‘A simple romance is what I love.’

Before I write my thoughts on this drama, I have to say first that I am not a fan of Xiao Zhan or Yang Zi. I will just write my thoughts based on what I have watched, in all honesty.

MAIN STORY

Gu Wei (Xiao Zhan), a gastroenterologist in a hospital, met Lin Zhi Xiao (Yang Zi), a university student majoring in music (cello) when the latter’s father was hospitalized. He was her father’s surgical doctor. Due to some misunderstandings, they didn’t quite like each other at first.
Nevertheless, as they slowly grew to know each other better, they gradually fell in love, despite the huge age gap (he 31 and she 20), personality differences (he was a serious and rational person, while she was happy-go-lucky) and lifestyle habits (he had mysophobia and was health-conscious, while she enjoyed eating steamboat and drinking coke).
Gu Wei eventually confessed his feelings to Lin Zhi Xiao, but not after attempting three times and when they finally got together, hurdles were thrown along the way, but eventually all these were overcome.

ACTING/MAIN CAST

Yang Zi was good, but not anywhere different from her usual character she tends to play as far as I have seen in her other dramas - bubbly, easygoing, straightforward – type of character. And she is a natural in such a role.

Xiao Zhan was the one who made me sit up and give a second look (and couldn’t stop looking, indeed). Other than the historical dramas The Untamed and The Wolf, this was the first time I saw him in a modern romance drama and he oozed charisma here. His tender eyes, superbly sweet dimpled smiles, gentle gestures and devotion as Gu Wei towards Lin Zhi Xiao won my heart over.
I seriously couldn’t stop looking at him in every episode throughout the drama. Many people prefer Xiao Zhan in his Wei Wu Xian character in The Untamed, for sure I like him there too, but it was slow burn for me. Here, he WON ME OVER within the first two episodes. His acting was also natural and believable, whether in his role as a doctor or when he had to show a more emotional side of Gu Wei.

SIDE CHARACTERS/OTHER CAST MEMBERS

I especially like Lin Zhi Xiao’s mother. She looked beautiful with her bright smiles and was always supportive of her daughter in whatever she did. Lin Zhi Xiao's father also did an exceptional job in his role.

As for Lin Zhi Xiao’s friends, they had their own story developments, but all in all, they looked like they were simply there to allow the audience a breather from the main leads once in a while and I did not quite like that Lin Zhi Xiao always consulted her friends for advice when she encountered issues with Gu Wei because her friends always tended to make a mountain out of a molehill of the issues.

PACING

Overall, it was not too fast nor slow, though I did find it a little frustrating around the time before Gu Wei’s confession of his feelings for Lin Zhi Xiao, mainly because he was inexperienced with falling in love, and with the appearance of the love rival, him wanting to give up, misunderstandings, etc., the entire process towards his confession was a little slow (as I mentioned, he tried to confess three times).
So, when he finally managed to confess, it was a sense of relief and the entire confession was so sweet that I found myself smiling and feeling as over the moon as Lin Zhi Xiao.

OST

For most parts of the drama, there was a duet sung by Xiao Zhan and Yang Zi and two others each sung by them. I enjoyed all three songs thoroughly. All have a romantic ‘love is in the air’ vibe in them. They were the kind of OSTs which I would still continue to listen to, even after the drama has ended because they were extremely melodious and the lyrics were so meaningful that they could easily be used as wedding songs in future.

ENDING

What to say about this other than I was touched to tears? I have watched lots of wedding ceremonies in dramas, but this couple just made the wedding vows totally unforgettable, saying words to each other unique in their own way.

Some of the unforgettable words said,

"I hope that when we grow old, you will tell me that marrying me was the best decision you have ever made in your life. If really we cannot remember anything, I also hope that loving you will be the last thing I will forget." Gu Wei

"I swear, I will be patient like a brother, humorous like a friend, thoughtful like a lover." Gu Wei

"I swear, I will be tolerant like a sister, understanding like a friend, romantic like a lover." Lin Zhi Xiao

And when Gu Wei proposed to Lin Zhi Xiao, I could not forget this sentence spoken by him.

"Work, children, health, problems from all sides, I cannot guarantee that our lives will be smooth-sailing in the future, but I can guarantee, be it good or bad, I will always be here. I will always be by your side..." Gu Wei

REWATCH

Absolutely, but perhaps only the scenes of the main leads. I was already re-watching those kissing scenes and sweet love interactions of Gu Wei and Lin Zhi Xiao as I continued to watch further episodes.

NEGATIVE

There were comments about absurdities in the drama, mainly in the hospital setting and well, I do agree with them. Things like giving Lin Zhi Xiao to rest in one of the resting rooms meant for hospital staff or putting an adult patient and a paediatric patient in the same ward or nurses gossiping in the nurses’ station or not telling the father about his cancer condition even right before his surgery or such a huge hospital had no seemingly other patients’ families in the hospital except Lin Zhi Xiao’s family, etc.….

