Reviews

A Must-Watch Costume Drama of the Year

Blossom (Jiu Chong Zi) exceeded all expectations. From its captivating storyline to breathtaking cinematography, this drama hooks you from the start. The soft color grading, elegant storytelling, creative camera angles, and perfect music make every scene mesmerizing.

Brilliant Leads
The female lead, Dou Zhou, is a standout—smart, strong, and capable of protecting herself and others. Li Yun Rui’s male lead is equally compelling, with expressions that make him both endearing and dependable. Their chemistry feels genuine, and their slow-burn romance is beautifully done.

Top-Tier Direction
The director’s first full-length project is a masterpiece. The plot intensifies with each episode, and every character’s development is handled thoughtfully. Even supporting roles shine, adding depth to the story.

Minor Flaws
The translated title feels off, and the male lead’s hairstyle could’ve been better. Some villains are clichéd, and early interactions between the leads felt limited. But these don’t overshadow the brilliance of the drama.

Final Thoughts
Easily the BEST COSTUME DRAMA OF 2024, this show delivers top-notch direction, storytelling, visuals, and performances. Li Yun Rui and Meng Zi Yi finally get the spotlight they deserve. I’ll rewatch this anytime I need a quality drama. Love it!

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A reflection on society today

First I rewatched S1, as it's been ages since that came out. Sailed through it and enjoyed the watch all over again, especially knowing I could go straight into S2.
Yoo Ah-in was a tough act to follow, but I have to say, Kim Sung-cheol, picking up the character Jung Jin-su, was excellent.
There was a flashback to a pivotal scene from S1, which obviously couldn't just be edited in, due to YAI's sad departure. His acting in that scene was excellent and I would have doubted it could be replicated.
However, KSC was so good, and must have watched it umpteen times, to recreate YAI's part so faithfully, as well as accurately.
The dark and somewhat depressing society that emerged from S1, is by no means any better in S2.
As humans do, the supernatural events that unfolded in S1 have been manipulated by groups, with leaders determined to make money and/or rule over others. (It is exactly what some do with religion now; use it as an excuse to murder, control and wreac havoc.)
Their 'laws' are contrived and as seen in S1, often an excuse to abuse power, bully and use violence against others.
It is sickening how those groups, including the government, spout 💩 about sins and damnation, when they themselves are the most guilty.
The drama's Director has said he's used the drama as a vehicle to send a message about the state of today's society (he's not wrong, either, with how in S Korea for example, K-nutz judge, slander and even drive some to take their own lives).
The shocking 'Decree' given towards the end of S1, together with Jung Jin-su's revelation, and the new twist of resurrection, changes everything.
Groups fight for power as they also have different stances on what to do about resurrection.
Many characters are present from S1, but the dynamics have altered considerably.
It's a bumpy, sometimes confusing, and violent, frustrating ride.
A gripping watch!

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A very well-written story combined with an outstanding acting = a drama with never-ending surprises.

If you read the synopsis here or on Netflix and think that “Ah, it’s just another police drama.” And if you haven’t got hooked with the first four episodes because you think that there’s nothing intriguing with the supernatural stuff in the story, my advice to you is PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP YET, PLEASE GIVE IT A TRY TO A COUPLE MORE EPISODES. Because everything just CAME TO LIFE in the latter part of the story. It turns to be a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DRAMA in a very positive way!

My experience of watching J-drama is shallow, but I’m sure this is the first time I’ve watched a drama with this kind of storytelling. They promoted it as an ordinary case-solving, police-buddy story before totally turned around the table in the middle of drama. It just got better and better every episode, showed you never-ending surprises, and concluded with AN EPIC FINALE. I totally didn’t expect that this is what “Zenketsu” drama would be about after watching the first episode.

I’ve watched some of the writer’s project before and I think he’s someone who are capable to create a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but unfortunately, I found that some of them had unsatisfactory endings, with missing connections in the mystery or unconvincing motives behind the main case. But I’m confident to say that it’s different with Zenketsu. He really delivered a very convincing script for such an insane story. The writer and research team of this drama really did an excellent job to build the concept and ideas, then connecting the dots to define the characters and drive the story.

