The Way You Shine (2023)

Great acting albeit with a clichd soapie plot

I was excited to watch this as I like both the main leads from different dramas (especially FF from History2 a BL)

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Abortion

What they did well:
- Casting - top notch. You were behind the MC and really hated the others
- OST - sweet
- Kissing scenes - both Puff and FF are expert kissers
- I found myself wanting to watch the next episode
- The food porn - I was craving cake by the end of it.

What wasn't so good:
- The plot is ok but there are so many coincidences you would think it was based in a village not a city. Like there are literally only 4 families in this whole show
- The majority of the women are really unlikeable. From the mums to the 2nd FL to the sister Xia Anni they were problematic.
- Stalking seems to be normalised behaviour. No means No
- They resolved some issues quickly such as trauma and others were left with holes (e.g. the debt). Maybe they're saving it for the last 2 episodes but I doubt they could fill that many.
* 1 thing I didn't like is that the villains were noticeably darker skinned, highlighting a continued issue with the Asian media.

Overall a decent binge watch over the weekend and if you like that soapie style then definitely worthy of a watch.

I'll come back after the ending but that's it for now. Enjoy!

Post ep 24: Nothing to add except the mum stuff was resolved a little too easily. There was a lot of emotion at the end and it was well acted. The OST did the mOST with the paino and string instruments but, at this stage I would expect nothing less. I'm just glad they didn't give us amnesia in the last episode as with all of the cliches it could have gone there.

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Nice Romance Drama that Shines

This series hit all the points of tragedy, jealousy, business dealings and broken connections. The chemistry between the leads was heartwarming and swoon worthy. The emotional depth of the ML was very well done. FL did very well in conveying the arc of lost, betrayal and hope. OST song by Shi Shi, "Loving You Is" totally captures the essence of the series. . 2 hospital scenes close to the end was a bit cliché and wasn't needed to that extent.
Episode 24 gave all the key dialogs from the mothers and ML for a solid ending to occur. However, the ending was curious and a little open-ended which left you thinking .... Okay??? Anything else? Yet, overall production was solid. This is a solid watch.

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