Ignore MyDramaList average rating; This show is so much more.

I really loved this series and am glad I didn't trust the measly 8.4 ratings MyDramaList gave it going in.

TLDR: It's a crime series and drama with supernatural and suspenseful elements that truly elevate the show past any other normal cat-mouse serial killer series. I really loved the supernatural aspect and that it was often explained and used in a way that makes sense to the viewer - how there was legislation drafted around the discovery of this superpower, how it can be villanized and ostracized or conflated into celebrity and obsession. How it's an enigma to Government and law enforcement procedure, but also highly coveted in its usefulness and power.

Our main lead, played by Yoo Seung Ho is complex, charismatic, funny, and infuriating to his colleagues in a charming and amusing way. I laughed often at his antics and cried and clenched my teeth with him during his harder moments. I fell in love with his partners, Oh Se Hoon and Goo Kyung Tan, who were more easily identified as family vs work colleagues early into the series. I cared about them, laughed with them, worried for them, and rooted for them. I also thought most of their police colleagues were pretty funny; they didn't like Dong Baek at first and still didn't really near the end, but they protected him and vouched for him knowing his true character and I thought it was very endearing.

The mystery was very interesting and kept me firmly rooted in suspense, I was tricked several times and liked the final reveal, although I figured out some of it by myself. The plot literally never meandered and out of 16 episodes, I didn't feel any moment was wasted or thrown in as filler. I was very impressed by that. Honestly, I've felt a bit meh about some of the dramas I've watched recently and often find myself skipping through the scenes, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I was already 9 or 10 episodes in and hadn't done that once. Also, for any whump fans (physical and emotional angst/pain), there is a TON and it mostly involves Dong Baek so I was very, very happy about that, haha.

Great show.

P.S This happens to be my 5th drama watching Lee Se Young (I'd previously seen her in The Crowned Clown, The Red Sleeve Cuff, Doctor John, and The Korean Odyssey) and she continues to amaze me. She's a chameleon! First drama watching Yoo Seung Ho and I'm about to deep dive into his MyDramaList filmography.

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After coming off of The Untamed and Ashes of Love, my standards are VERY HIGH for what I expect from a fantasy/wuxia series. So far, with only 7 episodes in, I've been pleasantly surprised. My attention has been 110% on Li Ying, the Ghost Tribes 2nd prince, and not even remotely on Mo Yuan, so I'm struggling a little bit there since I know the series focus is going to eventually shift toward Mo Yuan (or his reincarnation) and Beng Jiu and less on the tragic story of Li Ying.

I've been rooting for him. He came into the story as a begrudging friend to Beng Jiu and cast aside any care for himself in order to be with her. He even stayed hidden in a cave for an undetermined amount of time in enemy territory in order to be with her even though she barely gave him the time of day. He eventually reached a point of total emotional despondency when he fully believed he had no chance to be with her, and he caved in to his loneliness with Xuan Nu after her long insistent, and touchy come-ons. I don't honestly fault him in that way. He didn't think he had a chance with Beng Jiu then she walks in and is upset and betrayed? As a viewer, I could see she was beginning to be swayed by his charms and insistent public displays of affection (which were very sweet and childish) but she never once confirmed her feelings for him or reciprocated in any way other than to show annoyance and impatience for his sweet gestures. When he returns to the Winged Realm, it's obvious he lacked total regard for his well-being and sought comfort in death. It was Xuan Nu, in her ruthless ambition and obsession with Li Ying, that saved him. He did not offer information to hurt the Heavenly Realm, nor did he support Xuan Nu in her betrayal. In fact, it seemed like he craved death and was more despondent than ever after that. All he wanted was to reconcile with Beng Jiu.

Anyway- I'm very obviously pining after the 2nd prince right now. I just feel like he's a beautiful, tragic, sympathetic, and grey character that I find very charismatic.

Episode 19 Thought Update:
Although the CGI is OK at BEST, I'm constantly mesmerized by how gorgeous and well-designed the costumes are. They're absolutely stunning. I remember watching Ashes of Love and being so underwhelmed by how cheaply made everything looked, despite the grandiose scale of the sets/costumes. Even when watching The Untamed; although the costumes were gorgeous, the sets weren't convincing and the CGI was terrible. Even the wigs sometimes looked too fake (the zombie puppets). Still, the stories in each series were always the main attraction and so beautifully woven together, that I was able to overlook those issues. In Eternal Love, the CGI is bad, but the set design is a lot nicer (usually), the costumes are GORGEOUS, and even the makeup isn't bad on the creatures (mercreatures and the winged realm). Also, Ye Hua's wig is probably the most natural wig I've ever seen. It's gorgeous, smooth, and the hairline and baby hair placement is so nearly perfect, I kept questioning if it was extensions to his real hair or if it was a wig (until i'd sometimes catch a glimpse of the wig hairline).