Also, I think Zenketsu is a type of story that can easily feel unserious and cheap if the characters and the visuals aren’t well-executed. So above all, thanks to the actors’ incredible performances and the production team, they turned this out-of-this-world story into something truly believable. Fujiwara Tatsuya as the lead; Hirose Alice, Kohinata Fumiyo, Fukumoto Riko, Sakoda Takaya, Yusuke Santamaria, Narumi Riko, Komiya Rio, and Kakizawa Hayato who play the major characters; all the supporting and guest casts, even the extras too: ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING. The production team also did their job really well considering the tight budget of a TV production.

Overall, what an amazing journey for me watching this drama from the beginning until the end. Zenketsu gave me a full of rollercoaster emotions. I laughed, shed tears, held my breath, bit my nails while watching the story unfold. It has everything from myths & folklores to modern social issues, all packed in a mysterious storyline that is both thrilling and endearing. Great world-building, a truly well-executed story and very well-acted characters. I really hope there’ll be sequels! Go watch this drama guys, it’s on Netflix with multiple subs. This show is too great to be missed out.

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Best of 2024

Y'all this one is for the romance girlies.
Can officially say with my whole chest that this was the best period drama of the 14 that I watched this year. Probably the best Cdrama of 2024, at least of the 23 that I watched.
From start to finish cinematography, lighting, direction, action, acting, musical score, story/writing were top tier. The added little extra bit of running comedy with the slaps will forever live rent free in my head. I promise you, if you are someone who enjoys period dramas and romance you wont regret starting this one. The only spoiler I will give in this is the answer to the most common question I get from binge watchers who wait until the end of show to start watching.
Sad Ending, Open Ending, Happy for Now, Happy Ending, or Happily Ever After?



Happily Ever After, Five year flashforward for Epilogue after satisfying conclusion to other storylines . Plus extra bonus scene at the end of the credits.

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Love crashed ! View was great , feels were zero!

I was genuinely excited for this adaptation, but unfortunately it fell short on so many levels. If I hadn't watched the Thai version, I would have found the story to be fragmented and sort of incomplete.

One of the main issues I had was with the casting. While the actors may be talented, they didn’t convince me as university students. There was a noticeable disconnect throughout making it hard for me to fully vibe with characters and care about them.

Starting with Ray and Arashi's story, I did like the focus that was given to their part, especially in the first two episodes. The pacing was fine early on, but as the series progressed, it just felt ordinary. The weak acting played a huge role in this. The chemistry and delivery just didn't land for me. Shoma was a sight to behold but he felt more like a pretty canvas visually stunning yet devoid of any real emotion, even in the most heartfelt and emotional moments.
Also the story itself was problematic for me but the acting didn't help it either. Felt lackluster without that right emotional depth.

As for Fuma and Kai’s story, it was clearly rushed compared to the original version. The pacing felt off especially considering how much attention was given to the first half of the show. Kai, in particular looked much older than his character, which took me out. While their acting wasn’t bad, it simply didn’t convince me enough to fully buy into their relationship.

Overall, this adaptation was a disappointment. As a fan of JBl, it’s tough for me to write this review and give it a low rating, but unfortunately It is what it is.

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Great and mature drama love it♥

I don't know how I got into this drama, and I don't regret it for a moment. What a great series (plot), perfect casting and perfect acting, a mature drama, (from a parent's perspective) witty, funny and intelligent dialogues, it has comedic situations (I laughed quite a bit), it has a great dynamic between a mother (a single parent) who is still a teenager herself (missed all of her adult years due to an early pregnancy) and a daughter who is approaching 30, great chemistry between them, the plot, the scenes, the tension, the emotions, and the sensitivity, the disagreements, the love, the sacrifice, the relationship, the friendships, the support, everything is so realistic, this is not a classic Korean drama, there is no love triangle here, there is no evil chaebol family, there is a journey of self-discovery here, (I'm not giving spoilers but the ending is the essence of the journey of the entire plot), the number of episodes is accurate and not spread out. Nice soundtrack that matches the scenes..I liked it and highly recommend it ♥♥

