Not Disappointed

I watched this drama based on a review, and I have to say that I was not disappointed. Aside from being written from a very mature, adult perspective give, the story dealt with a lot of issues in regards to work, health ;physical and mental), and interpersonal relationships with family, friends, colleagues and romance.

There wasn’t a lot of typical drama cheese in the romance story line, it was very well done. The female and male protagonists had equal billing, and they were portrayed beautifully.

There is a lot of business interaction on both sides, and that too was well scripted. This was pivotal for both of the protagonists and it attributed a lot to their outlook on relationships.

This was a refreshing drama, and I will be watching it again.

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Great Story

The only drawback for this drama is the awkwardness of some of the cast from the Dahl Hospital scenes. The language gap and lines were often difficult to watch because those actors were unaccustomed to the rhythm of line recital by the Chinese actors.

Aside from that, the chemistry between the protagonists was palpable. They did an excellent job of portraying two people that love each other deeply, but had difficulty communicating their thoughts and feelings, blaming each other and assuming the others intentions.

Overall, I was impressed with their performance and the way the story developed.

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Really Good

Tan Jianci is phenomenal in any role. In this drama he portrays a quirky, overly-thrifty IT genius perfectly. He is funny, smart and a great judge of character. And, a little naive when it comes to human nature because he is a very good person.

I found very little wrong with this drama. I thought the story was very good, and each cast member was perfectly aligned with their character. I really enjoyed the way everyone developed and adjusted with the difficulties and tasks they were given, and grew into a truly unified team battling cyber crime.

I especially liked the protection tips that were presented clearly at the end of each episode. It was a nice touch for those who are unaware of the ability of the technology around us, and the people who use it to defraud and steal from others.

This is a very good drama, and I will be watching again.

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Refreshing

While there were the typical issues with rich girl crushes, snobbery from people with money, self-esteem and reserved personalities, I was very much impressed with the ML and FL and the chemistry and emotional bond they built.

there was of course the tearful break-up and reunion, and even though it was frustrating to watch adults talking over someone and then in turn not feeling heard, this series was actually quite good.

Both leads were insecure, and needed to work on learning how to communicate with each other, even when they were separated.

The support roles were refreshing as they didn’t join forces to separate the leads. Parents mostly kept their manipulations to a light, and almost non-existence level.

Both leads were excellent in portraying angst for feeling responsible to parents and their desire to do what they truly loved, even if that meant disappointing people they cared about.

When the leads finally reunited, there wasn’t s sappy overly cheesey wedding, but there were glimpses of both having finally understood themselves and learned to truly care for another person and express that verbally.

This is worthy of a rewatch for me.

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Funny, Sad, Intruguing

First - this is the 2nd drama I have seen with Lee Jong Won, and he has impressed me! His eyes will stop your breath, as his mastery of conveying emotion through them is phenomenal.

Lee Ha Nee was also incredible. Her character was naive, and brave and hopeful. She mastered her character flawlessly.

The rest of the cast was also well chosen. There wasn’t any of the awkward chemistry that is sometimes seen when the villains are overly villainous, and the comedic inserts throughout the episodes made me laugh multiple times.

I felt horrible for the way widows were treated during that time period, and it was refreshing to see that the characters lived within the social boundaries but did not resign themselves to the expectations of seclusion and even ending their lives.

The story was well written and the overall production was amazingly executed. Thenonly thing that left me with a negative impression was the choice of some of the music. While the FL was a force to be reckoned with, the initial song was too abrasive as her character was more than that. Just my personal reaction though.

Tge other tiny disappointment was the ending. It did not end the way it was built up. Not badly, but it was a bit of a disappointment considering all the ML and FL experienced together.

Overall it was a good drama, and I enjoyed every episode. I probably wouldn’t watch it again anytime soon, but it would be a good one to watch again at some point.

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“Its’s all your fault”

This is a running theme throughout this drama - people are either blaming misfortunes on others or assuming responsibility for things they had no control over.

I have to say that excluding the ML, FL, 2nd FL and Old Gao, most of the other characters were not a major contribution to the story. instead they were all pretty annoying characters. The overly exaggerated and dragged out scenes with many of the characters were almost a turn off.

I love Zhang Han’s acting, and the chemistry between him and Janine Chang was palpable. There story could have been all that was needed to give this drama a better rating without any of the side stories which took up more screen time than the leads. And I noticed the repeat jewelry placement of the same pieces to multiple characters.

