C-Drama Review: You Are My Glory

So I was reluctant to watch this despite hearing really great things about it as modern day c-dramas aren't really for me. Not sure what it is but I think I find them often too cheesy, King's Avatar is actually the only modern day c-drama I've been able to watch from start to finish without dropping. So you can see I don't usually watch these but decided to give this one a chance. 

It's about an aerospace engineer (Yu Tu) and an actress (Qiao Jing Jing) that knew each other from high school but never got together and then only got to know each other more when they were 29/30 as pretty established in their careers. The reason they get together again is because of a mobile game that Jing Jing wants to get better at because of an endorsement deal and Yu Tu just happens to be amazing at the game so as a result he becomes her coach in the lead up to some public event where she has to play the game in front of people. They fall in love through that but that stuff aside, you can kind of guess the type of struggles they will face once they become an item, as on paper, they lead different lifestyles because of their jobs but over the course of this drama you see them become each other's inspiration to want to do better and follow their dreams. I was initially put off because of the gaming element (funny I say that because King's Avatar was allllll about the gaming and e-sports) BUT if you're reading this thinking the same, fear not, the gaming stuff only goes on for about half of the drama then eventually dies away as they get into a relationship.

What I liked about the drama

• Casting - Yang Yang and Dilraba were perfect for their roles as Yu Tu and Jing Jing IMO, you can't find a better looking pair for this drama if you're into eye candy and watch dramas for superficial reasons like me.
• Story - I actually really liked this story, of course, there were really cheesy moments that made me cringe a little but at the same time, I quite liked how it's unconventional in the sense that there's no third party bitch trying to break up the main couple, there's no secondary male involved, no love triangles, no other pairing, it's just simply about Yu Tu and Jing Jing. The story carries its own weight focusing on these two and the realistic struggles of working in two very different careers and how they still make time for each other to make it work.
• The matureness factor - so related to the above, this story is mature, it's not about two high schoolers falling in love, it's about two 30 year olds falling in love and you get to see things like how they think very deeply about each other and the relationship rather than just getting into it, you see real passion for each other, the longing and you even get BED SCENES. Yes guys, bed scenes (no nakedness unfortunately but you do get to see Yang Yang's back in one of the later episodes LOL). These two are real adults and even sleep over at each others' places before marriage (usually frowned upon in Chinese culture fyi) - I'm all here for it.

What I didn't like so much 

Potentially unpopular opinions but...

• Unnecessary / OTT intimacy - ok yes intimacy is expected in romance dramas to an extent so this may be a minor point but there was just a bit tooooo much random kissing in the second half of the drama, it was nice to see at the start but was a bit OTT towards the end.
• Yu Tu when he's 38 - maybe this is more about Yang Yang's acting but was it just me or was YY trying too hard in the last timeskip when he's 38? His dialogue sounded like he was constantly out of breath as if he's trying to play a character that looks 30 but has the voice of a 60 year old. 
• The disappearance of the ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend - so earlier in the drama, maybe around episode 19-20 there's a scene with Yu Tu's ex-girlfriend and Jing Jing's ex-boyfriend where they basically both shut them down after they try come back but then we just don't ever see them again for the rest of the drama. I know I mentioned I liked the fact that there were no rivals or love triangles but just feels a bit odd for them to have made an appearance at the beginning and then disappeared for the rest of the drama. Even a scene to show that they eventually moved on would've been nice and more complete.
• The wedding - was underwhelming, I know it's supposed to be understated as they had a group wedding (I didn't even know those existed) but it felt so fragmented and insignificant as a scene, like you go from someone recognising Yu Tu and Jing Jing in the waiting room, to them running away to the actual place where the wedding is going to take place, to them imagining what it's going to be like, to them kissing and then they're married? 
• The ending - personal opinion but would've loved to see if they had kids etc in maybe one last time skip. To me, it ended rather abruptly and randomly with the Search For God project having completed then Jing Jing saying she's proud of Yu Tu, then they walk away to the after party - drama ends. Perhaps the point is that Jing Jing supported Yu Tu all the way to him becoming a successful aerospace engineer and the completion of this project was due to Jing Jing cheering him on and not letting him give up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama, it really does live up to the hype and exceeded my original expectations so I've scored this an 8/10. 

C-Drama Review: Who Rules The World

 

I've developed an unhealthy obsession with Yang Yang after this drama LOL, more specifically, Yang Yang in wuxia. 

ANYWAY- this isn't the first drama I've seen with Yang Yang as the ML, I watched King's Avatar a long time ago and although gaming dramas aren't for me, he was great in it so I was kind of excited for this. Zhao Lusi as the FL as well, having seen her in 'Romance of the Tiger and Rose' and 'Oh My Emperor' (before I dropped it b/c the plot was just ridiculous), I was more used to seeing her in those kind of comedy-historical type roles and this is the first serious role I've seen her in so was excited to see that too.

In a nutshell, WRTW for me was one of those dramas that fell short in so many ways but I kept watching because of the ML and FL and the chemistry between them, they pretty much saved the drama for me otherwise I would have probably dropped it. In terms of romance, this drama was right up my street but in terms of actual plot, it was a bit shite to be honest.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

I could write forever about this drama but I'm just going to summarise:

What I actually liked about it:

First 15-20 episodes were good, I loved seeing the relationship between Hei Fengxi/Lanxi and Bai Fengxi/Xiyan develop from friendly rivals in the martial arts world to feeling an attachment and falling in love with each other despite both being so different and from different backgrounds despite both between Prince and Princess of different nations. 

The plot being focused around Lanxi hiding his identity under HFX was also interesting as he was heavily involved in a power struggle between him and his younger brother over who gets the title of being heir to the throne. You can tell from the way he secretly learnt martial arts and built a network of intelligence/spies under his alias meant that his life growing up was always in danger, given that his mother died of poisoning so he had to watch his own back and get revenge. 

Although most of the plot turned into utter garbage as it developed in the second half (more on that later), I really liked the fact that although he originally set out to become powerful and rule the world, as soon as he met BFX and fell in love with her, that no longer became important. Despite everything, he chose love, even to the point where he sacrificed years of his life in exchange for saving her accepting that he would only be able to spend 10 more years of his life with her if it meant she could live. 

What fell short for me:

Ok so here's where the list of problems start...

