Unlikely Romance + A Bitter Fight For The Throne

This drama is amazing and I am so glad I stumbled across it, however - I think this is the type of drama you can only truly enjoy if you forget everything you read/saw about it. Neither the trailer, the Synopsis nor the original novel are an accurate portrayal of what the drama actually is like. I think a lot of people got mislead and then were disappointed.
SO, if you want to to watch it forget whatever you know about it.

I would say it's a story about an unlikely romance. Surprisingly flirty, touching and hopeful. What did Rihanna say? - We found love were it wasn't supposed to be. That's exactly it.
We have a strong, mature and hard-working FL in her 30s that has a high ranking job and doesn't loose her cool. On the other side we have a flirty, but beat-down-by-life car technician in his 20s.
The romance in this drama is very mature and raw - in the best way possible. Somehow it feels like censorship forgot to check this drama? - lol, not that I am complaining tho :D

Now about the mystery, murder, etc. - I have to give a disclaimer I don't watch a lot of dramas in that genre, which is why I appreciate the short length. I couldn't watch 20-30 episodes of a family fighting for inheritance.
Most of the mystery and murder happens in the final 3 episodes and during that time it's exactly like in the trailer, before that it's a slow but steady fight for inheritance among the Gao Family and seemingly undisturbed the ML and FL are getting to know each other, far away from the company. Which is the part I loved the most.

All in all this drama is different from what I watched before and I am glad I did.
+ the orchestral BGM also added A LOT to it feeling unique and intriguing

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not one boring moment

When I clicked open this movie I did not expect much. Even for the first third of the movie I thought it was be pretty predictable but to my surprise it turned around to be quite funny, healing, cheeky and overall entertaining.

The synopsis is pretty vague and does not represent the movie accurately in my opinion.
Both leads are not that young anymore, while he had been turned down in love and gave up on his music career, the FL has been in jail the past year. All in all I would say the story is non linear and not every plot point and the history behind that is fully explained. If this was a drama that would be a negative, but since this is a rom-com with 120 minutes run time, I don't see much fault in that. The typical tropes like "fake dating", "fake pregnancy", "ex comes back" might make you want to stay away and think it's melo but instead of doubling down on these tags, the movie uses those terms as additives. They don't define the entire story only parts of it and the main characters grow around them. To put it simply, one second it might seem the rest of the movie is going to be set in a certain place but a few minutes later everything is different.
Both leads have a difficult past and let go of that together over the course of the movie. Especially the ML has some touching moments later on.

As mentioned earlier I especially liked the second half, it had me laughing quite a few times. For a Chinese Movie it shows quite a bit of skin and is more raunchy than a more conservative movie. I mean the fact that the FL beats up guys, was in prison and has a back tattoo already gives you a little bit of a hint that there won't be a damsel in distress. I also liked it's fast pace but also many original scenes. Whether funny or sad moments, the actors had good chemistry and delivered a good performance.

But of course it's not a perfect movie. At certain points earlier on I found the ML a bit sleezy and the FL got sexualized a bit too much by the writers but it got better later on when the focus shifted on comedy and healing. The "not one boring moment" title could also hint at something not perfect since the movie does a lot, almost too much, in a short period of time and you don't always know the reason or where certain people came from.
Lastly, I really liked the ending. Funny and also wholesome... also shows that there are people who will accept your past and not judge you based on that.

I think it's entertaining and I don't really rate movies strictly, so for me it was funny and cheeky and that is good enough for me.
I would recommend the movie, especially since there are not a lot of odd pairing romcoms of mainland china that have leads that aren't in their 20s anymore.

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Sweet Romance, Great Chemistry but quite simple

This drama has it‘s main OST sung by Chen Xueran and if you have already watched a couple c-dramas then you know dramas with his OST all have a similar vibe and set up:
Around 30-40 Episodes, High Profile Actors, lots of promotion, romance centered with quotable scenes and a smooth but overall simple storyline with a dash of "china-is-the-best" sprinkled on top.

And this drama is exactly that. It’s a nice watch as it has really good chemistry that is worth the build up and unlike many other dramas, in terms of romance, it’s actually *not* anti climatic and instead has a point where the romantic tension boils over.
It’s not outstanding in terms of story besides the romance, which was very sweet and wholesome, given the nice/calm ML and the chairmans-daughter-undercover FL.
If you really like romance with funny moments and steamy kisses then you might enjoy this a lot.
+ The FL can secretly pull strings within the company thanks to nepotism which was refreshing in a way, since she doesn’t have to back down from anyone.

Another plus point for this drama is no parents for majority of the drama, which in my books is always a plus… because when was the last time you saw parents that weren’t annoying in romance centered ones?