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missed the mark for me :(

I really wanted to like this. T_T Many people have great things to say about it calling it the underdog and the surprise sleeper hit, but I struggled to connect to it. I didn't like the voice actor for the FL (her real voice is much better), I didn't like the lack of facial expression or vocal emotion on the ML (which never really improves), and I didn't like a large swathe of the actors (his mom, the evil eunuch with his hair obsession, etc.), I didn't like how fake the armor looked (normally I can overlook if the story is good, but the helmets and gauntlets were visibly bending and squishing with every physical movement), and I couldn't get into the mystery, etc.

To be fully transparent, it's at least partially because I just finished Love Like The Galaxy. It completely blew all my expectations into the ether with how good it was (production value, script, costumes, set design, acting, etc.). They're very different dramas, but I don't think I was able to stop myself from constantly comparing the two. Especially since they both seemed to have been filmed in Hengdian, and I could pick out sets they both used in their dramas. Still, I had trouble connecting to the characters and the plot as a standalone drama. I think I needed a more charismatic male lead or more action to keep me locked in. Even the action scenes were unimpressive in how they were filmed; camera angles and shots were taken ultra close to each person, and it felt like a camera trick to hide sloppy choreography.

Plus points for:
- Jing Yi and Leng Yue. They were fantastic characters and super fun to watch.
- The use of animation to explain intricate devices (like the secret stove underneath the house) or autopsy scenes.
- The re-enactment scenes of murders were a quirky and cute way to provide skinship for our otherwise very mild CP.
The drama has many positive points, and I can see how someone who maybe enjoys The Ancient Detective would find this equally, if not more, gravitating.

I'm sure this drama is fantastic for a lot of people, but I think I just need to stick with what I know I like - genres more in line with The Rebel Princess, Love Like The Galaxy, Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, etc.

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First impressions:

Good:
- I like the backstory between Sung-Joon and Hye-Jin. It's nice that they formed a neighborly friendship, despite how superficial school children can be, and that it deepened into a "first-love" type chemistry before they parted ways as children. The umbrella/earbud moment was really cute.

-Park Seo-Joon.

-Ep 6 - the whole dynamic between Sung-Joon and Shin Hyuk was comedy gold. I *loved* the subverted trope with Shin Hyuk nursing Sung-Joon back to health.

-Ep 7 and on - really love the chemistry that FINALLY has a chance to breathe between our main leads. I enjoyed watching them go on their business trip together and seeing the real layers of Sung-Joon come to the forefront, and Hye-Jin being a (little) less crazy than her usual self.

Bad:
- Kim Ra-Ra in her entirety. I could tell they were trying to pull off the "eccentric, out-of-touch, overly-artificial boss" archetype that I sometimes see in KDRAMAs, but it was so poorly executed, I couldn't help but grit my teeth every time she appeared on screen. Her lazy attempts at Spanish and Italian to sound cultured and her over-the-top body language antics never came across as funny for me. If you want to see this type of character type done *perfectly*, watch Kim Sun-Young as Eom So-Hye in Her Private Life. SO FUNNY. I'll give Kim Ra-Ra a little credit later on in the series when her antics toned down a bit, but I still didn't think she was nearly as funny or endearing as Kim Sun-Young.

- Hwang Jung-Eum as Hye-Jin during the first few episodes. Her overreactions and over-acting antics really really bother me. No normal person would react so ridiculously. She looked like a cracked-out lunatic in the elevator scene and it made no logical sense. Running away screaming, arms flailing to avoid a person. Falling over herself hiding under furniture. It's all just too much. She did the same craziness in the beginning of Lucky Romance and I nearly dropped the show because of it. Eventually, her character (and her over-acting) mellows out, so I'm hoping it does here too. I really loved her in Mystic Pop-Up Bar so I know she's fully capable in her acting and ability to play a well-developed, well-rounded none-Jim Carrey-esque character.

Conflicted:
- The very premise of this show is pretty problematic, but it does do a pretty decent job at digging more than skin deep. I wasn't a huge fan of the office atmosphere changing as soon as Hye-Jin had her makeover. Like being prettier suddenly means she deserves respect. At the same time, I know it's also because she gained her confidence and probably exuded a different aura that allowed her to seem more approachable to her colleagues. I don't know, it's a little wishy-washy to me. It's also laughable that Hwang Jung-Eum is conveyed as "ugly" with just a bit of rosacea and frizz.

- Intentionally misleading Sung-Joon with her friend, Ha-Ri, was upsetting. He hasn't seen you in 15 years, give the guy a break! He looks completely different as well. I was upset his reaction didn't fit the crime. The reaction should have been bigger, and more drawn out. It was morally grey, at best, to lie to him and play with his emotions like that.

- I do think the romantic tension fizzled out a little too quickly by having their issues resolved and their romance in full bloom by the end of Ep 12/13.


