never seem separate in Chinese dramas. So, against the conventional backdrop of corporate power struggle lies the stories of 6 people trying to find love & a stable connection amid workplace chaos, personal trauma, & an unsupportive economy.

XiaoSu is seemingly gutsy & determined, but irrationally timid & mute at the same time. When threatened with losing her job she can literally risk her life stepping out on a building ledge, but when threatened with losing a relationship she just accepts it without a word. Luckily, she learns to fight the 2nd time around, but really, the show could've ended by the 7th episode if she had just made a phone call to clear up an issue involving her father. And why doesn't she regularly contact her parents who live far away? They don't show up until more than half way through the drama, and unexpectedly at that.

I also had an issue with the portrayal of XiaoSu's career as an independent designer. Another show, The Furthest Distance, also features an independent architectural designer with a small staff but it did a much better job using that scenario to showcase a large part of that character's personality & strength. In Tears, XiaoSu doesn't interact with much of her staff, nor do we see how she even hired anyone. She & her staff don't act as a team. She isn't shown holding meetings, assigning work, or resolving workplace issues. It's as if her career was just another outfit she wears, & we're left to judge her character based only on her pursuit of a man. I ended up agreeing with her questioning what exactly does YuZheng see in her.

Although XiaoSu is seemingly the central characer, the show is very much male centric. YuZheng heads an all male board of shareholders. Even the executive assistants are male. All of XiaoSu's clients are male. The only powerful females are entertainment celebrities. XiaoSu regards herself as a nobody & is only someone for YuZheng to take care of. Apart from just sticking by his side, she didn't actually do much for him other than take care of his father while letting her own business falter.

The 2nd & 3rd couples I won't go into but they featured females who make irrational decisions & have unrealistic expectations of their relationships. It was hard to find sympathy for either of them.

The final quarter of the show centers on YuZheng as the story focuses on his corporate power struggles while the romance, along with XiaoSu, gets put on the backburner. Seeing the relationship stall really made me hope the show wouldn't end with them suddenly getting back together only in the very last scene. I was pleasantly surprised that the last 2 eps were actually quite enjoyable, with a lovely double wedding scene featuring brides in modern gowns but in traditional red. In the end, all the relationship conflicts resolve simply & cleanly in a pool of forgiveness & redemption.

Numerous writing/editing gaps in the story left so many loose ends. For example, the introduction & subsequent disappearance of YuZheng's lawyer happens just when you'd think a lawyer would be front & centre. Or how did YuZheng pretend to be ShenRong, and then suddenly everyone knew he wasn't & was ok with it? XiaoSu & YuZheng apparently met in an earlier incident years prior but the circumstances are never explained. And how does one maintain perfect hair after 8 months in jail?

Annoying & sloppy details aside, the real attraction to this show would be the leads, Li & Dou, who put in decent performances & worked well with each other. Who knew YanXun & Chun'Er were made for each other after all. With these two to look at, one can almost ignore the irregularities in the writing. It's still a very bingeable show.

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could've been great

I really don't have much to say about this show. I was interested from the opening scenes to see real badass action from the FL & was prepared for what should've been a great story. Unfortunately, after an injury which leaves her with amnesia, she turns into just another silly & helpless FL in a conventional costume romance for 90% of the show. Not until she regains her memory in the final 2 episodes does she do anything of consequence & showcase those action skills once more. It could've been a great show, all the elements were there, but too bad so much of it was dumbed down.

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Strong performance from Crystal Liu in a richly nuanced study of love & relationships

The Tale of Rose is a show that grabs you visually, immediately. Crystal Liu is Huang YiMei, & her story starts when she's a 22 year old art graduate in Beijing, catapulting in the art industry to the position of exhibition curator through sheer spunk. A walking work of art herself, she's stunningly beautiful & she knows it. She also knows her beauty makes her a target for others to blame for their own misfortunes, but she refuses to accept that responsibiity. Liu bursts through every scene like a tornado, sweeping up everything around her, and I don't know why but I can't stop staring at the clothes, the hair & makeup, the bouncy non-chalance. But it's an immature soul inside that huge cloud of powder, and tornados are destructive.