The plot somewhat changed in the second half of this drama, you come to think that the evil people are Lanxi's younger brother and his mother and then maybe come to think Huang Chao is the evil one as he's also after the role of emperor to rule the world. BUT NO, the actual evil guy is someone that has appeared since the beginning - Yu Wuyuan. I actually HATED the fact that he somehow crawled out of the woodwork to become the evil guy when you're made to believe he's actually a good guy. The fact of the plot is that he manipulated everyone around him and secretly killed everyone and took their resources and then even killed the emperor at the end to be able to rule the world himself. Throughout the drama, he was living in disguise as Huang Chao's aide/advisor, then fast forward to the last few episodes when they realise he's been behind everything all along and then even Huang Chao must team up with HFX and BFX to take him down. Honestly, this part was so dumb and what was supposed to be a plot twist was executed quite badly. Even the fight scene at the end was so dumb, it was 3 vs 1 and he got taken down so easily.

Also, I get there's this power struggle between brothers but I also found it ridiculous for Fengju to even be challenging Lanxi in the first place, even knowing the connections he's built, his martial arts skills etc. Yes, there was a part where their father found out that Lanxi had been hiding all this from him and then made him take that wine that kills off his internal force but still, it was incredibly ambitious of Fengju and his mother to try and then even have the guts to stage a coup eventually without expecting Lanxi to come in and stop it. Lanxi slapping the shit out of Fengju when his coup fails was quite lol though.

Now let's talk about their father - this guy is actually crazy, time after time in this drama you see Fengju and his mother run rampant with their little schemes and plots and even the king knows that his wife is after making Fengju the heir over Lanxi. So many times you see this guy forgive his wife for all her stupid schemes and tricks that fall through yet HE NEVER DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Then he is actually surprised when the coup happens and acts like he's been so betrayed and lied to - if your wife has the guts to be scheming and harming other people, what makes you think she wouldn't do it to you eventually. I honestly felt so sorry for Lanxi in this drama, he is forever protecting himself and his father yet his father just sees it as if he's after power and therefore tries to cripple him, thank god Lanxi got his powers back at the end because if he didn't, the king would've shot himself in the foot with that one. 

I hate to be complaining about this but it needs mentioning, BFX is supposed to be as intelligent as HFX but more times than not, she finds herself in these positions where she needs saving, 2 of those instances where she basically died and HFX had to bring her back to life. I wish they actually created her character to be more equal to HFX rather than the damsel in distress all the time. 

Another one - bad CGI, I don't usually complain about bad CGI in wuxia dramas because it's usually a given, but this one is worth a mention because it was beyond bad. You can watch the final fight scene between Huang Chao, HFX, BFX and Wuyuan to see what I mean - people were flying all over the place and through buildings without actual contact happening, did they run out of budget or something?

Moving onto the ending, the last 10 episodes were possibly the worst, they were just so sped up just to get to the end. Within 5 episodes you have so many things concluding - Fenju and his mother's coup fails, Lanxi becomes heir, HFX and BFX get married, fast forward 5 years, they discover that Wuyuan was the one behind everything, BFX gets herself blown up by cannons, HFX sacrifices his life to save her, they find Wuyuan in the imperial city, they kill him, Lanxi gives up the power to rule the world over to Huang Chao in order to spend the remaining 10 years of his life living simply with BFX. The ending scene was poor as well, the scene ends with them painting each others' eyebrows. 

Honestly, this drama could have been so much more if they extended it out to another 10 episodes and possibly didn't change director halfway through. To me, it started off so well, I was well and truly hooked and then things started dragging, it turned into a bit of a mystery drama and I found myself watching it solely because of HFX and BFX. A drama tends to lose its meaning when you end up watching it for the romance rather than the actual plot. 

I thought long and hard about what score I should give this, I went from 8.5 to a 8/10 which actually seems pretty high despite all the problems I mentioned but Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi really made it enjoyable for me at least despite the shite plot. 

I'm watching 'You Are My Glory' now (continuing my Yang Yang obsession), I don't normally do modern c-dramas let alone dramas about gaming but will give this a try.

C-Drama Review: One and Only

 

Ok guys, so I had really high hopes for this drama. Not only was it recommended to me by my dad (my dad watches Chinese dramas all day everyday now that he's retired so I rely on a lot of his recommendations since he knows what type of Chinese dramas I like!), but it was actually pitched to me as being similar to Goodbye My Princess which I absolutely LOVED! Like I have never watched a drama that I enjoyed so much I wanted to watch it all over again until I watched Goodbye My Princess. It was also pitched to me as something "even more tragic than Goodbye My Princess" so I was like WHAT? more tragic? How? It's also got really high ratings on MDL so I thought, heck, this must be something truly amazing.

This drama was disappointing. I'm actually sad to say that it didn't meet my expectations at all. 

I love a romance drama, throw in some tragedy and actual political drama into the mix and I'm sold. This drama was supposed to be romance but ????? Where was the romance? Where was the confession, hugging, kissing scenes?? Literally I struggled through about 10 episodes of this drama thinking ok, the romance is coming, the romance is coming, I can feel it. 24 episodes later and I feel kind of robbed to say the least. 

*****As always... spoilers ahead*****

This story is about a girl named Shiyi (FL) who becomes the disciple of Jr Prince Nancheng (ML - who is the King's uncle supposedly), he's kind of like a monk character but without the shaved head. By that I mean, back in the day he swore to never get married and never have kids because he wanted to show that he wasn't interested in becoming king. Fair enough. You can already tell that his destiny with Shiyi was doomed from day one (this happens before he even met Shiyi). Fast forward, Shiyi becomes his disciple and eventually close confidant, the two of them strike up some sort of close but I-can't-have-you-nor-should-I-be-with-you type of relationship. Now this is basically the same shit for about 15-18 episodes of this 24 episode epic, the two are close but are never an item. Even more so, there's a political aspect to this story in which Shiyi is actually engaged to the Crown Prince as part of some old agreement between the king and Shiyi's mother to better their family relations with the royal family. The engagement gets called off at some point but the Crown Prince is obsessed with her and strikes up some sort of dirty bargain to get re-engaged to her again later in the series. Shiyi gets shipped off to the royal household and basically becomes prisoner for the Crown Prince who is basically evil and prevents anyone seeing Shiyi. Whilst Shiyi is cut off from all outside communications, the Crown Prince partners with his wife's evil father and they basically trap Prince Nancheng and kill him, this news is barred from Shiyi for about 2 episodes until she eventually finds out from her mother and then - kills herself on her wedding day. 