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Impressive and surprising. It keeps you hooked from the first episode to the last

"Mouse" tells the story of a psychopath serial killer and two cops who are working together to find him.
Ba Reum is a nice police officer, his life become entangled with Moo Chi, a criminal detective that has a past trauma, his entire family has killed by a serial killer and he lived his whole life thinking about revenge. There's also Hong Ju, a journalist who's covering the murders and Bong Yi, a nice girl who also has a sad past. Every single character is connected with each other, in the beginning you don't know that, but by watching the episodes, you get to see how everything fits.

I can't say I was shocked by the twist that Ba Reum is the serial killer, there are some moments that made me think that, specially after his "change" with the brain transplant... instead of becoming more cold and distant, Ba Reum became more bright.
The two special episodes after the episode 15 are really important to the story, because you get to see the real Ba Reum, not him faking like in the beginning or after the transplant, when he's really a different person, with Yo Han's sense of empathy. He's really evil, Ba Reum planned everything and was even using Bong Yi like his father did to his mother, only as a way to reproduce. It's amazing how Lee Seung Gi played this character, because it's like two different people, his eyes, the expressions...

The real culprit in all of this in my opinion is actually Ba Reum's mother. She basically ruined Ba Reum and Yo Han's life by switching the babies. She made Yo Han live his life as the son of a serial killer and even so, he became a good person, who sadly die and Ba Reum, who didn't have any fault for being born without empathy, live his life without any support and didn't know that what he was doing was wrong, he doesn't have a moral compass, so he needed someone to guide him, to help him in the right path. How he's supposed to be good, if he doesn't know what that is?
In the end, the brain transplant was a blessing, because made Ba Reum able to understand emotions for the first time and realize everything he has done and repent. His death is sad, but it's something that was meant to happen.

The drama is really big, besides having 20 episodes and 3 special, some episodes have more than 1 hour, but the amazing thing is that is not exhausting to watch, I didn't get tired in any moment, actually I wanted to keep watching!
It's one of the best crime/thriller dramas that I have ever watched.

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How justice can be unfair and changed with a price

"One Ordinary Day" is a criminal drama about a young man named Hyun Soo, who's wrongfully arrested and accused of the murder of a girl he met the night before.
The story is about everything he's being through, all the process with the arrest, the trial, living in prison with other inmates and trying to survive in there.

Kim So Hyun's acting is really good. I loved the way he was able to express Hyun Soo's feelings about being accused of something he didn't do, you could see in his eyes. Even his naive way of trusting the police, who was trying to pin the murder on him.
I never thought Hyun Soo was guilt, the police only had circumstantial evidence, but they still went along with that and did everything to make Hyun Soo the culprit, even tampering with evidence. That's the funny thing, even in the end, when Joong Han discover the truth and finds the real killer, the prosecutor and the police still ends up the good guys, saying they continued the investigation... which we know it's a lie. They wanted to end the investigation and chose Hyun Soo to be the fall guy, not caring if he was really the killer or not, they just needed someone to blame.

Cha Seung Won's character is very interesting, but his characterization was bad, he looked twice his age. HAHAHAHA'
I know his role was that of a low-class lawyer, but even so, they didn't need to make him like that.

The drama also shows how the justice system is flaw and broken. The judge convicted Hyun Soo to life imprisonment and he was innocent. Even with Joong Han showing everything the police did, how they made him the prime suspect without any convincing evidence, how they never looked into anyone else, even the people in Guk Hwa's life and still, he was found guilty. It's really awful to think that someone could be rooting in prison for something he didn't do.

