Great potential... but falls short of what it could have been

Leave it to the Koreans for originality. The concept itself, a person who suffers from a type of color blindness but who has a chance to see colors if they meet this one person - their probe, is fascinating and opens up to a variety of plot avenues to explore. Although the idea of destiny is not new in Asian dramas for once this wasn’t about some childhood connection that one or both of them had blocked and which comes to be reveled towards the end of the drama. This alone by itself adds a positive value in my book.
The way the drama portrays the personality traits of Mono’s who for most, if not all, their lives live in a world of gray can meet a Probe and gradually change from being awed at seeing colors for the first time to fearing losing the ability to see colors again to being obsessed and in some cases turning violent, allows the viewers to sympathize with their emotions and at the same time be terrified at the very thought. While watching I kept thinking with a proper fleshed out thorough script this concept could make a very very good dark thriller.

I will tell you, this drama has made me research color blindness and have come to know more about cone and whatnot more than I care for. But the whole concept was fascinating .
The drama starts with Yeon Woo who happens to be a Mono, narrating about his fears that comes with a Mono meeting his Probe and wishing that he never meets one for the rest of his life. But fate laughs at us all, as on his first day at a new school Yeon Woo meets 3 friends one of whom turns out to be his Probe (Yoo Han).

As the drama progresses we see our Mono experience seeing color for the first time and going through the emotional turmoil that comes along with it. The actor did a good job expressing the characters emotions- his excitement and fear.

Unfortunately the strength of the drama just so happens to be its biggest flaw as well. A good plot like this needs to be properly fleshed out and explored. This barely scraped the surface of what it could have been and instead filled the already limited time with flashing light of color rush scenes. Additionally, it spent the 8 episode showing from the perspective of Yeon Woo and at the very end pretty much narrated Yoo Han’s side and closed out the chapter. Yoo Han’s reason for his interest in Yeon Woo is another fascinating concept on its own but the drama never gave us the opportunity to related to it. A character (one of the friends in the drama) is nicknamed “grandpa” and who speaks in a prophetic manner is another interesting underdeveloped character that viewers were not given any background on but expected to accept at face value. Not to mention that there are plot differences from what is in the synopsis and what was filmed. Like the investigative part, aside from mentioning that there is an investigation into Yeon Woo’s mother’s disappearance there is nothing that comes out of it, let alone having these two boys be involved with it. At the end- the feeling I was left with was unsatisfied? Disappointed? Maybe both and more.

Is this a good watch? Yes, but I still feel it fell short from what it could have been.

P.S. these color rush scenes btw should come with a warning for those sensitive with flashing light- nearly triggered my migraine the first time!

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This was better than I expected. I had really worried they’d make it cringe just so they can mainstream BDSM but this was thoughtfully made. This was more of an introduction to BDSM with the script including informative dialogue to provide a more accurate representation of what fetish is as opposed to the misguided notion the public has on it (ironically enough, the script took care in doing so and yet there was a comment on the drama page that concluded the kink signified trauma and the characters needed therapy. Smh. The damage 50 shade of hell did is irreparable!)

I’d label this more as a rom-com than kink tv with the 1st third making me giggle (and cringe) while the 2nd third had enough sensual and the final 3rd closed the loop by bringing both together. The actors did very well in depicting their respective characters perfectly (disregard synopsis description of ML for this). Although many are impressed by Lee Jun Young’s performance (he did indeed do very well) my eyes were fixed on Seo Hyun. 1st reason being my superficial side found her damn fine esp. in that red room. In leather. (Netflix being petty wouldn’t let me screenshot) but 2nd reason being, I love how calm and collected her character was and how mature and diligent she was in learning this new life she found herself into. Watching her go from utterly innocent to a dominatrix was fascinating to watch.

Besides the contractual DS part, the movie also touches on subjects of misogyny, insecurity, misperception etc. Though these issues were shown they were not deeply explored. And even when dealt with it was on a quick and superficial manner. Which considering the time constraint is understandable.

Now what I didn’t like is the office drama in the last third. I’d have preferred if the script hadn’t gone that route and had actually maintained the stance that work and personal life can completely stay separate. To top it off I hate public declaration of affection/ preachy speeches and sermons and they decided to do that. It was completely unnecessary and major cringe!