Negative Points (slight spoilers):
Overall the main couple is what made me like this drama but everything else will probably not stay in mind for long.
It did have a lot of supporting characters and side plots that came and went without much impact.
The whole Baidu Navigation system versus America‘s GPS was over the top and 2-3x it completely took over for half an episode, which went beyond a lil self praise to full on propaganda… but it’s a Chinese drama so what can I do besides roll my eyes maybe :')

Conclusion:
It’s a smooth but simple drama, without blood-boiling qualities and a truly swoonworthy, sweet ML. It‘s lacks a few ever so annoying tropes, which was nice but it also didn’t replace those so it ended up being a mid-tier drama with (probably) high budget that is nice to look at.

End note: I see dramas are getting bolder by sneaking in a fruity side character… even though he was stereotypical, he was cute.

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underrated slice-of-life that feels "homey"

A well acted story about four female friends in their late 20s to mid 30s, who could not be more different in career, character and romantic storyline.

Although it does not necessarily bring anything new to the table of these types of dramas, it feels very "homey" thanks to the story taking place in Chengdu, where a heavy dialect is only one of many things that sets it apart from Beijing based dramas.

Three of the four women, as well as two of the guys, went to the same high school, where as the youngest among the friends is the daughter of their former teacher. Wu Yun and Dan Dan are also cousins. It might be a bit confusing at first to figure out the character relations and backstory but you'll figure it out in due time. The fact that they grew up together but their life turned out so differently was refreshingly realistic and relatable. Another plus is that the love interests are all nice guys that know to treat their lady right and it's all ML chase FL first.

It's a slice of life, with mother-daughter relationships, romance and a lot of sismance, therefore it's quite a chill watch with nothing too exciting happening - but I really liked that. If you are sensitive around death & grief, I might be careful tho since there are multiple character deaths at various stages of the drama (not the leads). This is also where I see ties to "Remembrance of things past". The Writing around ep17-26 reminds me a lot of the writing style in that drama.
Admittedly I put the drama on for background noise in the beginning and watched the first 15 episodes with only 50% attention but by episodes 17 I was locked in and could not stop binging it.

I rarely have a favorite episode when it comes to dramas but episode 25 (the camping one) is so good that I will surely re-watch it. Generally in a drama with multiple mains, when they finally are all in one frame including their love interests, the screenwriters can really shine - and oh they did here. Even if you don't wanna watch the full drama, you can just watch this episode and get the feeling of chilling by a fire pit and watching great actors play off each other with cute interactions.

In terms of the couples, I was the biggest fan of Zhang Pei & Xin Yiang. The actors are veterans and have that extra something in how they carry themselves and use their entire body to act. Xin Yiang is a great guy, he doesn't appear perfect but is very down to earth and naturally playful. Ren Su Xi is one of my favorite actresses and her playing Zhang Pei only solidified her placement on my favorites list. Zhang Pei is unintentionally relatable and funny in a way that you have to see in order to understand.
The character dynamic of this pairing is playful and they joke a lot with each other. Although all couples are slow burn in terms of actual romance, it doesn't feel forced.
I liked that each couple had a completely different story and way of getting together. I wasn't bored with any of them but if we're playing favorites, aside from Zhang Pei & Xin Yiang, I liked Jia Xi's coupling a lot too.
Only Dan Dan's story made me roll my eyes once we reached the last 10 episodes. Initially I thought having a single mother as one of the FLs would be interesting but she definitely got the short end of the stick in terms of character writing. Aside from her love interest, that is way too nice to her, she is quite unreasonable and has terrible ex-in-laws. Wu Yun's pairing is wholesome and I liked that they did not make jokes about her appearance, but rather everyone liked her the way she is. (just saying this because whenever we get the token not-super-skinny friend in a cdrama they usually make fun of them).

Aside from the romance, sismance really shines and they are always supportive of each other. I loved that they all had very different careers and non of them were particularly admired jobs(murder mystery parlor host, insurance broker, streamer, city maintenance office worker), nor were they super successful or rich. Maybe that made it feel more "homey" too? I'm a bit sick of the rich CEO stereotype. Everyone in this drama hustles for their coin but the career aspect is never overpowering (after the initial introduction of the drama) and sometimes they appear to have quite a bit of free time... a bit too much almost :D
The main conflict, if you can even call it that, happens between the women figuring out their life and love, while their parents (especially moms) have different ideas. I liked that there was growth even in the parents and they got to a point where they could apologize for their mistakes but they still have the "asian mom" worries like 'when are you getting married', 'you need to get a good job', etc.

!!! ENDING SPOILER !!!

In terms of what I did not like it's mostly just minor things but aside from Dan Dan's story line I'm quite happy with the entire drama. The final few minutes did really try to squeeze those tears out of me but I felt prepared so the only thing that bothered me was the break up of one couple. Similar to Remembrance of things past, the couple that got together the earliest didn't make it but not quite understandable in my opinion. They were great together with no real fights and I do think they'll meet again but I still want to point out what bothered me about their break up. After doing long-distance for a few months, they met again and danced together(she is in Theater), where at the end there is only a voice over of him asking "growing old together or short-term journey?" and you hear her voice saying "short term journey"... nothing more. That was odd and felt unreasonable as a break up, but judging by the last minute of the drama they'll probably meet again.


