Watched 2025

02/01/2025

A microfilm (*cough* advertisement) that's just sweet and fluffy. The couple were adorable together and I loooved the domestic vibes and how natural it all felt! 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

05/01/25

The movie has a simple feel to it as it tackles a lot of taboo topics surrounding mental illness, specifically schizophrenia. Though it wasn't quite as good as I had hoped (mostly in terms of pacing, direction and overall professional incompetence), it was still a very solid and worth-while watch. It's a complicated and raw story. Actors did extremely well (ML especially, daaaang) and the portrayal of mental illness felt quite realistic (from my POV as someone who does not have this illness). 

More rants 'cause idk where else to put 'em... I seem to be in the minority of people that actually strongly disliked the FL. The common opinion seems to be that she was as troubled as ML but that just... isn't it- Yes, she had issues, that much is clear but taking advantage of someone in such a delicate mental state as ML was while also abusing her power and then immediately backing down felt... Very wrong regardless of how unwell she is. Like she chose to make the wrong decision over and over and over again... But maybe my biggest issue lies mostly in those around FL. Like, her mentor. It doesn't take a fricking genius to realize that FL is clearly unwell and incapable, so pray tell, HOW is she even ALLOWED to handle such a complicated case with little to no supervision? Like, are you kidding me??? Not only that, she gets off with a slap on the wrist 'cause "she felt bad about it"- and, and SHE'S the one that ends up leaving?!?! I know this happens IRL too, maybe that's why it pissed me off so much but wow... the collective incompetence of pretty much everyone involved was infuriating. So glad ML cut her off from his life, hoping he thrives. 

Fav Scene: 01:39:00 - 01:45:54 (ML's relapse)

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

02/01/25 - 06/01/25

Honestly... for a vertical microdrama... this was more interesting and well-crafted than I initially anticipated. Absurd? Absolutely but also interesting- The kidney arc had me laughing every time it was brought up even though it wasn't funny ? The villains were cartoonishly evil but still more developed than the average microdrama antagonist ^-^ Leads have amazing chemistry and kiss (and more steamy stuff) like all the time. There's also quite some RR in their dynamic. FL is cool asf (with amazing outfits), ML is cute asf (and the way he says Jiejie? AUGH- MELTED). Definitely worth a rewatch ^^

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, r/CDRAMA Challenge

08/01/25

A collection of short stories about unrequited love. I won't lie, most of them were painfully boring. I only really liked 1 (#5 by a director I like) and tolerated a couple more (#3 & #8). 

Notes for me: 

• #3 - A girl coping with with a newly developed disability. I really liked the ending.
• #5 - The broken woman that always lies x the one good guy she met that made her question her entire life. Nicely done tbh. 
• #8 - Love triangle between an elderly woman (SFL), a young nurse trainee (ML), and a seasoned veteran nurse (FL). Actually kinda made me emotional <3

Recommend: ▲◭△△△ | ❌

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Back to the Past Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Movie Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

11/01/25

Short but sooo well made. It's an episodic drama with an overarching plot. All were well-crafted with a strong beginning, middle, and end. The main plot especially was a pleasant surprise! So well done! Also a surprising amount of plot twists that you don't really see coming + good acting, direction, and quality! I loved it! 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, PTW Challenge

12/01/25

Nothing extraordinary but a well-crafted action/thriller with an unlikely duo and a surprising amount of emotional depth. The action aspect was fairly lowkey as is expected with an elderly ML and the other who cannot fight but still, it was exciting. The OST was also very nice and the characterization was endearing and rewarding. Those plot twists at the end were either surprising or poetic and well presented so kudos!

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge MDL Countries Challenge

13/01/25

Meaningful and emotional. A story that shows the resentment of a young girl as she comes to realise that all the women around her are but in different kinds of cages. It's not dark, it's not cruel, it's honest and ultimately, hopeful. 

Reminded me of...
•  A quote I saw a long time ago on pinterest: "In a dream I saw my mother with the love of her life and no children. It was the happiest I'd ever seen her"

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

14/01/25 - 15/01/25

One of those classic war adventure stories with a small group of warriors defending the country (and in this case also the king). It had the feeling of a classic, like those older films (late 90s/early 2000s) that feel rather grounded. It was overall very solid and high quality. Beautiful cinematography, acting, fight scenes, and quite some emotional moments too! I liked all the actors' performance, especially the crown prince/king who looked so pretty while he suffered. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

15/01/25

Was waiting for it to be good but it was just okay. I thought it was going to be wacky, bold, and thrilling but I found myself bored more often than not (watched most of it at x1.25 and barely noticed). The story focuses eternally on the detective duo which to be completely honest, idgaf about T_T The plot wasn't plotting. I wasn't sold on motives or how pretty much anything came to be. There's also weird time jumps pretty much everywhere and at the end we still don't know what the main antagonist's deal is. The premise however had promise and was interesting. 

