Great idea for a fantasy drama, but horrible storytelling

OVERALL (vague ending spoilers)
I think a 5.5 is too nice of a rating, but I think the actors and music were well done, so I can't be biased on giving it a lower score because the story and ending were horrible.

I want to be clear that I started this drama when it aired in 2017 and dropped it because Dramafever went down. I recently picked it back up again because I was thinking back to Zhou Yi Wei's works of Shuofeng He Ye and wanted to see how his story went down. I was utterly disappointed with this "ending," even though many comments forewarned me. Even if the producers wanted a second season, if it's not in the works, I don't think it's fair to leave everything as open-ended as it did. Sure, it was a closure to their current predicament, but they closed the ending by introducing new plans and information. All of these new ideas are given to us within the last episode. Then they don't even close it up with some of our other supporting casts like Muyun Yan Shuang or the tribes.

STORY
I won't go into details because there were so many unnecessary details in this drama. I felt like I saw all of the side characters more than the main cast at times. The schemes' details did not seem necessary to are dragged onto a 5-10 minute conversation. The side characters that were involved and then were gone, or killed off. Why did they make me watch so many scenes of those characters for nothing?

This drama had three main characters, and each included their love stories, background story as children, and character development scenes as grown-ups. There was so much to show, say, and do with these characters. Instead, the writers decided that I must see more of the side characters.

Then we have essential scenes that were dragged out a good 3-5 episodes. For example, Han Jiang would be stuck in a situation, and we wouldn't see how he got out of that situation until 3-5 episodes later because they were showing other parts of the show. I was waiting so long for the war to happen with the tribes and the Muru clan, and it just kept going and going. Even when the war happened, it got dragged out for so long.

I would have been happy watching three separate dramas of these characters and having references between the dramas. At least then, the focus wouldn't feel like it was being thrown all over the place. The big issue is that when you have three main characters and their stories aren't involved, they're not all on-screen together, meaning that you would have to put in chunks of their story separately, which is what happened here and was not well done.

I hate how they are all prophesized and destined to do something/create calamity, and they all want to change it. This could have been a great drama about how destiny and prophecies don't determine your path. However, their means to change it are the dumbest way to deal with it, hence the dragging.

I understand that because this is a Chinese drama, the theme of fighting for your country and people, even if it is right or wrong, means honor. So, I understand why this is something some of the characters struggle with. This also applies to their family honor as well.

Love was a theme that brought most of these characters into a downfall, even the smaller roles. I guess we can't even get one happy love story in this drama.

I won't even get to the loopholes or questionable aspects of everything else. This could get long and ugly.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS
I think as actors and actresses, they all did so well. There were only minor things that I could point out, but I don't believe that it's necessary. Let's head into the likes and dislikes of the characters.

Muyun Sheng was probably one of the worst main leads that I have seen in a drama. I'm okay with a weak protagonist turned strong, but he was literally weak throughout the drama until one scene, and then that was it. The writers made him so useless until the very end. I feel like if there was a second season and the plot was well written, he could be a strong protagonist.

Muru Hang Jiang was a passable main lead. I think some of his decisions weren't the best, but I feel like I can see his character try. Even when he is a little selfish, he tries, so I give him credit for that. He never gives up and continues to do what he thinks is right. He just never really grew as a character, even if his family relationship got a bit better.

Shuofeng He Ye was such an extraordinary character to me. I applaud Zhou Yi Wei for bringing Shuofeng He Ye to life. Zhou Yi Wei had so much passion that his character became stuck in my mind for years. I loved his resilience to survive and take revenge could be felt as we watch him fight his way through the drama. The way he growls in anguish and anger then contrasts it to when he cries in pain, all of that could be felt through the screen. His character was so well put together in terms of growth. He went from a boy that went through slavery and injustice to a man who fights for the freedom of his tribe. He continues to love his people and honor the relationships he creates. I mean, there's so much to say about this character. I need all of his clips from the drama nicely compiled into one video.

Honorable mention to the whole cast, especially the minor ones that showed up in only a few episodes but made a lasting impression.

MUSIC
The music was phenomenal and well thought out. The big orchestra opening and the ending added to the dramatic feel of the drama. I loved how when they are out in the Han prefecture, and nature sounds were well incorporated. They weren't trying to add unrealistic background noise. They layered it well with instrumentals on top of those nature sounds.

RE-WATCH VALUE
Would I recommend you put yourself through 75 hours of torture again? The answer is no. There was just too much going on for me to try to find my favorite scenes to re-watch.