In terms of tragedy factor, I felt the plot was weak, I personally felt nothing for the relationship between Prince Nancheng and Shiyi, by the time he was murdered by his nephew, I still felt nothing. I actually felt the relationship was very one sided by Shiyi, you could tell she was obsessed with her "master" but I never seemed to get anything back from Prince Nancheng, apart from the way he looks at her. I honestly wasn't there for this relationship from beginning to end and I just felt it was lacking some sort of passion. 

In terms of the political plot, again that was weak af, like the Empress Dowager was an evil bitch from the beginning and she basically wanted to rule with a puppet king, so you get this whole drama of her enthroning these children as king so she could control them and therefore control the court for about 75% of the series. But then obviously these kids grow up and then she gets betrayed and then gets her revenge. The woman even kills her own son. This typical Empress Dowager plot is kind of dry and by the time she gets overthrown by Prince Nancheng and gets sent away to become a nun is kind of the end for her, until she gets killed by some other insignificant villain. Like she tries to recycle the same evil idea twice which makes this even more damning in my books. Then there's the capture and murder of Prince Nancheng, like where did this idea even develop from, all that was mentioned was "you should get rid of him" to the Crown Prince and then next thing you know, it's just so easily executed, Prince Nancheng being the smart, courageous, loyal general that he is, gets trapped and captured then murdered so easily in the space of about 1 episode. I mean...

Then there's the ending, Shiyi's death, her devastation at the thought of marrying her lover's murderer was just too much for her so on her wedding day she climbs up to the top of the building and then jumps off. In the most-classic-not-classic way, the Crown Prince (basically Emperor) is about 0.5 seconds too late to save her from jumping and she dies. She dies in the most non-elaborate way either, no blood, just a soft plop onto the ground.

One thing I will say for anyone reading this is that if you like something different in terms of a romance and if you like subtle romances then you might enjoy this. One other thing is that this drama actually has a part 2 called Forever and Ever (it's currently airing now) and it's basically Prince Nancheng and Shiyi in the present day and from what I heard, it's a lot less tragic as in it's basically the happy ending for both of them but in another life. I quite like how the drama ended where before she died, she hoped that they would meet in another life and be able to get married, then the ending scene pans to this board of writing that Shiyi wrote that was incomplete, I quite liked how that signified that their story is not yet finished and that there would be a part 2 - I found that quite artistic and well done. 

Overall, this drama scored very highly on MDL and is quite popular in China from what I heard, I wouldn't say that this drama was my cup of tea at all. I prefer non-subtle romances, lots of flirting, the confessions, the hugs, the kisses LOL so maybe this is vastly different to what I expected and what I am used to enjoying. 

I would give this drama a 6/10 and not sure if I would watch part 2 of this story in Forever and Ever but maybe I will and perhaps it will change my opinion on One and Only. 

C-Drama Review: The Wolf

 

Like many others, I was attracted to this drama because of Xiao Zhan and Li Qin. I've never seen Darren Wang in anything before so this was new. 

Basic plot summary, the story is about a guy (Darren Wang) that was raised by wolves and then subsequently saved by the king. The king brings him up, teaches him how to talk etc and makes him a Prince as an adopted son. The guy gets reunited with his childhood friend who was his first ever friend (Li Qin), the 2 are in love with each other but lots of drama happens between the two of them. It's a bit of an ill-fated lover story - you know the drill.

My thoughts on the drama... *SPOILERS AHEAD*

SIGH. I don't even know where to begin. It's not a car crash of a drama but then again, it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be. I think I was really hyped for this drama because there was so much anticipation from everyone for this drama's release, there were promos for it since like 2 years ago, then it got delayed because of COVID and when it finally released towards end of 2020/start of 2021, everyone was expecting a lot. To be honest, I think a lot of the hype came because Xiao Zhan is a main character (albeit, not the main male lead). 

Having just finished the drama today, it's been a bit of a slow burn. When I compare to something like Love and Redemption and Goodbye My Princess, it wasn't a drama I was hooked into and powered through all the episodes on. There are a few points I want to touch on in this drama.

Plot / Relationships etc.

The plot was mediocre, from the beginning you knew Prince Bo and Zhaixing were never going to be a happy couple. What I actually disliked the most was this hot and cold feeling that Prince Bo and Zhaixing were giving us. The whole 49 episodes was basically the flip flopping of who loves who, who hates who and who betrays who. I was intrigued the first time when Prince Bo betrays Zhaixing, when she gets captured and he reveals who he really is but then the second part of the drama fell a bit flat for me. The sudden change in Zhaixing's personality was another thing I didn't really appreciate. I know she was led to believe that Prince Bo killed her family and then the identify reveal that she is actually a Princess of Jin, so much happening that it would change someone but I felt the whole persona of her being cold and ruthless like Prince Bo was a bit extreme - if that's not who you are, that's not who you are. 

I also HATED the fact that Ji Chong (Xiao Zhan) was the guy that gave everything and got nothing, he even ended up marrying Zhaixing FFS and even then he didn't get the girl. Or maybe I just had massive second lead syndrome. I've read a few reviews of people saying Xiao Zhan saved the drama and I sort of agree, if his character wasn't there, this would've just been a huge mess of these 2 people constantly hating and then loving each other. 

I will say the music in this drama was ON POINT, the OST is great - was definitely one of the best things about this drama, plot aside.

That Ending... *MAJOR SPOILERS*

I never actually expected that Zhaixing would die tbh, I knew Prince Bo was dying but the ending that Zhaixing wanted Prince Bo to be locked up and she sacrificed herself so that Prince Bo could live out his remaining 6 months was quite touching. I actually teared up at the scene where she dies in Prince Bo's arms and then Ji Chong arrives and sees that she's dead, then Prince Bo carries her off in the rain.

One thing I have struggled to find the answer for is why and how did Zhaixing get poisoned?? In episode 48 it was revealed that she had black blood like Prince Bo so meaning she got poisoned and was dying (therefore happy to sacrifice herself instead of Prince Bo as she had less time to live than he does). Did Prince Bo infect her somehow with his poison? I've been trying to find out online but haven't had any answers so if anyone knows, please tell! Someone said it was passed on as an STI which I lol'd at.

I'm happy that Ji Chong finally found love (I hope!) with Princess Bo Na, most of the time I would find someone like Bo Na extremely annoying - which I did at the start when she was a rival for Zhaixing for Prince Bo's love - but I actually ended up adoring her! She's young, naive and uses her brother for power and permission but I love that she is 100% out there for her friends and people she cares about and would be willing to do anything to help them. It was definitely heart warming at the end when Ji Chong returned the amber to her saying it saved his life and then asked Bo Na to travel the world with him, which is what he wanted to do with Zhaixing, basically meaning that he has accepted Bo Na as the woman for him.