The story follows YiMei and her older brother ZhenHua as they both pursue love in whatever form it may present to them. ZhenHua's gentle nature is in stark contrast to YiMei's firey liveliness. In fact, YiMei's initial relationship with a work colleague was such a rollercoaster I wasn't sure I could stomach it for an entire show as I realize I'm only on Ep12 at this point. But those clothes, that hair. I think this is the 1st show where it's not just an actor simply wearing a designer outfit; Liu lives & breathes that fashion, completely embodying a character who wears a ball gown as easily as pyjamas.

Live & learn, as they say, & as time goes on, YiMei decides to go back to school in a much subdued state, leaving her family in Beijing to go to Shanghai where she meets her 2nd love. At this stage she has changed so drastically that the question is can she find true happiness if she is not her true self? And are men really different from one another? Whether they are lone wolves or mama's boys, they all seek to control when they are unable to grow. Empowering oneself without disempowering the other takes a lot of maturing.

And fact check needed: can a husband resign his wife from her workplace without her consent, or her employer even confirming with her since the spouse is basically an unvetted stranger? This can't be legal, even in China, so this is quite a stretch in the story. If YiMei has the guts to sue for a divorce, why wouldn't she also sue for her job? This question is more or less answered at the end when she realizes she'd rather let go than fight to keep things, including love.

Legalities aside, this show becomes a fascinating look at the push & pull, the hanging on & letting go, overcoming & being overwhelmed at any & all stages of relationships, spanning almost 20 years of the lives of YiMei & those around her. Not to mention differing attitudes toward success & family, particularly from money grubbing mothers-in-law. The story even includes a character who becomes a single parent by choice, further commentary on the role of men as partners in modern women's lives. YiMei never loses herself no matter what she goes through and her fearlessness in pursuing the paths she chooses never wanes, especially when she finally meets her true soulmate, another free-spirited artist. She's like an immortal who's banished to the human realm to endure all aspects of human suffering. The 3rd relationship felt underdeveloped & overdrawn within the story as it passes very quickly, & was harder to sympathize with. However, the show draws to an end with YiMei coming to a reconciliation with all the people in her past, while recognizing that she can never be settled with anyone other than herself. This might make her selfish, but at least she's honest & unapologetic about it.

Another detail that was too distracting: if you're caught in a rain storm on a mountain hike & you are wearing an appropriate outdoor jacket that comes standard with a rain hood, why wouldn't you put that hood on? Yes, it's more visually dramatic to to be soaking wet with water running down your face, but if you don't want to die of hypothermia you need to Put. That. Freaking. Hood. On.

Anyway, aside from a few annoying details, I think this is the strongest performance from Crystal Liu I have seen. She doesn't overact the character at 22 years of age, unlike other celebrities (I'm thinking Yang Zi). Tong Da Wei as ZhenHua gives a steady performance & makes his character an anchor against YiMei's tumultuous life. Overall, I found this show very richly nuanced & quite enjoyable.

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Tone & pace maintained from S1, engaging story & well acted

It's nice to see the tone & pace are largely the same as from S1, same superb performances from the veteran actors. Love the patient, close examination of finer details in both scene & conversation. I've read that there are many jokes which don't translate well. Although my Chinese is limited, I can tell that the dialogue is sharp & fast and, even from what is translated, some scenes can still be very funny to a Western trained eye simply because the acting is that good. The CGI is not up to Western standard, but the natural sets were stunning.

Once again, Fan Xian schemes & this time makes a choice of who to align with, and characters continue to surprise, making the viewer guess what their next move might be. The crown prince became more cunning & surprisingly likeable. In fact, many characters now show a lighter, more casual side to themselves than in S1. Even Shadow is given not only a personality, but also aspirations, & presents more as a human being. Wu Zhu experiences self-doubt since he's been freed & on his own, & my suspicions of his identity from S1 were confirmed. Many characters returned from S1, although some were given very little screen time in S2.

