This is really the perfect drama when you want to watch something not super serious, the evil people aren't frustrating and don't drag, the romances and friendships are super cute (the only thing ill complain about is in like the last 4 eps, they just had to bring the ex gf back to cause some trouble, which i found a bit overkill and cliche, but the rest of the story is realy nice and it only happens for a short time ad the ML never wavers for her anyway so yeah, if you can roll your eyes for like an episode, you'll experience such a great feel-good drama, really.

want to know about the couples? you've got:

secretly very sweet ceo + charming employee who started the company together and have been together for so long any kind of attraction they could have had is destroyed by habit

the single mom with the cutest little kid ever + boyfriend with opposing mother (who has lots of character development)

And the cutest playboy who's world turns upside down when he falls for his bestfriend (who's watched him and his playing-the-field BS for years)

NOW TO ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU ARE ASKING IN YOUR BRAIN:

Yes, there are a number of kiss scenes. Yes, the girl actually responds to them. yes, the ceo is still swoonworthy without being a jerk. No, their colleauges are not bitchy and jerks, they're very cute and like a family. No, the parents are not seceretly satan: ready to bitch-slap or money-envelope-slap the FL. No, the ML doesn't have a very cliche tragic backstory, but it's still a backstory to make him look very lonesome-heroesque, don't worry (because is a swoonworthy ceo really a swoonworthy ceo without the #darkpast? i. think. not.)

well, it's also short to binge in a day if you really try hard (24 eps, baby, the best number to see on a cdrama profile) . just trust me, you'll love it if you're looking for this kind of cute love story.

Leggi di Più

UGH. the first cdrama i've seen in a while where you can tell the production crew actually CARED about it. Everything is perfect and done with heart and I loved the script, the magic, the friendship, the adorable characters that were somehow silly, complex, heartfelt and relatable all at once.

What this drama is: the adorable ends-up-living-together setting mixed with the fantastical and crazy world of demons who live among humans. The fantasy element is fascinating and the "demons" who are thousands of years old and very quirky are equally hilarious and just super super interesting. The main couple is freaking adorable, you could call it a love to hate relationship at it's extreme XD LOL mixed with a forbidden love (humans and demons can't be together) Also the friendships and their squad is goals.

Characters:
- The spunky main girl who sells fake antiques cause she's hella in debt because of her dead-beat dad LOL
- The almighty powerful fox demon who decides he likes her cooking enough to invade her house forever
- the bitchy 2nd female who's actually hilarious, not actually a bitch and always lies about her age (shes like 2000, but always lowers it to like 1300 XD)
- an adorable demon catcher who cant catch demons for shit (but wont admit it) and instead runs around sticking useless talismans on their foreheads and crashing on their couch and eating their food...
huh, everyone in this drama is such a freeloader XD

ANYWAY

The dialogue in this show is actually so pretty and philosophical, and the characters are really interesting with a lot of complex sides. ive never watched a cdrama before where i like all the characters, despite which side of good or bad (or in the grey area) they're on. Super impressed with the final fight scene too, and a lot of the directing and editing and cinematogrpahy is really. really good. damn, i almost wish they had had a higher budget to get some real A class SFX, but they've really done well with their resources, nothings "cringey" or whatever, its pretty high quality. I love this show. cant wait for S2. loved the dad too XD so freaking hilarious.

If you loved shows like Korean Odyssey, you'd totally like this.

Leggi di Più

This drama is one of the best youth dramas I've seen. I liked it way more then ALSB and a couple others that I've seen.

First of all it doesn't drag. Everything is paced nicely and the episode count is perfect, especially as someone who has seen a lot of youth dramas where the themes are very similar, and it's super addictive so I binged this in like 2 days. The script is wonderfully written and the dialogues are very touching and it's enhanced by the female lead liking literature so she says interesting things and quotes songs/poems etc. Both the couples are super cute and nice, especially in their high school years and its an overall very sweet chill drama.

You'll like all of the characters. None of them are annoying. And low and behold, this really deserves a medal, there's not one bitchy antagonist in this show. Like, all of the conflicts are logical everyday things that happen as you live life, but its not boring or illogical either, which I didn't even realise till it ended, but not once did I have to eye roll.

I really gives props to the female actress because she did a really good job, but all the actors did very well.

This show really needs more attention because it was cute and nice and refreshing and made me nostalgic.