This drama does have beautiful, stunning cinematography, one of the best I have seen, and great music. Some of the characters are well written. The overall idea of the story is excellent, but it's just not well done. If you're into that and don't mind slow and draggy dramas that have some potential, do check it out!

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Pride on the Ice and Within Yourself

OVERALL
I don't watch many Japanese dramas as I have yet to find ones up my alley in terms of storyline. Pride was one of the few and is probably one of the top Japanese dramas on my list. I enjoyed the simple story that they presented to us. That is perhaps the reason why it is so short. It is more centered on their relationship and how they grew from it. Then there's the other side of the drama where they focus on Haru's career growth. So if you're looking for a drama that has a lot of depth, this probably isn't it. But it has a good beginning, middle, and end. The main characters have a good character development storyline that makes sense (in my opinion). I think that's all I can ask for nowadays.

STORY
One reason that made me enjoy this drama was that the writers didn't take that usual route of making the plot a young adult sport centered romance. The story was about two working adults whose characters. We have Haru, the star hockey player on his team, and Aki, the company worker. They both have their flaws when it comes to relationships. I liked the perspective that the story started at, where Haru came into Aki's life.

I feel like Haru's career, love life, and personal life was well mixed into the plot. I say that because we see how all the scenes that were incorporated made sense for his character to grow and develop. It did not feel like fillers to push the number of dramas to 11.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS
Aki is a timid lady who is in a "long-distance" relationship with her boyfriend, or you can say that she is waiting for her ex-boyfriend. Their relationship was weird. I feel like they aren't necessarily in a long term relationship since they don't communicate or act like they are in love. She seems to be waiting for him but never know when he would return. I guess their relationship has already gone downhill, and they're holding onto it in hopes that it would work out. I think many people would not like that she agreed to be in a relationship with Haru despite already being in one. Some would say this is cheating, and others would say that she's in an open relationship.

Haru seems like a womanizer but isn't a bad guy. He's mature about wanting a relationship with Aki and wanting to make it work. Some could say that he was using her as entertainment since she is like a "new quest". He treats everyone well and has a good relationship with his coach. Haru's character is written to encourage and change Aki into a woman with more character. Haru said in episode 8, "We bonded to each other only with the truth." Maybe that was why their relationship didn't feel wrong even though she was already in a relationship. It felt like two people coming together to support each other and not for the physical aspects of a relationship.

I like Haru despite his flaws. We know he is passionate about his career and his team. I enjoyed this aspect of the drama and how they tied it all back to the theme of "pride". How he would connect it back to himself and each moment he goes through. If they were to re-write or add on to the plot and made hockey the show's main focus, I would probably enjoy it even more.

This was my first drama of Kimura Takuya, and I am indeed in love with his acting. I had plans to check out his works but never pushed myself to. Anyone who feels like certain works of his stands out more than others, do let me know. I know he has an extensive list of top dramas and movies, so it makes narrowing it down even harder.

MUSIC
QUEENS is legendary, and it made the scenes even more epic and memorable to me. I think it adds a great flavor to the drama.

RE-WATCH VALUE
I would love to re-watch this sometime soon. It has been a moment since I have last seen this drama. The show left me with a lingering feel-good effect on me and made me ponder the term "pride" for a while.

NOTE
While deciding to write this review, I found out that the lead actress, Takeuchi Yuko, has passed away. My heart goes out to her family and those who have loved her in some way or another. It's never easy to see someone leave, even those who you are not quite fond of. Every time we see someone passes, we hope that it would awaken this stigma and open the eyes to mental health. 2020 was indeed a tough year; let's all help each other out in any way possible. To those that need anyone to talk to, feel free to message me to chat about anything. It does not have to be personal. If you want to start meaningless conversations, hit me up!

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Welcome Home Rui

Story/Acting/Cast/Characters
The storyline follows 93% of "Always" (the Korean version) in the storyline, characters, and even dialogue. Yet, the subtle changes made me enjoy this version a lot more than I thought I would. It differs from the Korean version in that it has less of a romantic melodrama feel. Even some lighthearted comedic scenes didn't make it to the Japanese version. The warm lighting from the Korean version was missing, and instead, we get more cool tone coloring. Another thing was the age. I thought it was off seeing such a young-looking actor play the male lead who is supposed to be in his 30's, but instead, they changed the Japanese lead character to be 24 years old.