I would say, this is a drama, and watch this drama with your heart, not your brain. You will enjoy the show much more because their romance will far surpass those illogical parts.


VERDICT

People said the romance was clichéd and corny, but what I saw was a very classic, sweet, simple and romantic love story which warmed my heart very much. I enjoyed and found myself smiling at all their love interactions with each other.

Just watching them doing very ordinary things like Gu Wei stroking Lin Zhi Xiao’s eyelashes while she was sleeping, or him gently waking and kissing her in the morning the moment she woke up brought a smile to my lips naturally. They were all just so tenderly done. In fact, when they became a couple, the things they did were very common like taking selfies with polaroid and watching sunrise together, such scenes in other dramas might have been rather boring, but in this drama, I found myself watching with intense concentration. The entire execution was just so natural and sweet that they looked so convincing as a couple and made me want to fall in love too. Kudos to their acting skills!

All in all, I enjoyed this drama immensely and relished every episode. It was really one of the few times when I couldn’t wait for a drama’s next episode and eventually decided to pause watching first because I couldn’t bear it to end so quickly, preferring to ‘savor’ it slowly later :D

It was the entire packaging – very melodious and romantic OSTs, very natural acting from the main leads and above all, amazing chemistry between Xiao Zhan and Yang Zi who were totally comfortable with each other.

It was their natural execution of the roles, making them totally believable, which made this drama worth-watching and unforgettable. The story was nothing extraordinary, it was just a common, simple slice-of-life romance, but the commendable acting of Xiao Zhan and Yang Zi brought this drama to a different level. Perhaps if it had been other less experienced actors and actresses, with a simple story as this, I believe they would not have produced the same effect as Xiao Zhan and Yang Zi.

On top of the romance, I have to specially mention about the relationship between Lin Zhi Xiao’s father and her. Calling her father ‘Old Lin’ or ‘Teacher Lin’, they were always bickering and at odds with each other. Her father used to be a school disciplinary master, while she was a total opposite of what a disciplinarian would want to see. However, their relationship improved amidst heartbreaking moments when her father’s cancer relapsed and hearing her finally call him ‘dad’ at the end was heart-wrenching. It reminded us yet again that humans only learn to cherish the people around them or closest to them when they realize that they are going to be apart soon or apart forever,,,


I would HIGHLY recommend this drama if you like Xiao Zhan, Yang Zi or if you are looking for a sweet and romantic love story with heartwarming scenes or simply if you want to see a handsome doctor for a male lead.

As the lyrics in the duet goes, ‘A simple romance is what I love.’…totally apt in summarizing my thoughts of this drama.




OTHER COMMENTS

1. I think Yang Zi’s character in this drama is about 70% of her true personality, minus the naivety and a little of the bubbly side, based on what I have seen in her past interviews, behind-the-scenes, etc.

2. This doesn’t affect my rating of the drama, but I was a little disturbed and have to say something about it. I saw it frequently in Chinese modern dramas. It would be perfect if actresses could do with less make-up when shooting scenes in the bathroom or on the bed to add that touch of realism. Most of the time, Yang Zi had FULL make-up on, that is, eyeshadow, mascara, bright red lipstick in those scenes when she was supposed to be showering, sleeping, waking up, etc.
I know actresses cannot afford to look ugly even shooting such scenes, but I would have preferred them to tone down on the make-up, like use a lipstick with lighter color and do without the mascara to make things more realistic.

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Convincing acting, some bloody and gruesome scenes

Lots of suspense in the drama and this would make you want to binge watch. Plus it was only 7 episodes.

Everyone, except the male lead and his family, in the village seemed to be hiding something, villagers who appeared friendly turned out to be weird in the end. Even the male lead's boss and colleagues in the police station looked suspicious one point in time.

The drama ended abruptly, so definitely looking forward to season two, but I expect more gruesome scenes (to be expected when we are talking about humans eating raw flesh of other human beings) in season two as more secrets will be revealed.

By the way, the male lead, Yuya Yagira, seemed to have a nice body :D I guess he had to be if he were to handle all those fighting scenes against the cannibals in the drama.

All in all, I would recommend this drama. Generally, the Japanese do well in suspense and mystery dramas, but watch bearing in mind that it is about cannibals so expect some rather bloody and gruesome scenes.

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‘Cherish life and don't take each day for granted’

I picked this up because I was in the mood for a Korean family drama and because of Kim Tae Hee. I hardly watched her dramas, but I know that she was the so-called number one beauty in South Korea, so I just wanted to see her.