Reminded me of...
•  Can't Be Erased by JT Music

Feeds post

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△ 

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

16/01/25

A solid, action-packed mystery/thriller with an interesting plot and fun characters. The comedy was definitely a surprise but it worked out well and there was a good balance of comedy and action. Would've likely scored higher if it didn't feel so preachy xD 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

21/01/25

Heartwarming and optimistic media about illness has got to be of my favourite underrated things-  It was so refreshing to see a genuine portrayal of mental illness, showing the downs in a simple, raw manner but also the healing process, support, and ultimately happy ending so often lacking. The subject matter is pretty heavy and the movie addresses it well. It's genuine, respectful, and understanding of even the more taboo and less talked about symptoms of depression so genuinely kudos for that. Also the absolute couple goals that the lead couple are- Absolutely adorable. And a shoutout to their pet iguana for being an icon. The production quality is very solid, adding to the slow and mellow atmosphere of the movie. Incredible

Feeds Link

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Back to the Past Challenge, A-Z Challenge, PTW Challenge, Spring Cleaning Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

20/01/25 - 21/01/25

Phenomenal action scenes. It's a thrilling watch about various gangsters with a complicated past. The story isn't too complex but it works well with the action-packed narrative which made for a very engaging experience. Despite the all-male cast, the characters are recognizable which is quite rare for the genre. Kudos to the fight choreographer and director for their work.

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Hong Kong Cinema Challenge

26/01/25

A cute microfilm about a girl with an unrequited crush on her high school friend. Doesn't really have a beginning or end but some of the comedy actually made me chuckle so xD

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge

26/01/25

Simple but adorable short film about a husband noticing his wife's small sacrifices and how it affects her. Loved how he ends up just doing things for her and stopping her from worsening her situation. That montage was super cute. Also totally here for Jang Young Nam & Ahn Ji Ho being paired up as mother and son again (Nobody Knows)

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

28/01/25

Quite low budget and cringe at times but still such a delightful watch! The main couple were adorable (good chemistry and lovely dynamic!) and the story was quite good for a microdrama! It even tackled some social commentary and made supporting characters fun and memorable <3 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️It is cringe but it's also very rr

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, PTW Challenge

29/01/25 - 30/01/25

Mild horror. Liked it more than I thought I would. Korean thrillers have been largely dull for me of late, so this was a refreshing watch. Pretty solid from start to finish (it had some issues but what doesn't), interesting story, plot twist, and things happening, good character dynamics, good production, and fairly thrilling with slight spooky. The mystery also had me surprisingly hooked ^^ FL and TML's dynamic was 100/10 as was their styling

Feeds post

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge, Puppy Challenge

31/01/25

The night version wasn't available anywhere with subs so I watched it raw but overall, not as fun as the above. It's a simple and cute watch that has some whimsical and magical elements. I really liked the contrast between the day version and the night version and I feel like they're even more connected through story but I can't understand Japanese. Will definitely rewatch if I can find the subs

Recommend: ▲▲▲△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge

01/02/25

An overall solid microfilm with a strong beginning, middle, and end paired with beautiful cinematography that made for an enjoyable and short watch ^^

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

01/02/25

I know Sci-fi when I see it! Mind-bendy short film about memories and regret. I think I kinda understood the end but I'm not too sure either. It was a lovely experience with an interesting story, fantastic OST, lovely visuals, direction, and camera work, and of course, a beautiful ML (I'm not even sorry, that's some serious eye-candy). Though I am left a bit confused, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

01/02/25

Honestly, this was so ridiculously unserious which is to be expected with such a premise but they absolutely sold me on it so it was a super enjoyable watch xD Everything was so absurd but fun but the ending left a bit to be desired. Definitely worth a watch!
Premise: FL is tasked with making a caterpillar (yes, a literal caterpillar) into a superstar.

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

01/02/25

Wow, this was unbearably cringe... Bad acting, bad directing, bad comedy, absolutely cringing out of this universe mix of English and Filipino- Just... no....