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A drama that was mostly good, but the ending is terrible

"The Brave Yong Soo Jung" it's a drama about Soo Jung, who lost her parents and her home at the same time. Fortunately she meets Jang Won, who became her adopted father and helped her grow up to be a bright woman. Her life is also entangled with Eui Ju and his mother.
Time passes and Soo Jung becomes a sales announcer. There she meets Woo Jin, a cold man who doesn't let anyone come in to close. The two eventually fall in love. In between them, there's Eui Ju, who's reunited with Yoo Jung as an adult and finds out that Woo Jin is his brother. Both of the brothers like Soo Jung, but she likes Woo Jin and also wants to use him as a way to make Hye Ra suffer, since Hye Ra and her mother were the people that stole Soo Jung's money and made her mother died.

Soo Jung's adopted father unfortunately dies by the hands of Woo Jin, Hye Ra and Kyung Hwa, she swears to take her revenge and comes back a different woman. Now, Woo Jin is married to Hye Ra and Soo Jung does everything to break them apart. Eventually Soo Jung and Eui Ju become a couple and they join hands to make the evil people pay for their crimes.

After this, the drama loses it's direction. Eui Ju learns that he has cancer and the couple's happiness is totally gone at this moment. Actually they didn't even had a moment to be a real couple, now that Eui Ju and Soo Jung are married, he's going to die? It's not fair. We only see Eui Ju suffering from the side affects of the tumor and trying to hide the truth from Soo Jung, who eventually finds out.
Yes, in the end Eui Ju is alive, but I think it's because the writers didn't have the courage to kill off his character and actually it would be better if they did that. This whole thing with him being missing and the amnesia, it was just lazy writing. It would made more sense if Eui Ju became health again or if he died.

Woo Jin was the best character, his transformation is one of the best things that happened in the drama. For him to realize that he was used and lied to his entire life, all because of his so called "mother". Woo Jin decided to become a new person, made Kyung Hwa pay and even used Hye Ra in the process.
Until the end I was hoping that Soo Jung's birth father would show up alive, because we actually didn't see him dying in the beginning, even Soo Jung's mother only said he was missing. I think the drama lost a really interesting plot twist with this.

The story is good and so are the characters, the development was going great, but the drama became confused basically at the middle and went downhill from there.

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A warm and beautiful story

"Kill Me, Heal Me" it's a drama about Cha Do Hyun, a man who has suffered a trauma in his childhood, leaving him with a memory lost and 6 personalities: Shin Se Gi, Ahn Yo Na, Ahn Yo Sub, Perry Park, Nana and Mr X. In a twist of fate, he meets Ri Jin, a psychiatric resident who becomes his new doctor, to help him in his daily life, as a way to stop the personalities from doing too much trouble.
With time, the two realize there's a connection between them in the past, since Ri Jin starts having the same flashes of images as Do Hyun and they seem to knew each other.

The truth is that Do Hyun and Ri Jin lived for one year together, as half-siblings, but that wasn't true, since Ri Jin's birth mother made up a lie with Do Hyun's grandfather. When Ri Jin's mother dies, Do Hyun's father locks her up in the basement and abuses the girl, her only comfort is when Do Hyun comes down to play with her. One day, Do Hyun can't take the abuse anymore and that is the day Shin Se Gi is born, his first personality, the one who burns down the house and allows Ri Jin to be set free. She's taken by Sun Yeong, who raises Ri Jin was her daughter alongside with her son, Ri On.
Ri On grows up and learns the truth about his sister past, he starts digging in the story to understands what happened. What he didn't expect is that Do Hyun and Ri Jin would met coincidentally, like fate wanted them to met each other.

Ri Jin and Do Hyun are a really cute couple, the romance is light but sweet at the same time. There's not much space to see them together as a couple, since the main focus of the drama is to see Ri Jin learning more and dealing with Do Hyun's personalities, trying to find ways to help him get better. I have to say the best scenes are when the personalities are involved, specially Se Gi and Yo Na. The humor is a great selling point of this drama!

The drama is really good, it's one of the best stories I have ever seen. The characters are amazing. I loved the way the drama developed the story with Do Hyun's mental problems, showing there's nothing wrong with that, it was his way to cope with everything that happened, even his own guilt and that we all need someone on our side, someone to help, to lean, to understand. It's a beautiful story <3

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What makes a person beautiful?