To end this review, I think it's quite underrated and deserves more love from people who like this kind of plot. In case you watched "Be Your Own Light", you'll probably also like this even if it has less career focus.

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no thrill in this thriller

I was really looking forward to the release of this movie since it's Theater release four months ago and watched it right away when it popped up on Netflix but I can't say I wasn't disappointed....

The first half of the movie is sprinting through the plot in a way where you think something ain't right. I never thought "thriller" and "murder" could leave me feeling so indifferent. There's barely any mystery and everything is dealt with so fast that you never get the feeling that the supposed killer could get away with it. Pairings form up unnaturally fast and confessions aren't questioned in the slightest.
The second half is where the expected happens but even that was lame. Essentially this movie had no thrill, nor were any of the characters particularly interesting. Especially the older FL, who was supposed to be this scheming killer widow, had no mysterious aura around her nor was she pissing me off (which I kinda wanted). It also gets a bit cheesy in the middle but at least everyone's pretty to look at.

I guess the only good things in this movie are 1. Rhydian looks very dashing as the prosecutor and the the final 5 minutes / the post credit scene evoked a tiny bit of excitement in me. Everything else was very bland in my opinion

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death by boredom + miscasting

It’s a very basic fluffy college youth romcom, that would have had the potential to be among the better ones of it‘s genre if it wasn’t for miscasting of the ML + writing of supporting characters.

Bubbly girl + cold ML = we‘ve seen it a million times BUT I found the FL to be quirky. Some of her train of thought seemed relatable and the actress did a great job. At the beginning of the drama she isn’t the best student (medical department) and is insecure about that but she is also determined and wants to learn.
About the ML. He‘s the most popular student, everyone wants to be with him or be him, he’s a genius, he seems cold, yadda yadda yadda.
-here is where the mentioned miscasting comes in place.
The actor is extremely wooden in facial expressions and movements , barely opens his mouth to talk + the monotonous dubbing makes him seem like a robot.
There is no way he‘d actually be the school hunk.
BUT to break all of that - the writing of his character towards FL was actually great, but sadly was undermined by a stiff performance.
Pretty much 2-3 episodes in, you realize he is not cold but failed his social class because he‘s bad at communicating - very nerd like. But throughout the whole drama he helps the FL become more confident and likes her early on but knows she needs more time.
I actually loved that his character was written that way and if it was smooth sailing, they’d have one of the healthiest relationships in drama land.

HOWEVER for this kind of nuanced character writing to come to live, you need an actor with great micro expressions. Not even a normal good actor would do this character Justice, let alone someone who only has 1 expression.
Some of my cast suggestions would be:
-Liu Yi Chang
-Wang Rui Chang
-Wu Fei
-Li Ge Yang
-Zhou Yan Chen
My top pick would be Fan Shi Qi, but he’s probably over the age of college student by now.

This is my main reason for finding this drama so mindnumbingly boring and why I speed watched the later half.

Other negatives would be it’s so fluffy that the departments they’re studying in are not represented well at all. Our girl is baking in her bakery at college every day, while she is supposed to be a med student? It’s very simplified but in the name of fluffly romance I‘m okay with that.
Another minus would be her love rivals, which are just so ridiculously brazen with their words that I could only laugh.
I also didn’t like his cousin’s love story but oh well… that’s just the icing on top.

The good things about this drama would be simplicity, potentially good and different writing of the ML and the relationship dynamic with FL (she doesn’t have to chase him, he is very kind to her in a subtle way).
Plus I liked her, she was quirky, funny and relatable. The comedy was good too at times and it’s not the worst of the worst - just miscasting that made it very boring to me.

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Amazing Chemistry + A Highly Underrated Gem

In less than three days I completed "My Treasure" and it was, as in the name, a treasure.
Often times the english version of a C-Drama title doesn't fit the story but this one certainly does.

This drama should receive a reward for details! Because, wow! I watch so many dramas day-in-day-out and yet very few feel as real as this one. The characters are three-dimensional and especially the ML feels like a deeply complex yet so genuine person.
It also has a high production value, so on that front everything is very pleasing.

The good:
The mentor-mentee relationship. This was just fantastic and like nothing I've seen before. Their origin story started before the drama starts so there is no push-and-pull, just supporting each other and already being very trusting.
He fully trusts her and is not like a typical ML, when he helps her it's not by doing her work but rather by teaching her how to do it herself and by expressing that she is capable and reassuring her.
The Treasure aka Dong Na, was exactly that. I don't think you could put her in a category saying she is this or that type of female lead. Yes, she is hard working, young and ambitious but she is oh so unique and real. Everyone surrounding her will at some point melt and start appreciating her. She cares so much for the people around her and especially her mentor. Really loved the writing and acting of her character.
+ the onion technique! if you watch the drama, you will know what I mean - one of the details I loved.