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The drama starts with Ji Bai our resident cop and Good Samaritan fighting on a train with a couple of hooligans that were bothering the passengers. If the opening scene was exciting, then that’s about it for this drama. Everything else was a bore after that.

The psychologist rookie they brought over as a profiler is supposed to be eccentric I believe and smart. She walked around looking at things with her head tilted, staring at crime boards, and looking at people with dead eyes and she still can’t manage to profile anything special and all I saw her do for the most part is speculate. They wanted to present her as the odd perceptive kind but she just came off odd.

The pacing for the drama was uneven. They spent time dragging out on plots that didn’t need it while blasting through the ones that could have benefited a deeper dive. Because the investigative methods were uninteresting, even when you find a plot that catches your interest, it won’t hold your attention for too long.

The biggest flaw of this drama would be how the investigation unfolded. It was basically a narrative, meaning they tell us what their conclusion is after the fact rather than walk with us through the process of how they got there. They present it in a way that makes them sound superior while they smugly look at the perpetrators or suspects and tell them “look how smart I am, I figured out what you did”. It was boring.

The romance was ridiculous. As the title suggests the Snail is shown falling in love, slowly focusing on his expressions, his feelings, worrying about him and slowly realizing that she is falling for him. However we are told the snails counterpart, a lion, who has been treating the Snail as a rookie under him for most of the drama, is out of the blue in love with her. There was no stolen glances, no electricity, nothing that would convince anyone that there is romance between the two.


Wang Kai in denim and Wang Kai is suit is like the sun peaking out on a rainy day for this drama.

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Stock up on tissues! Started off laughing and then cried my eyes out. This is a show you’ll definitely go back to watch again and again. I’ve done it twice already.

The only thing I didn’t like about this drama is that it spent too much time on secondary characters instead of the main couple. The mortal realm plot was my favorite, it was funny and sweet but a chunk of the time was also ate up with Mu chi’s story. In addition, although I loved learning the backstory for Run Yu, it still was way too much focus on him without giving the same detailed attention to the main character. I think Xu Feng was an under utilized character in the drama which is sad since the he is such a lovable character. They wasted screen time on unnecessary plot lines and rushed the ending.

My other issue with this drama is the ending. I maybe in the minority here but I found the ending a little underwhelming. After the emotional roller coaster we went through i would have loved to have seen a little more of happy couple time, a little more of the romance. I was curious to see, after everything they have been through, what kind of couple they would be.

My heart still aches for Xu Feng, I think he suffered worse than most. He paid the price for his parents mistake, his brothers ambition/vengeance and his loves betrayal. The actions of people around him caused so much pain. Although I believe Jin Mi also suffered for her actions it’s still not comparable to Xu Fengs’s.
As for Run Yu, I think that hateful fish got off way too easy.

Am I the only one disappointed that the last kiss we saw between Xu Feng and Jin Mi was the one where he pretended to be drunk in the demon realm? Huh- did not like that at all!

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I enjoyed this one for the most part. I don’t think it’s slow paced as some have complained about. I can see Akira’s insecurity and the magnitude o flow it has affected and shaped him as an adult. So him being supper resistant and cowardly despite his attraction is understandable. The relationship dynamic also works for their personality - Akira retreats consistently while Shin is the more aggressive one. Shin said it best, “with you being indecisive I thought I’d wear you down” i’m paraphrasing here but you get the gist. Besides I love the 18 year old Shin making the 29 year old squirm and blush. It was always a delight to see.

The problem with this one isn’t so much the characters but the length of the drama which made the build up and tension fizzle out. Episode 9 was the death nail for this drama which took a strong end of episode 8 and followed it up with a boring filler episode and nothing that came after that one was able to match the intensity built with that beach side conversation. This missed opportunity made the resolution and end fall flat. The remaining episodes weren’t used to give the main characters any additional growth or development but rather was spent on a last minute relationship development for a side couple whom lets be honest, no one was as invested in. Although I liked the side characters individually well enough, their story wasn’t remotely interesting enough to warrant the time taken on their story either. I think this one would have worked best if it was 10 episodes.

Overall, not a bad watch but I felt a little sting from the disappointment since I love age gaps and especially ones where the younger one is the pursuer and while it had potential it failed to stick the landing for me.