"Shadow Beauty" follows Ae Jin, a high school girl who leads a double life. In school she's bullied by everyone and called ugly by her classmates, but in the internet she's a famous influencer named Genie, changing her appearance.

The first to know her true identity is Ho In. In the beginning I thought he was interested in Ae Jin and that was truth, but not romantically. The other is Ha Neul, she's Genie's best friend but at the same time, she's the person who's bullying Ae Jin.
There's also Mi Jin, a new girl who strangely is exactly like Genie. That was a part of the drama that I didn't like. I was expecting until the end that we find out that Mi Jin had done plastic surgery, because it's not realistic that a girl who looks like Genie appears, specially because Ae Jin made Genie, she's not real.

Ae Jin is a normal girl, but we live in a society that finds people's flaws and uses that against them, so Ae Jin thinks of herself as ugly. She makes a fake persona, because in that way she could have people's attention, being called beautiful for the time in her life, the problem is that her real and fake life keep crashing each other.
The message here is all about accepting yourself. To life your life in a way that makes yourself happy, not thinking about how others see you and also not to obsess over social media, because followers are not real friends, you need to appreciate the people that are around you and that physical beauty is really nothing if you don't have a good heart.

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Justice is served

When you play a game of cards, the result is never 100% guaranteed. It can be predicted based on the moves the players make but it is never really absolute. It can change in the blink of an eye. One is expecting something and at the very last minute, the perceived unexpected happens and why? To show that a person’s life path can be challenging and though? If one climbs a mountain, through treacherous terrain, temperamental weather and conquering altitude sickness hoping to enjoy a spectacular view at the top and instead of a wonderful happy scenario see a cemetery, what is the point in climbing it in the first place?

It’s almost as if the production teams have felt the need to silently motivate the audience to keep going, keep watching the drama, building up the expectations that it would be worth it, fans would like it, and then delivering them tomb stones.

Blossom’s production team, fortunately delivered their unspoken promise that the view from the top of the mountain would be incredible. It was more than that, it was absolute perfection as the ending seemed crafted in the stars. Song Mo and Dou Zhao would truly be able to live happily together after going through the pits of hell with one another and for one another.

The deliverance of their wedding fairly early in the drama has allowed viewers to experience their marriage life for a significant number of episodes, something the majority of dramas tend to neglect in favour of unnecessary fill-ups that devalue the quality of the visual storyline and annoy viewers. Story quality over number of episodes worked extremely well as the 34 episodes perhaps minus one or two that could be condensed in the later stages of the drama were just right to tell a good story from beginning to end without dragging it to 40 episodes with boring material that would add nothing to the plot.

The story’s introduction was an epic masterpiece with Song Mo in a lengthy white/greyish hair, saving Dou Zhou and an orphan child from harm. His softness, empathy and kindness were as riveting as the fated arrow that later pierced through them, binding their life stories together. It was so unexpected and mind-blowing that made one thirsty for more and throughout its run, it did not disappoint overall. As they are pierced by the arrow, they fall through a large mirror, they travel back in time, waking up when they were children to start their lives again.

Song Mo is a strong man, a powerfully humble, righteous male lead with an unquestionable sense of justice and loyalty that has been betrayed by a number of people, particularly by his father, a duke who despised him in favour of his younger brother, an illegitimate love child whom he wanted to be his legal heir. To achieve that, he had no qualms in hurting Song Mo as much as he could, parading his public disdain for the son that took a beating for him in front of the army. But the father as wicked as he might have been was a known enemy. Song Han, the apparently soft studious brother, however, plotted Song Mo’s destruction without openly going against him. As it is often said, the worse kind of enemy is the one that is not seen and often the most dangerous one is a family member. The most intriguing characteristic of Song Mo is how, in spite of everything that he has endured from his father and paternal relatives his heart has remained pure and his honour has remained intact, shown by his commitment to justice and his determination to uncover the mastermind of his maternal uncle demise.