About the slight romance:
Again, have to give it to Gu Fei / Roy who was just so brilliant with this expressive eyes and most delicate details. Watching him find healing, peace, comfort and happiness once more all because of the treasure that is the FL, was just beautiful and gave me butterflies. As if I had never seen somebody like someone - in a way it was so much more than that. This is not your typical romance (drama). It's more so about realizing that you have a soulmate by your side and that soulmate inspires you to grow and heal.
I need to stop spoiling :P - but let me say one more thing. Gu Fei was so straightforward yet in the moment you could see him contemplating on what to say next to her and I believe even if the script had no lines we would have still understood what he told her. I loved, loved that and that it was important to him that she thought highly of him.
Despite the age difference they had fantastic chemistry, be prepared however that his drama is very PG due to that - but it does not impact the viewing experience at all since they are very in tune with each other.

The not so ideal: (spoilers ahead)
Chunky Plot arrangement. Our hard working FL is ever present and she is the leading lady for sure but every 5 episodes two episodes will focus on certain supporting roles and it happens in chunks instead of telling their story slowly over the course of the drama. However this critique point is a bit harsh as it's not something that bothered me too much, it's just something I noticed.
About half way through the drama it dipped into melo-genre for one storyline a few episodes and I just did not like that. Don't get me wrong it brought forth the BEST acting, raw emotions and certainly pushed the leads closer together but it did make the drama less "slice-of-life" and more like a melodrama. However that faded again, so don't worry!
And lastly, the "I grew up very poor, you have no idea how hard that is" speech was used one too many times and in situations where it was not needed at all. It made the FL look a tiny bit like a pushover at times but her overall attitude towards life made up for that.

Favorite Quote:
Maybe you're not smart enough to be an Entrepreneur or scientist.
But don't worry. So am I:
Maybe, besides day dreaming,
ordinary people like us
can work hard an strive
to become an artist of life.

The Conclusion:
I had a hard time rating this drama since I felt like it was better than the 8.5 dramas on my list, however it's a little too flawed to be a 9.0, so I decided to look up the production and see! - It has the same director as "The Rise of Phoenixes" and the writer of "A Dream of Splendor". Both those dramas made me feel like this - I have come to the conclusion, that they're exceptionally good at creating real characters and unique connections as well as the ultimate binge factor by casting actors that have off-the-charts chemistry with each other. But then the second half of the drama arrives... and it's just not as good as it could be. There was protentional for it to be phenomenal but in the end it was (just) very good.

So the dilemma is, does a fantastic first half justify a 9.0 rating, when certain episodes later on are a bitlack-luster or venture into melo? Nevertheless I watched it within mere three days and I loved it, highly recommendable despite a few things - that in all honesty aren't that much of a bother, since the two leads' story is just so intriguing that everything else is not that important.

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a great novel-like love story told, yet...

A timeless romance drama and a pleasure to watch for the first time even a decade after it's initial release.
(spoiler warning)

I've seen countless dramas adapted from novels but in the case of "Ballad of the Desert" it truly felt like a novel-come-to-life. The characters, the interactions, the set up... everything felt like you could read it exactly like that on the pages of a book.
Script doesn't always translate well into reality but thanks to the cheeky and fun acting of Eddie Peng, the male lead came to life as all-in kind of guy that once he loves, he loves HARD. Possessive male leads can come across as toxic and icky super fast if they're only a tiny bit too close to reality and make you wonder how you'd react but here it's just d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s, again thanks to the novel-like feel of the drama. I mean who doesn't want to be chased by a hot general, that makes you feel like you are the only girl in the world?!

But a good ML is not all that makes this drama so enjoyable. I really liked the desert scenes, the set up of the story - a girl from the desert, that can fight and is not shy, finds herself in a love triangle that is *finally* worthy of being called a love triangle. Because if I see the "love triangle" tag one more time in a drama where it's just unrequited love I WILL throw fists!
Even if in this case it does start out as a typical one it just gets sooo good, when Xin Jue loves both and is loved by both. I read a lot of people hated it but THAT right there is the essence of 2010s love triangles (see the vampire diaries, jane the virgin). I don't know at what point and WHY love triangles suddenly turned into this weird thing where the lead girl or guy can only ever like one person. Don't call it love triangle if there is no LOVE TRIANGLE but just a third wheel.
The best thing about it here is, it makes you conflicted. Only a few (realistic) tweaks in the story and she would end up with the other guy. Not in a way where you are thinking "SML is so much better" yada yada but rather the story takes you along and you realize sometimes courage takes time to develop but people move at difference paces in life and ultimately there is no great difference in love, but in who is faster.