I watched this previously about 5 years ago, and had the same impression then. Even though I skipped a lot of the side stories this time, and was annoyed with the attempted nobility to take responsibility of every wrong in everyone else’s life and hide to avoid difficult situations, I still enjoyed the story between the ML and FL

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Not A Typical Romance

Before I start, I just have to say that the FL, when dressed in her red and black clothing, reminds me of an anime character. Now that this is off my mind…

Cons:
Some of the characters were overacted to the extreme. The evil stepmother, the evil sister, the self-absorbed sister who wanted to slap everyone, the angry crazy crown prince. Everyone seemed to have a penchant for yelling to prove how angry they were with everyone they encountered. Although their characters were more sinister in nature, they were always angry even when their scheming minds should have led them to a level of calm before the storm.

There was a lot of information the viewer had to put together to make sense of scenes that should have been explained, but probably left on the censors cutting room floor.

The FL’s animosity toward the ML right out after he comes to her home also leaves me scratching my head a bit. If she’s trying to blend into the background why was her character so antagonistic to the law-man?

The 2nd ML gave away the plot to have him fall in love with the FL way too soon. I would say that is the fault partially of the script. There should have been some time for him to struggle with the way his feelings would impact the way people saw him, his ‘sister’ and the family business rather than walking around with puppy dog eyes around her. His role was kinda creepy.

The ML and FL needed to have more time together. One day they were enemies, next day in love. Probably more cut during the review process.

There was no resolution with the evil stepmother. She was a driving force that was put in prison and the poof - she was never mentioned again.

And, while the two evil sisters were living on the streets, there could have been more development of the self-absorbed sister. She’s there, then a brief glimpse of her gathering coins being tossed at her by another angry girl, and then hardly anything after that until the end. More could have been done with her character to contrast her learning about her egotistic behavior in comparison to the middle sister and her constant manipulations and angry outbursts.

Pros:
Once I got past the disjointed and bizarre first few episodes, the drama actually started coming to life. And even though some parts were a bit draggy, the pace was pretty consistent. There were a few holes, but overall it was a good story.

The acting - even the perpetually angry people - was done well.

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Leads Carried The Drama

So many annoying characters. Busy body friends, stalker brother of ML female classmate who had a crush on him (brother/sister manipulators and liars), ML’s mothers voice and dramatics. if it hadn’t been for the M/FL’s, I would have dropped this drama like a hot potato.

The story was good to a point, it was just dragged on to fill in the backstory of why the ML was banned from competing for 4 years.

ML is adorable. Bright, expressive eyes, a smile that is captivating and he is a very good actor. His character was extremely positive, and he portrayed a young man becoming a responsible mature adult in his career and relationship very well.

FL is awesome in everything she does. Her character was spunky and smart - and she played the role of learning how to love someone and being vulnerable in a relationship could make it stronger.

Plot was okay, just an excessive number of plots and side stories. There were a few inconsistencies in the translations from one episode to the next, and as others have said - the actors are not professional swimmers, which, with all of the footage of them swimming became distracting.

Despite all of this, I enjoyed the interaction of the ML and FL and found myself fast forwarding a lot of the secondary storylines just to see their story.

I originally watched this when it was released, but came across it again and remembered why I easnt too impressed with the drama overall. If it had been anyone other than the ML and FL I would not have watched it again.

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Love Is Beautiful

Firstly I have to say that there was very little I did not enjoy about this drama. Anything negative was my own response to annoyingly clueless characters who did not know the meaning of personal space - and probably cultural differences with over-protective family members.

The most enjoyable thing about this drama aside from the beautiful music and gorgeous scenery was the development of the ML/FL as a couple.

There were no stalker-like exes who insisted on pursuit even after rejection, no vengeful coworkers or sinister plots by competing companies or peers. It is a beautiful, sweet and pure development of love, respect and transformation of two people coming together and learning the complexities of love and sharing good and difficult things - together.

There was no noble sacrifice, no break-up, no angst. Just people learning how to love each other, and sharing a passion for music and voice acting.

I have watched this several times now, and enjoy it every time. It is a very well done production from start to finish. Encore!

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Sweetness

While the initial conversation between FL and ML showed her fear of opening up to another relationship, it also showed both of them to being vulnerable and wanting more than just friendship.

There’s the whole denial of my feelings because my bff likes you, a couple of episodes later that momentary angst disappears, and the romance begins.

It was refreshing to see the ML stand up to parental disapproval and the FL to not bow down to possible MIL’s attempt to force a breakup.

The ML/FL were so sweet together and showed a lot of chemistry throughout. Even though the 2nd FL was initially annoying to me, she mellowed out when she dropped her high school obsession and found someone whom she really loved.

This was a truly enjoyable drama and it’s definitely worth another watch.

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