S2, however, is less broad in scope as the story mainly centers on Fan Xian consolidating his influence within the capital, under his declared goal of weeding out government corruption. The romance takes a back seat to the political intrigue. Lin Wan'Er, who should be the most important person to Fan Xian, isn't even mentioned until Ep5. However, the development of their relationship was gripping as they reach new levels of understanding with each other. Wu Zhu doesn't show up until past the half-way mark at Ep26, but is involved in a drastic new development as he continues to be an important key to the mystery of FanXian'smother. FanXian's mission takes the story through the conventional settings of the imperial examinations, and the highly anticipated wedding with Wan'Er.

The season ends with Fan Xian one step further into taking control of his mother's assets, & without an agonizing cliff hanger as in S1. However, hopefully the wait won't be long for S3. The story remains highly engaging & I'm ready for S3.

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How to live in the face of death

It's been a while since I last saw Lin Yi (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) but he seems to have been quietly building an interesting portfolio of dramas with real stories. Angels Fall Sometimes looked like another interesting show. Lin Yi plays Lin Tuo, a talented young person with a promising career as a designer, suddenly facing an early death sentence with a diagnosis of ALS.

The last show with a similar theme that I watched was Love is Panacea (2023). Angels achieves what Panacea does not: it addresses the question of how to live in the face of death. In these types of dramas involving terminal illness, I tend to look for messages of hope or possibilities on an individual level. Panacea failed on several levels & for a while I thought Angels would fall short as well. Angels explored so many negative reactions, the what-not-to-do, surrounding the main characters for most of its duration. Its tone didn't change until the final episodes when all the questions that built up were finally addressed.

It's a cultural thing to cover up serious illnesses, but trying to maintain an alternate reality by lying is toxic & unsustainable. The level of denial & inability to cope is far worse than trying to face the truth in the first place. It was rather rediculous to watch, but sure enough, the friends who try to support Tuo break under the strain & his secret isn't kept for very long.

Toxic parents add to the mess, because why not? They suddenly become concerned & compassionate at the flip of a switch. If the workaholic father was essentially estranged from his sons for most of their lives, to the point of being oblivious to the younger son's near suicidal depression, why would he rush to Tuo's side at the drop of a hat & apologise for being a shit parent at first word of Tuo's illness? That didn't make much sense but at any rate they become an important part of Tuo's support network.

Keeping the illness secret from his grandfather by lying about why he's in a wheelchair is another level of incredible. Will the grandfather find out only when it's too late? The cruelest thing to the people around Tuo is to not allow for a proper good-bye.

Tuo retains intellectual capacity & the desire to work throughout his disease progression. His workplace supports his being there and eventually installs a wheelchair ramp at the front entrance. But instead of assigning an assistant to help him draw, his employment is initially maintained by making him use his wheelchair as a delivery cart to bring coffee & supplies to his office mates. From being a highly marketable designer, he becomes someone simply to be taken care of & every ounce of autonomy is taken away from the get go. Does he really accept this patronizing loss of dignity?

The acting overall was not bad. From the beginning the leads were so relaxed & easy with each other, it seemed natural & was nice to watch. But the 2nd FL character was annoyingly antagonistic & shouted most of her lines at the top of her lungs. Honestly, what is the purpose of such a character? Lin Yi did fairly well in portraying the very difficult role of Tuo, but Landy Li showed the strongest performance of all the cast as An ZhiQue, the steadfast girlfriend who takes matters into her own hands to pull Tuo through his ordeal. The actor playing Tuo's neurologist was so natural in fact, I wondered if he was an actual doctor. The show thankfully doesn't delve into romance tropes as the story is not a fairytale romance but a tale of endurance, purpose, & meaning.

