Weird whitening glare filter

The only con of season 2 is the weird whitening glare filter. I know that most Chinese and Koreans love white skin, but it's not normal for people to bleach their skin at all, especially to the point they look paper white. Not even white people in America or Europe look paper white, so when I see Asians using filters or use bleaching products to whiten their skin, I find it very toxic. It sends a message to their fellow Asians, and other people of color, that white is beautiful, and dark is ugly.

As I mentioned in my review of season 1, "both the female lead and male lead characters had childhood trauma, specifically fear of abandonment. Thus, the male lead clinged to the female lead, thinking he loved her but really it was more out of fear. The female lead ended the relationship with the male lead, thinking she loved him, but again, it was out of fear. To be fair, most romcoms tend to have a toxic definition and understanding of what love really is. Note: the female lead and male lead were only together for 6 weeks...6 weeks! So, it shouldn't surprise anyone how she was able to move on from the relationship. What I find weird is how someone can still not be over someone 4 years after dating them, and they were only together for 6 weeks while in high school. " Now, season 2 is really showing us that the male lead (the rich one) is obsessed with the female lead (see episode 4), he doesn't love her. He is literally following her around in silence (creepy vibes).

The good of season 2:
•I love the way that the screenwriter wrote this story, meaning how it is told (from past to present, and present to past)
• I love the fact that this drama was only 6 episodes. Sometimes K & C-dramas have way too many episodes with way too many fillers, and that takes away from the storyline.
•If you watch this drama and understand the setting (high school age kids to young adults), you may like this drama too as it is a realistic feel good romantic drama. Again, when watching this drama, it's showing romance of high school age kids.
•Strong female lead character

What makes a female character strong?
A strong female lead character is not necessarily someone who knows how to fight physically, but is a female character that
1. Uses wisdom most of the time (not all the time) - A lot of the female damsel in distress characters lack wisdom. They act on impulse, and make decisions that almost always lead them to depend on the male lead or second male lead for the whole drama.
2. Does not allow the male leads to ruin her life, while she sit idly by for the sake of "love," that really isn't love -Dramas tend portray a false image of love when it comes to romance. Love is not a woman taking abuse (verbal, emotional, or physical abuse) in order to be with a man. Almost always in dramas we see that the female lead is deceived, manipulated, or intimidated into a situation by the hands of the male lead. What's the female lead response? They either stick with the male lead through heartbreak and pain, or get back together with the male lead eventually. We often see the male leads choosing their family, revenge, or their title over the female lead, and or we see the male leads leading the female lead on a romantic chase, metaphorically speaking. The female lead in dramas while angered, end up being okay with being the last priority on the male lead's priority list.
3. Is free to choose who she love, even if it's the second lead and not the first - For goodness sakes, dramas will have people thinking that females love attractive toxic men, while hating the good guys who are caring and attractive.

READ MY REVIEW TO PART 1 OF THIS DRAMA https://mydramalist.com/22126-love-alarm

Leia Mais

The first 7 episode are excellent!

The first 7 episodes are excellent, but then everything becomes repetitive. Unfortunately,
toxic push and pull relationships are normal in real life, but unlike in real life, viewers don't want the relationship between the leads in this drama to be push and pull for most of the drama. I'm halfway through and I'm considering lowering my rating from a 9.5 to a 9. Outside of the on going push and pull relationship between the male and female lead characters, everything else is pretty great. I usually don't like male lead characters like the male lead in this drama, but the actor did so well, that I am enjoying his character.

I hope the storyline for episodes 9-16 will change a tad bit, we need a little variation.

Leia Mais

So cheesy, that the toxic tropes didn't bother me as much as usual.

I actually enjoyed this drama. I laughed, I smiled, I smirked, and it didn't require me to think too much. What you see, is what you get! This is the type of drama that you want to watch before or after watching a long historical/period drama or thriller. This drama is full of tropes, but it was done so well, that even the toxic tropes didn't bother me too much, like the male lead pulling the female lead character hands to direct her, or yelling at the female lead because he likes her but just too arrogant to say so, etc.