This drama was about Cha Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) while pregnant (her child was saved though), got hit by a car and died. She stayed on in the human world, watching her family and loved ones as a ghost (they couldn’t see, hear or feel her) and came back to life for 49 days after 5 years. If she managed to get back her original place that is, as wife of Cho Kang Hwa (Lee Kyu Hyung) and mother to her child, she could continue to live on, otherwise she would ‘die’ again and leave the world, but things were complicated because her husband remarried another woman, Oh Min Jung (Go Bo Gyul).

The good about this drama:

1. It reminded me of living a life without regrets. There were many meaningful sentences spoken in the drama and many a time, I was touched by them. The OST of the drama was also excellent in bringing out the emotions. If anything, this drama did remind me of living life happily, cherishing life and not taking each day for granted. And if there is something we want to do, we should do it now, because sometimes there is no tomorrow.

2. All the emotional scenes were convincingly done. The entire cast did well, especially Kim Tae Hee. I could literally feel her selfless love for her child. I believe this was because she just gave birth to her real daughter not long before she took on this role, so it should be quite natural for her.

The bad, though about this drama, were,

1. There were many other ghosts not related to Cha Yu Ri and her family in any way. Only snippets of their stories here and there throughout the drama, audience could not be vested into their stories, so they were more like fillers and distractions than anything else for the drama.

2. The female lead, Cha Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) coming back to life and having to leave after 49 days if she did not get her place back. I found this whole concept absurd and the scene where she came back to life, I found the entire scene bemusing. Her ranting, shouting, screaming at the top of her lungs on the street at the heavens up there and lo and behold, she suddenly became a human again, presumably having offended the gods up there or if we see it another way, presumably having touched heavens to turn her back to human again. I know fantasy dramas could be farfetched, but this was just ridiculous and absurd and didn't think it was that well done. Nevertheless, on hindsight, I guess the scriptwriter wanted to create this fantasy scenario out of a drama, whereby she came back to life and was able to say proper goodbyes to her family and loved ones before she ‘died’ again, which was of course something not possible in reality.

3. And then the reason why she came back to life was understood later. It was because her mother’s wish – which was to see her daughter once more. Her mother apparently wrote the wish on a piece of paper and the paper was hung with all others’ wishes in the temple. And after that she prayed every single day at the temple for this wish to come true. This was the illogical part to me. Just because of that, her daughter came back to life from dead?? Like, really?? Will this happen in real life?

4. There were lots of crying, saying sorry and thank you in the last few episodes. Really lots and lots of them. I had lost count of how many times ‘sorry’ was said in the last few episodes that they were no longer meaningful to me. And basically, Cha Yu Ri and many of the female characters were bawling their eyes out in the last 3-4 episodes. So much crying. Cha Yu Ri was saying sorry and thank you repeatedly in tears. By the last episode, I had enough. Such scenes, when shown repeatedly, lost their meaning when the reasons for the tears and apologies were the same over and over.

The ending was satisfying although not all ‘loose ends’ were tied properly. All in all, I would not use the sentence, ‘I enjoyed watching this drama’ because it was really heavy on the emotions in the last 5 episodes and only got heavier till the end of the drama, but I am not degrading this drama because it was meaningful and did remind me things about life which I had explained above.

And would I recommend this drama? Yes, if you are looking for a Korean family drama with many tearjerker-scenes and want to be reminded and be motivated to live more actively and meaningfully.

I know this is not something extraordinary, but it touched me when I was watching this scene. This was after her husband realized that Cha Yu Ri had been watching him for the past 5 years when she was a ghost. The conversation went like this:

Husband: “Weren’t you hurt when you saw me living a happy life without you? Were you okay with that?”
Cha Yu Ri: “It hurt. ….. A lot. …….Someone else was seeing the smile you used to make only at me. And someone else was holding the hand that only I used to hold. And someone else was in the place I was supposed to be at. It hurt.”
Husband: “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Cha Yu Ri: “But it hurt millions of times more seeing you cry alone. …….You woke up alone, watched Seo-woo alone and ate alone in an empty house without me. …. And you cried alone. …..That hurt so much that I didn’t even get jealous of the other person. It broke my heart but strangely I felt so relieved.
Husband: “I should’ve endured all that. It was something I should’ve endured even if it was agonizing. “
Cha Yu Ri: “You felt enough pain, you had endured enough. …… I only wanted one thing back then. ……I wanted you to put me behind you and go on with your life.”

Some afterthoughts:

1. The young 6-year-old Seo-woo, the daughter of Cha Yu Ri, is actually a boy! I was really taken aback and thought there was some mistake when I found out about this because he really looked like a girl in the drama with his two ponytails and pink clothing, but kudos to him, his acting was good and if the director had intended him to act like a cute little girl in this drama, it had been convincingly portrayed.

2. I have always felt so, but I am writing this out for the first time…The Koreans are indeed a community of people with strong emotions.