*** I ended up dropping the drama by Ep 13 because I lost interest in the "will it or won't it" close-down issue with The Most magazine. I skipped through the last few episodes just to watch the cutesy moments between our leads, and because I love Park Seo-Joon so much, but I literally had zero interest in the plot after his collapse/they solidified their relationship. All of the tension I felt with the series was with the truth behind their relationship, and his health issues. I also wish they expanded on his health issue a lot more- I thought it was very interesting that they were alluding to Sung-Joon having an eating disorder, especially considering how taboo of a subject it is in Korea (and even in western countries) for men to have eating disorders even though it's definitely a thing. I wish they'd expanded on that a bit more and confronted it.

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Not as good as Healer. Hope Ji Chang Wook returns to future action dramas.

- I love Ji Chang Wook in action dramas, and I wish he did more of them.

- If I had to choose between this or Healer, Healer would easily win. It's a much more organized drama that's a lot less over-the-top with its dramatics. The romance in Healer is believable and has great chemistry compared to this drama. I think they spent a lot of time on Anna being almost infantile in her behavior because of her trauma, so it felt unnatural to see a romance come from it. Still, it does get a littttttle better later, so I wouldn't say it's a total loss, but it just..doesn't work for me. The relationship from start to finish in Healer is miles better. Mainly because the FL is overall *miles* better than Anna.

- The acting and music in The K2 can be very over the top (not including the agents or Ji Chang Wook, I thought they each did fine). Choi Yoo-Jin was often overly dramatic and almost a caricature of a melodrama villain. It was sometimes too cheesy to watch, and I fast-forwarded most of her scenes. I also skipped most of Anna's emotional scenes in the beginning (she adjusts later!) because I got burnt out from all her crying.

- Choreography in the action scenes was well done. I thought the bathroom scene in the beginning when K2 first showers with the guys he previously beat up were pretty hysterical. I also loved when he "rescued" Choi Yoo-Jin in the meeting when he set off the fire alarm and walked in with an umbrella. Scenes like that helped set the tone for the show and helped me "forget" the sloppier moments.

- I really liked K2 and all of his JSS bodyguard friends who started as rivals, and then later, they're all putting on face masks after a hard night, lmao. Scenes like that were really fun to watch, and they had good chemistry.

Honestly, excluding skipping through to the stronger scenes, I would pass. Not even Ji Chang Wook's gorgeousness (and his beautiful whump scenes) help the writing of this show.

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When I first saw the trailer on Netflix, I nearly spit out my drink. KOREA purposefully making a movie with a central focus on BDSM?! HUHHH!? Be that as it may, I knew I had to watch it. Surely glad I did! Great movie.

At the first meeting, there is no mistaking the immediate chemistry between our leads, Jung Ji Woo and Jung Ji Hoo. Jung Ji Woo (the FL) even openly states to her colleague that she's interested in him. The dynamic at work puts Jung Ji Hoo in a position of power, while Ji Woo; despite being spirited and outspoken, is at an obvious disadvantage with her misogynistic employer. Ji Hoo is sensitive, attentive to his colleagues, and refreshingly contemporary in his advocacy and awareness toward women's rights. These traits are all evident toward Ji Woo and her colleagues and it catches them by surprise.

The plot moves quickly and is a lot of fun, albeit a little cringe (not in a bad way!) sometimes. It's obvious to the viewer that the dynamic of power currently set is not what either lead wants for themselves, and I was d y i n g of 2nd-hand embarrassment for Ji Hoo when *that* was found and during their initial "discovery" phase of each other. I'd personally blush to death if someone as cute as Ji Hoo bought something like that, and I'd probably spend way too much time imagining him wearing it. I love that our cinnamon roll (I'm calling him that now), is involved in a healthy BDSM online community as well. He's just...so endearing and adorable. I especially love the disparity between how much he wants to be dominated and bossed around, and how much he's doted on and admired at work by his boss and colleagues; he just wants someone to step on him and make him beg, not get doe-eyed and fawn over him and tell him "well done."

I think it's so cute that Ji-Woo takes her role seriously, and puts a lot of thought and study into it.
Their sessions together are instantly a sensual experience, even when it begins on an awkward note. I can't help but blush and pause/start scenes a few times so I can get through them, despite not being a vanilla person myself. These experiences they have together provide a cathartic (and sensual) experience for them both, as they both fantasize and even heal with each experience. As time passes, these experiences begin to shift in meaning for them both.

TLDR: I LOVED this movie. It's so out of the left field for Korean entertainment (at least, from what I've seen released recently), and it's a refreshing (and sexy as heck) love story that I had a lot of fun watching.

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A surprise hit. Very strong show, from start to finish.

Had I relied too heavily on the reviews here on MyDramaList, I wouldn't have given this show a fair shot. I'm *so glad* I took a chance because I thought it was easily one of my favorite kdramas (and I've watched over 70 so far in the past 1.5 years). It wasn't perfect, but it was engaging, well-acted, well-choreographed, well-thought-out, and well-executed. I notice that I tend to agree with the reviewers over at Dramabeans in their assessments of shows and was pleasantly surprised to see that they rated it a 9.6/10 and with good reason. I breezed through the entire series without skipping any scenes and absolutely gobbled it all up. I'm sad it's over.