Just an extra thing:
I feel like this show really let the main girl accomplish things and do things rather then just following the main lead around (not saying she always succeeded in those things, but she never sat around and whined about having to do work or whatever which I really liked.) Also she wasn't the exaggerated "failure of a daughter" where they're dumb af and only merit is eating like a pig and blinking emptily at the ml every time he talks to her (but is still supposedly "charming"). No, she was a relatable average student with areas she excelled in and also areas where she did poorly. She did not rudely stuff her face, but was still portrayed as someone who enjoyed eating and did not have the worth ethic of someone who doesn't even exist in this world. Everything was realistic. Also she had a proper friendship with the male lead and they helped each other with their dreams, shared their troubles and had an actual relationship.
Also in school, all the girls equally participated in the competitions and sporting/cultural events instead of idolising the male characters while the female leads watched them from the stands.
I didn't mean to rant about female representation too much but you know how cdramas be XD gotta sift through all that crazy to find nice dramas like this where you don't want to throttle every female character lol

Leggi di Più

This drama is super sweet and cute and has a lot more heart then i thought it would cause the synopsis sounded pretty shallow.
Both the main characters are really likeable and the plot is quite simple but I wasn't bored at all watching it. The main character is a high school boy used to being adored by everyone who gets a bit of a reality check when the main girl doesn't agree to go out with him immediately. This is a common plot that I've always found a bit annoying because even if the guy eventually falls for her personality, for the majority of the time he was still a jerk. In this movie however, except for their first encounter, the main guy pursues her because he genuinely likes her and knows it too (it's not for his "hottest-guy-in-school-pride", which shows cause he just throws dignity out the window lol). The male lead is actually very selfless and kind and really good person. This later comes to his disadvantage, actually. Also, watching him become super awkward and more "uncool" as none of his confessions work is really funny and cute.

This is a short super cute show with a really nice ost, pretty cinematography, friendship feels and a really nice little love story. If you want to watch it I suggest watching the really short drama with the same name that acts as a prequel to this. You'll understand the plot better and get to see how much the main guy loves his friends and how he always helps them out as well as seeing his friend's own love stories, which are equally cute.

I totally recommend this if you want to watch something fluffy and sweet and feel-good. A movie with lots of heart. honestly.

Leggi di Più

If you're sick of cliche chinese dramas, this is why you MUST watch this:

to anyone who's sick of the typical annoying FEMALE LEAD, i totally recommend this drama. She's tastefully childish and quirky at times (sometimes on purpose as she tries to make the emperor not like her) but she actually acts her age, likes to help her friends, is kind but not unreasonably so to the point it makes her look stupid or a pushover. It's so refreshing, she's cute without acting 5, realistically clumsy (but not annoyingly so) and doesn't run away from her problems (thank the heavens)

the ROMANCE. They are so cute. It doesn't just start immediately because this is a romcom and theyre the leads . There's an actual buildup, and its super cute, heart fluttering and realistic. They take their time to get to know each other. they become friends first. They actually get along and have things to talk about. The king notices her because of her "uniqueness" but that's not why he falls for her. I like this the most about it. I feel like even the romantic tropes used are uniquely done and never go where you expect.

the MALE LEAD is not a jerk. He messes with her as enemies do (and later as friends), but it's nothing extreme (eg. making him a purse - which he just wants cause he likes her anyway) In fact, I'd say he's very careful about being too abrupt with his feelings and scaring the female lead away, especially as he funnily enough becomes friendzoned in a way. But hes the most reasonable person in this drama, and an actual good ruler.

Also the PALACE DRAMA AND POLITICS is very few and totally tasteful. Also all the concubines/escorts are BFFs instead of trying to kill each other, the main character's squad is the best and they get along like you're watching some youth drama with all the shenanigans they get up to around the palace and gardens.

The PLOT is well written, nothing that drags. It's short. 36 episodes that are about 30min when taking away intro/outro songs.

SIDE CHARACTERS are likeable, cute. everyone in the palace gets along like family. I think it's stylised this way. I think if it was more realistic, the servants wouldn't be able to behave like that, but that's its charm, it's very warm.

I 10/10 recommend if you're bored with the typical progressions of both modern and ancient dramas. I feel like this one has a lot of heart with the romantic relationships and the friendships.

Also the COMEDY is really unpredictable, is it only me who thinks this?? the jokes never go where i think they'll go, and I have watched.... a heck load of dramas.

Leggi di Più

This drama is shot really interestingly, it strays from the usual cdrama formula, you'll find the characters are really unique and the flow of the story to be very creative. You can tell someone put a lot of thought to make not only the story interesting but the way it is presented interesting. The editing was also unique.