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The story starts with our FL played by JJY climbing a tree to get a kite stuck in a tree for her younger brother and slips and falls. While passed out she dreams about an impending doom that would bring misfortune to her and her family. To see how she can save her father from this, Fu Rong disguises herself as a fortune teller and sets up shop in front of the place she’s scouting. Here is where she meets our ML. Our ML played by Zhang Zhe Han, is the 4th prince Xu Jin/Prince Su.

For anyone who has watched The Legend of Yunxi, this indeed started off hitting the right spots. With most of the original cast brought back for this drama along with our main lead, you can’t help but get butterflies at the slightest interaction as old feelings rush back. In the first few episodes, for lack of better analogy, I once described it as “your favorite band getting together for a reunion concert”. The nostalgia, the excitement.. those were the feelings this drama brought.
The writing itself was teasing fans of The Legend of Yunxi by hiding little hints in the dialogue or certain scenes. Like the fireflies scene that Fu Rong and Xu Jin wake up to on the beach is a throwback to how Long Fei loved to see those. Or when Prince Su told Fu Rong ‘having a son would elevate her status” was a reference to what Yun Xi said to Long Fei. Little hidden Easter eggs like this were an absolute delight to fans of The Legend of Yunxi.

If Legend of Yunxi was on the serious side of the spectrum TBORP would be on the lighter version. Even when you can’t help compare the two you can’t help seeing the difference either. I have found myself grinning more watching this. The main couples interactions has initially been light, fun and cute. Prince Su was not shy about his feelings and was quite forward. His failed attempt to maintain his stern looking face when she tickles him or does something to make him smile added to his charm. It is undeniable that JJY and Zhang Zhe Han work really well on screen. They know how to work off of each other’s emotions and actions, that you can easily see it comes off natural. I adore how good these two look that if they were to be cast in another drama, I’d be the first in line to watch it.

I have often said, a good side couple can help increase the charm of a drama. Thankfully this is true in this one. The love story that revolved around Kiki Xu’s character Fu Xuan and Wang You Shou’s Wu Bai Qi has been captivating to say the least. Kiki played the reserved but smart elder sister of our FL. It would be a crime not to mention Wang You Shuo’s absolute glow up. His look, combined with the actors portrayal of the slightly damages but arrogant general topped with a husky voice has made this character one of the sexiest characters in recent memory. The couple seemed to be made for each other as our calm and reserved Fu Xuan has balanced Wu Bai Qi’s impulsive and somewhat volatile nature while Wu Bai Qi’s more carefree personality has helped Fu Xuan come out of her comfort zone. Like how she was the reason for Wu Bai Qi to clean up his act, while he was the reason why Fu Xuan tried her first alcohol drink. The undeniable chemistry between the couple, the organic growth of their relationship has made this couple more interesting than our leads.

Of course this drama has its share of problems. From weird cuts, disjointed scenes, half explored half dropped plots. Our FL’s (Fu Rong’s) choice of wardrobe and hairstyle also was unfortunate. With her petite frame, and the ribbons stuck to her hair she looked like a child instead of a girl of marriage age. The make up baked on her beautiful face, with an orange eye shadow that made her look sickly, a very bright red lipstick and the overall outfit ended up making a naturally beautiful woman look tacky.  But these were not issues we all were going to linger on, a charming story with leads that give off great chemistry can make you forgive slight problems since most of us were only looking for a light entertaining drama.

But what ultimately failed this drama is a truly poor writing. If the first half of the drama was written to invoke nostalgia then the latter half was written with the intention to cure us of it. One dull plot followed another, with little to no character growth or development for most of our leads. Plots that were initially put forward as important like the prophetic dream were left as an after thought and more time was spent on an absolutely unnecessary jewelry making corruption ones.

One of the biggest shortcomings of this drama would be the villain. I don’t know how, but the writer along with actors portrayal have managed to manifest the most pathetic of villains to waddle around for 40 episodes. The villain caught a whiff of a “who could it be” and ran with it. He fixated on one person as the source of all he lost and immediately started planning his “I’ll make them all pay” plan without taking a breathe to investigate if his hypothesis was true or not. This pathetically reasoned quest for revenge was compounded with his absolute obsession to protect and own his childhood friend. The writing for this villain was so weak I was hoping that he was a minor player and someone more formidable would come into picture down the road. However even to the end this villain has stayed consistent in being mediocre. I guess its a befitting end to a villain who embarked on his journey for the most pathetic of reasons to end in the most pathetic way.