Acting:

ML & FL
I'd only seen the FL (Kim Sohyun) in Love Alarm and since her character frustrated me immensely with her romantic choices (I'm still so salty she didn't choose Song Kang in EITHER SEASON), I had a bad bias toward her and thought her acting felt a bit forced and wooden. She totally caught me by surprise with her acting in this show. She was wonderful, emotive, and had great physical acting as well. Her chemistry with the ML (Jang Dongyoon) was natural both during the show and especially in BTS. They're so cute together!

I've been meaning to watch Jang Dongyoon in something and I'm so glad this was my first experience watching him act. He did an incredible job as Widow Kim and as Nok Du. He had such subtle shifts in his body language and voice depending on whether he was near the other widows and in his female persona, or when he was around Dong-Joo. It was so fun to see his body language suddenly shift into a more masculine gait and posture, and hear his voice drop several octaves lower all while still dressed as a woman. He was able to easily come across as a beautiful woman, and also give me butterflies with his masculine physique.

Side Characters

Antagonist
TOTALLY UNEXPECTED. I had only seen Kang Tae-Oh in Run On as a sensitive, overly nice, overly aloof character who spent the majority of his time fawning over his CEO noona, so this was a complete 180 and I *loved* it. He first comes across as that same love-sick, funny friend then totally whips into the most unexpected and vicious villain who arrested my attention whenever he was on screen. He also looks *fantastic* in his black war regalia.

I also want to give points to his right hand, Dan-Ho. I'd never seen him before and he was a scene-stealer as well. His gaze was lethal as was his sword.

The King
I both empathized and hated him. This is one of the highlights of The Tale of Nokdu that I couldn't get enough of. Characters you're meant to hate still tugged at your heart and made you pity them. The story had so many layers and the King, at moments, made me feel like he could be redeemed.

The Queen
I *LOVED* the Queen. Oh my heart. She was a beautiful, strong, and heart rendering character. I'm so glad she was able to finally reunite with her son.

Dongyoon's Family
- Great chemistry. The relationship between Nok Du and his brother was heartbreaking and I rooted for them throughout the series to reconcile. I also really loved Aeng-du. She's a firecracker.

The Widow Village
I loved these women. I rooted for them and thought they were an admirable, brave bunch.

OST
Very pretty. Aided in painting the picture of every scene immensely.

Overall

I really, really, really loved this drama. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. The plot was well layered and well-executed. The plot never meandered long in one spot so it always felt like we were going somewhere. Nothing felt overly forced. The length of each episode and the overall length of the series gave each character and storyline plenty of room to breathe. I had minor issues with how long it took our ML and FL to FINALLY tell each other the truth. That part did feel like it ran in circles a little bit. I was also a little frustrated with the outcome of the show but was overall very happy that our main group of protagonists had their happy ending.

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amidst the thorns, a boy saves a girl from her gilded tower

The drama begin's on an awkwardly shot episode filled with poorly acted foreigners and even worse English-speaking scenes. I don't think Korea will ever work out the kinks of English-speaking scenes so they're less awkward and unnatural. I'll give the production crew credit for filming on set in Cuba; it's a beautiful location that allowed the poorly strung scenes to immerse me in the story.

Once our CP met in Korea, I fell in love. The plot structure is organized from start to finish and surprisingly well-crafted for a chaebol family drama. I was invested in our CEO's plight and, for a while, even pitied her ex-husband after learning his back story. As we watch our CP's romance blossom, it's both elevated and tested through a sweeping and turbulent "sea monster" that threatens to overtake their sails (as gorgeously depicted in the whimsically illustrated intro/outro imagery).

I remember encountering (heheh) this drama a few years ago and having difficulty pressing the play button. I think it was because I was unimpressed with Song Hye-Kyo's facial acting and thought I was in for a wooden ride. After watching her latest drama, The Glory, I knew the power of her acting and the nuance of her performance. This drama did not disappoint.

I'm still surprised with myself for watching 16 episodes of a drama that isn't Chinese wuxia/xianxia, or fantasy-related, as is my usual schtick. I was hoping for some gorgeous Park Bo Gum scenes and angst, and I got it all and more. Also, thank you, drama Gods, for giving me beautiful kiss scenes. Their chemistry, albeit surprising, warms on me, and I found myself cheesily smiling and crying along with them.

If you're considering watching this drama, give it a shot. Don't let the first episode or two fool you; it'll quickly hit its flow and charm you with its fairy-tale-like romance.

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I haven't been this excited about a drama since I first saw The Lord of The Rings.