The main difference that I see from the drama would be with the male lead Antonio/Rui/Ojisan. In the Japanese version, he becomes more stoic. He doesn't talk much, expresses himself less, and comes off a bit more aloof. In my opinion, this adds to the change in Antonio's past that I found lacking in "Always." With the slight change, I feel like the story shifts, and the screentime focuses more on Antonio and less on Kashiwagi Akari.

Yoshitaka Yuriko did great at expressing a bright Kashiwagi Akari, but I had trouble feeling her conviction when it came to the emotional scenes. I'm not too familiar with her, nor do I watch many Japanese movies/dramas, so I'm not sure if this is a difference in how culture's express emotions that I'm not used to.

Music
It's interesting to see the use of music and how it gets incorporated into dramas/movies. In the case of this movie, music wasn't present here. There were two distinct moments where I remember the music was when "Your Eyes Tell" made a presence in the movie. There were many silent moments where it's just dialogue and the natural crickets and street sounds. Instead, the silence made the focus of the dialogue a lot more important and matched the feel of the show a lot more. Unlike most dramas/movies, the lack of music made it so that the movie didn't try to extract emotions from us at dramatic moments in the storyline. Yet, we still got those same emotions due to the acting and directing, which was worth noting.

Overall Comparison Likes and Dislikes (spoilers included.)
Positives:
1. The theme of "おかえり" and "ただいま" was truly heartfelt in this movie. It tied into Antonio/Rui's backstory of being an orphan who never felt a sense of belonging in the world and, along the way, makes decisions that aren't the best.

2. Antonio's character setup leads to the writers wanting to create some character development for Antionio, and we see that and done quite well for a movie like this. Antonio wants redemption for himself, and even though he got his sentence and left the group, he felt like it was not enough. Especially with the reveal of his connection with Akari. His internal struggle was always there, being his weakness and now his strength to move on.

3. While I don't find the story of Romeo and Juliet beautiful, I do find that Shakespear writes beautifully. The line used in both movies, "Her eye discourses; I will answer it." I love how there was just a little bit more focus on in the Japanese version (literally one extra scene of Antonio staring at the braille words of it). So, in case you don't know, this was when Romeo was comparing Juliet's eyes to stars and how they shine ever so brightly. I found this line kind of ironic in this movie but so fitting. Akari's lack of sight is what brought them together, but at the same time, her eyes were the barrier to their relationship. And when I say "barrier," I mean in terms of how she lost her sight.

4. Some dialogue that was altered for the movie added more emotional depth to their relationship. I can think of three main dialogue scenes: the trip, the talking about the future, and the ending scene.

5. An extra positive point, I enjoyed the kickboxing scenes here, probably due to the angles and cuts. Yokohama Ryusei doesn't wear a tank top like how So Ji Sub did in the Korean version, so you'll definitely see his abs.

Negatives (specific scene spoilers. For this part, I suggest watching it first and then coming to read this to see if you have similar or different opinions):
In my opinion, there were three scenes in the Japanese version that were lacking for me and were pivotal to the movie.
1. Face tracing scene by the window. This scene should have emphasized her tracing his face and less of Akari holding Antonio's face. I thought this scene was so beautifully done in the Korean version from both So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo. The way she slowly traced his face with her fingers and tried to envision how he would look like. On the other end, he was shy and felt so much emotion for the woman in front of him. I didn't feel those same emotions in the Japanese version and was disappointed with the lack of emphasis. The reason why is that later on, when the female lead goes and tries to sculpt his face, she closes her eyes and tries to remember his features that she felt through her hands. We know that she was trying to remember this exact scene to recreate his face. In the Korean version, how she traced the sculpted clay was similar to how she traced his face in that scene.

2. Back Massage. While it was short, the back massage scene had a bit more emphasis in the Korean version and made sense later. Jung Hwa sat on his back longer to massage him while they talked, with cuts of her fingers massaging his back. Later on at the hospital, it wasn't until she flipped him onto his stomach and massaged him the same way that she felt the familiarity of the man she was massaging. The Japanese version had less focus on her massaging him on the bed, and she didn't even turn him on his back in the hospital later on but still felt the familiarity of him.

