NaijaLuv_88
USA
The story is like Secret (kdrama), if anyone ever watched it, and although Secret has been one of my favorite dramas when it comes to revenge/hate turning into love and obsession, this lakorn has beaten it out of the water due to the main characters but more so to Yaya's potrayal of Jeerawat or Jee.
Story:
Very Simple, Jee is a major nangek/celebrity who despite all the fame and status lives her life constantly in the rumor mill potrayed as a whore and slut who snatches up people husbands. In reality, she is anything but and instead is just a woman or rather a girl who just wants love, mainly from her mother that she continuously protects at the cost of her own self-respect. While Satit is a young lawyer who is deeply in love with his fiance Tiw, all for justice and the fight for the underdog and the little man. Unlike in the synopsis, Jee is NOT an alcoholic and instead is lusted after by her stepfather and is heavily drugged (IM style in the arm) and in her pursuit to run away from her eventual rape innocently hit and run over Satit's fiance Tiw. Instead of actually running, Jee tries to express her apologies and own up to her mistake, however, the people around her refuses for her to do so and instead her assistant takes the fall while she lives her life in a constant cycle of regret, guilt, remorse, and horror for the fact she cannot pay for the crime that she caused.
Satit, however, doesn't believe what is released to the public and is in hot pursuit to punish Jee for his fiance's death which leads to his obsession. Eventually constant interactions, fighting/arguments, and slowly seeing the inner truth of who Jee really is makes him falls in love with her. But at the same time, he struggles with the reality that he might be falling for the very woman who killed the love of his life and is constantly struggling to battle his own feelings.
Of course there are two other couples but in reality it became such a nuisance (really in Piak and Chaiyan's case) but they only at times help the main draw closer and own up to their feelings.
Acting/Cast:
If I didn't state it earlier, this show was amazing not from the story itself alone, but from the flawless potrayal from the main characters and the amazing chemistry between Jee and Satit. Although Prin was amazing showing Satit as someone obsessed, I have to give the full recognition to Yaya for such an amazing job as Jee.
Yaya: have never seen her before, never knew her before, or etc...but my GODDDD!!!!! She was simply amazing as Jeerawat. She potrayed the hard as nails, aloof, bitch that everyone saw her but at the same time show the vulnerabilities of a young woman (more so girl in my opinion) that just wanted love. Love from her mother and those around her that were actually genuine. At times female leads that just cry nonstop would be annoying and ridiculous but you knew Jee was crying was because she built such a icy facade for the world that when it came to herself, her manager Suki, and her best friend Dao, that was the only time she could really be herself and let it out. Each time, each time, Yaya did such an amazing job showing the emotions of someone lost, tired, hopeful, yearning, and just wanting someone to just love her for herself. Although as the audience battled with the decisions she made at times Yaya did such a seamless job in showing someone fighting with herself and inner desires, wants, and needs. She was not a Candy female lead or someone so darn evil you wonder if she was REALLY a lead female. Rather she was human. She was realistic. She came from a broken home, her mother and her struggled and suffered for everything they got, and even then she wouldn't show others her true self. she was tough as nails and at the same time vulnerable. She was as real as you are gonna get if you want a realistic female lead that is not sugarcoated but is not always wearing a smile despite all the crap life hands to her.
Piak: a insecure housewife now producer/director who constantly suspects her husband Chaiyan is sleeping with his female actresses (nangek) and more specifically, thinks he is sleeping with Jee. Her (adopted) brother is Satit.
Chaiyan: is best friends with Jee, rather shares a brother/sister relationship to Jee that is constantly misconstrued to his wife and the media as an affair.
Dao: Jee's best friend with Jee and is in love with Jate
Jate: confused and playing both fields. In love with Jee but attracted to Dao.
Rewatch Value, Overall:
I would watch this show again at least a few months from now to completely forget the story-line (which i doubt) as this show is just so darn intriguing, and not so predictable compared to most dramas. As i stated before this show has two other couples and to me were either annoying at times or just so unbelievable, but they don't ruin the story. This lakorn is sooooooo enjoyable, intriguing, and unpredictable. Highly recommend to watch, and watch, watch, and then watch some more.
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A Slow Burn Romance but You Will Experience a Charismatic Cast of Characters
If you're looking for a thought provoking show or logical analysis behind scenes that transpire, don't expect much here. If you are looking for romance and expect the main leads to be in love and for it to ooze in each section of the screen, please do not look here. If you are looking to see the main male lead to be seen in majority of the show, please don't look here.What Arsenal Military Academy lacked in a logical and consistent plot made for it in strong characters that undergoes serious developmental growth.
