Reviews

Well-written and well executed

It is nearly a year since I watched this, but found I hadn't written a review. That means this won't be very detailed, though.
This was one of the earlier C-dramas I watched, and I will say this is a quality production through-and-through.

Well-written script, interesting story, good acting; even if I don't remember everything, this is a drama I do remember, and might actually consider re-watching at one point (that is not many!).

What I believe made this memorable to me, are for example:
- Interesting characters and good character-development. How FL changes and matures, and ML's depth and complexity are some factors
- Not too plot-ridden/scheming acts (although there are some)
- The cast (ML and FL), and their chemistry
- A bit of frustration - but in this case it implies a well-written story
- Good mix of slice-of-life/growing up, business and romance

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Enough to have a sweet evening :)

Very cute “office” romance. FL, burned out, leaves her job to get hired at Animals Beauty (a dream company, nice) where she learns to love herself and manage her worktime through love.

+++ Series full of handsome guys
+++ Very good actors
+++ story almost realistic

### Guys so respectful, handsome, attentive; such kind and warm colleagues => that doesn't exist in real life!
### The “I don’t know my feelings, I have trouble identifying them” plot is USED! Annoying.

=> Nice series to spend an evening, nothing more.
*****************************************************************
Romance "de bureau" très cute. La FL, en burn out, quitte son job pr se faire embaucher chez Animals Beauty (Sté de rêve, sympa) où elle apprend à s'aimer grâce à l'amour.

+++ Série remplie de beaux gosses
+++ Très bons acteurs
+++ story à peu près réaliste

### Des mecs aussi respectueux, beaux, attentifs ; des collègues aussi gentils et chaleureux => ça n'existe pas dans la vraie vie !
### Le plot du "j'ignore mes sentiments, j'ai du mal à les identifier", est USE ! Agaçant.

=> Série sympa pr passer une soirée, sans plus.

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A flawed gem that everyone hates but I LOVE

Actually, I finished watching this a while ago aka following when it was aired, but I only just got the chance to leave a review. Acting and cast? 100% perfect, no debate. OST? Absolutely the best in my list this year, especially since they collaborated with my favorite music director. Cinematography? Not the best, there are some flaws, but overall I love the design. Story? There are some parts where the logic doesn’t quite fit, especially after episode 14, which was a bit of a downhill turn. However, this doesn’t diminish my love for the drama, so I’m giving it a 10/10 overall score because I’m being biased 😹

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Xiao Yu Liang's Performance in When We Meet

Xiao Yu Liang brought a special kind of depth to When We Meet, making his character one of the highlights of the drama. His portrayal was full of charm, making his scenes stand out, whether he was showing a more serious side or letting moments of vulnerability shine through. I found his natural presence on screen very engaging.

His chemistry with the female lead was undeniable, and their interactions made the romance feel real and grounded. Xiao Yu Liang's ability to balance humor and emotion in his role was particularly impressive, and it made the lighter moments of the show all the more enjoyable. Even in a familiar romantic comedy setup, his nuanced performance added something unique.

Acting
I found the acting in When We Meet to be one of its strongest aspects. Xiao Yu Liang really impressed me with his portrayal, bringing both depth and warmth to his character. Zhao Dong Ze also shone with his dual roles as Lu Ming and Deng Yu, and the female lead delivered a heartfelt performance, making her character easy to connect with. The supporting cast was solid too, contributing to both the comedic and emotional moments.

Cast
The casting choices were spot on, with Xiao Yu Liang standing out for his versatility and charm. Zhao Dong Ze was a standout in his own right, bringing depth to his characters, and the chemistry between him and the female lead made their romantic scenes enjoyable. The supporting characters enhanced the story without overshadowing the main plot, which I appreciated.

Music
The music in When We Meet was another positive aspect. The opening and ending theme songs were catchy and perfectly complemented the tone of the drama. I particularly liked how the background score was used to enhance emotional moments without being intrusive. It set the right mood and helped immerse me in the experience.

Rewatch Value
For me, this drama definitely has rewatch value. It’s easy to go back to, especially if I want to relax and enjoy a sweet romance. The lighthearted tone, the engaging chemistry between the leads, and Xiao Yu Liang’s standout performance make it a fun series to revisit. Plus, the short episodes make it perfect for a second or third binge.