3. Reveal of Ajusshi/Ojisan. The way that the Korean version had it set up so that Jingga was the one who hinted that it was his dad came in sets: when Jingga ran to Ajusshi and knocked him over, Jingga and Jung Hwa staring at Ajusshi's back, and Jingga kept barking while they were inside. How they got the dog who plays Jingga to cooperate and made its body language seem like it recognized Ajusshi, along with the focus of Jingga was seamless. Suku is still a cute dog, but how the director included everything but the part where the female lead and dog stared at the male lead's lonely backside limping off. That part was replaced with the focus on Akari, saying, "What's wrong?" and then back to Ojisan with Akari and Suku blurred out. Then inside the store, instead of facing the door and barking, Suku was just barking. I don't know, this seems silly, but I feel like it added a lot to the reveal of our Ajusshi/Ojisan.

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Great Premise but Quite Boring

OVERALL
It took me yearsss and one drama recommendation for me to watch this drama. The whole drama had such a great premise, even if these aren't ideas that we have not seen before. The characters had a good back story, and the fight scene from the beginning hooked me. However, the drama got boring quite fast. There was so much drag time that I was able to let my mind wander and think about all of the things that went wrong. I don't believe I will be continuing the second season. Not because of the change in the male lead, but because this season was quite disappointing. I am quite interested to see Sang Sang's character reveal, but with the lack of character development in S1, I doubt S2 could do any better. I think after hearing so many good things about Ever Night, I expected more, and I didn't get it.

Positive Points:
-There were a handful of great fight scenes that were well directed and edited
-Good premise for plot and characters
-Good cinematography and CGI

Negative Points:
-Lacked character development
-Lacked plot development
-Felt dragged out with 60 episodes

STORY
So much could have been done to the story to improve it. The issue could have been that we were given so many side characters and so many side stories. We had to learn about the Haotian, Tang Empire, the Academy, Demonic Cult, Xiling Immortal Shrine, etc. The integration of that many groups, their beliefs, and their rules for this overarching theme of "eternal night" didn't feel quite convincing. It wasn't weaved together into a way where I felt like certain groups, scenes, or even characters were necessary to drive the plot forward, but I had to sit there and watch so many scenes of it. I questioned a lot of the characters/groups and their importance for the drama A LOT. I feel like when I question things like that, that lowers my watching experience.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS
I commend the two leads and any rookie actors/actresses in this drama because they worked alongside so many veterans. Not only that, the acting in here didn't felt too forced and was quite natural. I appreciated many characters in here and how they're not invincible even though they reached certain stages of cultivation. They don't always leave unscathed and don't always come off as untouchable.

Ning Que had a great character story on why he felt the need to cultivate and get revenge. His character was a well-written anti-hero underdog that was easy to like and root for. While I liked his character story, I hated how he had little to no character development. This made Ning Que my biggest issue in the drama as it lacked the umpf! and satisfaction I craved for in a main character for this type of drama setting. I feel like this was due to that it was written for the drama to have multiple seasons. Despite that, it made no sense to me why a particular sequence of events went down the way it did for him. Second Brother and everyone saw no worth in Ning Que's ability to cultivate, yet he got into the Second Floor (this could be argued though). When he got to the Second Floor, he was never really taught cultivation, and that's where it threw me off. We see him waste his time running around with no improvement to his character. And these were a good chunk of episodes too. He only got his "real lesson" when the Sage punished him. There's more that I could rant on with his character, but I'll stop here.

MUSIC
The music was quite interesting, in terms of the soundtracks. I enjoyed it, even though it's not songs where I would add to my playlist. There was a mix of everything, and I think it matched the drama well and was well-edited into the scenes. I enjoyed the thought into the editing when adding natural sounds and layering them with music and other sounds (such as during fights).

RE-WATCH VALUE
I didn't love it, nor did I hate it. I just felt like it isn't worth sitting through if you're not a fan of the novel, actors/actresses, or the drama itself. It'll be hard to sit through again, especially since this is just season 1 and currently with season 3 up in the air.

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Webtoon Travelling Gone Wrong

I think this had a great premise and it started pretty strong. The drama roped me in pretty fast but then made me lose interest just as fast as well. I finished it out of curiosity about how everything was going to be tied together, but it didn’t clear up my questions and what I saw was wrong. I first watched this when it was aired, so I may not recollect the exact events of the drama. However, my feelings about the drama are still applicable.

STORY (spoiler in 3rd paragraph)
As we know, this story is about Oh Yeon Joo getting dragged into the webtoon where she meets the protagonist of the webtoon, Kang Cheol. They start to develop feelings for each other and soon realize that this webtoon hopping is a lot more dangerous than what they thought.