Acting/Cast:
Everyone has mentioned the two main leads being in a previous show, but I was only interested because of Xu Kai and watching him in Yanxi Palace. If it wasn't for the fact that Xu Kai made Gu Yan Zheng such a hilarious, arrogant, goofy, childish, hearty, flirty, loving, cool, and smug character, I would have given up watching this show halfway. His character has been done before but Xu Kai portrayal of him, was completely new and not seen before. I can honestly say that he made Gu Yan Zheng his own. The flaws in his character could be the childish nature, but it was the brute honesty of his childishness that made him refuse and decline the second female lead efforts and affection. His childishness also add a dash of humor and it showed the stark contrast of his growth as he became determined , patriotic, and serious in protecting the people he loved.
On the other hand, Bai Lu played an amazing role as Xie Xiang/Xie LiangChen. Her loyalty to her friends, her guts, and trying to find herself after her brother passed away was one of the highlight points of her character. However, her character began to annoy me, especially how she treated the male lead during the second half of the drama. Someone mention there were cut scenes of the leads, and if that is so, that would make sense to the lack of romantic interactions.
Shen Jun Shan became an annoyance to painstakingly irritating. I was confused about his character and how he knew Xie Xiang’s brother. I was confused about his feelings for the female lead in the first half, and looked like it was going to go a different direction with Xian Rong and wish at most, that they did get tied into a forbidden romance, rather than see him exert himself in pursuing the female lead. However, his character was the typical cold and standoffish at first and slowly opens up to the people around him. The actor did a phenemonal job, just that the character in itself and excessive screen space, left a distaste in my mouth.
Supporting Characters/Actors:
I have to say that Liu Si Bo, who played Huang Song, blew me away. I loved his friendship with Xie Xiang but surprisingly loved it even more with Gu YanZheng. He was naïve, innocent, loyal, an truly honest. Most of his interactions with Xie Xiang dressed up as a girl was just purely gold….if it wasn’t because of Xu Kai, I would have shipped her with him instead.
Music:
I really liked the music, it didn’t overpower the scene, nor was it used to wring out an emotion. It was tastefully done. I always loved it when they used the background beats whenever Xie Xiang and the rest of the guys will walk into the scene.
Overall:
I wouldn’t personally sit down and watch this show all over again. However, I would watch the scenes between the leads and the friendship amongst the rest of the supporting characters. However, the excessive screen time of the second male lead had me grow a distaste to his character and to most of the second half of the show. I would recommend if not alone for the humor, comedy, and friendships. If you are an avid romance lover and looking for a followup from their previous show called “The Legends” you will NOT find that passion here. Instead enjoy a cute and slow burn, very slow burn, romance that will make you cry, laugh, and at the same time hide away in embarrassment. Its an overall good show.
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Maybe I am the odd man out, but I really love this drama. I have to agree that the pacing and story progression is off at times and it can get real awkward watching and asking yourself "How come we came here? Or how come that is happening or this is happening?" But at the heart of it all and why I continue to watch the story is perhaps the fact I simply love "Black and Swan".
Acting/Cast:
Lee Jin Wook acting is an okay for me and its not that he can't act, its rather as i mentioned previously, the pacing and awkwardness that I attribute more so to the directing. However, I do love the slow progression of Cha Ji Won into "Black". Despite the awkwardness I see Lee Jin Wok doing a great job in portraying that loss of innocence, trust, and focus on love (relationships including romance and friendship) into Black a man deeply scarred, jaded, and out and about for revenge for the loss of his father and search for his sister.
While my girl, Moon Chae Won, I have nothing left to say for her as every since Shining Inheritance I fell for her acting and it wasn't deterred by the least in this drama. Throughout the constant moaning and groaning about her character's appearance, I fell in love with the spunky, kind, upfront (blunt), and loyal Kaya or Seu Wan (Swan) and thought (so far) she has stayed true to her character as being someone who fights tooth and nail for someone that she loves, dependable, and is loyal.
Also Song Jae Rim, this is my first drama watching him but something about his smile and the consistency of his character and the fact that he is a second lead that hasn't annoyed the heck out of me. He comes off as a tsundere in the begining but he never changes to
Music:
Maybe because I have consistently blocked it out because after two or three episodes of the same love song, cute, but almost twelve episodes of the same love song at a certain point does become tiring. But at a certain point the song does change.
Rewatch:
I would re-watch this solely for the Swan and Black scenes, but also because of the hi-jinks of the supporting characters as they were hilarious during moments of intense scenes or when I just finish cursing out the stupidity of a character or when the evil guys piss me off from no end and makes me contemplate slamming my tablet on the floor from their nonsense.