I'm disappointed that it wasn't a happier ending for Prince Bo and Zhaixing and it's also ambiguous what actually happened to Prince Bo. The 6 months later ending scene was narrated by Prince Xun who ascended the throne as the new king and he said something along the lines of Prince Bo was never seen again after he carried Zhaixing off. Then he said something about not long after he "followed" her, which I thought he meant he died as well and makes sense given that he only had 6 months to live following. But... the final scene shows Prince Bo reaching for a butterfly in some meadow setting - is he alive or not? Typical ambiguous, open-to-interpretation type of ending for a Chinese drama. 

Overall, it was a good drama, it wasn't terrible and I made it through - it's a 7/10 for me. 

C-Drama Review: Legend of Dugu

It's like a new c-drama each week for me recently because I've been so bored during lockdown and my new job doesn't start until next week. Long story short, I've had a break from working in general in start of December so I've been powering through dramas LOL.

If you're familiar with many historical c-dramas, Legend of Dugu is one of those chasing-after-the-throne-plot dramas. In a nutshell, it's about a family with the Dugu name having a prophecy that they will one day rule the world, it's about wives of the Dugu family helping their husbands get the throne but peppered with lots of complicated romances and couples that are in love with one another at the beginning of the drama, never getting the chance to actually end up with each other due to fate.

It's actually based on real historical events, the Dugu sisters were real and it's set in the times of the Northern and Southern dynasties. I actually love dramas like this that are based on true historical events, I end up googling so much afterwards and end up down a rabbit hole understanding what happened to everyone according to historical records #nerd.

Anyway, my thoughts on the drama...

*MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

The plot was great, I love especially how the drama plays out everyone's characters from when they were young to when they're older, when they have kids etc and then you see some of the lives of the kids too and how they play into the overall plot. It had a really good balance of serious power struggles to sweet romances.

The story was super heavy at the beginning on the relationship and power struggle between Yuwen Yu, Yuwen Hu and Dugu Banrou and their crazy love triangle. Then the story switches to focus on the relationship (less power struggle, more romantic rivalry) between Yuwen Yong, Yang Jian and Dugu Jialuo. In between you have the trouble-maker middle sister Dugu Mantou causing all kinds of havoc because she's just jealous of just about everyone and everything in this entire drama. Then towards the end it's more focused on power and the new emperor rather than any kind of romance.

I must admit although I enjoyed this drama, there were some parts that I just couldn't let go of in terms of how ridiculous it was portrayed, maybe in real historical records, it happened like this, I don't know but to me, it was just pure ridiculousness. I'm going to list out areas where I thought the story was really stupid all based on my opinion of course but I'm sure I'm not the only one...

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

Mantou being suddenly pregnant even though her relationship with her husband fell bad many years ago - seriously, I think this has to be the dumbest part of the plot. To have a baby, you need to have sex, if you’ve fallen out badly with your husband for years, how did this baby get conceived? And no, Mantou was definitely not romantically linked with anyone else in this drama at this point that we were made aware of. I actually thought her aunt was trolling her when she told her she’s pregnant to keep her in check but it turns out this Mantou popped out twins. What’s even more annoying is that she had girl boy twins and the girl has now disappeared from the drama entirely as if she only had the boy. What did she do? Chuck the girl twin away in a river? Boil her and eat her? Aliens abducted her? That scene wasn’t meant to happen?

Yuwen Hu’s death - OK this one probably annoyed me as much as Mantou’s pregnancy. This guy died way too simply and early on for someone that is the main antagonist of the drama, with supposedly high ambitions. He fell for Yuwen Yong’s trap completely and easily for someone that’s supposed to be cunning and then somehow got killed by arrows and his Ge Shu was also killed when he went to save him. This plot / scene was no red wedding scene (GoT reference to one of the craziest assassination scenes in TV history) but it was just so... non-dramatic. Let me tell you that trap was no elaborate trap either, it was just him taking him to see his mother to read out some poem and then he gets stabbed by Yuwen Yong, then shot to pieces. Now I get that he was upset and still a bit stunned to learn that the daughter he had with Banrou was still alive but yeah, makes so sense how someone that has been presented as so clever and cunning can be taken out like that.

Yang Jian being forever 30 years old - now this one, I’m hoping is just a bad translation. If I went back to really listen to it maybe I could work it out, but Yang Jian claimed he was 30 years old before the time skip then in episode 50, then the time skip happened where we see Lihua and the other kids grow up and there’s this scene where Yang Jian comes back from fighting Qi and Yuwen Yong wanted to promote him to Pillar of State and he tries to reject it saying he’s just 30 years old LOL. I’m hoping it meant 40 because if he’s still 30, he must have been a father at 15 or something.

...and this one just because I hate Dugu Mantou SO MUCH

Mantou always making a reappearance like some bad rash - now this woman... I have no words, she just keeps coming back time and time again and never lets go of her revenge even though she almost got made into a nun at one point. She fails every single time she tries to destroy other people because someone catches her out but still tries to harm Jialuo and Yang Jian and others EVERY DAMN TIME. Honestly, this woman doesn't die until the last 5 minutes of the final episode LOL. If you thought Yuwen Hu was the main villain, think again.

Overall, I can safely say that I enjoyed this drama. I didn't love it when I compare it to Love and Redemption but I definitely found it interesting to learn about the whole Dugu prophecy and how it turned these people crazy back in the day with the desire to rule the world. The power struggles were mostly interesting to watch, the cast were perfect for their roles, production value was pretty decent for a Chinese drama, costumes and scenery were stunning, Hu Bing Qing needs to be in more dramas because she is just so beautiful.

I think I'd give this drama a 7.5/10, enjoyable and worth watching but not the best c-drama I've seen.

C-Drama Review: The Romance of The Tiger and Rose

 

Okay so, I wasn't actually planning on writing a review on this drama because I didn't find myself enjoying this drama much towards the middle. BUT - towards the end, I ended up loving this drama, no wait, I ended up loving Qian Qian and Han Shuo.

This drama is vastly different to all other c-dramas I've seen before, although I haven't reviewed many on here in comparison to k-dramas, the ones I usually watch are more serious, political, revenge, romance that builds over the course of 60 episodes. You don't see the romance in full until episode like 30-40, I have always enjoyed those slow burners with many twists and turns in the middle. Now with TROTTAR (will be calling this drama this for short), this drama is only 24 episodes, the pacing is super quick, romance develops super quickly, the plot is not complicated at all to understand, the characters are limited etc. I could go on. 