It's a Business strategy/war and Romance centred drama. Although the romance is a very prominent part of it, the show is also about achieving the female leads dreams and growing her very small business with the help of the male lead and her friends, so there is a lot of focus on them battling other companies. I found this story had many characters that weren't simply good or evil; there's a lot of complex scheming and ambitions and not everyone is as they seem.

The romance is really refreshing and very cute and there are a couple pairings in this although the leads are main focus. A very well written story that looks into the daily lives of small businesses and internet stars that has a lot of heart. Maybe this will inspire other people to start up their own business?

Leggi di Più

lowkey dissapointed in how the writing turned out as the story progressed

lowkey dissapointed in how the writing turned out as the story progressed. I loved the beginning episodes and the writing kept the suspense up. it made me want to analyse vincenzo as a character and i wrote lots of comments here about his past and his motives, whether he believes he's a good person or not. but as the story progressed, everything i was curious about as a viewer was never addressed or weirdly brushed over. The characters stopped feeling "real" and became too comic-like, the "revenge" parts became really slow and lacked buildup or weren't timed in a dramatic way in the episodes. i also started questioning chayoungs character who's personality was written more and more sporadically in every episode. There were so many loose ends that were never tied up (and the funny thing is those loose ends were what everyone was interested in) Take the whole cassano family feud. everyone was so interested in seeing vin fight his brother or have the italian mafia come after him... that's what the story set up in the begining... but then all we got was this enslaught of korean politicians, businessmen, lawyers, that we knew nothing about and that were introduced to the story late. Another plotpoint. Vin's past. What actually happened back then. what are those flashbacks. him working out how he feels about himself. getting closure. why did none of this happen? Alot of the characters irritated me and it's because they were too comical but not in a good way and were just so unrealistic for a "serious" show (even tho i am aware vincenzo is more like a parody than a dead serious mafia drama) but i will say my props to the lame gangsters running the balloon store. they were the only funny people in the plaza: the whimpy gangster boss and his goth chick accountant were hilarious. Then shout out to taecyeon for our main villian. The way he acts with his eyes made me genuinely think he was having fun torture people. And his brother, what an interesting character and storyline. he was the most thought-out character in the show and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, he's also everyone's favourite..... just look at what good character writing does, it's no coincedence he's a crowd fav. Of course i think vincenzo was played very charismatically and he really is the most charming in a suit.

Leggi di Più

Wow, what a nice sweet drama that I wish was longer tbh.
The premise is pretty cliche but I've never seen it done in such a light easy to watch drama without all the angst, and as I watched more episodes I realised the dialogues between all the characters are really well done and intelligent and both the leads have interesting perspectives on things, there were lots of little plot twists that I didn't expect as well where I expected it to do the typical trope and then it did something different. I also REALLY like how they handle the age gap, like it's not done weirdly. Anyway, recommend this drama to anyone who wants to watch something short and cute to pass the time also the ost is realllllly nice, japan always does well with emotion-evoking osts i feel. The female lead also has the best personality ever like seriously, you won't be annoyed with her and will actually really like her, the male lead too, you think he's gonna be another typical arrogant ceo then BAM, a complex character appears *gasp*

Leggi di Più

this show isn't perfect but the feeling it gives you is 10/10. its one of those sweet colourful girlish(?) types that make you feel good inside. all the characters are very cute and they follow their dreams in the big city, and the friendship is really so great and the couples are all very cute. If your looking for that kind of drama that's not about the drama/deep stuff but still has heart then this dramas perfect. i watched it whenever i was tired or feeling down. The ost is really really pretty too. the acting was really good too. im impressed with the main leads. There's a really great girl crush character and the main guy is really sweet and his "grumpy" side isn't overboard like someee overbearing ceos where you're just like, "i dont care what your past was, you cant be that mean to someone and then still like them" but yeah XD . Did i mention all the characters are really cute. and the music. so good.

The fashion in this is gorgoues and all the architecture and interior design is really really pretty too. This is one aesthetic show. It was such a pleasure to the eyes LOL.

Leggi di Più

If you like business/corporate stories this one's for you. All about the power and monopoly and those big fights super-rich conglomerates have with billions of dollars over skyscrapers and malls and stuff. This takes up most of the drama, and I'll be honest, I can't really watch too much of this stuff, but I somehow watched pretty much all the episodes and was entertained, so if you enjoy this genre, it's quite well-written in that aspect.

Onto the characters, they're pretty great. The female lead isn't cold, she's very sweet and kind but mature and vice-president to the corporation. She rides motorbikes but remains a bit closed-off because the man she loved died 5 years ago and she's not really over it. But she's great and helps the ML lots in the beginning.