I knew this drama was described as a "tear-jerker" going in, but what I was looking for was a message of hope and a show of possibilities. I'm a doer, not a cryer. Up to 20 episodes are spent highlighting the emotional impact on the people around Tuo, who behave quite badly. There's a lot of hysterical crying, shouting, & getting smashed drunk without realistic solutions to enhancing Tuo's quality of life. The despair & helplessness is somewhat unsympathetically portrayed. Then come moments of clarity, like ZhiQue's father telling Tuo to put as much effort into himself as his friends were putting into helping him (although an actual psychologist might've been more beneficial). However, by the final 5 episodes we then get Tuo finally not only facing his reality but also finding a new purpose to his remaining life. He revives his role as a designer and continues to work as I felt the character should've been supported to do so from the start of his illness. The show further explores the stories of other ALS sufferers & the various effects on them & their families, & ends with the decisions Tuo is able to make for his life as a result of the full support of all those around him. So the hope, possibilities, freedom of choice, & having a meaningul life are there & I'm glad this show was able to reach this conclusion.

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Perfect kitsch, well worth a re-watch

I very rarely rewatch shows as I'd much rather spend my time exploring new ones, but this show happens to hold a special place in my heart. I grew up in North America & first got into watching Asian dramas only in 2021, thanks to Netflix. The first shows I started on were Taiwanese ones from 2011-2013. There's something unique about this time period & I was so fascinated by the level of the storytelling in the dramas & the pure fun of the comedies. And the music - the soundtrack songs became my introduction to the modern Asian music scene which I now listen to almost exclusively after listening to 1990's British/American alternative in my formative years.

I've since moved onto Mainland China & Korean dramas, but I was brought back to this one for a re-watch. It's very representative of the kitsch of this era: cringeworthy over-the-top-acting, annoyingly immature characters, & eye-rollingly implausible situations. But what caught my attention was the scenery, the bright colour palette, the house the characters lived in & how they lived in it, all to the tune of a very catchy theme song which still brings a warm feeling when I hear it. And prior to the spectacular downfall of his own making, Aaron Yan was king in 2013. The light hearted, playful tone & pure irreverence of this show, & some others of that time/place, is largely unmatched in anything I've seen since (over 150 shows in the last 3 years). And 2nd time around, I'm realizing how hilarious Dean Fujioka was as the love rival. This show can be reviewed critically as lousy, but what it achieved sentimentally is something that can't be rated, so I give it my mid-range 7.5.

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entertaining story, appreciate the art

Ma Wang, a god of death, trades his murderous power to would be kings who end up in bloodthirsty reigns, until one dying king decides to seal Ma Wang forever into his official portrait to end the blood shed. However, a shaman's errant rain ritual ends up releasing Ma Wang, only to have him sealed up once more in the body of the gifted rain diviner & astronomy advisor to the subsequent king, Ha Ran (Ahn Hyo Seop). Who then can save Ha Ran but Hong Cheong Ki, a divine painter who holds the key to containing the evil threatening his life.

In spite of it's simple premise, so complicated is the story that this drama starts with a preview filled 1st episode, solely dedicated to explaning all the characters & their relationships in this show. And even then it was dizzying, especially when you have to read subtitles & can't keep an eye on every face flashing on the screen.

I was impressed by Kim You Jung's no-nonsense portrayal of her character in My Demon & I can see the same spunk in her personality here in Red Sky. That energy is good in playing forward thinking characters. I also previously saw AHS in A Business Proposal, & here he delivers much the same muted performance. While the acting overall isn't stellar, at least it doesn't detract from the story which is imaginative & actually sparked my interest in Han Dynasty painting & portraiture. The show delves into the art of painting to the point of exploring the concepts of line & form, & the inference of a subject without actually showing it. Surprisingly, this held my attention as much as waiting to see how the lead characters will achieve their ends. Oddly though, the drama purports to tie up "loose ends" & yet it leaves the arc of the royal princes battling each other hanging, with a 3rd prince frequently mentioned but never shown.

As a fan of the gods & demons genre, however, I found this drama overall very entertaining.