Like I said, the plot is not complicated at all, it's a classic time-travel drama that is mostly set in a historical setting. Chen Xiao Qian is the protagonist and the first episode she's introduced as a script writer in the modern day that takes a nap and then gets transported into her script. The story revolves around her trying to control the characters in her script to finish the story and get back to her own time but obviously she ends up falling in love with male lead (who she's actually scripted for him to fall in love with her older sister). Aside from this, there's also another plot in this where the ML is actually not a good person and is actually plotting to take over her city, so basically it's supposed to be a story of betrayal written by Xiao Qian. 

The setting of the historical story is quite interesting, it's based on a fictional city of Huayuan ruled by females only, so it's like a role reversal of a traditional king ruled city where females are wives that listen to their husbands. All the ministers, scholars, high court roles are assumed by females whereas males are not allowed to study or assume such roles, they're the ones that marry into female families and serve their wives. Whereas Xuanhu - where the male lead is from, is a traditional king ruled city so naturally the 2 cities clash. The actual plot of the story written by Xiao Qian is that the male lead, Han Shuo marries into Huayuan but has a secret plot to take over the city for Xuanhu. 

I liked the city of Huayuan and that it makes fun of the roles of women and men back in the day, but I did find the plot a little boring and stale sadly, you know the plot right from the start because Xiao Qian / Qian Qian is trying to control everything and therefore there are no twists and turns as such. The only twists and turns are events that do not go to plan according to her boring story which again, are not twists and turns that make you any more surprised than before. 

HOWEVER, the part of the plot that I really loved was any scene that involved Han Shuo and Qian Qian, he arrives in Huayuan as a pompous, arrogant, scheming person but leaves Huayuan (with Qian Qian) as an obedient, loving, would-do-anything-for husband. In between, you see so many comedic moments between the two from them bickering over misunderstandings to them making up in the sweetest way possible. The chemistry between the two is so enjoyable to watch. 

Onto a bit about the actors and their portrayal of their characters. 

Zhao Lu Si plays Xiao Qian / Qian Qian, she's in quite a few of these historical-comedy roles and you can really see why she was chosen for this role. She fits this kind of character perfectly. I initially saw her in Oh My Emperor! but ended up dropping the drama after a few episodes because I couldn't stand how cheesy the acting was and how ludicrous the characters were. But watching her in this, is like night and day, although this came out before TROTTAR, I will definitely be watching Love Better than Immortality at some point.

Ding Yu Xi plays Han Shuo, it's the first time I've seen him in a drama and boyyy was he perfect for the role as well! Han Shuo is not a one dimensional character as there is a part in the drama where he starts to play a more evil character, pretending not to care for Qian Qian. He plays arrogance very well and is super cute when he pretends he's not bothered by something Qian Qian has done or is pretending to be mad at her. My favourite scenes are when he teases Qian Qian for his own enjoyment and also when he acts a bit like a tsundere. 

Qian Qian's sisters Chu Chu and Yuan Yuan are worth a mention too, Chu Chu is portrayed as the jealous second sister who is after the position of power in Huayuan as well as the one that is supposed to end up with Han Shuo in the original story. She does end up liking him when Qian Qian enters the story and tries to get the position of City Master AND Qian Qian's man. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen this drama but her character is probably most complex in this drama and she's ambitious and power hungry. Yuan Yuan is their oldest sister who has a disability where she can't walk so she's in a wheelchair, she has a close relationship with Qian Qian and also has a love interest with Su Mu who is a musician in Huayuan - their relationship is simple and not really worth mentioning much. 

I have to mention Qian Qian and Han Shuo's personal assistants Zi Ru and Bai Ji - these two have their funny bickering moments too when they're trying to protect their masters. 

Overall, I think this drama is worth watching if you're like me, after having watched too many serious c-dramas and now after something a bit more light hearted, not too bothered about it not having a complex plot line and if you don't mind plot holes as well. Mainly, if you're after something light, comedic with some sweet romance and tons of chemistry between the ML and FL throughout then this is a great drama to watch!

C-Drama Review: Love and Redemption

I think this must be my first time writing a review on a C-Drama! It's not the first one I've seen but I felt compelled to write one about Love and Redemption because oh I loved this drama SO much, it was an emotional rollercoaster.

Where to start? Without ruining the story for those that haven't seen this or heard about it, in summary it's about 2 people that fall in love in the mortal world, the 2 are cultivators from different sects, however, along the way, the 2 sects eventually go against each other for reasons that are revealed along the way. The conflicts lead to lots of secrets being uncovered as it makes the 2 leads of the story dig deep into their own past and memories to find out about their "past lives". If you're unfamiliar with terminology used in these kinds of Chinese dramas, I would highly recommend this site here, it definitely helped me a lot in understanding Xianxia / Wuxia dramas as different words are thrown around a lot. 

So onto the review itself... *MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD* 

Plot 

This was one the best characteristics of this drama, the plot was just amazing, it was executed really well from start to finish. This drama made me feel emotions for the 2 leads of the story. I really felt how conflicted the characters were when they were forced to make decisions. From Xuanji finding her 6 senses along the way to falling in love with Sifeng to then becoming his enemy for the sake of love. The writer of this drama really takes you in for a ride.

The story starts off with Xuanji meeting Sifeng quite early on actually, it's not one of those dramas where you have to wait until episode 20-something until the 2 main leads fall in love, nope, this one is almost love at first sight which was refreshing to see, you really do get 50+ episodes of romance in this drama. 

There's a few plots in this drama and each one brought different emotions to me, Xuanji is introduced at first as the ditzy female lead who was born without her senses (you find out why later), she meets Sifeng from Lize Palace who becomes her friend and helps her find her six senses again. Then the story develops deeper where Sifeng finds himself falling in love with Xuanji but is not allowed to fall in love (it's a sect rule) so tries to keep his distance from Xuanji but Xuanji is so relentless even though she has no clue what love even is - you get a few episodes of her constantly chasing him around not knowing that she actually loves him too, it's super cute to watch. Then the story develops even more when secrets are unveiled about their true identities and that's really when the story goes from 0-100, I'm not going to spoil what happens but the last 15 episodes had me in tears. 

Only thing I didn't like about this drama was that Sifeng is constantly hurt because of Xuanji, yes, it's all for love and because he loves her so much, he's willing to sacrifice himself but almost every episode or every other episode he is either struck or stabbed or spitting blood because of something. By the end he's even so close to dying, it just breaks my heart every time to see a man so loyal, so in love - we all need a Sifeng in our lives. 