In all things romance I really like the writing of this drama. Not just between the leads but also everything surrounding them builds it up quite well. So many moments where I was totally loving it, stomping my feet or audibly saying "OMG".
I know censorship has always played a part in drama production but in 2014 it was much more lenient. I am fairly certain that this could not air these days anymore, nor have we seen a romance like this in years. Simply too sexy :P
The "I'll be your unlawful wife" scene is something straight from wattpad imo. Also the end of ep23... um what?! is this a vampire drama now? -there is a lot of playful biting this drama, haha.
I can say all of this having finished the drama but you definitely have to stick with it for a bit until it gets good. I'd say it was interesting more after EP5 and I loved it most EP15 onwards.
One mega plus point of this drama is FL has no female competition in love, what a nice and rare thing in dramas. She is going through a lot of growth and also does some questionable things but I prefer this much more than a too nice to be true FL. She sees through people and is never easily deceived. Very satisfying in that regard!
As you can tell by now I really liked this drama and I just think it just really worked for me and I hope it will for you too :)... that goes to say I also read some people gave up on it midway, which I find a pity because it constantly picks up again after being a bit slower for an episode or two (when it focuses on other characters around ep 20-22). It never stays in one place for long and this made it easy for me (a serial dropper) to keep watching.
That being sad it’s not perfect …the dubbing actors, especially for all important male roles, are the ones you heard a million times before. Fight scenes done by the FL are a bit comical (sound effects) but get better the more wars happened. Just a few CGI scenes are laughably bad but thank god they only use it 3-4 times in the entire drama. I think back then (2014) it must have had quite a good budget and I think you can definitely tell…it doesn’t look cheap in my opinion and by ep15 I completely forgot to even think about how it’s an old drama.

The OST is still stuck in my head and I recommend you check out 'Bai Touyin (白頭吟)' and 'A Kind of Courage Called Giving Up有一种勇气叫放弃)' by Della Ding.

This review has been anything but spoiler free so far, but this is my official real SPOILER warning as I will be discussing the ending and the "yet..." part of the review.
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If I had to summarize the big downside of this drama it would be "a great love story told, yet another story left unfinished" because essentially only the romance is tied up nicely (happy ending) which - granted - is THE main story. I am also aware that this drama is the Adaptation of one part of a novel trilogy so it only makes sense that the story is yet to be finished but the sequel drama has nothing to do with this story so I doubt we'll ever see more.
Ironically this drama gave me the satisfaction of the kind of happy ending "A Journey To Love" only left us to imagine. But in that is also sadness because if everyone thinks they're dead and revenge never ever took place, a lot of the story has been in vain - except for the main's romance. Brings me back to the point that this drama is heavy on romance and proved it once more with the ending. We're given what we wanted - a happy ending for the leads - but all the schemes and other plot points are left untold. It's not super annoying either but just a bit of a "hm" moment. For example... what happened to Hu Wei Li? He only showed up for one glance in the second to last episode but damn, his character and desert kingdom was too interesting to not be given closure about! Also FL's dance house bestie. Is she really left to believe that FL died? I mean we know QX thinks so and she totally wasted her life, forsaking her happiness to seek revenge but nobody ever even knew that. Worst attempted revenge ever...in a sad way. Also Shan'er? I know he's not the real Er but he doesn't know that nor does the King so when he grows up people will tell him his parents abandoned him and that is just SAD. I really would have loved to see the falling out in the Imperial Court and Harem because there was bound to be one massive house collapse after the Emperor lost his right hand man. For Mo Xun... I think his ending is pretty clear. The small tweaks in the story didn't happen and therefore the ending is fitting. In a true love triangle only one couple can remain and if there is happiness for the third party at the end it's not a true love triangle in all it's painful glory (according to me, hehe).

But here comes my counter argument and somewhat explanation of everything I just wrote: After finishing the drama I did some research and a LOT of the characters as well as the story of the palace is actually based on reality. Wu Ji, QX, Li Jin, the entire Wan/Wen Family and the Emperor were real people (different names tho) and many scenes come from historical records (the deer incident with Li Jin for example). This explains a lot because those stories also did not end and continued for generations. If you read up on it you'd also find out that the way our leads escaped is how the actual people met their demise. Wu Ji is actually based on the infamous general Huo Qubing that only lived until 23 and died under mysterious circumstances. It's quite the tragic story, although it did not include romance nor did the FL or SML exist. This is not part of the drama review but I fell down the rabbit hole and now I see this drama in a different light. In all fairness most of the drama is fun and not much sadness but my view has been a tad bit tainted with sadness after reading the real tragedy of the story, LOL.

Ep15-19 were my favorite because that’s when the leads are in the desert at war away from the palace. But when they came back FL kind of abandoned the dance house and I don’t quite get what all the build up before was for, if she was not going to pursue that career (she manages the house). On another note I loved that this is not a palace drama… meaning neither ML nor FL live there nor are the controlled by them for the most part. There is palace scheming later on but it won’t break the leads up and they always care more about their love than the rules and regulations. PDA in ancient times is high with these 2! They don’t care to show public affection
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All this goes to say, I LOVED THE DRAMA and actually the end is quite alright. Would have been crazy if a drama from 2014 was that much better than dramas in 2024 so yeah :D But in terms of flirty ML Wu Wei Ji is one of a kind! Loved him a lot, the teasing chemistry between the two leads was great. Definitely one of my favorite romances.
There is a lot more I could say but I feel like this review is already way too long, so I'll leave it at that: It's well worth the watch if you are a romance lover and what a pleasure to watch Eddie Peng as his best romance Character one last time before he quit acting in dramas (as of now).