It's an ambitious, all-encompassing story that made me feel excitement like I felt when I first watched The Lord of The Rings (which has stood the test of time as my all-time favorite over 20 years since it first aired). The world-building and the scale of storytelling, history, lore, and brotherhood are engrossing to such an extent I couldn't think much of anything else during the duration I spent with this drama (until maybe the last 15 or so episodes when I got impatient). Also, the eye candy in this is no joke. I was gobsmacked by how beautiful Shawn Dou's Muru Han Jiang and Huang Xuan's Muyun Sheng were. Both actors were meant to play these roles. My goodness. Extra kudos to the incredible child actors who played their younger counterparts. Not only did they look almost identical, but they played the characters perfectly (I also really enjoyed their acting in Love In Between, in which they both starred).

To the naysayers - ignore them. If you're into long-scale epic fantasy stories like The Lord of The Rings or Game of Thrones, stories that take patience with their development, world-building, and story-telling, then you'll be riveted by this. Frustrating caveat: (SPOILER) All of the suspense building to the ultimate prophecy ends up leaving us on major cliffhangers and it doesnt seem like we'll ever get a sequel.

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Refreshingly Mature Topics & Go Yun. Nuff said.

Full transparency- I just came off The Fiery Priest and was absolutely FERAL to find something else Go Yun stars in. He stole every scene he was in, and I'm amazed I haven't discovered him sooner. He's got more charisma and charm in his left sock than most Idol actors I've recently seen on TV, and I'm honestly gobsmacked by him whenever he's on-screen.

OKAY- So, about the series:

I'm not typically drawn to dramedies (I'm more of a grand-scale epic saga or cerebral thriller type), but aside from Go Yun, I adore the cast; particularly, Jo Hee Bong and Park Byung Eun, and I love the more mature topics that I'm surprised to see on Korean airwaves. The series starts off in a quirky-off-kilter-type way, handling Jang Ha Ri's excessive work ethic and problematic reproductive problems with self-deprecating humor, and 2nd hand embarrassment. Jo Hee Bong's character, Chief Nam, was instantly likable and funny to me. I loved his shameless Insta comments on Han Yisang's profile to get him to get in contact. I also love how subversive the series is in handling stereotypical situations; for example, Ha Ri is faced with an uncomfortable situation at work where she wants to intercept a potentially harmful article from getting released and has to face a male peer and their boss. She handles the situation fearlessly and even throws herself onto her boss's couch to force him into complying. I thought it was funny, empowering, and a total boss move. The women in this series are independent, fierce, self-sufficient, and AWARE of their power.

Hari and Yisang have great chemistry. Especially when they bicker. Their quick retorts constantly had me cackling. Their first few interactions are rife with comedic misunderstandings. With her friends, Hari recalls a fond memory of her first meeting with Yisang, and it's depicted in her memory as a classic K-drama romance scene with slow-moving snow, and flattering nostalgic lighting, and she was completely swept off her feet when she mistook his Visine drops for tears.

"It was my first time seeing a guy cry. A guy's tears can somehow open your heart." LOLLLL.

Later, as her Chief tries to introduce the two, she takes poor advice from her friend and tries to initiate awkward small talk and {nonconsensual} skinship while Yisang squirms uncomfortably at her terrible flirting before hilariously and savagely shutting her down. Needless to say, they've gotten off on the wrong foot and I think the editing choices throughout the scenes make it so much funnier as I catch myself laughing out loud regularly without feeling like the situation is overtly ridiculous or unrealistic.

Outside of the lens of humor and silliness, there is a very real, very raw sadness that permeates our FL as she tries to have what she wants most in the world, a child. Since she was a little girl, it's all she's ever wanted. We follow her journey and her (sizzling) chemistry with Yisang throughout the series. Her platonic chemistry with the other male leads and female colleagues is also fantastic. I really have to give a lot of props to the writers, because there isn't an episode that goes by that doesn't make me laugh consistently throughout while hitting me in the feels. Time and again, it introduces a typical trope and completely flips it upside down, surprising even the most jaded K-drama viewer.

"The happiest person is a mom. Moms always smile when they see their babies. My dream is to become a mom."

It isn't just about Hari's ever-reaching journey toward motherhood. The show broadens its lens and shows us the intricate interworkings of each character and the journeys they're going through as well. What it's like as a single parent, a divorcee, an aging mother, an older bachelor afraid to start again. It's life and all of its machinations, day to day, relentless and without prejudice, while we try to surf the tide and find our way toward happiness.

I highly recommend this series, and not just because you get to look at Go Yun's face for 16 glorious hours.

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even the most optimistic ones can lose their senses

Aghh, I love this movie so much.