What’s Bad
Predictable Plot: While I enjoyed the drama, I did find the plot to be a bit predictable. It follows familiar romantic tropes, which I didn’t mind, but it could have been more unique.
Pacing Issues: At times, the pacing dragged, especially when the secondary plots took more screen time than necessary, slowing down the story and feeling repetitive.
Lack of Depth: The drama focuses more on lighthearted moments than deep emotional arcs, which might leave some viewers wanting more from the character development.
What’s Not Really Good
Limited Character Growth: While I liked the characters, their growth throughout the series didn’t feel as strong as I had hoped. It would have been nice to see more depth in their evolution.
Side Characters’ Arcs: Some side characters’ storylines didn’t feel fully developed or were left unresolved, leaving me wishing for more closure.

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"Love Me Like I Do" tries to serve the same reheated dish that countless C-dramas have dished out before, and unfortunately, it brings nothing new to the table. Once again, we get a CEO with a mysterious health issue (because being rich and powerful isn't enough without adding a side of pity points) who meets the quirky, beautiful, and oh-so-pure female lead who magically cures him—not just physically, but emotionally too.

The story feels like it was churned out by a romance-drama factory, complete with every cliché in the book. The male lead's brooding wealth is met with the female lead's sunshine personality, and their chemistry struggles to lift the predictable plot. The humor might bring a few laughs, but it's not enough to mask the lack of originality.

If you've watched even one other drama in this vein, you already know every twist and turn this one has to offer. The characters don't evolve in meaningful ways, and the drama relies too heavily on the male lead's charm and the female lead's "witty innocence" to carry the story.

"Love Me Like I Do" is a reminder that even with good production value and lighthearted moments, a tired trope can't sustain a compelling narrative. Watch it only if you're in desperate need of a distraction, but don't expect to walk away with anything memorable.

There is no chance I would rewatch 'Love Me Like I Do.' The predictable plot, overused CEO-Cinderella trope, and lack of meaningful character development make it a one-time watch at best. Even the humor can't save it from being forgettable."

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Great first half but loses its steam (and my attention) in the second half.

1st half - 8.0
2nd half - 7.0

I already lowered my expectations for “The Story of Pearl Girl”, yet I am still somewhat disappointed. This is a well-produced drama with beautiful costumes, decent sets and cinematography. I don’t think objectively this is a bad drama, but I lost my connection to the leads in the middle of the drama, and was unable to regain my attention in the second half.

“The Story of Pearl Girl” has an exciting start. The story of our female lead’s struggle to leave the pearl farm might not be realistic, but at least it’s interesting. Time spent on the ship and Duan Wu’s climb from the bottom of the crew to being a partner-in-crime are well-paced and exciting. The first half is able to balance Duan Wu’s story and Yan Zi Jing’s revenge plot pretty well.

Although the chemistry between the leads is not sizzling, at least they have some interesting and fun scenes together in the first half. I also enjoy the friendships of the crew members and especially Duan Wu’s tight bond with young Xia Mi/Little Shrimp. The first half has a good balance of angst, suffering, adventure, and humor. There isn’t anyone too irritating in the drama and the leads are all quite smart.

Unfortunately, the heartbreaking mid-drama episodes came much earlier than expected. After that, everything goes downhill. The leads are separated for way too many episodes when they’re off to their own adventures. The little chemistry that they had, disappeared in the second half, and was never recovered. Well, at least I never felt their chemistry anymore. During this time, the focus shifted to Duan Wu’s business plot. The male lead becomes a wallflower or an unimportant supporting character. The drama loses the balance of revenge excitement and business shenanigans. Eventually, it also loses my attention all the way until the end. The downfall of the villains in the last couple episodes is very anti-climatic. I expected more, when revenge is such a big focus in this drama. The last episode should elicit a lot more emotions from me because of the lead couple, but I think I felt more for the secondary couple, Cui Shi Jiu and Zheng Zhi Heng.

The general acting of the cast isn’t too bad. I don’t think this is Zhao Lu Si’s best role. I still like her more in “Love Like the Galaxy”. But she’s good enough. The same could not be said for Liu Yu Ning. He lacks screen presence and charisma as a male lead. His acting also seems to have regressed from when I last saw him in “Heroes” (2024) where he acted alongside two very strong male leads. He’s still not very good with romantic scenes, and seems to be best when he’s with his band of brothers/bromance, such as in “A Journey to Love” or “Heroes”. The second male lead, Tang Xiao Tian, is a more experienced actor and it shows. There’s a scene when they’re side by side digging through the soil, and you could see the difference in their acting when displaying the same emotions. Fortunately, the rest of the supporting cast deliver solid acting.