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Comic relationship adventure with odd editing, conflicting themes

Shim Jung Woo was the highest & youngest scorer civil service exam, highly reluctant prince consort, and naive straight shooter. "Those who marry matchmakers are destined to live short lives" is a saying taken to extremes as SJW's princess bride to be drops dead during the wedding ceremony, foretelling his own unrealized true destiny. Rowoon is very good at comic roles & hilariously portrays SJW as haplessly innocent in spite of his high intelligence & strong sense of justice.

Cho Yi Hyun plays Jung Soon Deok, a widowed noblewoman who moonlights as matchmaker under the pseudonym of Yeo Joo Daek, unafraid of any challenge, & is as free spirited as Jung Woo is rigid. Her talents are so natural it leads SJW to believe she is the incarnation of a matchmaking god.

No period drama is complete without palace intrigue as the Joseon king fights resistance from his own court to appointing the sickly 14 yr old crown prince's marriage and thus, by inference, his ascension. To lift a rumoured curse on the prince's future marriage (and political) prospects, the king orders SJW to marry off 3 "old maidens" whose unmarried status threatens the prosperity of the kingdom. SJW teams up with JSD in a funny and raucous ride to find the perfect bachelors for the maiden sisters. However, the journey gets rather dizzying with sudden flashbacks for mutliple characters, new characters introduced at different times, and complicated backstories with hidden identities. And there's one significant character, the king's second grandson & chief political threat to the crown prince, who's mentioned frequently but never shown during the entire show which is very odd.

Therefore it took me almost a 1/3 of the show to get into the story because of the mish-mash of flashbacks & jumping storyline, but eventually as the matchmaking for the maidens gets going I could just enjoy the comic moments & follow the development of the relationship between the leads. Then their matchmaking efforts fall apart as the politics heat up and past crimes come to light, turning the leads into detectives. There is also the prospect of a child marriage with a 10 yr age gap, presented as a fated true love match, which cannot be portrayed positively or realistically even if it was acceptable centuries ago. It's uncomfortable, actually, to see this in the storyline as no big deal & it conflicted with my enjoyment of the show. Finally comes the age old question of do you follow your heart or your fate? In the end, the good people are happy & the bad people get their due. The romance is light & funny, the politics heavy & perhaps unnecessarily tragic, but an entertaining watch overall.

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formula romance with good performance from Elaine Zhong

I get very skeptical watching C-dramas involving hospitals. It's rather jarring to see rich patients pay for what amounts to hotel service, in a hospital. Or getting an IV drip for a cold. Or getting an invasive diagnostic procedure just because. Or blatant violations of informed consent. Anyway, I now try to put all these things aside and try to enjoy the show.

Qin YunSheng, a young but soon to be widowed cardiothoracic surgeon, commisions a glass house on the beach from up-and-coming designer, Su Ying. The house is an oceanside refuge for YunSheng and his terminally ill fiancee to spend her last days. However, the controversial glass design proves unstable in build and, 6 years after his fiancee's passing, YunSheng and Ying are re-united in a bid to fix the deteriorating structure.

The show then follows the developing relationship between the grieving doctor and the designer who helps him fulfill his deceased fiancee's final bucket list wish, and move onto a new start for himself. The story progresses rather smoothly (and blandly) without any serious challenge until Ep16 when personal and professional issues come to a nasty mix. Then we get trope stew with sabatoging ex's (including an ex you didn't know you had), backstabbing colleagues, and misunderstandings piled on so thick you're actually glad to see the formulaic break up scene. Never was a ML given a more satisfying lambasting.

By the usual separation scene, however, I found myself more sympathetic to the characters and I realized this was due to the subtle and consistent performance of Elaine Zhong as Su Ying. Writing-wise, it was nice to have female characters that don't speak with high pitched baby voices, are assertive at work, and who get food delivered to their office desk by the boyfriend instead of the other way around. Ying is also surrounded by her competent staff working perfectly in sync. Even though the show barely passes the Bechdel test with some of the office scenes, Ying pulls through that final crushing mess with a quiet strength that doesn't waver.