This drama was one of the first dramas that I have watched that is directly looped into it being a webtoon crossover. I was quite excited about the drama, but I was left quite disappointed. If you do not want spoilers for the plot, please don’t continue beyond this point of the “story” review.

First off, the romance was mediocre. The writers have to make it believable for me to feel like their love was intense. The writers of the story could have made the plot more intense. These are two characters from two completely different worlds. They are "enemies" without knowing. They have to sacrifice so much for one another after falling in love. Yet, Yeon Joo pointed out in one of the later episodes that they never got to do much as a couple even though they were married. And we find this true, why do they love each other so much? Why did they get married? Their so-called “romance” is just kind of weird/off. I would have been fine if it was just her one-sided crush on Kang Cheol (as her ideal character) and Kang Cheol relying on her for survival (as a character). I think that would have made more sense/I would have bought that.

The whole appearing and disappearing aspect do not make sense to me. Even when Kang Cheol seemed to have controlled it, he did not have control at the same time. When we thought that Yeon Joo had control over the webtoon world, she did not as well. It had a mind of its own, yet I don’t think that point was well put together. Or it could just be me not getting the message of how all of this came to be, like the two worlds never collided, but only the “author/killer” was the one who could jump in-between (apart from Kang Cheol and Yeon Joo), but without being a “character/human”. Then how the dad lost his face just because he drew himself as the killer. What was that about? Like what are the rules and the consequences of these two worlds? In the later episodes, the Webtoon world doesn’t stop running or stop at the end of the chapter. Instead, the story continues because the “killer” is “writing” it now? I’m just going to stop there because I’m just confusing myself even more. Someone please comment and explain to me!

What made the drama feel off was that I feel like it was trying to include too many genres into one but didn’t know how to blend it. It was a cute romantic comedy at the beginning of the show. Then it turned into a mystery suspense type of drama.

I wished that the writers could have focused more on the father-daughter relationship that the two had or expand more into it. They were disconnected for so many years and she lost him so fast afterward. Instead, they made him run all over for Kang Cheol and trying to save him.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS (minor plot spoilers)
I have always enjoyed Han Hyo Joo’s acting, but Oh Yeon Joo’s character kind of annoyed me. It made me questioned Han Hyo Joo’s acting even though I have seen plenty of her other works and enjoyed them. Oh Yeon Joo was poorly written with no depth in her character. She is supposed to be a surgical intern, which I assume would be smart and hard-working. Half of the time, we see her sleeping and slacking off. She acts like an office intern that grabs coffee instead of doing other menial things in the hospital. She can come off as a clutz and is kind of slow. How Yeon Joo approaches issues and her decisions to tackle them feels like I am reading a fanfic novel from a teenager. The writers did not think her character through.

Lee Jong Suk has always been an okay actor to me. He has yet to impress me or disappoint me. I think Kang Cheol was a well-written character (a lot better than Yeon Joo). Kang Cheol’s background story in the webtoon was just as interesting as him finding out that he was a webtoon character and overcoming that obstacle. I think if they focused on that more and less of Kang Cheol and Yeon Joo, it would have been more interesting.

Honorable mentions to KIM EUI SUNG and LEE SI ON as they were support roles that drove the show!

MUSIC
I think the music was well coordinated with the scenes even though there weren’t many songs that stood out to me.

RE-WATCH VALUE
I wouldn’t re-watch during my free time. My sister watched this and didn’t enjoy it as well. It confused her and I don’t even know if she finished it.

OVERALL (plot spoilers)
I didn’t feel much with the drama. Not even with all the sacrifices that each character made. I was irritated with the whole rewriting aspect of it. It got old kind of fast like the writers couldn’t think of better methods for the characters to overcome things. If the first re-write didn’t work, the second one probably wouldn’t as well. And there were enough loopholes between the two worlds already. I’m surprised I never threw the towel early.

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Mediocre Age Gap Love Story

I enjoyed seeing the different types of relationships and love in this drama. People go about love differently, but it works well in their own ways, or they don't. This drama wants to let people know that it's okay if yours is different from someone else's. I appreciated the familial support that the He family gave one another and the strong friendship that He Fan Xin has with her friends. The writers integrated a good amount of screen time with the leads and their relationship with the people around them. However, I was disappointed that this drama wasn't worth the hype (in my opinion). I wanted to give it a lower rating since I found the drama mediocre. But the other relationships, themes, and supporting casts added a lot to the drama to make it a bit more worthwhile.