I am not sure if I would fully recommend “The Story of Pearl Girl” to everyone. My criticisms are very personal due to me never recovering the interest after it’s lost in the middle of the drama. Normally, I would have rated a similar drama an 8.0. But if you are a fan of Zhao Lu Si, it’s worth checking it out. Her acting is still solid and she looks beautiful with different hair/makeup and costumes.




Completed: 12/19/2024 - Review #528

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Family fantasy that's also about individual growth and change

It's difficult or impossible to root for the leads of most kdramas to reconcile because the writing simply does not do the work to allow them to learn and confront the core problems that drove them apart in the first place, just skipping through romantic moments and calling it a day. This drama thankfully does have the main characters fully separate so they can gain a new point of view and move forward in their lives before finally understanding and see eye to eye. Da Jung delayed her schooling and working in her dream job in reporting/hosting while Dae Yeong completely abandoned his childhood dreams of becoming a professional basketball player in order for the two to become teen parents to twins. They both aged from still looking like their teen selves through their 20s to looking like they are in their 40s (as their actors are) even though they are supposedly 30s. within a few years (like John and Mary from Supernatural). At least she's pursuing her dream despite, while he's deeply embittered at his dead end job that he turns to drinking away his sorrows and saying the most unforgivable thing he could to his wife in public at their school reunion, blaming her for how his life turned out and forgets about it while being black out drunk. It takes two to conceive and was contraceptives even involved? This snowballs with his other bad behavior into being served divorce papers by Da Jung.

Dae Yeong caches in all the good karma he accumulated in his life both when he get given some magic tea that's implied to be perhaps a mix of science and magic by an mysterious elder that turns him back to his young charismatic handsome self and he has a very rich best friend Deok Jin who can house and pretend to be his father. All the scenes with him makes me wonder if this show was partially sponsored by Disney/Marvel. Deok Jin keeps pursuing Ms. Ok despite her constantly saying no until she agrees to date him at the end. It doesn't matter if she's also a fellow nerd, this is just awful. This storyline is awful when they did the other ones pretty well. Ji Hoon the baseball player was always respectful of Da Jung's space and wishes from beginning to end, being a fantastic friend to her even when she doesn't return his feelings. She in turns gives him observant and experience advice to raise his niece/adopted daughter. He was always the mature adult when ever Dae Yeong was being jealous territorial too and only got stern with him when Dae Yeong looked to be getting inappropriate and violent with a fearful Da Jung. He also had to learn that he can't force people to become parents when they don't want to. Him forcing his daughter's unwilling bio mom to meet her was cruel to both regardless of what she chose to say. It turns out that he had been looking for Dae Yeong as well as he was the one who was able to save the niece's life with his handyman tools by breaking the car window and taking her away from the car before a big truck careened fatally into her father and Ji Hoon's brother's car. It's pretty convenient that they are connected this way, but I'll chalk it up to part of Dae Yeong's magical karma.

Dae Yeong initially self serving wish to become young again to do what he missed out on became a way to understand his estranged family members. He finally sees all of his negative behavior towards them while his loving actions as Woo Yeong makes them think of Dae Yeong's caring side. His twins Si Ah and Si Yu seem to have zero interest of ever looking at his photos or videos of him when he was young, while in contrast Si Ah's boyfriend who has fond memories of Dae Yeong stepping up to race with him when he was young does and is the only one other than the adults to figure it out. It took Dae Yeong to transform into the body of his former self to stop yelling so much and be a more communicative person, finally getting to know his children fully as the people they have become. His stereotypical macho father outrage at boys being interested in his daughter was awful though, as Si Ah is more than capable of handling herself on that front. I hope both his kids are fully informed about contraceptives though. It's really lovely how the parallels were done between Da Jung and Si Ah's personalities. Da Jung was actually a bad ass that kicked a girl gang down to save the girl that bullied her, turning her into a life long friend and continues kicking ass with further self defense classes with Si Ah. Si Ah is a bit too old to learn the hard way to avoid dark alleys and picking fights in alleys no matter how good a fighter she is, but better late than never.