A major attraction of the show for me was the tropical paradise backdrop of Haikou City on Hainan Island. Bright sandy beaches, winding seaside highways, beautiful modern view apartments and all the ammenities of a modern city, all to the tune of a catchy cha-cha-cha theme song. I kept watching just for the scenery and lifestyle. Although the actual location of the story was kept fictional, there were frequent shots of the landmark Haikou Century Bridge. I just Google image searched; please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong.

This show is otherwise a mildly dramatic romance with gorgeous scenic views, ending with the signature house that started it all. A nice fluff piece if you don't get too annoyed with the tropes.

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light and entertaining

Past and present collide in this rom-com about a city lawyer with a mysterious ancient curse and a civil servant with whom he shares an "unseverable destiny". If you are undecided on whether to watch a modern or costume drama, this show will deliver both.

While there are all the usual ingredients of a rom-com, this show is more entertaining than average. There wasn't the usual shy, denial of feelings, but rather a full on "Sorry - Not Sorry!" head first dive into love. Shin Yu believes he is under a love spell cast by Hong Jo and struggles to fight it. "You're not pretty, but you are to me!" It's a funny internal battle between a newly awakened heart and a seasoned analytical brain. A few scenes were too slow but, before you get too bored, the story manages to move along with hints into previous lives, dark magic, murder and suspense. However, the draggy scenes were during the modern portion of the show and I felt more time could've been spent on the historical back story. Rowoon and Jo Bo Ah change pace smoothly and maintain their chemistry between the two settings.

The overall cast is very funny and work well with each other. However, it was almost uncomfortable seeing Park Kyung Hye being very over the top; she has had better roles. The comic timing between the 2 ML's as they compete against each other in 1 of 2 intersected triangles is spot on. It's also nice to see two decidedly unglamorous people in their own romantic story arc; it counters the expectation that only young and beautiful people can fall in love. Rowoon, noticeably freakishly tall (his height is mentioned several times), is good at comic scenes and his fans won't be disappointed. He is maturing into a decent dramatic actor as well.

If you're not looking for anything too profound, this show is light and entertaining to watch.

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wild ride

Merchant's daughter & general's son climb the social ranks into the Imperial Palace. Crazy amazing Tang dynasty costuming with the most impressive wedding dress I've ever seen (ep 34). Starts light & silly but then turns into a dark & sordid speeding train with a full buffet of back stabbing politics, debauchery & revenge, peppered with moments of pure LOL camp, only to run over the cliff with half the characters being killed off. Main reason to slog through the last 10 eps is finding the answer to the question: will the ML/FL end up together? I like Xu Kai but he doesn't get much screen time in the 2nd half.

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surprisingly engaging story in a timeworn genre

I was half expecting a silly high school teen idol story & was half prepared to drop this show. I was only curious to see Byeon Woo Seok again after seeing him in Strong Girl Namsoon & thought I would just check out the 1st episode or two. My goodness what a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. It's along the same level of pleasant surprise as Legally Romance, another story about a woman returning to the past to change her fate. It's actually not a teen story because it's told from an adult perspective.

Kim Hye Yoon plays Im Sol, a 30 y/o woman who travels back 15 yrs in time to try to prevent a trajedy from happening to her first love Ryu Seon Jae, played by BWS. As things don't quite turn out the way she hopes the first time, she figures out a way to travel back & forth for further attemtps to affect different outcomes. In the course of storytelling, I find the more times this happens, the more muddled things get & too many questions arise about just what the heck is going on. Some characters seem to retain memories you wouldn't expect them to if the time travel didn't involve them. Did Sol return to the past at a point before or after she told certain people certain things? I couldn't keep track. Sol also gains new memories from her new timelines, but the editing made it a bit confusing to follow. Finally comes the question of whether fate is strong enough that if things don't happen one day, will it happen on another day, in another way? And wouldn't that apply to all events, including trajedy?