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Watch this for Woo Young Woo albeit a weak storyline & no character growth for others

This is a drama about Woo Young Woo (Park Eun Bin), a lady with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She worked as an attorney in a law firm run by her father’s university junior and got the job through this private connection. And yes, she was extraordinary, despite being autistic, she proved herself to be capable and won cases time and again in the law firm. She had difficulty communicating with others, but had an extraordinary memory. She remembered laws in great details and her exceptional memory was put to great use when she had to plough through numerous documents while defending her cases.

I would not say that I understand autism, so I would talk about Woo Young Woo simply based on my feelings watching her.

She was really adorable. Her hairstyle, the way she walked, the way she spoke, the things she spoke about, her obsession with whales and kimbap, even her poor ability to understand human emotions well, etc., were all adorable.

I give kudos to the actress Park Eun Bin, I have never seen her dramas before, neither did I know who she was before this, but she convinced me totally with her exceptional acting.

Due to Woo Young Woo’s poor ability to understand human emotions well, there were comical times, such as when she was trying to find out her love interest, Lee Jun Ho (Kang Tae Oh)’s feelings for her and during the times when they went on dates. For example, her male friend told her that if it were him, he would treat the other party especially nice like pulling out the chair for her, carrying things for her, opening the car door for her or allowing the other party to walk the inside of a pavement when they walked together beside a road, all these were said from her friend’s point of view as a male, but she took the advice seriously and did exactly all that LOL It was simply hilarious seeing her doing them on top of Jun Ho’s awkward and bemused reactions, like oh, errrrrr, you are opening the car door for me??? Or why are you pulling the chair out for me out of a sudden?? LOL

I especially liked Woo Young Woo’s superior. He was a pleasant yet jovial character and also enjoyed seeing the camaraderie between Woo Young Woo and her best friend, Dong Geurami. As for Woo Young Woo’s love interest, Lee Jun Ho, he existed simply as a supportive love interest for Woo Young Woo, it seemed that the scriptwriter did not want to develop or give him a complicated character.

Cases in the drama were interesting enough, but not to the extent that I wanted more of them. I think many reflected the social issues faced by the Korean society, such as gender issues in Korean companies and Korean children as young as seven years old practically had no life except studying, etc. They finished a case in one/two episodes and some people did not like this style, but I liked it because I watched this while it was being aired and it was aired only twice a week. So episodic for me meant that there was no need to recall what happened the week before when I watched a new week’s episodes.

All in all, I enjoyed this drama simply because of Woo Young Woo. The story was weak and there was almost no character development in the other characters and even if they had, they existed for the growth of Woo Young Woo, but I enjoyed watching her very much and did not mind the drama to revolve around her, given that the drama is titled ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’. Nevertheless, I did find that 16 episodes was enough, I did not crave to see her longer than that, I guess that you cannot go too long with a weak storyline and focus on one character and her growth, so it was good that there would be a two-year hiatus to season two, which I would still watch.


Lastly, this is unrelated to Woo Young Woo, but just to comment on my favourite case, or rather favourite defendant in the drama. It is the defendant in episode 9, the so-called commander-in-chief of the ‘Children’s Liberation Army’. I admire his courage to do against what the Korean society thinks should be the norm, I do not think what he did or think was wrong, the only wrong was perhaps he should have seek the parents’ consent before bringing the children out, but then again, even if he had seek their consent, would academic results-conscious Korean parents allow their precious children to skip after-school extra classes to go to the mountains to play freely for a day?

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easy-to-watch, slice-of-life romance drama

This was a drama extremely pleasant to watch with no villains, no scheming, no angsts, no unhappy parents who objected to main leads or third parties (there were, but no threat at all) nor even major ups nor downs in the story. Just a pleasant and simple childhood friends-turned-lovers who saw each other as one and only love story. Theirs was a sweet, passionate romance with a picture perfect happily ever after ending.

It was an easy-to-watch, slice-of-life romance drama, the kind that you do not really need to concentrate very hard on the conversations but still be able to understand what’s going on.

There were no major ups or downs in the story so there was no excitement or anything to look forward to either.

To be honest, I was not very invested in the male lead, Wen Shao Qing (Tang Xiao Tian) and female lead, Cong Rong (Xing Fei). Their acting was natural and their chemistry as a couple was exceptional. They looked extremely believable as a couple. I have nothing to fault on that. However, I was not invested in Tang Xiao Tian’s looks. As I was writing this review, I kept thinking whether I should even talk about an actor’s looks because it seemed shallow and superficial, but this was basically just my opinion. If it had been a crime or thriller drama, whether the male lead was handsome or not would not have bothered me, him being good-looking would just have been a bonus. However, for a romance drama, the looks of the male and female leads are important, at least to me. Still, I did not deduct many points for this because acting and story are still the utmost important in a drama, of course it did affect my enjoyment, I did not have that fluffy feeling I usually got when I watched such romance dramas.