P.S : please, if you watched the drama and also fell down the rabbit hole trying to decipher the meaning of "funghi soup" in ep27, tell me you also saw the comment "soup is just soup" after reading through hundreds of disturbing replies and almost losing faith in humanity. Haha

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enjoyable first half with one massive no-go but GREAT second half

A college romance that ticks all the boxes plus some. It's simple but so good in portraying mental health and healing.
I'd rate the first half 8/10 and the second half 9/10, therefore overall it's an 8.5/10.

All actors gave a very solid performance, I've been enjoying the works of both leads for a while and given the right script both of them can truly shine. For the first half of the drama I'd say they were a bit underutilized and it's probably not the biggest challenge to take on a college romcom drama script but their natural acting gave the drama a sense of realness.

It starts out typical but enjoyable. We see common tropes such as childhood connection, nice extroverted FL, an introverted genius, somewhat distant ML and other all to familiar drama accessories.
But what sets this drama apart is it's portrayal of how the environment you grew up in affects your day-to-day life.

If you happen to be a child of divorce, then this one will probably hit you in the feels (as it did with me). Let me give you a quote as an example.
"When I was little, my mom and dad used to dote on me.
Then one day, they parted ways without telling me the reason
and suddenly I became a person without a home.
I really really hate holidays.
I hate summer and winter vacations even more.
Because I don’t know where to go.
Wherever I go it seems like it’s someone else’s home.
I feel like a piece of luggage that can easily be thrown out at any minute."

Other mental health issues and topics related to childhood trauma(no physical abuse) were:
- abandonment issues + loneliness
- C-PTSD(probably) and anxiety

Without spoiling too much I want to say the leading couple was very supportive and had great communication in the second half and in light of the mental health issues caused by the MLs childhood I have to say I really enjoyed the scriptwriting. Not all is forgiven and finally a character actually speaks out about how the environment they grew up in harmed them. Episode 17-24 were great, with 21 being my absolute favorite.

Another thing that ties this drama together is it's choice of music. Nostalgic piano and emotional english songs like "In Two" and "Feelings Find A Home" made it feel much deeper, than say your average up-beat cdrama BGM.

Lastly, the not so good:
- the whole "proving with science what falling in love is" was picked up and dropped every couple episodes. It clearly wasn't the highest priority, the main plot was the childhood connection, hurt and how they re-connect. Once it was established what their past was, they no longer needed that aspect of science. It was fine nonetheless but it didn't stick to it's original plot (or the japanese manga) but as I said above I enjoyed the second half more anyway.

The massive no-go:
The lab monkey. Honestly it's 2023 and there was ZERO reason to have an actual monkey in a cage, visibly distressed and not criticizing it at all. This infuriated me soooo much. All just for "funny" scenes to make the FL seem embarrassed in front of ML.
At one point (ep5-7) you could see that off-camera someone blew air at the monkey (probably a leaf blower or something) to make it go into a cage. This was not part of the actual scene but it was clearly visible on the fur of the animal and showed how the animal was treated by the handler.
Same goes for the lab rats that were yanked around by their tale.
These two incidents did not happen ever again after those episodes but it also makes me rate it lower.

VERDICT:
All in all it was simple but had depth later on with great quotes, emphasis on mental health/healing and I loved the ending, it was done so beautifully - it's been a while since I was so satisfied with a drama ending. It also had a nice second leading couple (the guy lowkey looked like straight out of a high school kdrama, lol)

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"Swiss Cheese"

This is one of those dramas that reminds me of my childhood when I'd find unmarked DVD's in the back of the library and without knowing it's content have myself a nice movie night without any expectations.

And in a way I think you can only enjoy this drama if you don't have any expectations going into it because it's like swiss cheese.
It has many (plot) holes but it's still good.

What made this drama enjoyable were the following things:
- small province winter setting (not many supporting roles besides the 3 families)
- the story of the three not-so-perfect fathers; each had a touching storyline
- Kido Ma.... honestly this actor makes ANY drama worth watching and his character was the only one that actually made me laugh a few times. For example when he watched his own drama (I don't want to be friends with you) and said he could play that role too! - LOL

What I disliked:
- the FL was written very selfishly and unlikable, but since she's not acting cutesy and cringe it becomes bearable.
- The whole fantasy aspect was unnecessary and even the FL seemed to forget about it within a few episodes.
- The Fact that only the fathers were given a touching storyline and the mothers each had exactly one character trait that they portrayed throughout the drama and that's it.

.... I think it works despite it's flaws because the essence of the story was family reconnection and seeing them (parents) as individual human beings with their own dreams, past regrets and flaws rather than just their parental roles.