It was really interesting the way the drama dealt with the various bullies. Both the lawyer and the young anchor were saved by Da Jung fighting people that picked on them like the other bullies and the upskirt filming producer creep. The coach that bullied Deok Jin in high school took bribes due to his father never believing in him and paying his way onto the team. He became an example used by Da Jung to compel the parents to whistleblow together for their kids. This actually made the parent of Ja Seong that was bullying Si Yu for witnessing the bribe become a better dad and so his son becomes a better person too. Dae Yeong's dad didn't give into the bribe because he believed his son's abilities speak for itself. This storyline connects to the all the characters so well. Deok Jin appearing on the news and the anchor describing his incoherence in speaking as evidence of how badly he was beaten up by the coach was so funny. Dae Yeong reunites with his father who also turned to drinking and hitting him after Dae Yeong's mother died. With time and distance, his father had recovered from his grief and was able to change as well. Dae Yeong watching the back of his aged father, both sitting in the senior seating on the bus to driving the bus for work was heartbreaking. He interacts with him a for a few times, before finally revealing himself to his father through the sign language they both learned for Dae Yeong's mother. It's the most moving scene in the series.

I liked that Da Jung got to date Dae Yeong in his young form for a bit. The chemistry between the actors is very nice. Because there was so much change between the characters, it wasn't too disappointing that he switched back to true age after he made the decision to abandon a basketball career a second time, reaffirming what he wants is just life with Da Jung and their family. He even becomes her manager for a while before he becomes a teacher to little kiddos once his own kiddos have gone off to college. I assume it's because she made enough money in her flourishing career to afford to hire a team. The series is only a about 1hr4m most episodes, but each one feels longer than that, but in a good way. It packs in a lot of interpersonal connection and growth than dramas with episodes over 90minutes long. This is why years later when Da Jung and Dae Yeong have found their identities and have learned healthy ways to communicate after disagreements, it makes sense for them to tie the knot once again. Their guests include the mysterious magic elder who also offered Da Jung who helped him across the street a wish, but she didn't take it. I wonder if he offers everyone who helps him a wish, there might be a whole connected universe of magical mayhem stories because of him.

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Kang Full’s Got No Chill.. Back to Back Masterpieces..

Light Shop flawlessly intertwines the supernatural with human emotions and explores the afterlife and the quest for redemption.. It offered a moving experience to say the truth.. Light Shop excels in showing us the thin veil between life and death.. Reality and the ethereal..
What made me keep watching was the slow paced mood driven narrative.. The slow pace may not appeal to everyone like it did with me.. But you have to understand that it allows the story to unfold with emotional precision.. Which makes each revelation more impactful.. The visual depth in the drama is just outstanding..

Immersive Screenplay.. Visual feast of cinematography.. Good music and extradordinary performance from the cast drives Light Shop to be a work of art..

Ju Ji Hoon and Kim Seol Hyun's performance stood out for me.. KSH's character Lee Ji Yeong's death was an emotional one and the sheer pain of her final moments both physical and emotional tore through the narrative like a wound that refuses to heal.. I think its her story with Uhm Tae Goo that felt the most tragic and that wound never truly healed.. Even by the end..
I think in her last moments as a ghost she believed Hyun Min didn’t love her.. She seemed to expect him to choose to stay with her in the afterlife like Seon Hae did for Hye Won believing that is where they would be happiest.. But in the end Jiyoung chooses to haunt him forever and I guess you could say she becomes a vengeful spirit unable to let go.. Perhaps if she had known about the ring her story could have had a different ending… Maybe..

In Light Shop's finale while every character seems to find some closure.. Its clear that its not truly the end.. Their lives are now intertwined with the afterlife.. I guess they will have to face whatever comes next in their journey through life..

I would have loved to see JJH and Park Bo Young interact in the show.. Guess we just have to be content knowing they have met before ..

The cameo at the end by Jang Hui Su was a pleasant surprise .. But I would have loved to see Kim Bong Seok make an appearance as well.. And we get a look at Young tak from Timing.. So I guess they will create a larger universe in the coming years.. Hope they do it..

Overall this drama is a masterpiece or as close as it can get.. It tells a story that is as "MOVING" as it is entertaining.. It hooks you holds you and leaves you in awe.. Whether you are watching it for the story or the visuals or the acting.. Light Shop delivers on all fronts..

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well... that was depressing lmao

the first half is full of intrigue with the narrative told in a slow, suspenseful manner. with the amount of characters this got, it can get confusing at the beginning but they successfully made it engaging for me and mysterious, you want to know what's gonna happen next. and what happens next is an emotional exploration of life and death. it is sad and depressing honestly but it's also thought-provoking. i think there are enough media out there that imagine what's "afterlife" gonna be and this didn't do anything that mindblowing but it did enough to make me emotionally move. the supernatural intrigue definitely helped. literally everyone gave such incredible and compelling performances. but i might give an extra star to mother lee jungeun for making me cry. she's so good.

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