OVERALL STORY RANT (spoilers)
The drama started cutely. We see Yuan Song pursuing Fang Xin and their process of falling in love. Right when we saw that she wanted to keep their relationship a secret, I already knew the headache I was going to experience. I was pretty wrapped in the drama until around ep 12. After that, I finished this drama in like double speed. I understand that this show's point is for them to find themselves, as the title states, "find yourself". Yet, I felt like they never really "found" themselves. They only became a bit more true to their feelings, and that "trial" that led them to speak their feelings wasn't that big of a trial either.

The drama lacked that push to make us feel like they were so in love with each other. When I watched it, I kept asking myself, why did they have to end up together? There were so many red flags that were given to us early in the show on their relationship. They weren't as happy as they thought they would be, and it wasn't even a healthy relationship. So why was Yuan Song so persistent in continuing to fight for Fan Xing? Why did Fan Xiang feel like Yuan Song was the one? Like why was I watching over 40 episodes of just mediocre love?

CAST/CHARACTERS/ACTING
I've seen a few of Victoria Song's works, and I feel like she's always improving. I was really disappointed in how He Fang Xin was written. Even if you're 30 and inexperienced in love, that doesn't mean she shouldn't have good emotional intelligence. We see that Fang Xin cares and communicates well with her co-workers, family members, and friends. So, why is she so stupid with Yuan Song? The only issue is that Fang Xin doesn't know how to express herself well, but Fang Xin still seeks other people's opinions. Because she was so self-conscious (which kind of contradicts her character, as she's supposed to be cold and indifferent), she comes off as selfish with her decisions. If I paused the drama and dissected her character and her issues, I would understand why she feels like she does. Her age, family pressure, society's pressure, etc., were all pressing down on her. However, even in her current situation, the actions that she took rationally don't make sense to me.

I believe I have seen Song Wei Long by trying to start other works from him, but this was my first time sitting through a whole drama with him. I was impressed with the micro-expressions he makes that adds to his acting. Some parts came off kind of awkward to me, but it wasn't too bad.

I was annoyed with Ye Lu Ming and Cai Minmin. Cai Minmin eventually came off as a good character to me, but Esther Yu's acting kind of throws me off. Ye Lu Ming did not come off as a likable character to me. He was so selfish and manipulative that even when he decided to let go of her, I didn't even feel bad. There was no such thing as a second lead syndrome in this drama. His feelings towards her never felt sincere to me.

RE-WATCH VALUE
It was a good one-time watch drama. I don't find that this drama is worth the time for a second or third round of watch, frankly, because the storyline was too simple that we could predict and follow what would happen next.

There's more I'd love to comment on, but to keep this review short, I'll end it here. Comment and ask questions if you'd like, and I'll try to give you answers!

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Potential Coming of Age Drama in the Business World Fell Flat

I just wanted to start out that I watched all the episodes in hopes of some sort of redemption in the plot. Why I still had hopes? I do not know, but I hoped for it to do better than what they gave to us. The reasoning to how I reviewed this is that I saw this drama as a coming-of-age story, but it was not really one, hence the disappointment.

STORY (slight spoilers on general events in plotline)
Can I say that this drama had so much potential to go the distance? We have been seeing a trend lately in the K-drama realm with the coming-of-age theme. This one had such a great premise of the underdogs in life pushing to succeed in today’s society where it seems like you have to have the right connections. I guess they were trying to push it here that the right connections meant that you had to be rich. Also, money was a prevalent theme. Ji Pyeong and his money at the beginning, Dalmi’s father and mother divorcing because of money. Grandma’s money being what gets the family through hardships. Dalmi betting on 10,000 won(?) with In Jae. We see that money does not mean much as we get deeper into the plot. Obviously, the rich stepfather does not treat Dalmi’s mother and sister with respect. Ji Pyeong is rich, but still feels lonely. Sa Ha has a great paying job but dislikes it.

I liked the theme of family and friendship in here though. Probably why I could push myself to finish the series. First, we have our Samsan Tech trio of Nam Do San, Kim Yong San, and Lee Cheol San. They have created Samsan Tech together and as they grew up together, helped each other out the best that they can with their abilities. They make life goals together to make sure that they stick together, and they know each other well. They balance each other out with their strengths and their weaknesses and make a funny trio once they are together.

We have Dalmi’s grandma and dad who fight so hard to keep her happy with what they have. Then Dalmi’s grandma is the sweetest human being who just wants to shower Ji Pyeong our “good boy” with all the love he should have received from a family member.