Another thing that saved this drama from being a fail is the natural styling, lack of cringe and cutesy acting - the actors and actresses looked good but not idol-like and their modest living conditions as two families under one roof. Not much technology but real human interaction. Although it was supposedly 2018 you could think it was the early 2000s judging by the clothes, interior design and the restaurant styling.

Although lacking in many ways - the natural atmosphere of the drama made it a nice watch that I don't regret.

it truly was like a winter night.
- nothing fancy, maybe a bit sad but also heart warming and at the end you fall asleep with a smile.

PS: the way they wrote in a gay character without getting censored is genius, haha!

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In light of a charming story, questionable values become (almost) irrelevant. (Part I)

I was pleasantly surprised by "Small Town Stories", an easy watch that left me feeling warm and had great pacing overall.
Not once did I think about dropping it (which I usually do with every drama, even if I like it) and I would even consider re-watching at some point. 30 Episodes went by super fast and there is almost no dragging or detours.
Similarly to "Rising With The Wind" it finds it's charm in flawed characters that are likable nonetheless and follows a small group of regular people achieving success through hard work as well as their journey in love. (not me almost making a AJTL reference, LOL - that drama really did a number on me)

Gao Zhiting (ML) is a great actor, he has natural charisma and an easy-going energy around him that makes his character feel real and three dimensional. The character is a bit rough around the edges and has traditional views on life, but nevertheless someone who is reliable in love. The event managing company he runs is very much living from paycheck-to-paycheck but their constant hustle to make a quick coin is endearing to watch and adds a lot to the comedic side of the story. Some of my favorite moments were the little steps of growth and realism of people working together. Hint: Naps are important but money talks :D
On the other hand we have the FL who returns to her home "town" and while she is dead set on returning to Beijing after healing from her Tinnitus, everyone tries their best to keep her in Weihai. Although it could be considered a flaw I actually liked that her problem was resolved quickly and nothing that dragged on. The leads went from strangers/enemies-to-lovers in a very natural manner, I liked how both of them never imagined to be a couple but slowly grew their feelings. Their bickering was funny and cute. The drama has a "character development" tag and I'd argue they mean them as a couple because the way they go from enemies to genuinely supporting each other is nice to watch.

Although I wasn't always a fan of her parents, I found both of them to be refreshingly youthful. Yes, they can bicker and nag but they're also funny and after a few beers both of them become quite chatty. Also high-key relatable how the wife reacts whenever the husband invites someone over and she had no idea.

In the name of making this a more realistic drama, beauty filters were kept to a minimum and a lot of the scenes are recorded live, adding to the natural feel of the story. I hesitate commenting on people's body size but I liked how the usual body shaming comments were absent in this drama and both leads have a slim but not super skinny figure. Having a tan male lead with a buzz cut is also not typical but so refreshing!

I liked STS a lot despite some underlying issues (more on that below) and would recommend it as it has a lot of charm without much struggle and an idyllic setting. A bit like "Meet Yourself" and "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha".
Overall it's a warm slice-of-life with great pacing, enjoyable chemistry between the two leads and a beautiful ending for everyone.
The biggest hurdle of watching this drama is choosing between watching it with bad subs but good audio(IQIYI) or good subs but muted song audio(YOYO channel). I opted for the later.

random fun fact: this is a dream for graphic-tee fans! I never counted so many graphic tees with random english words or paragraphs in a drama, loved that :D



PART II of the Review (Listing all the flaws and inconsistencies, SPOILER!) :

https://mydramalist.com/profile/9228969/feeds/xoE0KHl (clickable link in comments)

Unfortunately it was too long so I had to post it on my profile instead, feel free to read it if you want to know the underlying issues with this drama that I think need to be called out.

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Children without a Surname - a very underrated movie

An action movie about a young man that can't look away when people ask him to help find their missing children.
The topic is quite gut wrenching, as the Human Trafficking of abducted children is no joke but for once I don't mind watching a "Propaganda" movie since it's well done and focuses mostly on the ML & the search/rescue of a child.

The acting is good, especially Mu Tong is such a promising young actor and the story is pretty fast paced.
It's a bit predictable but good enough to throw in a few plot twists and multiple hands-on bloody fights.
If you see it from a fictional stand point it's a satisfying story and a good watch, only when you start to think about how real the human trafficking of Children is, does it get sad.

The theme song ' 无姓之人 ' (The Man with No Surname) by Cheng Huzi , who plays Zhao Jia, will stay with me for a long time. It's lyrics are easily understood even if you have only watched a handful of c-dramas. A son who was abducted as a child, dreaming about telling his mother about all the mile stones he achieved in his life, from growing up to getting married and remembering his family. Here's the song in case you just want to listen to it: https://youtu.be/9kAcaToIn9g?si=jM1BssRwUajC42xN

PS: stay for the post credit scene to see an extended happy ending for the ML and his girlfriend :)

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Good Enough to be better than most

A story about three career women in their 30s-40s, who’s life goes through various changes in terms of work, family, friendship and love.