Recommend: ◭△△△△ | ❌

• Used for the MDL Countries Challenge

01/02/25

SUCH A CUTE WAAAATCH!!! Had me squealing and twirling my hair. Two cutie soft-spoken introverts being green asf flags and respecting each other all paired with a good message about disability and respect <3 We love to see it.

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

04/02/25

Beautiful cinematography and rare sights. Overall, a heartfelt healing documentary with interesting and positive messaging. I don't know too much about what happened to the actor so it didn't particularly move me, but that aside, it was definitely an interesting and pleasant experience.

Recommend: ▲▲▲△△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Movie Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

05/02/25 - 06/02/25 

Stumbled upon this by accident and was positively surprised. The plot is simple, nothing we haven't seen before in a buddy-cop story but well-executed with good cinematography. This paired with seamless and realistic comedy and a lovely depiction of male friendship, made for a very, very enjoyable watch! The ending was not quite to my liking which is why it didn't score too high either (weird preachy messaging and quite a few things left only vaguely concluded).

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge

06/02/25

Honestly... what a disaster. It had all the makings of being great but it did not deliver. Campy but not really the good kinda campy. The storytelling is poor to say the least, most questions are unanswered and the pacing is atrocious. The overuse of flashbacks to tell important plot points gets exhausting, especially when what isn't flashbacks is then slapstick comedy that feels terribly out of place. Things happen very quickly and we get little to no time to actually sit and get to know characters before it's already the climax. Things just happen and there's basically no ending after the climax T_T Should've been a drama. 

Recommend: ▲▲△△△ 

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

06/02/25 - 08/02/25

A surprisingly good watch amidst the sea of mid kdramas and mid dramas in general. I was intruiged from start to finish, not edge-of-my-seat intrigued but still invested. The story delivers in good pacing and solid character development which it pairs with a good cast and interesting (and unusual) family dynamics. The touch of supernatural elements was pleasant but the gore was a bit... much. Very umbrella academycore. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, Drama Discovery Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

09/02/25 - 10/02/25

Unconventional age-gap romance, a feminist message, and a healing slice-of-life vibe! It was a very down-to-earth experience about two unlikely people finding themselves in an arranged marriage. Despite really enjoying it, I found a lot of it to be lacking (largely due to the short run-time but also because of the narrative). We get little to no background, backstory, OR development on the ML and both leads basically do nothing other than work and study. To say the drama is focused on the business is a tremendous understatement because that's pretty much all there is to it. It's especially unfortunate because when the focus isn't solely on the business, it's then taken up by side characters that add little and don't really matter, because of this the romance feels a bit lackluster and ultimately underdeveloped. That all being said, I loved it and it's a solid and cute watch! 

First drama of the year that made me feel something <3

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Spring Cleaning Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

10/02/25

Came into this without any knowledge of the original story. Though the production is very good with beautiful cinematography, OST, and acting, I found the story to be slow and boring. Maybe I didn't get the nuances but I honestly didn't find it very engaging at all. 

Might rewatch sometime under different circumstances to see if I enjoy it more. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

11/02/25

Very short film about covert SA through the lens of role reversal. It was an interesting but admittedly very short watch. In the end, I'm still not quite sure if it was anti-SA or just making a movie but yeah. An interesting watch

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△ | Only for the RR

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge

17/02/25

Solid historical film about palace politics through the perspective of an unusual main character. I was a bit surprised to find that it took so long to get to the thrilling part but maybe that's on me for expecting it to be that way. Overall, it was a very interesting watch with a good plot and intriguing characters.

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Historical Kdrama Challenge

17/02/25

That moment when the supernatural aspect of a romance story is leagues more interesting than the actual romance. The movie had an interesting setting, one which was unfortunately terribly misplaced given the story. They try to do a mix of supernatural fantasy as a side plot to a very lackluster romance story and it just ends up being midicore in both aspects. 

The pacing is very off with certain things happening in the snap of a finger and then other things dragging on seemingly for EVER (yes I'm talking about FL's endless crying scenes). The characters aren't endearing since they're nothing more than a bunch of tropes we've seen a billion and one times. The focal point seems to be on the FL but she does literally nothing which makes it extremely tedious to watch. 

Then the production seems to be high quality but there are also the most fake-looking fight scenes? Like, make it make sense? The whole movie felt slightly off... uncanny valley kind of off. 