Dou Zhao is a phenomenal strategist who, contrary to Song Mo remembers everything from her previous life, working tirelessly to correct the mistakes that had been previously done and that have led to their demise. In the present, with the red line of fate intertwined with Song Mo’s, they embark on a journey of mutual assistance, trust and love that transforms them in allies and converts them into a loving husband and wife, together against the world, literally transcended time and space. Through her decisive actions Dou Zhao is able to achieve her goals and preventing her past from repeating itself. Despite not being able to prevent her mother’s death or her best friend from becoming her step-mother, Dou Zhao is able to move in with her grandmother, to grow up in peace, establishing profitable business ventures which gave her financial independence. She was also able to choose whom she married, accepting Song Mo marriage proposal and becoming his wife, instead of marrying Wei Ting Yu as she had in her past life and being poisoned by him and her sister due to their love for one another.

Blossom is full of twists and turns with various demises as the story progresses including Dou Zhao’s sister Dou Ming and Wei Ting Yu who not also marry one another in the present but also end up dying tragically and her step-mother who ends up living life paying for her sins, amongst other characters like Song Mo’s father, to mention a few.

It almost seems like whenever a supporting character’s arch has finished its purpose in the story, the person dies. Thus death serves both as an ending, often tragic and as a beginning to another uncovered plot, going on and on until the very end with existing personas i.e. Ansu, Dou Zhou’s childhood friend who is granted the title of princess by the emperor and a marriage with Song Han. She appears early in the story, then goes on with her life for a number of episodes without being seen on screen until the moment when she takes centre stage, second only to the male leads to propel the storyline forward as Dou Zhou’s sister-in-law, albeit higher-ranked. In her love for Song Mo, she stands by him, ignoring his distorted mind and sordid nature. A man who had no qualms in hurting another for the simple purpose of proving his physical superiority had a black heart and a corrupted soul, a consequence of his inferiority complex towards Song Mo. In the end, Ansu serves justice by ending her husband’s life, showing that there is love but at the other end of the spectrum there is hate and their combo is both fire and ice.

Yuan Tong / Ji Yong was an interesting character. In the first life he was a monk, in the second, a game-changer strategic healer mastermind that strived for power to implement the changes in the empire that he believed to be needed, and aimed for Song Mo’s death to be with Dou Zhao, whom he admired and loved to the ends of the earth, whom he saw as an equal, as the perfect match for him. Yuan Tong was kind and light. In contrast, Ji Yong was kind, conniving and grey. The first one wanted peace, and aimed for good; the second wanted peace and aimed for war, due to the perception that revolution was necessary and it could only be obtained by force. In the end he got what he wanted career wise, becoming the chief grand secretary of the new dynasty but he did not get love which has never been his primary focus anyway.

Overall, Blossom was a breath of fresh air without the recycled plotlines.

The leads did not meet up, fell in love, broke up and got back together at the very end or close enough to it as per usual troupe. They met, they became allies, they fell in love, got married, went through hell together, stayed lovingly together and had a daughter whom they saw grow up. There was no love-triangle at all as both Song Mo and Dou Zhao only had eyes for each other and they did not want to be with anyone else, nor did they tolerate any interference in their relationship. Kudos to them for remaining unfazed by whatever life threw at them, for supporting one another, for caring for one another and for portraying what a strong, solid, loving relationship ought to be like and for the happy end-game.

Ji Yong, while mentally in-love with Dou Zhao was more concerned with his professional goals than in actively pursuing her like many second male leads, but wait, the character could not be really considered one in the first place. Ji Yong was more like a chess player, where people like Prince Qing and Song Han were his pawns and like disposable pawns, they ended up paying the price for their misdeeds and justice was served, proving that, despite having the resources to achieve what they wanted to accomplish, those matter nothing in a battle between darkness and light, wrong and right, war and peace, hate and love.

In the end love should win and karma should be served. That is what happened here. Love won and karma was served without the possibility of redemption but then love and redemption is another story.

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