It reminds me a bit of the American movie, Five Feet Apart, in regard to the romantic aspect of the series and dealing with serious illness. This movie is much more nuanced, much more impactful IMO than the more commercialized and melodramatic Five Feet Apart. Still, I found myself making a few comparisons. Like Stella, Ma Xiao Yuan is bubbly, persistent, and charismatic. She seems unwavering and diligent in her pursuit of life and happiness over her sickness and she makes it her mission to spread this sunshine to our little dark cloud, Wei Yi Hang (Jackson Yee), who's all but given up on living and just exists to exist. Her persistence in shedding the melancholia from his shoulders gravitates the two together, and we're given a glimpse of their budding, youthful romance amidst such a serious and bleak undertow.

Their chemistry is cute and youthful, I adore Jackson Yee and just came off of his brilliant (and not to ever be understated) performance in Better Days, and he's just as captivating in this; albeit a little dorky with that haircut. I hope he never does a series or movie with a voice dub-over because I truly love his voice and its slight guttery rasp. It's also really nice to see Jackon Yee's bright smile - the roles I've seen him in most recently (Better Days and The Longest Day in Chang'an) were both roles he had to play with relative stoicism or street grit, so the smiles were few and far between, and never full.
Liu Hao Cun plays her role wonderfully, and I find her efforts as Xiao Yuan to make Yi Hang smile adorable and creative. I had the biggest grin on my face throughout her "world tour guide" scene where she created "different places" from around the world with the help of her friends for him to experience since he can't travel.

"Dancing in the crowd, I felt the joy of being normal for the first time. Growing old like everyone else no longer seems a distant dream."

Watching Yi Hang's family endure his illness deeply affected me. My family went through a similar situation when my older sister was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when she was only 28 years old. The juxtaposition is shown well here; between the internal agony we felt in waiting for results and waiting for symptoms to worsen or get better; and the feral need to lighten the mood and smile like we could rise above the pain if we laughed hard enough. It was our own personal hell. A purgatory of waiting, uncertainty, unbridled love for her, and unhinged agony of invasive thoughts about her not getting better. Yi Hang's family is barely holding on and they're spread thin to keep the ground from falling beneath them, while also trying to maintain smiles on their faces for their son they love more than anything. It's such a hard balance to teeter, and this movie handles it eloquently. I feel so deeply for his parent's pain, and I also empathize with Yi Hang's grief and anger in feeling like a burden to his family.

"[...], the guy who's always joking around, who's always acting like a child, seems to have turned into a tortured father overnight."

This movie was cathartic, and moving, and left me with a feeling of appreciation for what I have and what I've lost.

"Everyone in life experiences losses, which we're all afraid of. Yet, when it happens, the most powerful weapon against it is to live each moment to the fullest."

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HIStory: 3 takes its time introducing us to its characters and storyline to provide a solid foundation for the series. All of the actors are believable, with natural chemistry amongst both friends and foe. Despite the poor police work throughout the series (they're really so conspicuous and unprofessional in everything they do, lol), the natural build-up in the series will make you invested in the storyline before any romance comes to the fold; a refreshing change from the typical old-school BL storyline that puts heavy emphasis on gratuitous skinship for viewership before attempting to make any sense of their plot.

Main Couple: Shao Fei and Tang Yi
I was initially a little cold toward Meng Shao Fei's character, but his quirkiness and funny emotive facial expressions quickly won me over. He's a bit brazen, bullish, and immature, especially for a police officer, but he has a clear heart and is always forthright in his intentions. I liked Tang Yi out the gate (his voice is *chefs kiss*) but his backstory and affinity for warm smiles when he allows his walls to come down, especially grew on me. I'm really impressed that his character is introduced as bisexual right off the bat. No, "I'm only gay for you" trope at all; he's seen openly flirting with a man at the bar and it's obvious he's not concerned with how it'll look. The enemy-to-lovers trope (which I happen to love) is used in this series, but I felt like it was executed with natural ease, and I'd perhaps credit the writer's pacing for that because they don't automatically fall in love when they first begin spending more time together. They get to know each other as layers are peeled back and their walls come down one by one. At first glance, they're physically a rather unconventional pairing. Tang Yi is tall, elegant, well dressed, and handsome; while, Shao Fei is rather unkempt, unconventionally handsome, and awkward in his posture and body language (I think it's mostly the clothing choices and the hairstyle because he's much more attractive IRL- which is a big kudos to the styling team to bring such a contrast to their physicality). Together, they have a nice synergy that exudes unexpected natural chemistry. Both of their acting is on point, and I was again especially impressed by Chris Wu as Tang Yi, specifically in the heavier emotional scenes that take place near the end of the series (no spoilers). I've seen big emotional breakdowns like that in BLs before, but that one felt visceral and raw. Like I was watching a private moment.

Secondary Couple: Jack & Li An
One is a sm0l and innocent little bean, and the other is coy, mischievous, and has a contagious smile. Their instant chemistry and initial get-togethers were fun to watch. As their relationship grew, I enjoyed watching their chemistry change from that superficial innocence to something more meaningful. As a person, I had conflicting feelings toward Jack. His character is much more morally gray than I'd initially anticipated and I was disappointed in some of the choices he made.