Honestly... an 8.5 is bafflingly high. I genuinely don't know where that rating is coming from... Save for ML's pretty hair and both leads' pretty faces, there wasn't a whole lot to remember it by. Oh, the scene where he rescues her from her family home. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Movie Challenge, Actors Watch Challenge, PTW Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

18/02/25

An artsy short film about a break up and moving on. It was alright for what it was but the story was very simple and kinda confusing. Maybe I didn't get it xD

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△ | I don't not recommend it... but it was just kinda meh

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Movie Challenge

21/02/25

Beautiful and aristic cinematography with a lovely OST and good acting but a very messy plot. The story definitely goes overboard with the violence against women and the messed-up men. Honestly, all the women should've just run like hell

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△ | If you like messy plots and sadomasochism 

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge

15/02/25 - 22/02/25

A dark affair noona drama about all sorts of flawed people and their trauma and how it ends up affecting their lives and choices. Solid production, lovely music, interesting story, and very good acting. The first half was admittedly way stronger than the second. It kinda lost itself trying to wrap up everyone's stories and forgot more about the MC's love story. It tackled a lot of more taboo topics in an interesting and tasteful way. Big kudos [more] 

Reminded me of...
•   "Those hardest to love need it most" -Fools by Lauren Aquilina

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Back to the Past Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

23/02/25 - 27/02/25

Wow, what an incredible watch!! Finally a thriller that's actually thrilling! Complex story connecting every character in an interesting way. The story is well thought-out and thorough, with quite some attention to detail. The acting is great as were all the characters. I liked that both leads were shady and imperfect and also the fact that even the villains got quite some development. Interesting themes, approach, and conclusion. It also had an amazing OST! 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Drama Discovery Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge

28/02/25

A slow-paced crime thriller. Overall it was a fine watch but something about it seemed off. The pacing seemed like it was more fitted for a drama and it lacked in action and depth. A lot of it just felt like we were just there, talking or sitting. 

Recommend: ▲▲△△△ 

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

03/03/25

Very well-crafted microdrama with an engaging story that leaves you wanting more. I won't lie and say this wasn't a bit confusing, because it was, but I'll rewatch it sometime and I feel like things will become clearer. Everything about this is extremely well made in terms of acting, direction, and production quality. The story is also interesting with a futuristic sci-fi vibe

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, OST Watch Challenge

30/03/23 - 06/03/25

Melodrama and weird messaging at the forefront. I had very strong negative feelings about this drama back when I dropped it in 2023. Now that I finished it, I still hold a lot of the same negative feelings but some things ended up being slightly better than I was expecting. What I liked was ML. I was curious about his character and story. FL was more of a doormat than I was hoping and it was rather hard to watch. Pretty much all other supporting characters range anywhere from infuriatingly insufferable to just plain annoying. I really didn't care about anyone other than ML, tbvh. But shoutout to SFL for being the most insufferable character I've seen in such a long way and to SML for being the worlds biggest simp ever, genuinely so grating to watch them both. I wanted them both gone. I recognise the drama isn't really my scene with the whole snoozefest 'healing' vibes and melodrama but whatever

Seeing as it took me almost exactly two years to finish this, I would say I don't recommend it.

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△  

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Spring Cleaning Challenge

12/03/25

I watched it raw 'cause I couldn't find it subbed but the story was simple enough that I feel like with the information provided by the synopsis I knew enough. Overall, a simple cute ad

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△  

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

12/03/25

Heartbreaking story about loss, grief, and ultimately, forgiveness. For a short film, it was pretty well-done. Understandably, a bit rushed but it told the story start to finish, their was an issue and said issue was resolved at the end. I liked it! 

Recommend: ▲▲▲△ △  

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge

12/03/25

Cute microfilm about two lost souls bonding over a rare ability/disorder they share. The story is a bit confusing, further emphasized by the open-ending but I guess that's the whole point. I enjoyed the simple vibe and the manic pixie dream boy portrayal 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Hong Kong Cinema Challenge

18/03/25

Unfortunately quite incomplete. I was hooked at first but they really chose to meander with endless walking shots and the movie ends when the two leads reunite. The dynamic portrayed in the past was very cute tho

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△  

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

18/03/25

Impactful and unusual short film. Despite feeling like I knew where the ending was going, I was still wide-eyed at the conclusion. The crime was disgustingly uncomfortable and the finale, ultimately satisfying. Definitely not for the faint of heart and I should've been more mindful of the content warnings but a very good watch. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Back to the Past Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge, Hong Kong Cinema Challenge

08/03/25 - 19/02/25

Heartwarming and soft. Very fluffy and sweet watch about family and overcoming trauma with a dash of romance. Such a delightful watch, even teared up in the last episode 'cause I was not ready for that conversation about fear of less, good grief. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, PTW Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge

19/03/25

Talk about unnecessary. The whole thing was just not it. The jealousy, misunderstanding, and still glaring awkwardness and lack of any sort of physical affection was a let down :/ I was cringing and fast forwarding through most of it tbh

Recommend: ▲◭△△△

22/03/25

Interesting short film that does a good job at raising more questions. Would've made for a pretty interesting film but alas.