You'd think the theme of going back in time is so worn out; how can it possibly be retold & still be entertaining? The strength of this drama, I realize, is in the skill of weaving in the developing relationship between Sol & Seon Jae. Sol drives the teen relationship with her 30 y/o maturity, & what she doesn't realize is SJ's own maturity which was far beyond her clueless younger self. Equally impressive was the steady & consistent performance of KHY, who could convey so much of Sol's conflict & hesitation without saying a word. I've read that KHY is not receiving as much attention for this drama as her co-star, which is itself very sad to see as she is the true star of the show. (Addendum: as of Aug 2024 it's reported that she has won an award for this performance).

I'll just add a short comment on the depiction of disability, which I've yet to see portrayed as anything other than worse than death in an Asian drama. Seeing Sol's independence while in a wheelchair, but being denied job opportunities because of inaccessibility which is no fault of her own, it might've been an opportunity to make some sort of statement by having Sol advocate for accessibility, especially since she ends up working at the place that initially rejected her. I was actually excited at the thought of a show featuring a disabled lead character, but alas the show was not up to that level & I decided to let this one go for now.

One of the co-writers of this show also wrote for True Beauty, a show I was far less impressed with. This show was quite entertaining overall, and with good performances. I've rated it higher than I might normally with this type of fluff piece, but only because it was nicely shot, had more than a few truly funny moments, and raised interesting questions about fate. If I had to compare, though, I'd say Legally Romance is a better show.

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a silly ride through good vs evil land

I have not seen Strong Woman Do Bong Soon so I'm reviewing this show on it's own. This is the 2nd installment (which ends with a setup for a 3rd) about a genetic line of females with superhuman strength. Nam Soon is a 3rd generation strong woman in her family. She's separated from her father by accident while on a trip to Mongolia at age 5 and is raised for the next 20 years, a la Superman, by a loving, childless Mongolian couple on their isolated farm. On return to Korea she instantly attracts attention and is reunited with her mother with the help of a young police officer. Nam Soon soon teams up with the officer to join her mother's secret crusade against a powerful, international illicit drug trader.

The show has a comicbook feel with jerky and awkward action sequences and bionic woman sound effects. Nam Soon's mother is like a self-made Bruce Wayne, a trillionaire vigilante who funds all her own toys, including a BatMobile, black leather cat suit, and live-in personal assistant (a younger, female version of Alfred). However, unlike Bruce Wayne, she is surrounded by family: her mother, brother, 2 adult children & ex-husband. The vibe never gets very serious despite the deadly danger they face. As Nam Soon and her mother carry out their covert operations, one has to suspend all logic in how they get anything done.

The characters are more like caricatures and the show lacks depth. The arc of Nam Soon's obese twin brother, Nam In, features him delivering 90% of his lines with his mouth full of food, and is a joke stretched way beyond funny. None of the men have any super powers, even those born to strong women, and they struggle to find their place in the family. Not until Ep7 do the implications of power imbalance get explored when Nam In decides to move out, and his father is ruthlessly pranked at his own birthday party. The strong women aim to use their strength to "do good" in the world, which only means stamping out crime in comicbook style while neglecting their own family, until it's too late, when the crime reaches them, too. And even then, do things really change?

Lee You Mi takes quite a turn from her stunning role in Squid Game, but the strength of her talent isn't enough to pull the exaggerated naivety of Nam Soon past being a cartoon character. Park Bo Young makes a cameo appearance as (Strong Woman) Do Bong Soon, as the only reference to the 2019 series.

This drama runs largely on the novelty of seeing women beat up men, although the final showdown isn't what you'd expect from a superhero story. There is some pleasure, though, in seeing a 60-something year old grandmother driving a Lambo, dressed in incredible fashion & living carefree as she pleases. The show could've made a more meaningful exploration of gender and power, or even given a satisfactory arc of redemption, but it gave only a superficial and silly ride through good vs evil land.

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S2 fizzles after a fantastic S1

The saga continues with CangXuan consolidating the kingdom after his coronation, which of course means war. However, that serves only as a backdrop to the renewed focus is on XiaoYao's marriage prospects & her four suitors.