My least favorite character next to the pathetic villain would be our supposed FL. If the problem with this character was limited to unnatural makeup and ill fitting outfits, that would have been good. However, this one has earned the right to sit among the most weakly written, useless female leads. She has made so many idiotic choices, jumped to so many conclusion, I was hoping that the ML would just give up on her and walk away. She laments on how she is not free, or how she’s wronged and yet as a married woman she has run countless times into another man’s house without giving a single thought as to how it would make her husband feel.
The writing made a big deal to have our leads reiterate how much they don’t want to hide anything from each other and they should trust each other and yet the first one to suspect Xu Jin would be our dear Fu Rong. Literally everyone close to him trust him unconditionally except the wife he married despite his parent’s objections. If her elder sister was a case for “one should marry for love” than Fu Rong would be a great advocate for arranged marriages. The more I saw her the more irritated I become by her hypocrisy. The only thing this woman managed to do is make the spoilt Princess love rival look like a better choice. Personally even if it wasn’t the Princess any other sensible girl other than Fu Rong would do.

I understand we all have our own version of a happy ending, mine would have been if Prince Su had turned back and left Fu Rong in the dust behind.


If my rating was based on the nostalgia it would be an 8.5. If it based on the latter part of the drama it would be a 6. So I’ll average it and give it a 7.5

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Potential but unmemorable

The plot wasn’t something special. Its supposed to be a love story between the confident and popular jock Itt (Marc)and the shy and awkward nerd Pai (Win). Haven’t we heard this story before? Yes, its one as old as time.

I don’t mind basic plot. Really, sometimes that’s all you’re looking for. Uncomplicated, basic, fluff for entertainment. The drama started slow but I didn’t mind it. To make up for its pace, it had two charming supporting characters. The acting is awkward for the most part, but forgivable to some extent. These are young kids so you alway have to take into consideration their inexperience and manage your expectations. But what you can not manage is the lack of chemistry. If I wasn’t told that they were in love I wouldn’t have believed it by just seeing it. It was at least better during the beginning but as the story progressed instead of tension and longing I got nothing. As episodes progressed, the still stiff acting, the snail paced progression, long pauses and the unexciting plot starts to wear you down.

Even with basic plot, success could have been within the realm of possibility for this drama, but it ultimately ended up not delivering. Most things you notice in this drama are missed opportunities for the actors, for the plot to leave a lasting impression. The plot with Itts father was something that could have been explored but was dropped unceremoniously. There have been emotional scenes that should have moved viewers but both leads played it so stiff it ended up laughable. The greatest opportunity, and the very last hope, came in ep 13 for both Win and Marc to play a moving scene, a heartbreaking scene and ... it was bland. Both failed to convey the emotion that the characters were going through. I was especially confused with Win’s acting. I don’t think Win fully grasped the idea of the character he was supposed to play; awkward, shy and introvert doesn’t mean sleepy, stiff, listless and unfeeling.
I held on hope, I promise, to the very last episode I held on hope that there would be something memorable to find. But, it stayed awkward to the end.

The other issue was with how the last episode was told. My god, it was just so underwhelming. The whole thing came off as one of those mini training videos complete with lessons on sex-ed, acceptance and the perfect 2.0 family and wholesome friends. There was no showing of how problems were tackled in a real and meaningful way, just that it was solved.

There is no need to say anything about the music in this drama because there really is nothing worth mentioning. I don’t even remember any of it, except to know that there was some classical thing playing in the background. It was unremarkable.

But not all is gloom and doom with the series. Pure was by far my favorite character. His character was a breath of fresh air. His undeniable chemistry with Waan and the organic development of friendship was the highlight of the drama for me. They may not be paired as a couple in the drama and that’s not a disappointment at all. Because even for a friendship, theirs was still the most interesting and meaningful interaction. Fiat and JJ’s portrayal was great.

I mean I wouldn’t say its a loss to watch it but I can’t in good conscience say its something to be excited about either. MDL’s algorithm tells me I should give it an overall rating of 5 but I’m giving it a 6.5 for Fiat and JJ. Give them their own series you cowards!

