Almost worked

This drama had potential to be so much better especial with the ML. Li Hong Yi is a talented actor, too pretty in some angles, handsome in others but his portray of this character is superb.

What worked:
1. ML character and acting. Great match to the story
2. Romantic comedy theme. Subtle flirting, love/hate relationship, no cliche overload
3. 2nd lead Girl -- She's cute, not the typical backstabbing character

What didn't work:
1. FL - I didn't think the casting was right for the role. She's 33 but looked way older (by Asian standards)
2. FL character - complete mismatch. If one goes through that much "tragic" events no way would she act like the younger self
3. 2nd Lead ex bf - liked the 10 year later version over 1 comment? Not believable
4. Lack of interesting supporting side characters

Honestly the only reason to watch this is for the ML.

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When perfect casting meets a great script!

2024 start off with a dump of bad C dramas then came Pegasus and made me have faith in C Dramas once again. This is going to be one of the best this year. Kudos to the writers/directors/actors!

Loves: (literally everything!)
1. Hu Xian Xu (LinZhen Dong) - Been a fan of his ever since Hikaru no Go. Seeing him reunite with Zhao Hao Hong as his side kick again was icing on top. HXX is amazing! You can see his micro expressions switching from 2 personalities in one shot. Definitely he studied Wang Yan Lin's expressions & gestures.
2. Wang Yan Lin (Zhang Chi) - I've seen him in some crazy supporting roles over the years but nothing where he can truly showcase his acting abilities. Now I can't imagine another actor playing Zhang Chi.
3. Supporting cast - Many familiar faces. Solid acting, great casting all around.
4. Actual script - Interesting fun story & good pacing overall. Great characters. I love how there aren't any single minded bad characters.
5. Production Quality/Lighting/Makeup/Music. Real voices, normal talking, no crazy make up, definitely refreshing! The music hits with scenes.

Imperfection?
I really didn't need Sun Yu Qiang's side story to be so long. Could've used that time to focus more on the main story.
Wished for more episodes focused on the fun supporting characters like Li Ao Duo & Ai Fei the rival race car drivers.
Minor unplausible insta show up at the right moment scenes.
Muted showdown Dad vs Son.
Rushed ending. I wasn't disappointed at the maybe happy maybe sad parallel world ending but it was just too rushed.

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Glamorous cast, crazy stunts, $$$ production

It feels like a collection of famous actors visiting because there are 12 reincarnations. "Let's see how many famous people we can have for this drama." Just for the actors' appeal it's a must watch. Every single actor can act! Then there are the visuals/crazy stunts/production quality all top notch. Impressive for sure!

I can't say the story has much depth as it revolves around the concept of "suicide is condemned therefore you have sinned."
That's how Korean Dramas are these days, pretty on the outside touching only the surface of society issues.

Just watch it for the actors and the stunts. It's entertaining overall.

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Beautiful Leads drowning in Melodrama tropes

Melodrama is not my thing but I've been waiting for this pairing so.... I powered through.

Positives:
1. ML & FL pairing. He's tall & a model. She's tall & a model. It's basically hotness overload.
2. Sibling dynamic
3. That Rich Friend

Negatives: ALL the Melodrama tropes:
1. The walking dead. Sad people living but dead inside
2. Slow .... everything, talking, walking, reacting.....
3. Standing & staring .....
4. Wrist pull & save you from some kind of running vehicle
5. The comeback desperate ex
6. FF flashback moments overload

Yes I get it, it's supposed to connect 2 lonely sad people making their slow burn love more beautiful. I think the pair worked for melodrama lovers.

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Solid execution with "Logical" Ending

There's been multiple promising thrillers with less-than-ideal endings, so I've been holding off on this one (still recovering with WTH endings from other dramas).

Script isn't completely unique, but the execution and pacing was solid. No overly absurd twists and not overly gore.
Short 11 episodes, there won't be any supporting character development and most of the bad characters were just one dimensional. The focus will be entirely on the leads.

Amazing pair up:
Shin Ha Kyun (previously in Beyond Evil) had a similar vibe, but I enjoy his character in this one way better. His character transition from a beat down lawyer to morally twisted vigilante is spot on.

Kim Young Kwang (coming from Somebody) is the perfect choice for Seo Do Young. He's charismatic, psychotic & calculating all at the same time.

A partnership that started out from fear develops into a promising business codependence. There were hints of friendship and trust at times but as the greed & ambition expands, it leads to the ultimate ending.