That being said, I have to say that this was still a very well-done romance drama. There were no silly or illogical acts by any character. The main leads were mature and realistic in their actions and thinking.

Usually around the main leads, there would also be many supporting leads. In this case, we had the female lead’s best friend, superior, the male lead’s uncle, junior, etc. There was nothing to fault in their acting, neither did I find anyone of them irritating nor a hindrance to the main leads or story development at all. Everyone in this drama were simply ‘good’ people, who would not cause unnecessary trouble. In fact, to me, even the love story between the female lead’s best friend and male lead’s uncle were good and I also liked the song that the latter sang while playing the guitar.

OST: I only liked the song sang by the male lead’s uncle. I did not fancy the rest of the songs in the drama.

MY VERDICT
I consider this as a feel-good drama, very pleasant to watch, but again such dramas can be rather dull as well. Yes, it was boring to me when I started because as I said, there was not much excitement, no major ups or downs, but I adjusted myself and enjoyed when I was really in the mood for it so I did not binge-watch and took a while to finish it.

It was simply a realistic, modern romance drama with lots of kisses after the main leads became a couple officially. I have to emphasize, there were really many kisses and 90% of them deep smooches, they literally kissed every time they met after a day’s work, and that was like every day and moreover they lived only opposite of each other.

Would I recommend?
Yes, if you are looking for such a drama like the above, or if you want to watch the main leads or if you are looking for a drama to de-stress, to feel pleasant, to feel good, to watch easily (trust me, it was really very easy to watch), to fill up your time while waiting for new episodes of other dramas, this is one of them to consider, but as I said, enjoy it when you really feel like watching such a drama, otherwise you may find the story a little dull.

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not too bad for just 3 episodes

This drama is just 3 episodes, so I cannot say there was much of story development, it is not fair to comment on that, but it did manage to show well how conservative Japan views same-gender relationships and marriages in mere 3 episodes. The attitudes of everyone - from the sibling himself, to his child, the child's friends, their parents, their school teachers, the ordinary people in the neighborhood, etc. - were all shown subtly in Japanese style.

It had good pacing, never a dull moment and well-executed. It also gave a warm feeling at the end when the Canadian brother-in-law returned to Japan, bringing together his Canadian family..

There was a little surprise at episode 3 about the brother's childhood friend though. At least it was a tiny surprise to me.

I would recommend this drama if you want to take a glimpse of how ordinary Japanese people view same-gender relationships.

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Nothing really exciting about this drama, but the female lead was inspiring to me.

There are quite a number of reviews written for this drama, so this time I will just write mine in short point-form format on what I thought of the drama.

1. Good pacing
2. Easy watch, plot easy to understand
3. Rather than a romance drama, it is more of the life story of the female lead overcoming difficulties and troubles that came her way and eventually being able to lead the life she wants and romance is just there to spice up the story.
4. Strong female lead, not to the point of irritating. The female lead is outspoken, speaks her mind, unconventional
5. Male lead cool, calm and collected, decisive
6. Both leads complement each other very well
7. Last few episodes quite a drag, and last episode itself had a few twists which were unnecessary
8. OST was poetic and catchy
9. Male lead's face too white, overuse of powder on face

Overall, the story was not exciting or interesting enough for me to look forward to every episode. there was no huge ups or downs or climax that made me feel excited or wonder what will happen next, but I continued watching till the end because the female lead was good. Her unconventional thinking in that era was simply refreshing. There are of course other c-dramas with such female leads, but I personally think that the FL in this drama executed particularly well and convincing enough to inspire me. If I were to re-watch, I would re-watch because I wanted to see the female lead again and recall her words.

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A twist towards the end

I chose to watch this drama because it is in the fantasy genre with a simple plotline.
After finished watching, yes, it was fantasy, yes, it was simple, nothing complicated, but what surprised me was the twist towards the end as stated in my headline. That twist actually made me gave more points to this drama. It was already quite good, but the twist kind of made me sit up and look forward to watching.

As for negative remarks about this drama, they would be, illogical part whereby the female lead, after having drunk the potion to forget all her unhappiness with the male lead, could just recall her past with him by just looking at a piece of biscuit the male lead often ate and on that piece of biscuit was magically written her name and that of the male lead, like xxxx love yyyy. Seriously I thought that was like huh? just like that she remembered EVERYTHING about him?? That simple? ok, perhaps the scriptwriter thought that part wasn't important but what happened after was more important, so how she remembered him was just quickly and effortlessly done and over with. Kind of illogical to me.
And the kissing scenes between the male and female leads were not that good, especially the ending when the female lead was going to leave the male lead for good, that was a goodbye kiss which was supposed to be filled with utmost sadness, but it was just closed lips touching, no passion or sadness, they were really just 'acting', I didn't feel touched at all. These minute details do not seem much but because they were the main leads and this romance and love between them does make up a huge part of the entire drama.