For such an epic story, it's a bit disappointing to see so much attention paid to XiaoYao's angst, & a bit frustrating to see her character so oblivious to what everyone does around & for her. She can never be proactive when she's always the last to know.

I never liked TuShan Jing in S1 & was hoping he would have a stronger presence in S2. Unfortunately, he remained either sick or in a coma for most of S2 & I absolutely failed to see why XiaoYao valued him so much. His only demonstrated strength was in throwing money around & getting other people to do things for him. He turns out, however, to be quite a pivotal character in the story, but why wait until the last episodes to tell his achievements in a few words from another character?

Which brings us to Xiang Liu. Xiang Liu & Xiao Yao are connected so deeply, they're already everything to each other except married. After generating so much electricy between the two of them in S1, much of their momentum was lost in S2 as XiaoYao turned all her attention to the very boring TSJ, to the point where I was ready to give up on them by Ep17.

The story does get more interesting with XiaoYao discovering her true identity & the story of her parents. But somehow, YangZi's performance didn't quite hit the sensitivity she gave in S1. I'm a bit confused with S2 as XiaoYao doesn't seem to have luck with anyone & is admittedly lost with herself. She strives to make a place for herself in society, but never seems to get full control of anything. In the end, it all comes down to what others have sacrificed & made possible for her, which makes her rather helpless. Hmm, this seems to be a common theme of Yang Zi's recent roles. There's so much more going on with all the other characters in the story that I felt they should've been given much more screentime instead of all of Yang Zi's crying scenes.

Anyway, S1 was a fantastic start to an epic story, but S2 definitely fizzled. Still, entertaining overall, but as this review is only on S2, I'll have to give it a 7/10.

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binge-worthy but lacking depth

Moon in the Day combines historical & modern settings in an intriguing story of a tragic couple that reunites after 1500 years.

Kang Young Hwa is a present day fire fighter who has been shadowed her entire life by the lost soul of a 6th century army general & nobleman. The shadow finally comes to light when Young Hwa crosses paths with Han Joon Oh, a feckless entertainment idol whose star power is on the decline, & who becomes the new vessel for the dark & vengeful spirit Kim Do Ha. Although Young Hwa is the 19th incarnation of Han Ri Ta, an enemy general's daughter, she is the first incarnation to regain Ri Ta's memories.

Young Hwa & Joon Oh/Do Ha's relationship becomes infused with past resentments as their previous lives come into greater focus. The historical background is of two people so lacking in control of their lives as to be completely indifferent to life & death, until they meet each other. Han Ri Ta lost her entire family at the hands of Do Ha, who is a puppet of his adoptive father, a court minister, & used only as a killing machine in order to maintain his father's political power. Although Ri Ta's vengeance brings them together, they begin to understand they are both caught in the same web. They give each other reasons to stay alive, only to end their relationship in a desperate betrayal.

Questions arise as to how much responsibility does one bear for an ancestor's actions? What obligation do you have to fulfill another's promise? And is the release of one's suffering only dependent on the sacrifice of another? Are Young Hwa & Do Ha able to cut the web that has ensnared them for 1500 years?

I liked Kim Young Dae in Forbidden Marriage but his performance in Moon in the Day wasn't as strong. His modern day character was not unlike his role in Shooting Stars, so he wasn't challenged much playing the two roles of Jooh Oh/Do Ha. Pyo Ye Jin was good in Taxi Driver & seems to hold her own in the lead dual role as Young Hwa/Ri Ta, but she & KYD had little chemistry & were quite stiff together. One sympathizes with the characters' relationship due to their circumstances & the story, rather than how well they actually understood each other. This could also be the fault of the writing which stagnated quite badly in the last few episodes. The ending was satisfactory, but that's due to the strength of the story itself. There were no stand out performances from the rest of the cast.

Overall, the show fell short of fantastic because the writing & acting lacked sufficient depth. However, the story itself was engaging enough to make it a bingeworthy watch.

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