Best Light On Series!

I wasn't a huge fan of Bai Yu so I never thought of trying it. However, I saw a review on Youtube and I was like why not give it a shot, and then when I did, I had to binge through the whole thing in one day! It was just so good and the ending blew me away!
First of all, the story was very well-written. I think the drama is very realistic. The justice system in real life isn't very reliable. People like Jiang Yang and Zhu Wei who want to uphold justice are very rare and that's why they make this a very beautiful yet tragic story. Every episode, I couldn't wait to find out the whole truth. We only got to know how Jiang Yang died at the very end so for 12 whole episodes, I was like dying to get to the end. I always thought it would be someone killing him. I never thought he would kill himself. And the moment where they watched the video, I was just weeping my heart out. I was very impressed with all the actors, especially Bai Yu. I am very much used to idol dramas or should I say the normal dramas where you'd have to ignore a thousand flaws if you want to finish. And you have to because that's how most of the dramas are like nowadays. However, Light On Series such as The Bad Kids and The Long Night really sets a new scale for the drama world. The whole drama is just very well done. From casting to storytelling, every aspect was perfect. I really like how all the small details such as uniforms from the past and the tools/locations were very realistic to the time period in which the story was in. For example, there was a very old lunchbox that Jiang Yang's girlfriend Ai Ke brought to work. I remember seeing it when I was really tiny. Overall, I am very satisfied with the whole series and definitely look forward to more dramas with this quality in the drama world. This kind of standard shouldn't only for crime dramas but it should be the same for romance, xianxia, etc. In the end, I really want to recommend it to people who are hesitating to watch! It won't be a waste of your time for sure!

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Waste of my time!

I am a huge fan of Zhao Lusi.. although her roles are not very diverse, I love every time she tries to portray these cute characters. I have pretty much watched all her dramas except this one. When it came out, I was so busy that I didn't have time to watch. After it ended airing, there were so many bad reviews about it but I wanted to try it out myself. I had been contemplating it ever since and finally made some time to watch it and now I feel like I really wasted my time.

First of all, the storytelling was really bad. I heard the novel itself was really well-written but the way drama tells the story was so confusing. Only after reading the comments, I found out that Fu Jiuyan had been following Qin Chuan for ten lifetimes or something like that. The ending was so confusing too because I didn't know whether it was a dream or did the spiritual lamp redo the whole history. The story sequence didn't make sense to me too. 90% of the time Qin Chuan wanted revenge for the Li Guo but I feel like she was just being stupid and dumb. Xuan Zhu's character development was supposed to be emotional but her acting lacked a lot for me to feel sympathy for her. I think most of the actors except Zhang Ye Chang did a very okay job with their roles and nothing stood out. Zhang Ye Chang did play his role well and if the other actors could work well with him, this drama could've been ten times better.

Second, there was no chemistry between the main leads. I feel like if the storytelling shaped the POV from Zhang Ye Chang chasing her ten lifetimes, maybe it would've been better. But because the story started from Li Guo being invaded and Yan Yan having to run away, I felt like the whole story weighed on her. So her falling in love with the "wick of the spiritual lamp" felt so unnecessary. I feel like Qin Chuan, Zichen, Xuan Zhu, and the 2nd prince felt like a better squad, and Fu Jiuyan being a smaller role. The two leads didn't even spend a lot of time together for most of the episodes and it was Jiuyan helping her from behind.

I feel like this drama had the potential to be a great success if it met the right cast and the right staff working on it. The story wasn't very bad to start with but the way it was told sucked. Zhang Ye Chang is a very capable actor and I was definitely convinced by his role as Fu Jiuyan and look forward to his future works. However, Zhao Lusi like I said isn't a very diverse actress. This kind of role did not fit her because here wasn't much comedy in the latter part of the drama. She isn't fit for this serious role. Maybe only if she worked on roles like this she could build her experience.

Overall, I would say this drama was really a waste of my time. However, I'd still end up watching this because of my greed to finish all Zhao Lusi's works so I can't say I regret it. But the OST was nice lol

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I really enjoyed this drama and I'm glad I was able to watch 15-24 in one day because I would be very impatient having to wait each week. And I also think I'd probably lose interest if I waited too long.