Then we have Nam Do San’s dad who is kind of toxic and overbearing. He who wants the best for his son and expects his son to be the best. I think this portrays a common Asian parent, at least in my life it rings true. My favorite part of their relationship is when Nam Do San finally confronts his dad and tells them to stop being each other’s pride and joy and instead be father and son in episode 10. I think we as human beings have a hard time fulfilling those huge shoes that people expect us to wear and then run with.

I do want to say that there was not much chemistry between the main lead, female lead, or the second male lead at all. They should have just scraped the triangle love story and just made it an epic story on the cutthroat business industry.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS (some spoilers)
SUZY did a great job acting as the resilient Dal Mi that did not let anything stand in her way. Her character is strong, upfront with what she wants, and does not stand down. Yet, what threw me off was the start of her character when she was all grown up. She worked many part-time jobs and seemed like a pushover. I would have loved to see her character already trying to pursue her entrepreneurship journey like her father. Why did it take the appearance of Won In Jae to make her want to pursue her dreams? Why use the premise of revenge when it was never really revenge in the first place? She just wanted to prove In Jae wrong that she can also do well in life without a rich father. I think her character was one of the main ones that fell kind of flat with character development. As the main focus of the show, I expected more. She had her quick-witted moments, but I did not see any overarching development. She stays pretty stagnant except for the fact that she was able to forgive her mom and sister.

I could bypass anything in their relationship and how they came together and stayed together. However, I did not quite understand her fetish with Nam Do San’s hands… like at all. It was not cute and it was just weird.

NAM JOO HYUK did as well as his character had the capacity to. In fact, I think he did great as the awkward nerdy guy who does not know how to communicate well. His crying was great, and I do not think his acting fell short. Nam Do San though… man how can this guy be the main lead? There was little to no character development with Do San. Yes, he confessed his “sins”, became a little stronger, and less of a pushover. However, his whole backstory and his development just fell short of Kim Yong San.

I do not understand a lot of things about his character and I am quite disappointed how the writers decided to just slap and through things together and called it good. For example, him wanting Dal Mi more than his business. This girl was literally introduced to you through a person and some letters. You saw her once and then it was like “she is the one” and “I have to have her forever”. This logic just does not make sense to me. Especially when his character does not care too much for a woman. And there was just not enough push to make me see why Do San feels like his ultimate goal is Dal Mi. Samsan Tech on the other hand was something he and his friends built together. It was something he felt like he had to prove to his father that he had to do and succeed in to remove that barrier of being a failure. Like he had to redeem for his past mistakes because all those other moments were not enough.

I feel like his character could have easily been my favorite out of the show if they wrote him better.

KIM SEON HO was everyone’s favorite “good boy”. His crying is phenomenal, it's top tier tears. I did not care much for him as a second lead and did not have second lead syndrome. However, I liked his backstory the most and his side story with the grandma. I liked how they continued to develop his character until the very end, although I feel like it was kind of awkwardly/suddenly thrown in with Yong San. Like, "we need to give Yong San a backstory. How about we tie it back when the drama is almost over". (Btw, those little clips of the hoodie guy did not give me any suspense as to what could have happened/will happen. Hence, why I feel like it was poorly done.)

KANG HA NA is such a great actress, and I am upset that she did not appear much in the drama, even as a “main role”. I love how her fight was never with Dal Mi, instead, it was with herself. I think that is the most beautiful type of development in a person when you stop fighting with others and fighting your own demons. She realized that early on while Dal Mi was still being immature.

I could go on, but I do not want to drag this, so honorable mentions to KIM HAE SOOK, KIM DO WAN, YOO SOO BIN, and STEPHANIE LEE!

MUSIC
They had a great OST soundtrack and artist line up. Our Gaho, Kim Feel, Ailee, Davichi, Jamie, BOL4, Eunji, Kassy, K.Will, Red Velvet, Oh My Girl, Jung Seung Hwan, CHEEZE, Sandeul, etc.

RE-WATCH VALUE
I probably would never re-watch this at all. It did not have any moments where I feel like would make me have to revisit it.

OVERALL (Spoilers)
I am just sad that there was not enough cutthroat business, real-life situations that were thrown in. I feel like the whole stepfather butting in could be applicable in some situations but not in all cases. The whole Ji Pyeong being a ruthless mentor/judge is very true out there and I appreciate that they brought that up. I guess as an entrepreneurship student, I hoped they could have done better.

