As you can see in the description, it was about spies and their counterspies (hunter) of the communist party in China. So do expect a TON lot of scenes were heavily focused in this spy/government/politic/action/prison business, with a sprinkle of romance and siblings rivalry here and there. Characters were well written, each and every single one had their own backstory and character depth.

The story started out with the murder of a lady named Gui Wan. Her parents, believing it was a karma, sent her big brother Gui Yi, a successful, righteous general working for the (then) ruling government to look for his illegitimate little brother whose original name was Gui Wan in the capital city. (Initially his dad picked the name Gui Wan for his illegitimate son, but his noble, well known family refused to accept the bastard child and his mom and kicked them out, so afterward he gave that name to his legitimate daughter). After meeting with the said half brother, Gui Yi then unfolded a messy ball of thread involving his sister's death, his misterious half brother, and their involvement with the Communist Party (a forbidden issue back at that time, punishable by death to be involved with it).

Hu Hai Feng portrayal as Gui Yi, a righteous general with absolute belief and loyalty to its government, a loving and caring man to his family and fellow comrades was spot on. His anguish and dilemma after realizing that he never truly knew his beloved sister and that she actually was a spy for a forbidden organization he despised, was real and heartbreaking. The love and care he had for his closest ones are shown throughout the drama, especially his love for Nio nio (an orphaned girl he took in) whom at first he considered as a replacement of his late sister.
The rest of the cast did an equally amazing job portraying their role!

All in all, do try the first episodes. If you dont mind the political scenes (they played a big role explaining the whole story so i dont recommed skipping all of them), this drama provides a great story with well rounded cast.

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Repetitive, over-used plot. Felt more like a 2005/2006 drama.

Story: The synopsis posted above is a good summary.
The story started not long after LianXin had gotten her transplanted corneas; she had been a close friend of the older Yu Qiu, Luo Ting, and Chen Ji. Before her death, Luo Ting had asked YuQiu to give her eyes to little LianXin. LianXin then was adopted by Luo Ting's family, who opposed her relationship with YuQiu.

Overall I quite liked the childhood portion of the drama - the child actress was great and the relationship between our main characters was building nicely. The drama showed how their bonds shifted throughout the years - when LianXin became a teenager, then a young lady. Finally, the second half of the drama settled on LianXin's "adult" life - she reconnected with Yu Qiu and her closest people after returning from her study abroad. Her Alzheimer's onset started appearing subtly toward the end.
Personally, I found myself skipping half of the scenes as it was repetitive - they recycled some of the plot arcs over and over again.

This is my first time watching the main male actor (Eric Yang); his acting was decent. The other actors did well, too. (except maybe Run Chen but oh well) - I LOVE the child actress playing little LianXin!

I wouldn't rewatch nor recommend the series, tho.
Felt too long and bland for my personal taste.

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I'm not one to hold big expectations, as I'm afraid that things will turn out to be a letdown. Same case for this series; I am a huge fan of the PD-writer combo, and I love all the PDs previous works (Reply series, Prison Playbook) whole-heartedly, including the less popular Reply 1994 :D
But still, I have to admit, I did expect to feel similar 'groove' in this one as with the other works; which I didnt find in the first 4 eps. The series was good, it was light, solid plot and cast chemistry, has its comedic moments, familiar camera works, pretty good bg music choices; albeit slightly confusing with all the characters jumbles without proper narrative introductions. Then came Episode 5....... a whole game-changer! Hospital playlist instantly became my new favourite. Supporting characters and side plots started coming together nicely, intricate backstories unfolded, and (new) relationships bloomed... I could definitely felt the same nostalgic, heartwarming feelings the PD past works brought to me.
Three episodes later at eps 8, I can still safely say that it is still my favourite. Totally worth the one week wait for each new ep TT^TT

The casts are well-chosen; this is my first time watching Jeun Mi Do (I honestly dont remember her role in Mother?) and I think she is a perfect fit for Song-Hwa haha. The same goes for Kim Dae Myung (I havent watched Misaeng); I enjoy his sluggish, softy big bear character here <3 No comment for the rest of the amazing cast.
Oh! I LOVE ROSA AND HER MANCHILD BFF!!! And Sung Dong Il moments are always fun to watch haha

Overall, the series is satisfying so far, and i can't wait to watch the following eps and to cry when it's finally time to say bye to my dear professors.

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Cute Mindless Show with Choppy Production

This is a web-novel adaptation about a couple of actor/actress that got entangled in both virtual and real life, thus the drama have a ‘game’ portion and ‘reality’ portion.