Nevertheless, all in all, I still enjoyed this drama with the simple storyline, the twist towards the end, the heartwarming aspects, the funny scenes were entertaining enough, these were enough for the total enjoyment of the drama, but no wow factor, no fantastic feel, no unforgettable love or romance, no particularly terrific acting by the cast, just a simple storyline, normal pacing, not boring, with some heartwarming scenes and a twist at the end.

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Just as good as part 1

This is part 2 of 'i told sunset about you'. It is about Teh and Oh-aew's four years in different universities in Bangkok, the adjustments to their new lives and how they overcome the challenges in their love for each other.

Although part 2 has a different director, as my headline says, it is as good as part 1 to me. We see a more mature Teh and Oh-aew here whether it is their appearances, their thinking or the way they handled matters. In fact, I really like the more mature Teh because of his longer hair and bangs which give him a more charming and handsome look.

Their chemistry and acting were just as good as part 1. I didn't see any awkwardness at all. The rest of the cast was equally good. I have to specially comment that the kissing between Teh and his senior Jai in the acting studio was really good, wow, like there was really passion in the kiss and not just closed lips touching in many many normal dramas. Also, when Teh was a backstage staff in one of the plays, he told Oh-aew who was in the audience seat, that if he wanted to see Teh on stage, he had to close his eyes (after one particular scene), count to ten, then open his eyes and he would be able to see Teh on stage. (This is actually between scenes when backstage staff move props on the stage). Oh-aew did as he was told and when he opened his eyes, Teh was there waving excitedly at him from the stage, in total darkness and only Oh-aew could see him. Just the two of them could see each other, nobody else could. I thought that was a really romantic idea by the director. It was so funny yet so sweet.
Throughout the entire drama, I see that the director put a lot of thought in each scene. There was meaning in every scene, (but they have to when it is only 5 episodes). Every episode and scene counts. There was no filler scenes or scenes which were thought unnecessary. It was a well-done and well thought-out drama.

Basically, I do not have any negative remarks to make about this drama. I enjoyed it thoroughly, there was never a dull moment, I looked forward to every episode and wanted more of it to the point that I couldn't bear to finish watching the series.

I also watched the documentaries of both parts. From the interviews of the directors and main leads to the rehearsals, re-shooting of certain scenes, I could see how much effort and hard work were put into making the two dramas (especially the underwater kissing scene and the beach cuddling in part 1) and they really made me appreciate both dramas more. Also with the explanations of the more significant scenes like why they have to shoot them this way, why the characters did what they did, etc. by the directors, I think they help enhanced understanding and appreciation of the scenes if I were to re-watch the dramas in future.

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It is a good drama overall.

There are already many reviews on this drama, so I would not say much.

Overall, as my headlines says, this drama is good, the CGI are good, the music is good, the cast acted well and the chemistry between the leads are very good.

The only part I didn't really enjoy was the aranya dream. It was a little confusing at times and you really had to listen carefully to the dialogues to fully understand what's going on. Throughout that part, I kept wondering, when exactly are they going to leave this dream?!...it was just too long and sometimes really boring and slow-paced, I fell asleep sometimes even.

Aside from that, there is nothing negative about this drama. It was well-made. However, it wasn't one of those dramas that was so exciting and captivating that you want to know what will happen next. Nothing of that sort I felt while watching the drama.

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A short yet impactful and intense drama

This was a story about a high school girl who had dreamed of becoming an architect but was forced to drop out of school after she was constantly and intensely bullied violently and assaulted sexually in school by her schoolmates and even teacher. Now in her adult age, she slowly seek revenge on her perpetrators.

This was an intense and fast-paced drama that kept me glued to the screen. There was never a boring moment while Moon Dong Eun (Song Hye Kyo) slowly and strategically took revenge on her perpetrators. Watching it, I couldn’t believe the extent of bully these high schoolers could do to a seemingly innocent schoolmate and even the teacher to her. What kind of morals the teacher had in the first place to become a teacher?

It was refreshing to see Song Hye Kyo in such a character. I did not think she looked out of place, but I wouldn’t say her acting was perfect either. Still it was acceptable overall. I didn't deduct points for acting.

8 episodes passed extremely quickly because you would find yourself clicking on to the next after every episode. It was one of those short yet intense drama that still stayed in your memory after watching and you would want to watch Season 2. Yes, because Season 1 ended in a climax that made audience craving to know what would happen (some dark shadow appearing and jaw dropped when you realized who the shadow of the person was), typical of Korean dramas.