PROS
I really enjoyed this drama but it's not something I'd go back and watch. Gu Shengnan was a very funny character at the start and really liked the comedy scenes. Zhao Lusi really matches this kind of role. Lu Jin and Gu Shengnan's comedy dynamic is very enjoyable. Plotwise, it was very light and something I'd put it on during a holiday to binge through with a cup of hot coffee. I also loved Li Man's character and her story with Lu Jin because it felt very real to me. It's very normal for her to grow feelings for Lu Jin and for years, she did nothing but stayed by his side. And when another girl shows up, it's her instinct to fight for it. I think she was very mature. She did try to call Lu Jin to her room and the way he rejected was very mature too. The best part was that OST was really really great and Zhao Lusi sang it!!

CONS
Although Gu Shengnan and Lu Jin were funny together, I always felt the chemistry between the two was lacking. I couldn't really see the process of them falling in love. I couldn't feel the romance in their acting. The whole plot was quite okay until the whole half-brother showed up and tried to snatch Gu Shengnan. Totally unnecessary although I liked the actor that played Lu Zheng, he's quite cute. In the latter part of the drama, I could see Gu Shengnan and Lu Jin's romance progressing but it's just I can't really connect to them. The story between Gu Shengnan's best friend and Lu Jin's secretary was absolutely horrible. I feel like they're detached from this whole drama and I pretty much skipped all their scenes.

All the dramas have their flaws and I try not to pay attention to them because it's just how the dramaland is today. And 'Dating in the Kitchen' is fairly the better ones among them. I would totally recommend to other people, especially if you are a fan of Zhao Lusi's comedy or just light-comedy in general!

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[STORY] 8.5/10
At first, the story was really lighthearted and that was why I was very drawn to it. I followed this show before it just blew up everywhere. I felt like it was a cute story. I was spoiled beforehand that Sarawat had a longtime crush on Tine so I understood why Sarawat acted the way he did. As for Tine, I think it was quite natural how he responded to things in the first two-thirds of the story. I could visibly see how every small details led up to Tine falling for Sarawat. I would've given this much a higher score if the last 3 episodes were much better. To be honest, the ending was a huge disappointment for me. I feel like the story was too fast-paced and it didn't make sense at all too. I feel like the reason of their so-called "misunderstanding" is just too ridiculous. It's understandable that Tine got jealous seeing Pam hugging Sarawat but Sarawat could've simply explained but he didn't and they broke up?! It doesn't make sense at all. And the fact that Pam has a recording of Sarawat saying that he can't write a song for her, didn't anyone find that weird?!! I feel like I didn't get a proper closure for our main couple. I just felt the whole story wasn't wrapped up well and there were still loose ends. I felt like there should be more to the story of Sarawat & Tine. And this is not even including the boring story of Man & Type. It could've been so much better if they used that time to develop Mil & Phukong.

[ACTING] 9.0/10
I definitely have to praise Win for such an outstanding acting skill. For a newbie in his first series, I think Win did an excellent shop. I could really see the emotions of Tine through his expressions and could see how he was falling in love slowly. It was just so convincing. However, in the last few episodes, I think it is also because of the script, I felt like I lost connection to the character Tine. The acting got a bit cringy and I felt uncomfortable watching him cry. Other than that, I would still say he is one of the best BL actors I've seen.
As for Bright, I am very happy that he was chosen to be Sarawat. I feel like no one else could've pulled off the character better than him. I was very much convinced that he was Sarawat even though he was acting. I could totally see how much he was in love with Tine. The problem I have with Bright is similar to my problem with Win. Due to the abrupt change of speed in the script, I lost my connection to Sarawat and suddenly felt like he was doing stupid things. His expressions became weird and out of place. Without it, the overall acting deserves 10/10.

[MUSIC] 10/10
Scrubb songs are the best, I swear! Bright's voice is also very wonderful! Listening to their OSTs really made me happy and it's one of the those songs that I would play it when I'm doing something else and still jam to every single lyric in it.

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