The Male lead is great too. Charismatic, charming the typical playful and boistorus rebel, except he's extremely kind and even gets taken advantage of a lot because of it. Which is fine... until he goes bankrupt and then has to face reality. Half the show is his learning curve in the "real world" with the help of the female lead.

Anyway, really really enjoyed his journey from the ground up in the first half, in he second half i got a bit bored because like i said earlier, business is not my fav genre, but isn't that for every cdrama anyway. they'll always drag and I have yet to see one that doesn't so XD

Loved the martial arts "pushing hands" that is the metaphor for everything. They actually play it in the show and the ML learns it and he uses it to help him run the company.

Leggi di Più

This drama felt like a mix of the Story of Minglan plus bits of Goodbye my Princess, which in my opinion, are the highest quality historical dramas that I've ever seen (but bear in mind I have yet to watch Nirvana in Fire and Eternal Love, which I have high hopes for). I've seen a lot of them and other then these two, I honestly wouldn't even recommend any others because they all fall to nonsensical plot and tiresome dragging. With this show I had two opinions on it, one before it started to drag, and one after completing it.

In the first half, I felt while there were some flaws to the writing (like it wasn't as neat or as clever as it could be and there were some plot holes in character's personalities and events that happened), but I could definitely brush it off because it's a drama so whatever and in comparison to a lot of others that I'd seen, its quality is really quite high. If this had been my first historical drama, I probably would've been completely satisfied.

I was impressed with the leads acting, especially as I've always heard great things about Luo Jin and he was really really good, almost to the point i didn't want him acting this tiresome plot anymore, because I feel it to be such a waste. The chemistry was also evident and very natural which is I guess why they became a real life couple XD
However, the plot revolved around WeiYoung and Prince Jun being extremely clever and using their wits to escape all kinds of situations, and yet, half the time they'd do really REALLY dumb things, which would get them into trouble and it wasn't consistent at all. Another thing to add is when they were being "clever", scheming and creating these master plans that would afterwards be praised by everyone around them, they'd honestly not even be that smart and sometimes didn't even make sense and it felt like they were treating the audience like they were dumb enough to not comprehend logic . I couldn't help but compare every scheme to the likes of MingLan's in The Story of Minglan, which follows a very similar story. Her scheming, cleverness and how far ahead she could plan was on another level and the writing was just so much more advanced that I wasn't impressed by anything Weiyoung did. To add to this further, the Prince in Goodbye My Princess, who was in a very similar position to Prince Jun, is honestly the biggest mastermind schemer I've yet to watch in any cdramaland, and the way he manipulated situations was on another level, so I could just not be impressed at all with any of the writing in this show.
But still. Most historical dramas turn into garbage when they get stretched to a million episodes, so this is still one of the better ones out there.

But just to be more difficult, once I reached about 2/3rds of the way in, I really couldn't take the dragging and consistent rehashing of the same conflicts and same obsessive evil people that just wouldn't die. Every event would turn into a mystery case that would always end up with the Emperor being involved, which honestly lowered his status a lot, because the randomest of people would just be allowed to walk in and argue with him with 0 consequences. Ranks and titles of people would get thrown around and removed all of the time, so every time someone was demoted or promoted, it just felt like whatever. Still those ranks were used to threaten people, somehow, so it felt like consequences weren't taken seriously and people could get away with anything. Also, just for drama/plot, the same evil people were trusted again and again even though everyone had already established their crimes and they should've been outcasted by the main cast a long time ago. This made everyone have 0 personality because they didn't stick to any type of morals and seemed to have a memory that couldn't last long enough to remember the people who betrayed them. All of these issues are mostly caused by poor writing and stretching the plot to a huge 54 episodes.

Finally I'd like to make a comment on its genre of "big female role" which means the entire plot and characters all focus around the leading female character. I personally, just cannot handle shows like this because in reality, the whole world does not revolve around one person, so to watch every single male character fall for her and to watch every female character despise and plot against her, is honestly, soooo tiring, especially when the writing is poor and the schemes aren't actually very "clever" and you wonder why all these people even LIKE her or are ENVIOUS of her. This is my own opinion of course and I am sure there are many who enjoy these types of shows, I just for one, cannot stand watching the almost mindless devotion that every supporting character seems to have for this one person, it is too fake for me. But I would also like to add that this show's version of it didn't really annoy me till the very end.