Characters

Oh boy where do I even start with this? Sifeng and Xuanji were excellently portrayed by Cheng Yi and Crystal Yuan. The acting was so amazing that I was surprised these 2 haven't been in bigger projects previously. I heard that it was this drama that made them super popular in China and damn right they deserve it! The chemistry between the 2 in this drama made it what it is. At first glance I wasn't too sure about them but they really portrayed character development really well, 

Crystal Yuan's role as Xuanji was stellar - when you pick apart the character of Xuanji, you have her ditzy self at the beginning, then you have the her when she regains her senses and falls in love, then you also have the cold, heartless God of War persona as well, so many different facets of a personality in this one character. 

Cheng Yi as Sifeng was equally amazing - he doesn't quite have as many different personalities to portray but just him at the beginning being cold under his mask because he's not supposed to fall in love, then becoming friends with Xuanji, Ling Long and Min Yan realising what true friendship is. Then you have later on when he becomes leader of Lize Palace pretending to be evil because he doesn't want to hurt Xuanji, that was amazing. 

More characters to mention that I absolutely loved - Ling Long is Xuanji's twin sister, the sisterhood between them was so endearing to watch also Ling Long as a character throughout the drama, she gets captured by the obsessive Wu Tong and has to play a different character at that point as well. There was also the Flying Snake (Teng She) played by Bai Shu - hands down my favourite character besides the 2 main leads, Bai Shu portrayed the arrogant, selfish, gluttonous, spoilt Flying Snake so well, he hates Xuanji to begin with as she forces him to become her spiritual beast so he becomes under her control but he eventually becomes friends with her and really cares for her deep down, so much that he even goes against the heavens for her. If I had to describe him in one word it would be - tsundere. 

Although I hated this man, I have to mention Wu Tong was an ass of a character but also one hell of a character, he was obviously evil as I hate him so much but I really felt sorry for him at the end, this man is obsessed with Ling Long right from the beginning when he was part of his sect, even when he turned evil and joined Sky Hall, he is still obsessed with Ling Long. What really got me was when he was about to drag Ling Long into the black hole (yes there is a proper name for this but I forgot what it was) and he just couldn't bear to so he pushed her away and saved her. Although he was obsessed, he was just a man that was in love with her in the wrong way, he captured her and tried to force her to be his - it was when he said he realised that he didn't want revenge all this time, he just wanted Ling Long to look at him where all my hatred for this character fell away. Another evil guy I hated was Hao Chen / Bailing - gosh he was toxic, he pretends to be good to Xuanji as her senior in the mortal world when really he is the one that caused all this mess. I know at the end that his intentions were to protect but how wrong he was, I truly hated this guy.

I have to say though, everyone casted in this drama was amazing - there's just too many to list and talk about individually. 

Sound/Music

I never usually pay attention to soundtracks in Chinese dramas because they kinda sound similar but I absolutely adored the music in this. You have the sweet romance tunes come out when there is one of those cheesy love scenes but you also have this epic music (the one from the opening) when Xuanji activates her God of War powers and fights everything. I don't know the name of these songs but they fit the drama so well. 

*MAJOR SPOILERS*

In summary, this drama was AMAZING, I loved all 59 episodes of it. I was hooked right from the beginning, I was addicted to the relationship between Sifeng and Xuanji, I felt all kinds of emotions when they fell in love, when Xuanji actually realised that yes she does love Sifeng, when there was misunderstandings between the 2 because of people like Wu Tong and Bailing, when Rahu Ketu was revived and there was conflict between Xuanji and him internally, when Sifeng sacrifices himself in the heavens to stop the furnace being destroyed all because he doesn't want to forget all the memories he had with Xuanji, when Rahu Ketu finally realised that he doesn't want to destroy everything for revenge and split himself and Xuanji again, giving half of his heart to revive Sifeng, when Xuanji spent everyday with Sifeng's comatose body at the end for him to finally awaken and the marriage scene. Oh my god, perfect ending. 

One final thing worth noting about this drama - it doesn't leave you with a sense of confusion at the end. A lot of Chinese dramas tend to leave the endings "open ended" as in they play a scene that seems to suggest an ending but they let the audience interpret for themselves what happened. This one doesn't and concludes perfectly, giving us a happy ending. I heard there's going to a season 2 but no idea how there is going to be a season 2 with the same characters, I feel if there is going to be one, it'll be with different characters. 

Would highly recommend watching this one if you haven't already or you're new to Chinese dramas, it definitely didn't disappoint.

K-Drama Mid-Review: Ruler: Master of the Mask

My goodness. I've been looking for a new period drama to watch for AGES that I decided to give this one a go. It's currently ongoing and I've caught up (as of today) to the 20 episodes that have already aired. When I first saw this drama was going to be 40 episodes I was a bit put off by the length but then quickly realised that each episode was only 30~ minutes long. So this is basically a mid-point review as to what I think the drama is like, where I think it's headed and overall so-far impressions of it. 

Without having to go into too much detail (and trying to be as spoiler-less for this part as much as poss), this drama is about a prince fighting against an evil group of people that are trying to control the country and the throne. At the same time there's also a romance between the prince and a noble girl. Of course, Yoo Seung Ho (Remember: War of the Son, Warrior Baek Dong-Soo) plays the role of the prince and Kim So Hyun (Goblin, Let's Fight Ghost & (special mention) The Moon that Embraces the Sun) plays the role of the girl the prince is involved with. 

SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS

Reading the synopsis and then watching 20 episodes of this drama, there is just soooooo much more to the story than just that. If you're reading the synopsis and thinking "oh this sounds boring", please, do watch the first 2-3 episodes of this drama. It will literally suck you in. 

OK, so far we know that:

• The prince's family have all been murdered by the evil peeps
• The prince's friend (arguably his bestie) has ended up on the throne as a "puppet king" being controlled by the evil group rather than him 
• The prince has therefore been living outside of the palace as a commoner and then becomes some master trader
• The prince has fallen in love with the daughter of a minister that basically died because of him, at this point she doesn't know the prince is actually the prince
• The girl has her own revenge that she's following through with and has ended up in the palace as a court lady to carry out these plans (and has subsequently ended things with the prince)
• The queen mother has hidden agendas to dethrone the king (when does the queen mother not have hidden agendas?) 
• The evil group's leader's granddaughter is also in love with the prince and wants to save him and make him hers 
• The prince has finally met with his friend who is currently the king and the king has realised that him and the prince are in love with the same girl, he's now turned from prince's bestie to his rival

So freaking much has happened that I'm so excited to see how the story resolves in the next 20 episodes. I'm anticipating that the prince will continue planting seeds in the palace who are really his people and then eventually take back his throne. The cliffhanger in episode 20 was interesting, he's presented with 2 options - use the army and take back the throne now, or continue waiting patiently. The preview for the next episode is also interesting, the rivalry between the prince and the king start surfacing and they're both fighting over Ga Eun. Then there's also the granddaughter who's trying to take over the evil group to make the prince like her, haven't seen much of her recently but she seems pretty smart in an evil way?