"What to do when a man confesses to another man." LOL. Protect this pure soul.

Third Couple: Zuo Hongye and Gu Daoyi
I'm not remotely interested in this relationship. Hongye is petulant, selfish, and scheming. I don't like her, and I never warmed up to her character. Gu Daoyi is flat and glum at all times. Too hesitant or cowardly to reveal his true feelings until way late in the game. Very uninteresting.

OST: Nice variety in genres that bends easily between each scene, whether it was an action scene or a melancholic moment of self-reflection. Impressed.

Overall: An outstanding BL with such a strong story, it grips you throughout even if you're going in purely for the BL aspect. The acting was strong with everyone, but my superstar is Chris Wu. His range, and his moments of visceral anger or raw and childlike agony, blew me away. I cried with him - literally couldn't help myself. He displays his grief in such a gut-wrenching, all-encompassing way. From his body language to the way his face contorts with its last thread of restraint. I want to see him in more projects. The last few episodes especially were masterfully done.

Any negative feedback?
Not really, except I wish they did a 2nd season with the same characters, or at least an epilogue episode to add closure (no spoilers).

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plot caught me by surprise; magnetizing villain; slow-burn romance; great OST.

I really liked this drama!

The chemistry between our leads has a very natural progression that gives me butterflies in the right moments (like when he hugged her for the first time, when he tied her shoes and stepped closer, the way they look at each other, and worry for each other, etc). It burned hot and slow, and I really liked that. I found myself feeling sad for them in the moments that had the strongest chemistry because I knew they were likely fated to not be together because of the circumstances and they looked really great and natural together. I kept finding myself thinking, "oh, they'd make a great couple. they look so cute together" etc etc.

The plot runs at a steady pace and has its fill of suspense and horror. Trigger warning for anyone bothered by kids in duress- there are a few scenes here and I had to skip through them because I have PPA. I saw some criticism with the plot from others here, saying the plot lost its way or got slow but I never had that impression. In fact, I really liked the focus on finding Lee Da Il. It made me hopeful for a while (then crushed me later).

The OST is reallllly good. A few of the main songs that came on during high-tension moments always made me get super into the scene, and I liked the songs between the ML/FL. I definitely added the OST to my Spotify playlist.

Also, full disclosure, I'm a huggggggeeeeee fan of whump and this series has A L O T of it for Lee Da Il. Soooo, huge plus. ;)

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Promising Start w/a Chaotically Edited Plot; Xu Kai is Pretty & Dai Xu & Bai Lu Shine Thru The Mess

The Good:

*Xu Kai is gorgeous and I love his visuals in this drama. His wardrobe palette had beautiful nightsky/space themes that complimented his dark blue-black hair and caramel-honey eyes wonderfully. He looked great both with and without his "dragon scars". I thought his scene at Zhao Yao's grave when she was lying on the ground unconscious and he had to submit to Jiang Wu in order to get his help was so powerful and so raw. I re-watched his kneeling scene several times and how he held and cried over Zhao Yao and admitted how afraid he was; the despondency and fear on his face made his otherwise powerful figure seem small and child-like, and I thought it was very wonderfully done. He has moments of weakness in the series as well, but I'd honestly put more blame on the writing and editing over his skills as an actor. It seemed like he tried his best but his character did seem to lack a more dynamic bandwidth of emotions.

*Bai Lu as Lu Zhao Yao. WHAT. A. QUEEN. I loved her. She's powerful, arrogant, sarcastic, cunning, and an absolute delight to watch on screen. She did a wonderful job showing the growth of her character from the sweet and naive mountain guardian, to a powerful and ruthless sect leader, to a vengeful and cunning ghost, to a woman in love. I do think her strength evolved as she grew in character and for those who enjoyed her physical scenes as a "badass rule breaker", they may be a little irked by who she becomes in the later episodes as she spends most of her strength trying to protect and love Li Chenlan.

*Dai Xu as Jiang Wu. Absolute scene-stealer. I looked him up on MyDramaList the minute I saw him on screen. He's like the CDRAMA wuxia Loki. He's chaotic, he's funny, he's handsome, he's cunning, and he's got a giant heart that he veils beneath his ridiculous bravado and sarcasm. I looked forward to all of his scenes and laughed out loud from his antics while he shared leadership with Zhao Yao and Li Chenlan. I was devastated when he died and audibly whooped at the screen when he "showed up" again to give his sword to Zhao Yao (what a powerful scene!). Can't wait for more of his dramas.

*OST is not necessarily memorable, but it was pretty enough.

The Bad:

*The editing is horrendous. Some scenes end abruptly, while others are thrown in that obviously belonged elsewhere and with no rational explanation. How many times am I going to watch the same dragon-nightmare montage that Li Chenlan sees in his head? I swear, it must have been shown like 10 times in 1 episode alone whenever he struggled with his inner demon. I felt like the editors got especially lazy near the end of the series; it was clear this drama should not have been made into 56 episodes. It would have been perfect for 20-25. As is, we have to deal with a lot of filler episodes and a lot of plots getting dragged out and thrown into stereotypical tropes in an effort to carry the plot along.