To sum up, while this seems like a negative review, its the 4th best historical drama I've actually seen, so anyone who's new to this genre would probably enjoy it. I am aware that the two dramas I mentioned, GBMP and Story of Minglan, came out after this one, so if anything, they have actually taken inspiration from this, but all i can say is both far surpass this one in every way so you may as well just watch those two first and then this one XD

Leggi di Più

This show was really really good and very touching, especially for what I'd classify as an "idol drama"., albiet a very high budgeted one. The cast was filled with new faces and they all did a really really good job so that was super refreshing. I found all the characters really different to the usuals you find in any drama, they were all intersting and unique and the relationships between characters was refreshing. This show's cinematography was stunning tbh and the way they edited the competition scenes was really really amazing, I actually cried a bit in the end because of the way they portrayed the build up of emotions. As someone who only has a basic understanding of league (which i dont know if they're parodying or if iconqure is a real game out there idek lol) I feel like they still made you interested and invested in the competitions even if you dont play computer games yourself. I feel like a lot of the osts were used quite well and the dialogues were really well written. The side couples were super super cute and the main couple was also very cute, and all the friendships were enviable because this show is mostly about teamwork and fighting for a goal together and I really liked it. I also liked how their were characters of different age ranges such as the previous generation of gamers that acted as mentors/guidance towards the main cast. Overall, other then an obsessive ex that appears for a bit which is a trope im just so totally over, I think this show has a lot of heart and you could tell the production team really cared about it. This drama is the result of a lot of people's hardwork and it shows.

Leggi di Più

watch it. its super fun and refreshing

wow. im so glad i didnt listen to the pinned reviews. this show had its flaws but it was honestly so unique i was never bored. it was sort of slice of life, with the most interesting characters and a wide diversity and settings that you don't usually see in cdrama. i guess i was just, intrigued by the freshness of it all. of some originality in the ceo/secretary type of drama. (of course it has stereotypical things too but it was dealth with a sense of realism???? maybe the acting wasnt as cheesy as usual so even cliche scenes were just fun to watch)
it was like watchin a serious network make a romcom, with unique actors (omg, thank you diversity. no one looked the SAME, and they all had character, even the crazy exgirlfriend, she was just fun to watch on screen because of how insane she is... oh yea, and they can actually act)

im not one for "harem" type shows, but this one did it amazingly (mostly cause it was only a harem type show for like 1 ep) and the only reason i thought it was was because they actually CARED to explain the other characters and their backstories and flesh them out and i mistook that for "oh, there must be multiple main guys in this" like, i forgot that NORMALLY, supporting characters arent just there to be fillers and they have their own stories to tell.

finally i liked that the FLs background and motives weren't cliche. i really liked her story, her approach to life, there was tradegy in her life (like a lot) but they never focused on it, its something we've seen too many times)

i just.... really liked this show for trying to do something different.

and i love the younger brother. he's such a nice guy.

ok plus, each love story was really interesting. lol, like even the playboy ceo and his cold vice president, i wanted so bad to see if they'd end up together. this is a great watch if you're just bored with every cdrama.

Leggi di Più

Ok, I thought this movie would be super cheese and pretty shallow like most japanese movies of similiar genre but this movie parodied all of those scenes and just went so overboard in a really funny high-budget way that it was freaking hilarious instead of being cringe.
This is defs a movie for when you're feeling down and want something sweet and easy to watch, but don't be fooled, as the story line is quite unique with some twists and characters, that add depth to the show and create a very touching story line.
The leads in this were great. Amazing acting from both and they made a stunning couple. The male lead was so charismatic and such a good actor, the character he plays is very interesting and has a bit of a dark backstory to him that the actor portrays brilliantly. The female lead's comedic timing was freaking hilarious and NEVER have I EVER seen a cute character that I actually found cute instead of annoying, i seriously don't even know how she pulled it off, but I found her adorable and sincere instead of annoying.
This movie was funny at the beginning and at the end was very touching. The ost enhanced all the scenes perfectly, and the cinematography was really REALLY pretty. Totally recommend this movie.

Leggi di Più

a cute drama with common sense

awwww i loved this show. all the characters were loveable and not annoying. the girl worked really hard. even her mom worked hard. conflicts weren't blown out of proportion and i actually enjoyed allot of the business moments. This show it really underrated. Short and sweet. the second couple were pretty cute too.

Basically all the characters acted really rationally and kind during rejections, new information, even in bad situations. She's described as a rich girl in the synopsis but she doesn't act entitled, overspend money or do anything to deny her new situation. she gets right into living her new life and tries her best. the main guy is also new to his job and although a bit reluctant at first, pretty quickly takes on his responsibility.

Leggi di Più