Story: Decent plot but they could’ve give us better narratives. A lot of weird/ confusing scenes if you did not read the novel beforehand. The production did a terrible post-production work - a lot of choppy editing that SHOWS. A lot of hidden (cut down, i think) parts that further confuse viewers. I personally got so annoyed i decided to read the entire novel online, halfway into the series. Generally they stick to the novel but cut out a lot of important scenes (God knows why) and entirely exclude the later chapters of the novel. Ending is true to the novel.
I personally love the female lead’s personality and her realistic relationship with her brother. Very heartwarming to watch. Male lead is written as a tsundere character, but comes off as stiff as a stone. His acting is so stoic, I skipped some of his solo scenes altogether. Supporting actors did a decent job, though i think they casted the wrong actor to play Zhangxing.

I think the ‘game’ portion of the story is actually more compelling than the reality parts. Male lead looks WAY better in costumes, too.

All in all, a cute mindless drama to pass time. Don’t dwell on the logic and we’ll be fine.

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Heart-wrenching Drama about A Mother’s (Foolish) Sacrifice

One of the best Taiwanese drama in recent years for me. Great acting from all actors, especially from Gary Tang (which I have never have caught my attention before) and Allison Lin! Good writing also, you can tell the directors and writers put a lot of attention to every bit of details - thus making the pivotal scenes so captivating (for me, at least).

As seen in the story description, this drama focuses on Lin’s family and how she’d always wanted a boy so badly to the point of willing to exchange her life for a son, and how the people around her reacts and eventually support her decision to go through her life-threatening pregnancy. Surrounded by the love of her parents, husband, daughter, and best buddies (Gary Tang and Huang Shang Ho), we see her struggles throughout the course of the drama. A lot of tearjerking moments, especially between Lin and her parents (scenes where her Dad cried in the last half of the drama…. T.T)

Although I personally dislike her selfish decision (sacrificing her daughter’s and husband’s and even her soon-to-born son for her own desire to birth in such condition), but the beautiful, humanizing side of all characters in this drama is worth all the frustration.
How I wish to have such a supporting family and bestfriends like hers.

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Heard great reviews on the series, great rating here in MDL, deciced to give it a go.

The visuals (cinematography, editing, color palette) was indeed undeniably beautiful. Especially adored the animated narration, it was gorgeous. The coloring gave the whole series a movie-like vibe, unlike the usual cheap looking bright-colored Chinese 'idol-drama'. (sorry)

The early episodes till halfway into the series, plot/storyline was interesting and enganging with a lot of mistery and characters' complicated background stories, but the characters were not well written, imo. I just can't understand what did the writer wanted the main actress to portray. (She was definitely the most impulsive, whiniest, clueless, scaredy cat assasin i've ever seen, instead of a mighty, level-headed killer i thought she was supposed to be).

Not really feeling the chemistry between the supposed OTP too. A lot of agst, stupid sacrifices, and a bunch of life threatening tortures and yet i couldnt feel (or see) the 'depth' of their relationship aside from a merciful, caring but stupid master and her ambitious, revenge driven 'shadow/chef/bodyguard/hairdresser'.

Ended up dropping this drama halfway (and read some of the later episodes and ending recapss)

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Acting couldve been better, otherwise its nearly perfect in my book

Great great great family/romance Chinese drama, very relatable and believable plot (hard to find in C-drama universe). I found myself crying and nodding along with the series.... and hating/loving/forgiving each character as they were so real, have their due weaknesses and strengths i found endearing and annoying at times. The three siblings are gold... their personalities compliment each other so well it hurts me physically when they grew apart - again, very relatable; you can't fool distance and time differences after all. The gap silently grew and grew even if we try our best to prevent it.

Writing is good; I can see the character developments - from the main leads and also their close circle of friends like MingYue. Not so much with LingXiao's mom - i find her personality changed too abruptly toward the final episodes. My only complain is: why ChenTing got SO much plot share compared to Daddy Ling? He was always on the screen but was not given any personal story whatsoever; he was either eating, nagged by Daddy Li, or away at work. He was the one on the main poster, not her mental ex-wife, duh. Need to applaud writer for his/her effort to touch mental health issues :D I wish more and more modern dramas would broach these subjects in the future, as it is the reality we young people do face.

Casting was on point; the kid and adult versions matched perfectly! the child actors were very very very good at their roles I wished the childhood scenes would go on forever :( So sad to part with mini Jian-jian. The dads chemistry were good, they were so natural with each other its insane. Lady who played LingXiao's mom was pretty great - she played the mental role perfectly well. I do agree with some people comment on Song Wei Long's acting - he was too... stiff. May need more acting experience to balance his sculpted look (no kidding his face profile is like roman-statue-perfect) but no worries - time is definitely on his side :D. My first time seeing Xiao Ge (Steven Zhang) on screen... and am satisfied with his acting (thumbs up!) his teary eyes were heartbreaking (watch out for some of his scenes with Daddy Li - prepare tissues).

Soundtracks and BGM are very good. Especially love the closing song. 10/10.

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