Can I just mention that I was upset that Yong San, Cheol San, and Sa Ha did not show up to walk side by side with them in the ending scene?! Like that was such a huge slap in the face to their characters and hard work. They really pushed the show for me and were pivotal to the story. While In Jae and Ji Pyeong were important characters, I thought that the “teamwork” and “underdogs” were going to walk to greatness together.

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Decent Watch with Leads that have Chemistry

OVERALL
I want to put a disclaimer out there that sometimes I view dramas differently based on the type of drama. I would usually break down dramas a bit more than this review. However, I don't believe there's much to say about this drama. The drama got dragged on longer than it should with the 40 episodes and could have ended way sooner. The storyline isn't something we haven't seen before. The typical bad guy and girl fall in love, but in historical times. It is a good drama to watch if you take the plot with a grain of salt, especially if you're looking for great chemistry. While that may have sounded negative, I was honestly moved by the characters and enjoyed this drama for what is presented.

STORY
This is a typical "time travel" type of drama. The female lead gets roped to the past through a system. There she tries to find who her true love is. Of course, what is a story without some misunderstandings and love triangles. The male lead and the female lead are off to a rocky start. She believes that she had found her true love, the second male lead, and actively pursued him. Along the way, she recognizes her true feelings, but still, misunderstandings are present.

We see what each character would give up for, for love. One thing I enjoyed seeing in this drama was the good and evil aspects. It's a trope I always enjoy seeing, especially how they are portrayed in each drama. How each character would act as a good/evil person. In this drama, we see where people would draw the line for deciding for the greater good or the good of one person.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS
Zhao Lusi is a great actress. She does well with these types of roles and is probably comfortable with them; that is why she partakes in these roles. Kind of like how Zhang Han always plays the modern-day boss role. They're great at it, so why not continue doing it? I honestly don't mind seeing her play this role where she is the cute, silly, immature female lead.

Li Hong Yi did well with his role. His make up probably was not the best, but he portrayed his role well as the evil sect leader. I especially loved him acting cheeky and playful with our leading actress. One of the reasons I enjoyed this drama was because of his acting alongside Zhao Lusi. I believe that they have great chemistry together. Zhao Lusi has acted alongside numerous actors, but Li Hong Yi is one of the few who felt like they had natural chemistry.

The rest of the cast did a decent job. It wasn't hard to watch, and I would love to see them continue their careers in other works.

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Well Done Rom-Com Parody on C-Drama Tropes

OVERALL
I won’t say much because there are not many episodes and I don’t want to spoil many moments. I promise that you will be laughing your way through this drama. There were some moments where it can feel slow, but they are doable moments. You will fall in love with the supporting cast and end up wanting a second season. The production quality isn’t great, but with this low budget and great acting, it was something that could be overlooked.

STORY
The story first started with our male lead questioning the script of the drama. Why do the main leads have to fall in love with the female lead just because she was the female lead? This is an issue that I have seen lately with dramas. Just because they are listed as main leads, they are to fall in love but there is little to no courtship or compelling reason for them to fall in love with each other. It is like an arranged marriage that is to happen per your parents’ request.

The second trope is time travel/jumping into a novel/taking over someone else’s body (my guilty pleasure trope). If you read enough web novels or watch enough C-dramas, you know this is a popular trope. If there was not a ban in China on this trope, we would see it more in the web novel turned dramas. This trope showing up in the drama made it into a comedy filled with so much laughter involving our female lead.

There are many more tropes, but they are easter eggs for you to find when you watch it.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS
Zhao Lu Si has done it again in bringing her character to life and this time as Chen Xiao Qian/Qian Qian. Her character was so hilarious to watch because she knows she’s stuck in a predicament where she wrote for her character to die. She tries to stick to the original storyline but then tries so hard to survive so that she can go back home.

This is my first drama with Ding Yuxi and he is a great actor who uses his facial expressions and little movements to add to his acting. I’m so excited to check out more of his works.

Honorable mentions to Zi Rui and Bai Ji for making me laugh so much! I hope to see them all in the second season!

MUSIC
The music didn’t stand out much for me while watching. Henry Huo’s Rumor and Shuang Sheng and Yao Yang’s Moonlight were great tracks. Zhao Lusi also sang one of the soundtracks.

RE-WATCH VALUE
I would re-watch this series again. It’s a lighthearted romantic comedy that doesn’t take more than 16 episodes to complete. I think that itself is a great reason to re-watch.

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