Also, I don't know why but I have this impending sense of doom feeling that the puppet king / prince's best friend will end up dying by the end in all of this. I honestly have the most feels for him right now because he has literally been made a prisoner because he got involved with the prince. He's not allowed to go visit his family (his poor mother probably thinks he's dead), his best friend also likes the same girl he's liked for so long, he has to wear that hideous mask all day long, he has no power or authority even though he's the king etc. This guy needs a break.

I'm really enjoying this drama at the moment and am pretty sad I've caught up already. It's going to be hard trying to watch this week by week. There's the main plot as well as this love square, plenty of room for many plot twists. 

Also, Yoo Seung Ho is an amazing period drama actor. I think he's just an amazing actor, the only dramas I've seen him in are the ones where he plays these tragic character roles though :< I wasn't too sure about Kim So Hyun playing the main female lead but she's actually growing on me, I remember her too much from The Moon that Embraces the Sun when she was that evil little girl who wanted to become the queen... she was like what? 10 years old when she was in that?

Anyhoo, can't wait for episode 21!

K-Drama Review: One More Happy Ending

I've been stuck for a while now with writer's block trying to put together a review for a K-Drama - any K-Drama. I've actually been back onto the addiction after having fallen off because I was failing to find a good drama to watch. Having seen so many recent ones that have actually been good, it's been hard to deconstruct my thoughts and put them into words for a review. But after having seen 'One More Happy Ending' and blitzing through it in 3 days, it's made me really want to review it despite it having aired about a year ago!

Ah, I effing loved the story, it was an almost perfect rom-com for me. I don't think I've seen such a mature and refreshing rom-com since 'It's Okay, That's Love' in all honesty. Without revealing too much about the story, it mainly revolves around 4 former girlband idols who disbanded and are now living life in their mid-30s struggling to get their love lives on track. Although there is a focus on one of the girls, there's a perfect balance between all of them with each having a very distinct personality. By the time the drama finishes, you're left feeling connected with all 4 ladies and sympathise with each of them. It's very Sex in The City-esque and that's what works amazingly in this drama. The only tiny critique I would have about the story is that I think they may have tried to squeeze too much into 16 episodes and if it were 20 episodes long, they could have drawn out some of the other plots longer. [*SPOILERS AHEAD*] For example, the part at the end where Yeon Soo suddenly agrees to marry some other guy despite still having affection for Hae Joon was quite unexpected - I was hoping they would give each other a chance again as Hae Joon still cares for Yeon Soo. Maybe it wasn't enough for him to want to try their marriage again but her agreeing to marry some other guy that seems quite out of her ordinary personality was quite disappointing. To me, it felt like the writers had to create some sort of happy resolution for her because everyone else has found happiness with love by the end. You could argue that Hae Joon didn't end up with anyone but he's happy that his best friend and the woman he once loved are happy together and that's enough for him *shrugs*. Annnnd I would've loved to see Da Jung and Gun Hak's relationship grow more and more until they finally share a bedroom again(!!!) and maybe Dong Mi getting hitched with her toyboy - but maybe that's asking too much.[*SPOILERS END*]

Honestly, there was no one in this drama that made me stop to think why their acting was so shite. The 4 girls - Mi Mo, Dong Mi, Da Jung and Ae Ran were perfectly casted. My favourite had to be Dong Mi, she's just so hilarious for a 34 year old and comes across as very obviously inexperienced in love, often turning to her soul sisters for advice. Her falling for the wrong men, paying tons of money to attend mixers and then ultimately falling for someone unexpected was hilarious. She's literally the classic virgin amongst your girlfriends. Yoo In Na portrayed this character amazingly, having always seen her in other dramas play either the hapless female lead that needs saving ('Queen In Hyun's Man, My Secret Hotel') or the bitch everyone hates ('My Love From Another Star'), it was great to see this side of her acting. Jang Na Ra really stepped it up in this drama compared to when I saw her in 'Fated To Love You', I didn't like her as much in that drama - I'm not sure why either. In this drama, although she was great, I still found her a little irritating at times, I think it's her whole cutesy demeanour when she's drunk to be honest and that baby-voice she puts on. I don't want to sound like a hater because she was great when it came to showing emotion of the character but yeah, just little irks. Overall, the girls were great!

Jung Kyung Ho as the main lead (Soo Hyuk) was surprising for me because I still remember him as the cold blooded undercover cop from 'Cruel City', it was great to see him play a more lighthearted and comical character. I think he did brilliantly, he was funny, charming and serious all at the same time.

This was my first time seeing Kwon Yool in anything so I actually have no comparison of him to make to anything. I thought he was OK in his role (as Hae Joon), I did end up feeling so freaking sorry for his character by the end though. His first love was taken by Soo Hyuk and she ended up having his child and dying, his second love (Mi Mo) was taken again by Soo Hyuk which he had to just let go and still be best friends with him by the end. I came to the conclusion that he has got to be the most forgiving man on this planet. It's also sad that he gets absolutely nobody by the end of the drama whilst everyone else gets hitched with someone. Somebody give this guy a break (or a girlfriend).

This was an extremely solid drama from start to finish, I kept wanting to watch episode after episode which is quite rare for me these days. I was so interested in everyone's relationships in the drama and not just Mi Mo and Soo Hyuk's. Almost everyone had a past and the whole concept of ladies in their 30s being single / having issues with their married life / cheating boyfriends etc is just so relatable. Although some concepts in this drama were quite mature (sexual references for example which you don't see in a lot of dramas), they really managed to put a comical spin on it and it was just so lighthearted and fun to watch.

*SPOILER AHEAD* An extra 'hell-yeah!' to the female proposing to a man part at the end between Mi Mo and Soo Hyuk! *SPOILER END*

K-Drama: W - First Impressions

W is another highly anticipated K-Drama that people have been saying rivals Uncontrollable Fond which is also currently airing. Those who have read my previous reviews, you'll know that I very rarely watch dramas as they're airing because I can't handle the cliffhanger endings and having to wait a whole week for the next episodes to be released and subbed. The synopsis of W had me intrigued right away thought and I felt I had to watch it on release date.