I will say that Sung Hoon overacted in most of his scenes. I don't know if he wanted his character to be overly dramatic or if it was his acting but I def. think it was his acting. He's such a great actor; I've seen other dramas of his, but for some reason in this drama he did way tooooooooo much.

Leia Mais

This is what happens when partners fail to communicate!

I cried a lot of happy tears when watching this drama. It's so interesting how this drama really got me emotional, but in a good way. This is the first drama that I've watched in which the female lead, male lead, and the antagonist male and female characters were not at fault for the tragedy that happened in the drama. Although, no one's actions were perfect, they were however, realistic based upon the situations that lead to such tragedy.

The male lead actor is so handsome, and I liked the way that he portrayed his character. However, his character is a tad bit toxic (btw, most humans are toxic, and most dramas have characters who are very toxic). Luckily, the male lead character is a little toxic and not a lot! The reason why he is toxic is because he is the MASTER OF SENDING MIXED SIGNALS. In 3 months, he told his wife 3 times that he wanted to be with her, and then he didn't. Granted, he had a justifiable reason to have mixed feelings, but what made him toxic was his communication style. Lying to his wife in order to save her from future hurt. While that may have seemed like an admirable thing to do, it only ended up hurting everyone in the process ... including the antagonist. If there was a song to describe the male lead character it would be 702's - Get it together [https://youtu.be/LdpQfyJFu9A]. LOL

The female lead, like the male actor is attractive (although they painted her to be decent looking and stupid) and she too had one toxic trait and it was justifying everyone's bad behavior. Being overly kind, sweet, and easy going may seem like a notable thing to do, but without holding people accountable for their actions, you will inevitably becoming a target of abuse (e.g. physical, mental, emotional, or verbal abuse). That is exactly what happens to the female lead, her husband was able to play with her emotions by telling her once per month that he wanted her, and then that he didn't want her. Out of all the dramas that I've watched in 2021, I resonate the most with her character. Although, I wasN'T as soft spoken as she is, I definitely justified everyone's bad behavior up until 2021. I didn't hold people accountable for their bad actions, especially the people closest to me. It eventually lead to people emotionally abusing me, because I had conditioned them to treat me as a punching bag, that will never hit back (metaphorically speaking).

The male antagonist is freaking amazing. Finally an antagonist who isn't toxic, forceful, or even arrogant. I am on episode 15, and I only have 5 more episodes remaining. From what I can tell, he isn't going to marry the female lead because she would be marrying him out of gratitude instead of out of love, and like female lead said, he deserves so much better than that.

Overall, this was a well written, well produced, well acted, romance comedy. I recommended watching it, and really thinking about the dilemma the male and female lead were in between episodes 1-13! The writer did a fantastic job, as the writing of this drama really allowed us to sympathize with each character, instead of hating some characters, and choosing sides.

Edited:
I am now watching episode 17, and at this point, it'll take a miracle for me to cheer for the female lead and male lead to get back together. There's no explaining, that can repair the emotional damage the male lead caused the female lead; not to the point where they fall in love again. I am hoping that in the remaining 3 episodes, it shows the female lead and male antagonist getting together and happy in bliss. I dropped this drama after watching the end of episode 17 because I do not want to see the female lead and male leading back together. His circumstances does not justify his poor communication. Episodes 17-20 sends the wrong message to women, and to men - that women will take anything, and that men should expect women to be there for them no matter what.... I'll pass! For goodness sakes, dramas will have people thinking that females love attractive toxic men, while hating the good guys who are caring and attractive.

Leia Mais

So are we just pretending that this drama sucks? What's with the low ratings?

I believe this drama is underrated on MyDramaList.com!