There are plenty of cdramas with the same set up released in the past few years but I find that "Be Your Own Light" outshines them by having a more mature, relaxed and realistic approach.
It stays true to it’s title and the main characters all grow to become their own light.

The three female leads are not perfect people and only grow (together) over the course of the drama.
All of them are completely different in terms of character, how they work and also their personal life and romantic line are not alike.

I did not find everyone likeable at first however in retrospect it was refreshing to not have picture-perfect people but also some that would do anything for the job. Especially if you are soliciting funds for marketing, you might have to put on a smile when you don’t want to and I liked how the other 2 women came to respect that, when they were judging her for it at first too.

The men in this drama are more like supporting roles and if you purely came for the romance, this might let you down. Whenever you see the ML it always has something to with the FL and we don’t get to know him all too well apart from that. I was fine with that since I really loved watching the women grow in their work and go through ups and downs.
Yes, all 3 have love interests and one of the women has more focus on romance than the other two, but overall it’s a female centered business (reporter, news station, marketing) drama and with that comes some romance.

The story of the FL and ML starts with her owing debt since her husband ran away (luckily he doesn’t pose as a problem the entire drama cuz I would have hated that) and how he wants to get the money back is quite funny, unrealistic but it adds to the comedic relief of the drama. Although overall the drama is not blood pressure rising or aggravating a lot anyway.

The negative:
At some point the drama felt too long but in the end it wasn’t long enough, I wanted more.
The ending is like so many cdramas - rushed - I just felt like this drama really took it’s time so I would have loved for that to carry through until the end.
Potentially this could go on for several seasons since it had a never ending business sitcom vibe :)

While I liked that the "villains" were not that dangerous and quite civil, I‘m also wondering if I had enjoyed it more had they been more evil. But they, like so much in this drama, were quite realistic. They know how to put some pressure on you, but if that doesn’t work they aren’t gonna kill you if you know what I mean… they’re more concerned about saving their own behind.

As mentioned above it’s good enough to be better than most dramas of it’s type but it’s nothing too special, rather something to watch in between or during dinner. It definitely has flaws but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Having completed this drama I can safely say this was a comfortable watch. There were enough unique moments, to not make me compare it to every similar-set-up drama I know

Random thing I loved: non of the FL were childish + I liked that YY bought HH used car and drove it for the rest of the drama.

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MMA & sense-switch in a fluffly romcom? - Mama Mia!

Watchable thanks to certain scenes that stand out even against other dramas but other than those it drowns in a sea of predictable clichés and weak scriptwriting.

The pros (mild spoilers):
- the kisses! Damn! The cotton candy kiss is the most intimate kiss I‘ve ever seen in a drama (no wonder there were dating rumors after the drama aired)
- the times when FL had her period but instead the ML felt the pain. The way those scenes were written and acted made me feel certain that the drama was written by a woman (turns out it was).
- the ML performance when experiencing her pain was funny and he made it very believable. He did a great job.

Now to the biggest con:
The Female Lead. I‘m sorry but what the? Just now I praised the female writer for creating awareness and empathy for what women go through once a month but then she goes on to write the most pick-me-energy spiked FL? Damn.
*more on that in the spoiler section below.

I don’t even want to mention the MMA part because it was laughable bad. Her being a fighter & bodyguard is an insult to both of those professions. Especially because the narrative was that people don’t wanna see female MMA fighters for the sport but rather because of their appearance. This was never criticized but rather endorsed.

——SPOILERS——-

About the emotion/pain switch:
Both times the electricity goes berserk and both times the doctor is just like "oh well it’s alright"… no examination afterwards, and after the second time they don’t even have follow up appointments. It was said it’s a new technique in testing phase. Wouldn’t the doctors be super interested to see their reactions and document the process? - nope.
I guess they just needed some explanation that wasn’t too supernatural to pass censorship.

My biggest pet peeve:
The FL constantly asking ML to trust her, guilt tripping him into trusting her and pouting saying he doesn’t trust her — ALL THE WHILE she is actually cheating him!
She is the company spy and she knows actually what Mr Wu wants to do (destroy ML) and he also tells her all the time I just need xx and then I can finally destroy him and she still helps him??? All gullible and happy??
This was so confusing because she only has a guilty conciseness thinking about him finding out / his reaction but not that she is actually stealing company documents.
And she is of the opinion that she is protecting him by leaking documents to the enemy??? In fact she only started doing it because the MMA club was threatened, it had nothing to with ML.
And when he finally pushes her away, in the nicest way possible to note here, she is upset at him?? First trying to cling at him by saying her father is in poor health and then seconds later yelling at him he is a bastard??
And at the same time she asks the guy she knows has a one sided crush on her to take the fall for company spy thing?
Girl…. nah. She is a walking red flag.

———- end of spoiler ——-

In the end the drama didn’t know what it wanted to be and just mixed everything together, making it extremely superficial, as it didn’t go into depth with anything.

The first few episodes were fun but then it just became your average cold CEO, bubbly girl, co habitation romcom that is more predictable than you wanting a snack in the next hour :D

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