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We go fast .. pass on side characters

There's a lot of enjoyable aspects of this drama but # 1 reason is always:

1. Zhai Zi Lu - ML. He is phenomenal. In the drama wasteland amongst pretty faces famous w/o much acting skills, Zhai Zi Lu is not one of them. I first enjoyed him as the sleezy boy in the Pavillion as a small supporting role then found him as the ML in Hello Debate Opponent S2 followed by Calorie Boy. He will be the reason you'll want to watch any drama. I love his expressions (go full force on ugly cry scene and not worry about how great he looks like some idols....). His voice is never dubbed which I think it should be a part of any actor's skillset (unless they really have a heavy accent that warrants it).

2. ML FL polar opposite personalities. They are not my favorite pairing in terms of chemistry but it's nice seeing a race car driver falling for a brainy girl. They complement each other and somehow it works.

3. Race car stories not so common. I mean how many office dramas have you seen vs race cars?

What I didn't like:
Zero to little character developments on supporting roles and there were a lot of potential too.
Draggy after abrupt break up trope ~ ep 16. Felt forced to prolong the series into a different direction making you pretty much want to 2x watch it through.
Patriotism -- hmmm is that due to censorship? suspicious....

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Unique storyline. FL is incredible!

ep 1 . thinking to myself "hmmm is this something I would really watch all the way through?"
but the high ratings made me curious.
Ep 3 in "This is kind of funny & entertaining"
Ep 11 in " OMG why am I crying?"

The FL casting is just perfect. She's one of the most beautiful unique looking actresses & she pulled off the character perfectly.
I am sure this story isn't for everyone. It's a lot of weird humor with OTP personalities.
For me I love the unique story line & most of the casting. However since this is the first time I've seen Wang Ying Lu as Feng Bao Bao, so looking forward to her future works!

Beyond Feng Bao Bao?
Well there's Neo Hou, I am happy to see him beyond the Chinese Ken doll character dubbed in proper voice. A lot more personality with Wang Ye's character.

Enjoyable watch!

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Super Tropey but watchable on the side

A standard cliche overload drama but somehow watchable on the side if you set aside ALL logic. Basically just don't think and press skip whenever the evil girl talks.

Drama starts off with a poor girl going to a sommelier interview w/ ripped shorts.... uh ok?
She works at a retail wine store selling wine but she can afford an upscale apartment .... uh ok?
ML in order avoid getting arrested buys the next door apartment within an hour?
FL then goes to see wine connoisseur in Phillip but no invitation needed?.....
And the list goes on but by then the only way to go on is to just stop thinking and enjoy the comedy parts. Yes there were some forced comedy (not funny), some awkward comedy (cringy) but some very enjoyable ones too.

Best funny scenes:
ML's side kick He Le had the best lines overall. Probably the best character that needed more screen time.
Him telling off FL's ex bf and ex bf's sugar mama.
Him trying to kiss the ML
Him screaming like a little girl
ML tries the cringe pick up lines. FL gasps responds "Little bro, you watch too many dramas"
Grandpa visits ask ML / FL to make a heart to take a picture. Awkward pose....

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Amazing talented kids actors!

I found this after watching some of the light on series through similar recommendations & I can't believe I missed this for 2 years. This is one of the best suspense crime dramas out there. Yes it's dark, disturbing and may not be everyone's cup of tea but it's must watch if you enjoy heavier content.

The entire cast was strong however I was blown away by how talented these kids are. The transformation of Chang Yang's character from good to evil is portrayed perfectly by the young actor. It's hard to just showcase that kind of transformation through such an introverted character. What's more the parallelism between Chao Yang & Zhang Dong Sheng is undeniable. It's like they can sense each other. That pressure continues to build up, until the ultimate betrayal pushes them over the edge.

Pupu's character was the only innocence that could've brought Zhang Dong Sheng & Chao Yang back to the light but as the lies continues to build up there was no going back.

Yan Liang protector of Pupu was the most tragic one as he trusted Chao Yang time & time again. His bad decisions out of good intentions started the whole snowball effect.

In the end "You can believe in fairy tale." ................... but that's not the reality.

Hidden Details of the Drama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RInCXdE9to

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Interesting concept progressed terribly

A while back I saw "Burning Ice" which led to watch Light on Series. Most were decent despite some flaws. Its hard to find good mystery thriller C-Dramas compared to romance ones.

I really like the concept of technology advancement of AI eventually controlling human fate but the execution leading up to the ending wasn't plausible.
It made less sense after ep. 10. I didn't get the character development and it didn't make sense why the hero had to be Na Dou.
Nothing but why's in my head and its not because of the twists because there weren't any.

I still gave this a 7 because Fan Cheng Cheng is quite the actor. First time seeing his work but will definitely check out his other works after this.