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

22/03/25

Short action film. Not much to say about it. Delved a little further into the universe set up in "Bystanders" 

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

22/03/25

Concluding story. Had a good final plot twist. Again, would've made for an interesting movie.

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

04/03/25 - 23/03/25

Compelling political thriller that remains interesting throughout (like, I was at the edge of my seat for most of it!! The story is not without flaws (especially the beginning and the end) but it's still highly enjoyable, full of plot-twists and melodrama. Characters and dynamics are compelling and thorough. Also, the cinematography and OST are both incredible, making it an even more pleasant experience! Was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did!

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, PTW Challenge, Spring Cleaning Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, Historical Kdrama Challenge, OST Watch Challenge

24/03/25

A heartfelt and melancholic fairytale. The aesthetics and overall feel of the movie were incredible. It reminded me a lot of those classic fairytales from ye olden days but with a modern twist. Nearing the end, though, it kinda switches gears and becomes a bit messy and gets a weird tonal shift with a rather underwhelming conclusion but overall, I would still recommend and I'm glad I finally got around to watching it ^^

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, PTW Challenge, Spring Cleaning Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge, OST Watch Challenge

01/03/25-24/03/25

Rocky start bordering on unwatchable aside, this drama actually rather lives up to the hype. After watching quite a few historical cdramas, I find this one to be very refreshing and unlike any other. The plot is complex and well-crafted, the characters are dynamic and compelling, the humour is witty, and the dynamics are extremely refreshing, well-written, and compelling. My biggest complaint is the OST... what a tremendous miss. Also the second half lost momentum big time. Introducing a whole new cast only for them to meander endlessly was not a good move. I disliked the direction it took and the conclusion was meh

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Back to the Past Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Drama Discovery Challenge, Mandarin Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/CDRAMA Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, Historical Cdrama Challenge

24/03/25 - 25/03/25

Beautiful and heartfelt movie about true love and disability. I won't lie that it felt like certain arcs of the story were entirely unnecessary which ended up making the movie feel somewhat bloated with pointless stuff. The relationship also developed very fast which felt weird considering it's such a long movie already. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The romance was absolutely adorable and I found the representation of disability and sickness to be rather tasteful (melodrama aside, ofc). 

To think I found this after seeing the ML play a nudist in Alice in Borderland xD 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲◭ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Japanese Watch Challenge, OST Watch Challenge

23/03/25 - 27/03/25

For something so short it sure dragged like all hell. I feel like the entire story could have EASILY been a short film. The pacing is just so slow and the shots are never-ending. I watched it at x1.5 speed and missed nothing at all. Another one of those 'live in the moment' type of stories. Nothing new

Recommend: ▲▲◭△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Miniseries Challenge

28/03/25 - 30/03/25 

Good despite its issues. Like comments and reviews alike already said, this drama is not without issues. The biggest seems to be the length which leaves very little room for impactful storytelling (especially given the genre and setting). There are inconsistencies, conveniences, plot-holes and rushed arcs pretty much everywhere and the story overall feels confusing and aimless but it was still a compelling watch for me. The action scenes were good, the setting was interesting, and the quality was good. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Drama Discovery Challenge, Actors Watch Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge

31/03/25 - 01/04/25

Yet another 'healing' drama that emphasizes that healing and being at peace means being a fugging doormat. Episode 4 had me FUMING. The idea of a 1 day adventure was very nice and teh drama has a easy, slow pace but by god does nothing happen. We only get to follow our protagonist as she meets certain individuals but only like 1 or 2 of those stories are actually interesting and FL is so incredibly bland that it says nothing. Definitely the kind of story that could've done with more inner monologuing. Lost me after ep 4. Overall, very bland and boring. Healing, moving on, living, blah blah. Plenty of dramas out there that do it better and aren't sexist

Recommend: ▲△△△△ | ❌

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge | | | | | We Watch Challenge

02/04/25

Simple story about family and love. I liked the premise of the street-view filming and the romance was cute (albeit a bit cringe too). ML wasn't very good but FL was! Not very deep but it doesn't intend to be either

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge,  r/KDRAMA Challenge

03/04/25 - 04/04/25

Started out good but then halfway through it just became goofy. The villain is seemingly omnipotent but we get no real explanation as to why or how. There's a lot going on  but none of it particularly matters. The story feels rushed, underdeveloped, and ultimately, lackluster. They also go into absurd territory when it comes to the action and it's just kinda 'meh'. 