*The plot drags and drags. As mentioned earlier, it was obvious to me that this show was meant to be much shorter in length and it was seemingly dragged for longer and longer segments. It would have been perfectly paced with 20-25 episodes.

*The CGI - Good. Lawd. It was bad.

*Standard CDRAMA wuxia tropes. 1st FL falls in love with the antagonist in sheep's clothing. He turns out bad and breaks her heart. 1st ML falls in love with FL before FL realizes her feelings for him. 2nd FL is close to 1st ML and is possessive and jealous of 1st FL and so she dangerously concocts ploys to put 1st ML in harms way in order to "save the day" and become his hero, thus making her the apple of his eye but it backfires and makes things worse (wow a surprise!) and she gets more and more careless and violent in her attempts to woo him. - why is this *such a trope* for c-dramas. I literally just watched this same plot in Ashes of Love and Eternal Love.

*Voice dubbing seemed really off with some of the characters and it hindered my ability to appreciate their performance pretty significantly. I'm talking specifically about Xu Kai's performance as Li Chenlan. Visually, I thought he was believable and I empathized with his emotions but I literally had to mute some of his more angsty scenes because the voice actor did a very poor job of sounding convincing. If I muted it and just watched, I could feel his pain. If I allowed the audio to play through, it literally made an otherwise convincing scene seem very elementary in skill. Specifically when he's crying over Zhao Yao in the cave, and later during any moment when he's experiencing pain (which happens more frequently in the later episodes as he fights with his inner demon).


OVERALL- Worth a watch? Yeah, there are aspects I really liked about the drama. It's the plot type that I normally totally eat up (handsome dark-soul male lead who struggles against his inner demons and evil side for his love; funny bromance, fantasy elements, backstabbing, steamy kisses, etc). Worth a rewatch? Nah. Way too much real estate for a drama that should have been 1/3rd in length. I would say, if anything, to skip through for Jiang Wu. He's really not to be missed.

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If I have to hear that goofy "Ma'am!" one more dang time - UGH.

I'm 3 episodes in so far, and I'm loving the writing. Our ML and FL are intelligent, witty, charismatic, and have an easy chemistry that I've liked so far. I really love that the ML is empathetic and caring and not the usual cold-shoulder trope I seem to see with ML's. The ML's younger sidekick, Kim Ji Woong (Henry), needs to G O. Absolutely hate his actions and how much he jumps in and out of English for comedic effect. Not funny. Only Ok Taecyeon was good at it in Vincenzo but he's a much stronger actor and more natural with his body language. I have to skip through every time he's about to open his mouth. I guess this is where the "idol-actors are terrible actors" stereotype comes in because I've been very surprised by how strong some of the Idol actors I've watched have been (Lee Jun Ho, Seo In Guk, Park Hyung Sik, IU, Park Jin Young- special mention to Chinese Idol, Xiao Zhan..drool..etc).

This is my first series with So Ji-sub and I can see the allure. He's full of charisma and has a magnetic presence. I admittedly stayed away from his dramas at first because he's not my usual type (I'm more of a Park Seo Joon, Gong Yoo type) but he's got a rough-around-the-edges sexy aura that I can absolutely eat up. I can see some of the usual tropes (hate -> love relationship, son of a chaebol with traumatic childhood w/rough on her luck FL) but it's done in a way I'm not mad at and, as I mentioned earlier, they do subvert some of the usual tropes with how strong-willed the FL is and how caring and empathetic the ML is.

I will update as I delve further.

Episode 5 update:
Omo! The physical contact in this gives me chills! I'm not used to this much actual physical chemistry and TOUCHING in kdramas and I'm LOVING it. The scene on the mat was....especially great, heh. My eyes are bugging out just as much as theirs are, haha. Definitely a more mature drama, and I'm still a huge fan of the writing; especially between the ML and FL. Unfortunate side note- I still have to skip through every scene with Kim Ji Woong (Henry). He IS SO IRRITATING.

Overall update-
Really love this series! I'm a little annoyed by the "1 year later" trope they just HAD to include and how it was executed. Understanding the ML and his decision making regarding his accident is what kept me from being overly annoyed, but at the same time, I *wanted* to see him show his vulnerability to the FL and thought it was so unnecessary for him to seclude himself for a full year during his rehabilitation and not even reach out via phone or text to let the FL know he was OK and they were OK. The viewers are led to believe that the FL is wholeheartedly understanding of his absence though, so we're force-fed that what he did was OK, and I didn't really feel that way. He should have stayed in contact or allowed her to remain by his side throughout his healing process, IMO. It would have led them to get closer, and it would have shown the ML it's okay to not be okay and to show your true self with the people you love the most.

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