The story depicts a romance between a surgeon in the real world and a rich man from the world of a webtoon. What's interesting is the "supernatural" cross-over between reality and fiction - how would that even work? Lee Jong Suk plays the main character - a rich guy inside the webtoon called Kang Chul and Han Hyo Joo plays the main female lead - a not-so-talented surgeon called Oh Yeon Joo. I like to base my preconceptions of dramas I watch on the actors / actresses. I've seen Lee Jong Suk before in 'Doctor Stranger' and 'Pinocchio' before so I was really excited that he was in this drama as the main lead, he'll no doubt do a good job. I've never watched anything with Han Hyo Joo in it before so at the same time I was excited to see how good the acting is in it from her.

As of writing this first impressions review, I'm up to episode 4 which is the current episode that just aired this week. I must say - I am hooked. Although on the outside this drama just seems like any old romance drama, you can see how much thought the writers have put into making this concept even possible. The majority of the first 4 episodes show the webtoon world which is pretty much Seoul, it's not based on a fictitious location so when Yeon Joo goes into the webtoon world, it's not actually much different to the reality that she comes from except time goes much faster in the webtoon world (7 days in the webtoon world = 30 minutes in the real world).

***SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1, 2, 3 AND 4 AHEAD***

Without boring you with the minor details, the plot as of now seems to revolve around this webtoon creation that Yeon Joo's father made that became famous over time and as Yeon Joo's father attempts to kill Kang Chul to end the webtoon, Kang Chul refuses to let his life end and whatever Yeon Joo's father tries to do with the webtoon, Kang Chul changes the circumstances so that he lives.

Yeon Joo ends up in the webtoon after Kang Chul gets stabbed (as per Yeon Joo's father's plans to have him stabbed and killed) and ends up saving his life.

After that, she ends up flitting in between the 2 worlds and ends up landing herself as the suspect for stabbing Kang Chul and ends up in jail. This makes her tell Kang Chul everything about who he really is and the world he's really in, the shock of this reality to Kang Chul that everything around him is fake causes his world to completely stop.

As Kang Chul's world stops, he finds a portal of some sort that leads into the real world where Yeon Joo is back at.

Just like that Kang Chul ends up in the real world like a terminator and THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET INCREDIBLY EXCITING. We also find out that the source of the portal is the wacom tablet that Yeon Joo's dad was using the create his webtoon - spooky.

That pretty much summarises the first 4 episodes of the drama. I'm so so so incredibly excited for next week's episodes because Kang Chul is now in the real world. I'm really enjoying this drama at the moment, from my summary it may seem like the plot is a very serious one. Kang Chul is a very serious character, he also oozes cool-ness and Yeon Joo is a very ditzy, confused and daring character, she brings a slight humour to the drama that makes it even more enjoyable. The romance seems to be going at quite a fast pace with already 2 instances of kissing in the space of 4 episodes(!!)

And not to mention, Yeon Joo's disgust at the lacy bra option she was given when staying at Kang Chul's place.

And her constantly trying (but failing) to take Kang Chul by surprise... you go girl! 

Can't wait for next week!

K-Drama Review: Descendants of the Sun

Following swiftly on from my last post about my first impressions of DOTS, it's finally come to an end. This drama was one of the very few that I've followed from beginning to end as it aired week by week because I'm impatient and can't actually wait a whole week for next episodes.

I adored the concept of a doctor falling for a soldier from the very beginning and although this drama was short (16 episodes in total), I feel like everything fell into place very quickly. The romance was a love at first sight thing and the romance between Myung Joo and Dae Yong was already established. Overall, I really enjoyed this drama from beginning to end, great choice of main cast.

*WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD*

The ending was a bit of a downer for me, episode 15 and 16 didn't make as much of an impact as the rest of the drama did. I didn't like how they "killed" off Shi Jin and brought him back to life for the second time running. Killing people off and bringing them back to life once in a drama I can sort of accept but doing it twice is a bit of a shitty situation. It's also pretty unrealistic how he can always come back to life after being shot to pieces for the first time and then shot, tortured and beaten for the second time, poor guy must be full of holes. 

To make matters worse, Shi Jin then randomly shows up in front of Mo Yeon in some dessert in the fictional Urk like "I'm baaaaack!" prompting a pretty angry response from Mo Yeon who thought he was dead for the past year. Same with Dae Young showing up in front of Myung Joo. Of course, what really happened was explained to save ourselves from sheer wtf-ness - they were captured, beaten, tortured and then saved by the North Korean dude who is also known as Shi Jin's "friend from far away".  I'm not going to lie, despite the repeat-death-plot, the reunion for our main cast was very sweet. 

And of course, the army was glad to have them back in one piece. 

Apart from the slightly crappy ending, I really like how well Song Hye Kyo and Kim Ji Won playing Mo Yeon and Myung Joo respectively portrayed their sadness when we thought Shi Jin and Dae Yong really died in episode 15. Amazing acting skills. 

The final episode was more of a wrap up, tying up the loose ends and explaining to us what really happened. It's a happily ever after ending with all our characters. 

Mo Yeon and Shi Jin finally get away from their work lives to spend quality alone time together

Dae Young finally gets approval from Myung Joo's dad to be with her forever and ever

Even Seung Joon and Jung Yeon FINALLY get together! Ugh, the sexual tension between these 2 throughout the drama was frustrating

The drama pretty much ends there, nothing significant happens apart from lots of lovey dovey scenes, I loved the scene in the army cafeteria when Myung Joo makes everyone lower in rank to her close their eyes including Dae Young (who is lower in rank to her) and takes the opportunity to steal a kiss - ahhhh, you go girl! Everyone opens their eyes and applauds to the very sight of their successful love story.

And not to mention, Shi Jin and Mo Yeon return to their special beach in Urk as the pebble signifies and talk about the stars, making wishes, Shi Jin asks Mo Yeon what she wished for and she said she wished that Shi Jin would kiss her and... 

Awww I love happy endings. In the final scene of the drama, our cast is in Vancouver attending Daniel and Ye Hwa's wedding then there's a power cut and a waitress busts in saying a volcano has erupted LOL - I'm sorry but I found this so cheesy - can they ever get away without being followed by a natural disaster? It was a bit of a "TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!" moment.

Apparently not. 

Very enjoyable drama, just not a very satisfying ending. I feel it's slightly over-hyped across East Asia but totally worth watching if you're a fan of Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo.