Alright, get ready. This is going to be a long review. Let me start with a bit of a preface. I LOVE historical Chinese period dramas. I became hooked after watching Ashes of Love and ever since then, I’ve enjoyed this genre significantly.

This drama started out incredible. I started watching it while it was airing and at the point that I had picked it up, there were 17 or 18 episodes out and subbed. I binged those and waited anxiously every week for new episodes. The plot was great, the cast was great, the music was great, and the lead actors’ chemistry was great.

However, somewhere in the middle of this 51-episode long show, I slowly began to lose interest. The show was dragging on, the lead pair was getting less and less screen time, and several characters who seemed key to the plot (Mo Ruo Fei and Yun Lang) would just disappear for like 10 episodes. On top of this, the second lead wasn’t even introduced to us until around episode 24-26. But after he WAS introduced, it felt like him and Hua Buqi got more screen time together than the actual leads. Apart from this, things that seemed so crucial to the plot like the house of Zhu, Buqi’s mother’s story, more information about her uncle and the whole beggar plot, and who exactly the twins were just did not get the attention that it deserved. Instead, the entire plot was tied up with Builotian which wasn’t even explained that clearly (besides the prophecy that got repeated like 20 times).

Now let’s get to episode 51 and how the show ended. I just don’t understand what exactly the writers were thinking when they wrote that episode. Up until this episode, though there were a few bumps along the road, the show was overall good. But this ending dropped the overall quality of the show by at least a few points. First of all, everyone died. And I mean EVERYONE. Name a character. They probably died. There were also SO many unanswered questions. What happened to the Zhu house grandpa? What happened to the other twin who hid according to the emperor consort’s request? What happened to Bai Jinfai? And the most important question…..HOW TF DID BIN BIN COME BACK TO LIFE? Because unless I was mistaken, he fell off of the same cliff that the old builotian obsessed man fell off of? So, he just magically reappeared out of nowhere and Buqi doesn’t even question it? I mean I’m not complaining that he came back, I’m actually glad. But there are just way too many plot holes.

Despite all of this, the drama did have some good aspects to it. The cast was the main one. Ariel Lin, Vin Zhang, and Austin Lin all did an incredible job as the main leads and portrayed their characters well. The support role actors, especially Xing En (not an easy job portraying the opposite gender), did a fantastic job as well. The music was cute and didn’t distract from the show. The comedy was great. Especially within the house of Zhu, between Shrimpy and Chen Yue’s (Bin bin) friend, and at times between Dong Fang Shi and Hua Buqi. I actually really liked the character progression and development of Dong Fang Shi and Hua Buqi’s relationship. He truly loved her in his own way, and she understood that at the end when he essentially sacrifices himself for her.

So, would I recommend it? Maybe. Would I rewatch it? Probably not.

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So many emotions after watching this show. Wow. I’ll be blunt and say that this drama took me a while to finish. It was not something that I could continuously just binge. I had to binge a few episodes, take a couple days or a week off, and then binge some more.

This drama started off very well, lost me a bit in the middle, and then picked it back up towards the end. I liked the interactions between both the main male lead/ female lead and 2nd lead/female lead. I liked the character progression between both sets and the way the writers fleshed it out. One thing I will say is that this drama had a more realistic love story progression when compared to other Chinese period historical dramas. The leads had an arranged marriage that was set by the emperor’s mother and their love story progressed AFTER their marriage. While some people may not like this, I thought the direction that the writers took it in was good.

The actors portrayed their roles very well. You could see Yun Xi’s growing admiration + love for Long Fei Ye, Fei Ye’s jealousy whenever Yun Xi interacted with Gu Qi Shao, and Gu Qi Shao’s unattainable yet irrevocable love for Yun Xi. The chemistry between all of the leads was great and that’s part of the reason I continued to watch beyond the first few episodes. The side couples (Tang Li and Ninjing) also had great chemistry, especially towards the end. The main reason that I said that the ending recaptured my interest was because of this pair. Their interactions, and Tang Li finally realizing that he loved Ninjing was probably one of my top scenes in this show. The villains did their job well and made us all hate them and root for their downfall. The side characters (nanny Zhao, Fei Ye’s mother, Xifeng) all did their role and helped move along the plot in a positive direction.

The music for the most part was great as well. The actress that played the female lead (Ju Jing Yi) sang the main songs and they were absolutely beautiful. I actually went and purchased the songs on iTunes so that I could listen to them whenever I wanted to. However, there is this one bit of retro music (you’ll know it when you here it) that was played at random intervals and scenes that ruined the scenes a bit and took away the attention from the actual drama.

However, I think it’s only fair that I address the weak points of this drama as well for this to be an honest review. There were more than a few WTF moments in this drama. Scenes were Yun Xi JUST forgave Fei Ye with no explanation whatsoever and got mad at other characters for smaller reasons or scenes were the solution would just magically appear in a rushed way, or scenes where there was so much miscommunication and lack of conversation between the lead pair and the side pairs are just a few examples. These scenes, while they didn’t ruin the drama for me, definitely made the drama a bit annoying to watch. I also wish there were more cute moments between the main leads. I am not saying to make every episode all romantic and cute, but I would’ve liked more interactions between the leads instead of having like 5 episodes at a time where they wouldn’t talk to one another or be in the same vicinity as each other.

All in all, I think everyone should give this drama a chance. A lot of people don’t want to start watching it because of the ending. If that is the reason, it shouldn’t stop you. The one good thing about this ending is that you can essentially pick your ending. If you want closure, watch EP. 50 ending on YouTube (sad ending). If you want a happy yet ambiguous ending, watch EP. 48 on YouTube. If you want a happy and more explained ending (which is what I chose) watch EP. 49 on YouTube that includes the bracelet explanation.

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I started watching this drama in between two 50+ episode Chinese historical period dramas and finished it in just a few days. Love Me If You Dare has been on my watch list for a while ever since it showed up on my recommendations after watching the drama Hello Monster. When I first started watching this drama, it gave me Sherlock vibes. The two main characters go around solving cases that initially seem to not connect. However, later on it is revealed that in fact all the cases that they have been solving have that common red thread that ultimately lead to the villain (just like Sherlock). Speaking of the villain, there is always a question as to WHO the villain really is. This question is consistent between all episodes and stays there until the very last one. If you like suspense dramas that focus on all the right elements and not things like love triangles and misunderstandings between the lead couple, THIS is the drama for you. I will not lie and say that there weren't parts where I was kind of bored and skipped a little to get back to the meat of the plot. However, these skips were few and far between. Personally, I do wish that there were a few more romantic scenes between Simon and Jenny as they had such great chemistry. However, the few scenes that they did have were really cute and romantic. The music was alright. It did its job and didn't distract the viewers from the story which was good. I will say that after watching this drama, I'm going to need to watch a comedy or something light and fluffy to recover. Overall, the drama didn't drag along too much and the episode length was a good one.

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Ashes of Love. Where do I even begin? I have watched countless dramas and I rarely give 10s. Even when I give 10s, they are never perfect 10s. Ashes of Love is a PERFECT 10. Before I start my review of this drama, let me be upfront and say that I had my reservations about it. Most of the dramas I watch are set in a more modern setting and are more realistic than this. Though I have watched dramas like While You Were Sleeping (Korean drama) which dabble in supernatural elements, I normally don’t watch full on supernatural or mythical dramas. I came across this drama when I was reviewing a list of the dramas that people deemed the best of 2018. I watched the trailer and put it on my watchlist and I am glad I did.

The first episode itself hooked me. The chemistry between the main characters, the story line, and the incredible actors all made me want to continue watching. As I kept on watching (more like binging) the episodes, I fell more and more in love with it all. I will admit, there were times when I was beyond frustrated. I was frustrated that the Yun Elixir prevented Jinmi from loving phoenix (Xu Feng). I was initially frustrated by how naïve and indifferent to love Jinmi was, despite knowing that it was not her fault. I was mad at the late floral immortal who put the Yun Elixir in Jinmi to keep her from loving anyone. However, all my frustration was worth it. When that stupid elixir finally broke and Jinmi finally realized that she loved Xu Feng, I felt as if her emotions were my own. And this is a big deal. I have NEVER cried during watching a drama. But this drama made me cry, laugh, scream, and everything in between. The credit goes to the incredible actors who will make you feel as if THEIR pain is YOUR pain.

Personally speaking, I think my favorite part of this 63-episode long show were the episodes that showed Jinmi’s trial in the mortal world. HOLY CRAP. The chemistry between Xu Feng and Jinmi in those episodes is ridiculous. When she admits to liking him (in the mortal world) and he asks her to marry him, I couldn’t stop crying. The pain of waiting and watching the before episodes was definitely worth it. Another aspect that made this show great was the villains. I have never hated any character as much as I hated the Heavenly Empress. She is a scheming and conniving lady who is utterly ruthless. Her and Sui He (bird lady) plot and scheme together so much and it annoyed me greatly. Don’t even get me started on the Night Immortal. He knew that Jinmi didn’t love him and yet took advantage of her ignorance of love to get her to agree to marry him which led to an excruciatingly painful love triangle. However, at points you find yourself sympathizing and even admiring these villain characters. That’s how good the actors were. Sui He and Fish Fairy (Runyu-Night Immortal) were the most tragic characters in my opinion. They both loved someone who didn’t love them back and it drove them to do evil things. Normally, when I binge shows, if I have time I fly through the episodes. With this show, I kept having to take breaks despite having time to watch because the episodes were so emotionally charged. I had to stop and let my heart adjust before I could watch anymore of the show. That is how affected I was. The characters are all dynamic and develop so much as the show goes on. Runyu changes from someone who is kind and merciful to someone who is cold and rather ruthless. Jinmi changes from being naïve and innocent to someone who discovers her love only after she’s lost it. While this show has a happy ending, there were points in the middle where I was seriously doubting it.

All in all, if you have any sort of reservations about this show, LET THEM GO. SEND THEM OUT THE DOOR. If I could love this drama this much and cry over it, you will absolutely enjoy it. The plot is incredible, and I honestly wish I could read/speak Chinese so that I could more fully appreciate the attention to detail instead of relying on subtitles. THE MUSIC WAS GOLDEN. By the end of the show, I could sing sections of the main song. Also, if anyone knows where I can buy an English version of the novel that this show was based off of, please let me know.

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It’s been a while since my last review but I felt especially compelled to write one for this show. It took me DAYS to give this show a proper score because of the love hate relationship that I had with it. I’m splitting this review into two parts: story and cast.

STORY: The synopsis does a pretty good job of giving you an idea of the story. There were plenty of common tropes in the show and stereotypical kdrama moments. The story itself isn’t too unique. Poor girl sees opportunity to become rich, takes it, ends up falling in love with the male lead despite a contract driven marriage, etc. One thing I really liked though was the immense character development the male lead went through. He went from being an intense germaphobe who despises forming real connections with people to someone who puts his life on the line for the woman he loves. I also liked that that the relationship between the leads was slow despite the fast pace of the show itself. So many things happen in each episode but the relationship and the falling in love between the leads develops in a realistic manner. The final episode did a good job of tying up loose ends, justice was served, and the last few minutes were especially satisfying.

CAST: Starting with the female lead, this woman annoyed the hell out of me for the first half of the show. She had no backbone, didn’t stand up for herself, allowed herself to be used by anyone and everyone, put everyone around her in constant danger, and made overall stupid decisions. Her attitude and actions during the first half made me almost drop the show twice. Her family also annoyed me, especially her brother in the first few episodes (though this got better as the show went on). It seemed as if no one in her family was smart and the only reason I kept watching was because of the male lead. Honestly speaking, the female lead did NOT deserve someone so patient and trusting as him. However somewhere around episode 11 or 12, her character finally shows some development and she goes from being a weak stupid character to one who wants to truly protect her loved ones (beyond just her family). Although this development took half the show, it was worth it. Now I’m not saying that she completely stops making stupid decisions after episode 12. There were still a fair share of WTF moments however it was way better than the first half of the show.

The villains in this show were terrible awful people. The actors portrayed them well and made it easy for people to hate them. As a typical Kdrama goes, there are moments when you truly pity them but that doesn’t take away from the general hatred. The relationship between Min Seok Hoon and Choi Mi Yun was probably one of the most tragic ones I’ve seen. It’s clear that Mi Yun truly loves her husband but can’t accept the fact that he doesn’t love her so she chooses to simply blind herself to all of his awful actions. This is especially clear in the false pregnancy scene. The actor that plays Seok Hoon does an incredible job in portraying him as a master manipulator and there were even times in the middle when I was thought that maybe there was some part of him that truly loves Mi Yun. The ending makes their relationship even more tragic. Not much has to be said about the loan sharks, I hate them and there wasn’t a single moment when I didn’t.

Despite my initial frustrations and some plot holes where things didn’t really add up, all in all this show was ok. Won’t say it was my absolute favorite and probably will not rewatch it, but it did have its merits. If you have the ability to withstand and tolerate the first half, I can say that you will enjoy the second half.

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