So watch it for Fan Cheng Cheng else watch other light on series:

Burning ice, not sure if this is a light on series but it has the cop character in "The Long night"
The Long night (2020) <-- the darkest
The Pavilion <-- not much twists but really great cast and a touching story
Who is the Murderer (2021) <-- I liked the suspense in this one
Homesick (2022) <-- I loved the suspense and twists in this one
Why try to change me now (2023) <-- the worst one. I couldn't even watch it

Happy Drama-ing!

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Light on Series - Love with Flaws

I started with a drama called Burning Ice (2017) then went on to "The Long Night" and found it's Light on Series drama from a review. Now I can't stop watching them! I can't say any one of the drama has been super amazing but all had quality stories and acting.

This drama didn't have many twists and it was pretty predictable where the story was going but I really enjoyed the cast and the family dynamics. The trauma of losing a family member shattered each one of their lives in different ways. As the search for the truth progresses, each person reveals their struggles inside.

The last episode closed out with the family recovering but it didn't feel completely satisfying as other relationships did not get resolved like:
Between the parents of the boy in beginning of the drama vs the parents of Nian Mei
Nian Mei & Mu Ge
Mu Ge's Mom vs Nian Mei's Aunt

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Different take from your normal suspense dramas

Pacing felt slow on this one however I did enjoy the overall story.

What makes this drama different:
There are 3 different stories that ties to each other
Many episodes starts off with a different person's narrative. It reveals their inner thoughts and reasoning, sometimes justifications for their wrong actions
Each character expressed different types of loneliness and the inability to connect to the rest of the world

Ending was 20/80 bitter sweet
"Perfect parents do not exist in this world, nor perfect children. We still chose to believe"

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Fantastic start

Story follows 4 rookies with very different past & personalities as they navigate through their 1st year of police work.

Rookie
1. Liu Da Wei is probably everyone's favorite with his sharp come backs. He's positivity takes after his mom (very few good mom characters in the show)
2. Yang Shu - exceptionally smart but very black and white idealistic cop
3. Xia Jie - Female character living the shadow of his father and over protective mom
4. Zhao Ji Wei - Not as likable initially as he's a country boy with obviously communication issues

Ep 1-9 I was hooked. Loved:
The mentor match up conflicts for Liu Da Wei and Yang Shu.
4 rookie's friendship under 1 roof
Growth in perspective with each case
Solid supporting characters
Liu Da Wei's witty comebacks, but I do think much is lost in translation

After Ep 9 I started to play at 1.5x speed for scenes with over exaggerated characters. Cops felt like door mats that villagers can yell at for whatever whenever.
There's too much expectations for cops that at some point it just felt unrealistic. "Protect & serve" apparently means that you need to be their fathers, mothers, psychiatrist, nurse, pay for the lock smith and hospital bills out of your own pocket. If you get slapped you'll need to just take it and apologize.
Think directors were trying to shoot that "warm fuzzy" drama but end up felt forced.

Ending wasn't bad. It tied up most of the lose ends but some stories didn't feel like it was truly resolved.

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Could've been so much more

This is one of those title that will for sure get some kind of spin off or remake every decade. I love that they used the same classic song in the intro. The stunts, wire works, fight scenes were great! Feels high budget. If you like classic wuxia this is a great watch at least for the fighting scenes. The series started out strong with a cutest child actor for WuJi. (same child actor in joy of life). The supporting cast had some great veterans, solid cast however the eye candies they picked out had some acting challenges. Pretty faces and ..... that's it. Lead Actor Wu Ji did a ok...job but did not do its character justice. 1. he didn't have any chemistry w/ any of the FLs. 2. He's supposed to be smart but it didn't translate 50% of the time in fact keep getting lied to by various females.
40 ep later writing got sloppy and made no sense. Sadly yet another drama started out great and fizzled.

Favorite supporting characters:
Yang Xiao. I hated his character in dating in the kitchen but he's got wuxia swag in this one.

Sadly I watched this for the story and the supporting cast and not so much for the leads.

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Cliche done almost right

Zero surprise with stereotypical cliches but I feel these stories can be done right if the cast is good. The same story line can be redone over non stop and its quit enjoyable to watch on the side.

10 for the cast. ML & FL are both so expressive and adorable. The ML especially nailed the part.
FL 's dubbing is annoying. It's a bit overdone and sounds super immature for a 22 year old.
There's always loop holes with the these types of dramas so you'll need to avoid thinking about the logic and just go with it.
The ML's mom was a fun character and got me laughing a few scenes.
The ML's assistant was somewhat fun but could've used more humorous lines.
Happy no super mean girl syndrome (those are always auto skip).

Lots of fluff and happiness in this drama perfect for those who enjoys these.

WARNING fish lip kisses overload.

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