Recommend: ▲▲△△△

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

24/03/25 - 04/04/25

An objective upgrade over season 1! They took everything good from season 1 and improved on it tremendously. The stakes were high, the plot and characters were satisfying and well-crafted, the humour was hilarious (and amped down a bit), the plotting and scheming was improved, the 2nd prince got more screen time... Honestly, I have no complaints! 

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/CDRAMA Challenge, Historical Cdrama Challenge

04/04/25 - 05/04/25

Not sure why but something about this movie really did it for me. I absolutely loved every minute of it. From the character dynamics to the battles, the tactics, scenes, just all of it was wonderful! The angst, the aesthetics, the adorable older man/younger man mentorship thing going on, the battle power couple, the secondary totally-not-gay power couple, the location- I really loved it!! 

Biggest downside would have to be the Mandarin spoken xD I watch too many Cdramas to ignore it, augh

Recommend: ▲▲▲▲▲ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Historical Kdrama Challenge

05/04/25

Cool but confusing. What did I actually watch? Not sure but it looked cool. There was no plot, just a lot of violence. Not sure what else to say

Recommend: ▲◭△△△ | ❌

• Used for the Every Genre Challenge

05/04/25

Cute but ultimately shallow and insignificant. If you wanna watch two cute people being cute with otherwise utter nonsense, then it's a good watch but it really didn't even try with the plot... 

Recommend: ◭△△△△ | ❌

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, MDL Countries Challenge

06/04/25 

It made me laugh a grand total of 2 times, everything else was just a thousand-yard-stare. Genuinely not sure what to even think about this. Could've been SUPER cool but ended up being mediocre to bad... Wasted potential for the sake of the cringe comedy. 

Recommend: ▲◭△△△ | ❌

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, Historical Kdrama Challenge

11/04/25 - 14/04/25 

With such overwhelming negative/disappointed reviews I was truly expecting way worse and though I understand and agree with a lot of what people commented on, it was still a good enough watch. Overall, it's quite good but it lacks the extra bit of something to really capture audiences. The excessive R-rated content is definitely a bit pointless but I'm also used to western media which adores such themes so it wasn't a deal breaker for me nor did I find it to be overkill like in certain western shows that won't be mentioned. The actors were all alright, some better than others. As for FL specifically... she definitely seems to be getting far more backlash than a lot of male actors with similar or worse acting (I will say though that she didn't really convince me she was a queen nor a warrior. It wasn't giving). 

The drama does rely a lot on the 'making it by the skin of their skin which wasn't really satisfying nor thrilling when the antagonists consistently are elevated by the author to pose any threat at all (like the White Tigers lost like 200 of their men and STILL have enough people to fight? They also seem to be able to track anyone from anywhere- it was too much).

My main gripe with the drama? Iphone face with the two FLs. They don't really look like they belong in the same setting as everyone else and of course the cliffhanger/inconclusive ending (which wasn't the worst ultimately but was left open)

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Miniseries Challenge, Actors Watch Challenge, MDL Exploration Challenge, r/KDRAMA Challenge, Every Genre Challenge, WHY NOT? Challenge, Historical Kdrama Challenge

14/04/25

Heartwarming and inspiring short film about thriving in spite of disability. I enjoyed the wacky premise and wished it were longer

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Every Genre Challenge

18/04/25

Quite an unusual minidrama. Has a lot of role reversal themes but tackled in an interesting way! I really enjoyed it despite its issues (writing related, haha). The couple was aaaadorable (tho in my heart she ends up with both ML and the prince from the other kingdom, haha). ML was such a dramatic homme fatale and FL was quite a convincing empress ^^ It really is quite high budget and pretty for a vertical microdrama. 

Recommend: ▲▲▲◭△ | ✔️ Definitely recc if you like role reversal

• Used for the MDL Watch Challenge, Color Challenge, r/CDRAMA Challenge