I am currently on episode 5, and I am wondering if it is it just me or the male lead character isn't in the wrong, but everyone else is? The only thing the male lead character has been doing for the last 5 episodes is holding people accountable for their actions. I used to be the exact opposite of him, as I'd empathize with people to the point where I didn't hold them accountable, and it did nothing but aid them to continue to be the horrible people they already were. Accountability and integrity doesn't always feel good at the moment, but it does yield long term beneficial results. I don't know whether or not the script writer wanted to make the male lead character seem like a bad guy by having the supporting characters call him aloof and cold, but the supporting characters were the bad ones (e.g. one stole from his wallet, one wanted to live off of his dad and be a spoiled rich party girl, one tried to rape the girl he liked, another tried to ruin his relationship because she wanted to be with him). The only con that I have for the male lead character's personality is the fact that the eye for eye, tooth for tooth methodology is not always the best route, even if he's justified in his actions, which he was. Oh yeah, the female lead character believed everyone but the person she was in a relationship with. She's another person that basically did the male lead wrong. I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone like her, who would trust a random stranger (e.g. the second male lead) over the person she agreed to date. Ehhhhhhhh

BTW, they both disliked one another in the first 2 episodes. They both made assumptions about one another and as you watch the first 6 episodes things are cleared up and they both agree to start a new but the female lead keeps remembering the past and doesn't actually start a new.

By episode 7, I just get annoyed with the female lead character behavior. Her boyfriend literally went out his way to find the guy who tried to assault her, and she's upset with him because he's defending him and her (she has a flashback about what her boyfriend ex-friend whom she did not know at the time, told her)....If a guy snuck into my room to rape me or assault me, I would want my boyfriend/husband to beat him up and hold him hostage until the police get there. I don't get why she would have this much compassion for a serial-harasser. The best thing she could do is to allow him to get locked up, so he can get treatment for any mental illness he may have. While this drama is good, I think I am going to drop it because it's a repetition of stupidity from the female lead character.

I am on episode 8! IF YOU WANT TO SEE A TOXIC FEMALE LEAD CHARACTER, WATCH THIS DRAMA! This is a prime example of how "innocent looking people, or people who say they are well intended (like the female lead)," are able to justify their bad behavior by playing the victim, against someone who is outspoken and not as innocent looking (like the male lead). Also, you start to understand that the second male lead plays the victim a lot too. He blames the male lead for career failure.The reason why he didn't play the piano for 5 years, is largely due to him. All of sudden, we see him playing the piano. Everyone mentioned how poor the second male lead attitude was and is. Who in real life would want to deal with someone (with unresolved childhood traumas) that refuse to grow up?

Okay, so I decided to drop this drama after episode 9 because it's the same story of the female lead not trusting the male lead, while doing shady things to him. Like believing everyone else, hanging around his friendenemy although he told her that he didn't feel comfortable with that. She's horrible, and I hope the male lead character finds someone who will love him for him, and who is mature and knows how to communicate.

Leia Mais

A slow paced, well developed period drama with romance and betrayal within an aristocratic family.

I watched this drama a couple of months ago, and I fell in love with the way that the story was told. I will admit that I didn't think this drama would be good after watching the first episode, but I was wrong! This drama reminds me a lot of the drama The Story of Ming Lan. The only con to this drama, and most Chinese period dramas is the fact that the amount of episodes are more than required. After the male and female lead finally felt secure in their marriage, I lost interest, only because it took almost 30 episodes to get there, and I felt like it could have just ended there. Maybe one day I will pick this drama back up but right now in my mind, this drama is worthy of a 9 for the first 30 episodes.

Leia Mais

For once the ratings are accurate! Believe the hype!

Okay, my headline is a bit far fetched, as I am sure there have been accurate ratings before. However, for some reason I find that most Chinese romcoms are overrated on MyDramaList, and most Chinese historical/period dramas are underrated on MyDramaList. This drama is rated accurately (averaging a 8.5-9.5), and it's a great thing! When it comes to Chinese historical/period dramas I like to give my review 10 episodes at a time, because they tend to be 40+ episodes long, and I don't want to forget my thoughts about the drama when I finally reach to the last episode.

Review for episodes 1-11
•What I did not enjoy between episodes 1-10 is how the female lead character(not the actress) treated the crowned prince. Not only is it unrealistic, it also didn't make her character seem as sweet as this drama portrays her to be. I get that she had no choice but to be engaged to him, as he had no choice to be engaged with her but she was really cold to him as soon as the engagement was canceled. If the roles were reversed, we would hate the crown prince for doing that to the female lead character. She didn't even take the time to understand who he was as a person, and all that he suffered. She could have at least offered to be his friend.
•I also did not enjoy the female lead character (not the actress) communication in these episodes. Granted for the first 4 episodes she was a mute, but even afterwards (years has passed away), she still look to her "master," to respond for her when someone ask her a question. I just kept thinking, here we go again. Girl, you ain't 10... just answer the question lol.