Overall, this drama suffered in the beginning because of directing, a revenge plot that made no sense in the direction it was heading (which still has me wondering why? How come?) Because based on the synopsis I thought we were going full in with Black and Swan disguised as a married couple mingling in destroying his best friend and his ex-fiance for their betrayal while at the same time saving his sister and falling in love and being conflicting in destroying and losing himself as he went further went with his revenge plot but at the same time falling for Swan etc...
Instead we got a revenge plot where the revenger outed himself to the revengees (does that make sense???) in less than 30 minutes after (well we have a time period gap...but you get what I'm saying). But nevertheless, although I didn't get the official story that I wanted (or believed based on the synopsis) , I still highly recommend this drama because at the heart of it all it is a really, really great drama.
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Story:
Something simple where a mother is dying and needs someone to watch over her daughter and enters into a contractual marriage, but we enter into Hye Soo's life when she really doesn't have that except in her friend Joo Yeon. Cue in Ji Hoon who plays the time adage of a rich chaebol playboy with more enough money in his pockets and enough girls in his bed that he doesn't have time to be serious or particularly nice to anyone around him. Despite the expectancy of knowing that the main lead character will change the main male character as understanding that he isn't all bad, Ji Hoon represented a character i haven't seen in a drama in a really long time. A character knowing he is flawed, knowing and believing he is the worst human being and not seeing himself as being redeemable. He didn't believe he was any good, he didn't get the love nor care and wasn't seen as being redeemable by his family or in his own eyes so for a woman that he barely knew, a stranger such as Hye Soo to point it out that he was a good person and with such firmness .....it just got to me that he wasn't such a simple character and there were layers in this jerkish playboy and they were nice layers and just needed tender loving care and someone to actually stick around but not wanting to take advantage or use it against him.
Acting/Cast
Ever since the first drama I seen Uee in(which was You're Beautiful....she made me truly hate her character as a second lead female that just dripped two-faced and a bitch all at once), I had a feeling this girl could act but it was just the lack of a really great drama to pull it out of the ballpark to show everyone that she could. I knew she could meet the challenge and wasn't surprise that her and Lee Seo Jin had chemistry. But WAS surprise by how HOT that chemistry was!!!!
The two of them complimented one another, whether they spoke or not you got what you needed from their eyes, they portrayed their characters longing, their passion, their fear, worry, confusion and it all with just their eyes....they fitted completely together like pieces in a puzzle
The child actress Shin Rin-Ah or the little Eun Sung who seemed more like a brat in the beginning (in all honesty I wouldn't dare run off when my parents told me to stay put or ignore when my parents told me not to do something) but in all honesty she is just a child and is naturally going to be defiant. But this little girl was just so freaking adorable, sassy, and fiesty. Eun Sung was smart, knew when people were lying, considerate, and importantly her interaction with her mother, Hye Soo was just at times adorable, cute, and heartbreaking. That a mother would go above and beyond her ownself to secure her child's future and at the same time Eun Sung went above and beyond in loving and protecting her mother in the only way she knew how as a child. Also her interactions with Ji Hoon was just freaking adorable of being able to finally have a father of her own and no matter what happened to her mother she would still have someone that she will love and be by her side.
The Supporting Character such as the chef Hyun Geol, the manager, and even Hye Soo's best friend were so wonderful, funny, and were able to add comedic relief during times when shit was getting serious and you wanted to cry (which happens ALOT in this drama so have some Kleenex nearby).
Music:
I love me some music, but I HATE it when dramas use it as a filler in trying to bring out an emotion that actors or actresses cannot effectively convey. This drama didn't use music for that AT ALL. Instead the music was simple when it came to soft humming (don't know the singer's name) to small little instrumentals it only helped amplify the emotions whether it was pain, passion, or the confliction of the characters feelings that they couldn't put into words but we knew as viewers that they felt, the songs just amplified them ten times more. Instead of the music carrying the drama, this drama and music worked hand in hand in making scenes even sadder, or more upbeat, and etc...
Overall:
After successfully waiting weeks for this drama to finish airing this has to be one of my top five best dramas that i have ever watched. Aside from the romance, this drama showed that its never too late to seek forgiveness for our sins towards the people we've wronged. Whether its family or friends, we have a second chance to make things better which was evidenced by Hi Joon's mother and his uncle and Hye Soo mother in law. This drama also displayed that realizing what is truly important in life, realizing that family is everything and chasing after idealistic and materialistic items will only leave you at alone at your dining table at the end of the day; valuing life, taking up for our errors and trying to be a better person, and just simply appreciating everyday and not take it for granted. To love ourselves and one another but importantly don't take life for granted. This drama breached on so many things we sometimes forget in the repeated cycle in our lives and it takes a drama like this to remind us that we shoud appreciate the people that we have around us. If it was possible I would rate this drama more than a 10, but since I can't I give it a 10/10!!!
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