My Decoy Bride (2023)

Intriguing drama with its own FF button <3

I stumbled upon this drama and decided to plunge right in without much research or thought. Wow, it turned out to be a fun and entertaining ride.

What I liked about this drama:
- The plot was intriguing as many things were going on. There was a lot of action. The plot was fast-paced. Things happened. Things were revealed.
- The ML was "da bomb"-- handsome! He could be cute. He could be suave. He could be manly. I enjoyed watching him!
- The FL was not a damsel in distress which was nice.
- Everything was explained and well-linked. Everything was tied up nicely despite the fact that this drama was a mini-series. I liked the sense of completion and closure.
- The fighting scenes were quite nicely choreographed.
- There was plenty of "skinship" between ML and FL which was, to me, very lovely. I liked how they sort of could not keep their hands off each other. I liked their hot kisses and their interactions which were full of (sexual) tension.
- I was entertained and intrigued. It was a fun short ride!

What I didn't like:
- This mini-series was a little too rushed in my opinion. Everything seemed to be at 1.25 or even 1.5 speed.
- The jumps from one part to another seemed very "touch and go" -- "here's the explanation, take it and off we go to the next" was how I felt.

Overall, this is an exciting and entertaining mini-series with cute ML! I watched him in "Royal Rumors" but he is finer in this series. I'd say watch it! It's very good! :o)

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Snack-size drama, but solid entertainment

Even though the episodes are only 11 min long, the overall quality of this drama makes it appear more like a full-length drama (but without the draggy bits).

While the plot is classic false-identity/revenge fare, this drama has many strong points that I would wish to see in normal length dramas:

Despite some twists, the plot remains coherent until the end.
There is a strong female lead and all the female roles manage to avoid the usual, dreadful stereotypes of damsel in distress, moronic maid, obsessive delusional cousin/sister/love rival, etc.
It isn’t a big production, so the cast is quite limited, but it doesn’t feel like more people were needed. The acting by the main cast is pretty decent and the martial arts sequences look well choreographed.
There are plenty of romantic scenes between the main couple, but thankfully without any of the usual cheesy tropes like viewing lanterns/fireflies, falling blossoms or slow-motion/repeat scenes. Their chemistry is sufficient to not need any of this to show their feelings.
The drama did not lose its momentum in the second half and the ending felt sufficiently fleshed-out.

If I had to point out one thing that I disliked about this drama it would be the ending OST which I found quite unbearable. Every time that squeaky voice hit the high notes is felt like fingernails scratching on glass.

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Magic, martial arts & abs....

I am probably cheating a little bit for my A-Z Watch Challenge since this is the second short episode drama I chose to complete the list. None of others starting with Y, took my fancy so I picked this one: it is short so even if I don't like it, I'll finish it.
The good news? I loved it! I'd compare it to The Killer is Also a Romantic but better. The stories are similar!

Two assassins who work for the same temple, meet maskless and fall in love. The woman is supposed to kill the man but finds it difficult since he does not resemble the evil person she was told about! He reminds her of the person who saved her life three years earlier. While investigating, they both stumble upon a court conspiracy. But even after getting rid of the main conspirateur there seems to be another one.

I am not particularly knowledgeable about xianxia/wuxia lore nor do I know the difference! This one is about princes, some special powers and martial arts. The beginning is funny and maks you think it is a comedy. It took me some time to get used to characters with their many names and titles. Then it gets serious as the conspiracy becomes more obvious and secrets are revealed. But, that said, it was an entertaining ride, without a draggy moment, no time was wasted on superfluous plotlines. The main couple had great chemistry and their romantic moments were swoonworthy!

The woman assassin was so fun to watch when she eventually fell in love and started batting her eyelashes and behaving like a little wife she definitely was not. He immediately put stop to it. He respected strong women and did not want her to change. What a great message to send! For such a short drama, major characters are well drawn. Surprisingly, I did not find anything annoying!

Production value is high: sets and costumes were stunning, direction and fights choreography slick, the music was appropriately uplifting ballads and editing mostly smooth (I managed to notice a silly continuity error: sleeve moving up and down the arm depending of the camera used. There are probably others but I did not notice them, the plot was moving fast forward so I did not have time to notice details much!!!).

Well, this is the kind of c drama I like: short and without time to waste. An excellent and fun watch....

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I don't understand the fuss about this show .. it was boring

After reading a lot of comments and reviews I started watching the show ... But I don't think it is worth the hype ... Richard was the only good thing about this show ..story sucked . . FL character sucked ..her acting sucked ... Momentum of the plot sucked ... It was surely not my cup of tea ... The worst thing was the dimwit FL even if I ignore the cringe dialogue still overall character was pathetic .. she is sort of an undercover agent yet she has no sense of entering a place stealthily... She just walks like a stupid person right in the middle of hall ... Worst undercover agent in history ... Please stop writing such retard female lead characters ...women can play better undercover agents why tf do these writers turn them so cliche and cringe ... Pfft!!!

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Not bad for a short drama

I usually don’t watch short drama, but this wasn’t bad. The plot was okay, I was a bit boarded sometimes.

Finally a drama with absolutely no useless and annoying love triangle, thanks for that

The acting was really good and the costumes were great. Also the leads have amazing chemistry with hot kisses. This guy really know how to kiss ahah he has passionate kiss in all his dramas I saw videos of, he’s like the king of short drama too ahah He’s a good actor and so handsome. I will check his other drama for sure, but the one with happy ending

I had a feeling the brother was a bad guy and I was right, that was predictable

A bit disappointed we didn’t get to see a grandson at the end, they kept mentioning it

But I like the ending, a happy ending that wasn’t too short

I would recommend this short drama

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This is a fantastic romance/revenge miniseries in a historical era setting. The series is fast paced with a well developed plot, great cinematography and choreography, The OST is nice and it complements the drama well. The cast did a great job bringing their characters to life and the leading couple complemented each other very well and had passionate, tender chemistry that got better and better as the drama progressed. Although minidramas have the tendency to show marked jumps from one episode to another, this drama did quite well in trying to maintain the flow within its complicated plot. Overall, the drama is great and entertaining. Enjoy it!

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A DIAMOND GEM-- for a short series!

Intrigued by how many views it obtained, I started it! And men, this was lit! I love the unique concept of that assassin group part, the way things become mysterious and unfold, and the way the characters develop! I also like the four women, maids/assassins. COOLLL

The FL is 10/10. I like how they portrayed her as a brave woman without tainting it with kawaii stuff but still incorporating how physically vulnerable she is. And she always caught me with her acting and then the next thing you knew, she was stabbing the villain nyahaha LAB IT! Her moves are damnnnn, so badass! I love how she becomes impulsive because she's hungry for justice yet cunning and uses her brain simultaneously. She nailed being the revenge woman but still has emotion-- just right for her portrayal.

ML is lit too! Check for not being self-centered and how he calculated everything yet didn't put it as an upper hand even to FL. His kind and heroic nature were rare to be portrayed nowadays, especially if the mc has martial arts (ya know, his behavior is sometimes 'assigned' to scholar characters... so that's why I like this story!

Their duo was the best! Fav scenes when they always work together. The action was WAHHH! Lowkey wishes they put more scenes like that. No tortures 2nd character that's why it is lit. And the overall plot was nice, fast-paced, and interesting. Sometimes the details were like detailed so it makes me wonder if this series was meant to be medium or long eps. Just a hinch because the plot could still speak a lot! Nyahahah, I was prepared at the end for bittersweet but I want to marry the writer for giving this a happy ending!

Overall, must watch! One of the best short series I ever watched!

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