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A simple yet meaningful Japanese romance drama

This was a story about a girl (Tsumugi Aoba) who was dating a boy (Sou Sakura) in high school. Around the time they were graduating, the boy was gradually losing his hearing and decided that he did not wish to burden by continuing the relationship with the girl. He did not tell the real reason, but simply texted about liking another girl. The girl only found out his loss of hearing after they met up coincidentally 6 years later. During that time, she was already dating another boy from the same high school who was also the boy’s friend.

11 episodes with 50-60 minutes per episode. ‘Silent’ this drama was indeed rather quiet, understandably so when there was a lot of sign language used.

It was neither fast-paced with action nor were there plenty of things happening. However, there were no draggy scenes. Even the usual tearjerker scenes were quickly over and done with, yet not having the feeling it was insufficiently done. I feel that everything in this drama was portrayed in typical Japanese fashion. Reactions were mild, actions were subtle, but inner emotions were strong yet not fully expressed.
This was best shown when Tsumugi and Sou met again and gradually became closer, yet not becoming a couple. Sou was hesitant because he felt lacking in himself, but Tsumugi was willing to move forward with him. These scenes were shown subtly, nothing overboard or dramatic, making them all the more touching and meaningful.

The acting was also convincing from the whole cast. Special mention to those who acted as hearing-impaired, Ren Meguro, the male lead and Kaho, who acted as Sou’s hearing-impaired friend. They were believable with their fluent and natural sign language. Haruna Kawaguchi, the female lead, was also natural in her acting. She was pretty and was always wearing nice sweaters (not related to the story whatsoever though).

Earlier in the drama, some people commented that Tsumugi saying numerous times to Sou before he lost his hearing completely that ‘I like your voice’, ‘I want to talk on the phone with you’ was emphasized too much to the point of being unnatural, but I think the director wanted to deepen the sad irony later that it was no longer possible for Sou to talk to Tsumugi naturally. In the later episodes, being able to hear him speak out felt so precious. I almost forgot how his voice sounded. He might have lost his hearing, but was still able to speak, just that not being able to hear his own voice became a psychological barrier for him to speak out.

This was a simple drama which touched on the relationship between people who couldn’t hear and people who could hear, how they tried to overcome their differences and most importantly, looked at the other in the present and not look at based on who they were in the past – I thought this was thought-provoking because many times we look at others based on our opinions of who they were and what they did in the past. We should perhaps try looking as they are right now instead of constantly living in the past. In this way, we can become our better selves and move forward together.

I would recommend this drama if you like to watch Japanese romance dramas whose stories tend to be simple and less dramatic. I would not recommend this if you do not like simple romance dramas and prefer dramas which are fast-paced, action-packed full of dramatic turns and twists, highs and lows like Korean dramas.



Some things spoken in the drama that I found meaningful

“Don’t look at someone based on who she was in the past. You should look at her as she is right now. If we keep lowering our gazes, we won’t notice if someone gently calls out to us. We must not avoid looking at them.” – Nana Momono (by Kaho) to Sou (by Ren Meguro)

“I got used to the fact that I couldn’t hear other people’s voices. But not being able to hear your voice, was the only thing I couldn’t accept.” – Sou to Tsumugi

“I won’t speak out. I won’t laugh. I won’t talk on the phone. I won’t listen to music. If these are so hard, I’ll stop doing all these. Even then, I want to be together with you.” – Tsumugi to Sou

(Tsumugi and Sou were sitting side by side. Tsumugi wrote each sentence separately in post-it notes and passed them silently one by one to Sou. I think it was her expression, she looked so pitiful while she was writing and passing the post-it notes that I couldn't help but cried with her.)

“Flowers make no sound yet they contain words that can convey many feelings.” ……. So true.

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Quite a refreshing plot

I did not expect to enjoy this drama as much as I did. The title sounded comedic, while the entire cast looked very young, but it was not really a comedy.

It was a drama on love – family love, relationships between family members and just a small portion on the usual love between man and woman. It was a rather refreshing plot to me. Simply put, it was mainly about a boy who travelled back in time to when his parents were at his age. He was able to see for himself the things that happened to them and what led them to become the persons they were. Seizing the opportunities to control his family's future, he tried to prevent all the bad happenings and hoped to eventually change his parents' destinies.

As in all Korean dramas, the pace was on the fast side. Things happened quickly, so there was never a boring moment. The first half was a little slow, but come the second half, you will want to keep watching till the end.

There were loopholes here and there, but I was still able to overlook them for the story and the acting. *Like in most Korean dramas, the leads were always able to run to one another’s houses in minutes, as though they were all living on the same street lol, not a major loophole, but still not very realistic after a while.

I give kudos to the main cast for their acting. The four main leads were young, in their twenties, in fact two of them were only 21 years old. However, their acting was convincing enough. I would not say impressive but it was sufficient for the roles in this drama.