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My god this was awful. This lacked in so many places I don’t even know what to say. The cringe was just so high I got goosebumps. The script was downright dreadful, barely interesting characters it’s like the writer didn’t even make an effort. I’ve put a lot more exertions in trying to finish this drama than the production did in making a sensible, watchable drama.

The premise had potential, I’ll admit- a son of a mafia with a rare blood type and a bodyguard raised solely to be a blood bank; a turf war on the verge of brimming over; a spoiled, over-protected, rich kid experiencing falling in love and the orphaned bodyguard who doesn’t believe his life is worth more than the bag of blood he donates regularly struggling with his growing feelings that threaten to cross the line of what he was entrusted to protect…. This could have been a beautiful tragedy or even a slightly dark rom-com but it seems the script writer didn’t know how to expand on this to go any further. The script looked like it wouldn’t pass a middle school English writing class. The terrible script was accompanied by mediocre acting, lackluster dialogue, with the exception of one or two scenes, poorly choreographed fight scenes, one dimensional characters and comical villains who narrate their evil plans out loud and punctuate it by belting out a boisterous hahaha at the end. And Gun’s acting was just … ugh no, nah. I couldn’t even find salvation in the side couple because again they were very poorly developed. Like when did they get together did they even show that? Or did I miss it while I was desperately trying to smooth out the hair on my arms that’ve been standing like they were exposed to static electricity.

My goodness! If the growing number of titles on my dropped list wasn’t bugging me so much I should have dropped this by that episode where the violins came out.

I really wanted to support Gun since I really liked his character in LBC before it was ruined but unfortunately this was more of a trial of patience for me than a support for him.

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This show is a solid 5.5 on a good day or else it should definitely be less. I’m not with people that say she was too old to be a fan girl. It’s not the fangirling that makes this show a fail. I found myself fast forwarding through most of the episodes because the content was just dull.
Two attractive leads does not make a rom-com. CONTENT matters. I was able to quickly guess who was who and what the relationship was from the get go so the mystery was out. The love triangles were unimaginative. I couldn’t find anything exciting to look forward to from episode to episode.

Music was unmemorable. You know how you hear a song and it reminds you about a certain sweet or sad or tragic or some sort of moment? You are instantly transported to that scene and you can picture it and remember the dialogue very well? Well none of that here. I can’t tell you whether it’s because the music wasn’t that impressive or the drama was just not memorable, that you’ll have to decide on your own.

Now I’ll say the show has it’s funny, cute, a handful of decent lines moments. There was no toxic relationship so that was a plus. The acting is good as well, but none of this was able to save this show.
After What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, I expected more from Park Min Young. This bland, sporadically cute/funny project was not what I expect her to land on.

It would have been tolerable if it had ended on episode 14 but the additional unnecessary plot to stretch it to episode 16 left me even more dejected. Is there some unwritten rule that says there has to be some childhood connection for couple to be faithed that this has to be a throp in every other drama? (you’ll understand what I’m saying when you reach episode 14/15)

Personally, l’d say an overall 4.5 rating but I tend to be generous so i’m upping it to 5.

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Wood chipper meet the Editing room

One word to describe this drama - atrocious! To be more precise - atrociously made. This was so disappointingly bad I couldn’t even come up with a witty headline for this review.

The plot is moving at a 2.0 speed, which won’t allow viewers to fully get immersed in the story let alone connect with any of the characters. There are flashbacks inside flashbacks, which are made worse by the cloudy-looking filter they used.

The editing was so horrible, so disjointed you’ll find yourself confused if the character has even finished speaking before the next scene transports you miles away. This sudden shift between scenes is like spinning the wheel and seeing where it takes you since you can’t fully be sure if you are going to find yourself in another place just geographically or in another time entirely. They are throwing time jumps like they are handing out sample tasting at the food court in the mall. There was an earthquake scene horribly done the whole thing came down like a house of cards. There was no choreography to the fight scenes. The battle scenes were truly laughable and again everything moved at a high speed it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

I was looking forward to watching this since it has a cast like Liu Tao and Vic Chou. After struggling through 8 episodes I had to give up. In an attempt to shorten what I’m assuming was initially meant to be a longer drama, they practically took the drama and edited it through a wood chipper.

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