The OSTs were melodious. The fast ones were catchy and full of life while the slow sad ones were touching and good enough to bring tears to my eyes.

All in all, it was one of those dramas I would not re-watch, not because it was bad but because I already know the story, the meaning of their actions and the ending, so I do not see the point of re-watching, but I think it was one of those dramas that was worth at least watching once.

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A drama with a different setting from the usual Thai BLs - olden Thailand

The main leads are mature working adults. The setting is quite different for this drama, unlike the usual school settings in most Thai BLs. It is set in the 1920s Chiang Mai, so the characters are dressed in olden traditional Thai clothing of that time. Thinking and mannerisms also reflect that era.

The story flow is logical and systematic.

Not sure if this is related to culture, some of the reactions look exaggerated and awkward. The acting of the main leads is natural enough though. And others have pointed out as well, spoken English by some of the cast, is excellent.

The kissing and bed scenes are steamy and natural enough to me.

Happy ending or not, yes, it is a happy ending, but I am left slightly bewildered because there is no logical flow or explanation of what is happening in the last scenes of the last episode. This is probably my only gripe with this drama.

Overall, this drama gave me a glimpse to olden Thailand. It was something different and I enjoyed watching such dramas. I did not struggle to watch every episode because I was looking forward to some reveal or explanations to why the male lead travelled back to the 1920s in the first place. There did not seem to be any explanations in the drama eventually, but I was contented to believe that it was to meet his destined other half which seemed reasonable enough to me after watching the drama to the end.

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The best part for me was Xiao Zhan

This was a love story between Princess Zhu Yan (Ren Min) of the Chi Yi Tribe and Royal Prince Shi Ying (Xiao Zhan). Due to the framing of his mother the queen, Shi Ying was taken away to Jiu Yi Mountain to cultivate from a young age. Since then, he focused solely on his cultivation until he met and accepted Zhu Yan as his disciple. Over time in the mountains, both developed romantic feelings for each other, but neither acknowledged nor expressed their feelings because of their relationship until only much later.

What I liked:

1. The male lead, Shi Ying. I really enjoyed seeing Xiao Zhan’s boyish face. Though he looked young, he carried himself well as a teacher. His character was kind yet decisive and ruthless when required.

2. Acting of the entire cast. No negative comments about anyone. In the beginning I was skeptical about the female lead. Her face looked round and what with her bangs down in the early episodes, her face looked even shorter and rounder. However, despite her character being the typical kind in such teacher-disciple dramas – innocent, playful, adorable, she grew on me. Her acting was not exceptional, but it was acceptable. Undeniably, Xiao Zhan’s acting was a par above her.

3. The cinematography. It was spectacular. Clearly a drama with a huge budget. I heard someone said that it would not be easy or even possible to make another such heavy-budgeted xianxia in China again.

4. In many of the teacher-disciple relationship dramas I have watched, most of the time the teacher would not acknowledge his romantic feelings openly, much less think of ways or take actions to chase after the disciple, so it was good to see Shi Ying admitting his feelings for Zhu Yan, taking action and willing to give up his life in the mountains to be with her, albeit I had to wait 30 episodes to see him take some action.

What could have been better:

1. The open and somewhat illogical ending or maybe I just cannot accept it. One of the worse endings to me in any xianxia drama. After all that they had gone through? I was left wondering whether they were finally together or not. I read that the drama portrayed a different ending from the novel, so I shall choose to believe the novel’s ending which was a more acceptable one.

2. Chemistry between the main leads. I hate to admit this because I was quite touched by their love, but I would not say they had the best chemistry ever. When Zhu Yan was younger, it was near impossible to imagine them as a couple. When she was older, I think she was mellower and her bangs were longer so they looked better together, but still, their pairing did not feel natural enough and their intimate scenes were slightly awkward to me. I watched the behind-the-scenes shots and saw that Ren Min was embarrassed kissing Xiao Zhan. Could that be one of the reasons?

I have always enjoyed teacher-disciple relationship dramas. It is an old trope, but I enjoy the angst and thoroughly enjoy every intimacy between the couple, because it is a so-called forbidden relationship.

The overall storyline for this drama was easy to understand, although some parts confusing, flaws and illogical parts like the final battle scene which seemed so lame possessing one body after another and eventually having to sacrifice Shi Ying to rid the demon once and for all.

As for their relationship, it had relatively less angst to me compared to other such dramas of the same genre. The angst only started around episode 34 of the total 40 episodes and was still relatively mild - I did not watch sighing and wanting to tear my hair out.

All in all, would I seem shallow to say that the best part for me about this drama was watching Xiao Zhan? His performance was not his best to me, but it was still good, worth watching him for 40 episodes.

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