Besides these two cons, I liked everything else. The pacing is fantastic, the storyline is very intriguing, and the love interest and development of romantic relationships is sweet.
_______________________________________
Review for episodes 12-24
•COMING SOON

Leia Mais

It was going great, until episode 7!

The first 6 episodes are fantastic, but it becomes really toxic on episode 7. In episode 7, the female lead, father is verbally and physically abusive. No matter how angry we are with someone, physical abuse is not the solution unless we are defending ourselves from an attacker. Additionally, the female coach, punish the female lead (who btw, is a college sophomore) with a broom stick because she arrived late to exercise. Instead of disciplining a grown woman with abuse, why not just suspend her from the team? I dislike the fact that episode 7 normalize physical abuse.

I really really really enjoyed the first 6 episodes of this drama, up until episode 7, which is toxic (it sends the message that physical abuse is discipline and thus, it's okay). I will update my review once I finish watching the rest of the episode.

Leia Mais

Finally, real chemistry & intimacy among the lead characters

I really enjoyed Legend of Fu Yao, minus the mystical part. The reason why this drama did not get a 10, is because I am not into magic and mystical dramas. The male lead actor, Ethan is fine! I think he is the most attractive male actor in Asia. Legend of Fu Yao was the first C-drama that I watched, in which the characters had authentic intimacy and chemistry on screen. The second drama is Princess Agent. I also like the fact that both of those dramas, have actors who look older than 21.

I am American, and I am really turned off by the overlysexualized romantic scenes in American movies and dramas. However, with most C-dramas and K-dramas, sometimes it seems like there is no romance and that kind of bores me when I watch dramas. I think Legend of Fu Yao, did a perfect job of showing intimacy and chemistry, without being overlysexual. I also think it could have ended around episode 40 (after they win the first major battle), it would have been perfect. I tend to stop watching dramas when they are dragged out unnecessarily, by having two major conclusions. That is one on the reasons why I stopped watching Rebel Princess; it had two major conclusions.

Leia Mais

Surprisingly good

Excellent storyline, excellent script, and excellent acting. I must admit the first 3 episodes had me thinking that this drama would be a low budget mediocre historical drama. I'm glad to report that this drama exceeded my expectation. The writer allowed the female lead character to address sociocultural issues (e.g. like sexism and double standards) in a manner that both women in historical times and modern times would be able to relate to. I'm not familiar with the female lead actress, but she did a great job acting and was the first East Asian actress who I watched that decided to have a ugly cry on screen, instead of the damsel in distress whimsical cry lol. The only character (not actress) that I was constantly annoyed with was the female lead, little sister. Due to the first three episodes and episode 20, I decided to rate this drama a 9.0, instead of a 10.0.

It's a must watch!

Leia Mais

I gave up after episode 30!

This drama could have easily been a 10/10 but the storyline was dragggggggggggggggggggggged out. Producers in China should consider 30-40 episode dramas instead of having 50-70 episodes. More (episodes) is not always better. This drama reminds me so much of the The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The main difference is The Legend of the Condor Heroes is focused on the male lead, and The Legend of Fei is focused on the female lead. They both travel around and meet new fighting legends who are willing to teach them new fighting skills. They both have someone they like traveling alongside with them. The pros of this drama are the fighting scenes, and the male lead flirtiness. The cons are the dragged out storyline, and the length of time it's takes for the female lead and male lead to actually become a item (don't tease us with romance, and take 40+ episodes to give it to us).

Leia Mais

Watch this after you've watched a complex drama.

Watch this after you've watched a complex drama. This drama does not require you to think too much! It's basically a cool off drama that you watch in between thrillers or historical dramas lol.

It started off good, but by episode 6 it becomes decent (bearable to watch). Thus far, there's absolutely nothing good about the male lead character (the writer/director). Btw, I am on episode 8. He is arrogant, he is passive aggressive, and he is overbearing. In the beginning of the drama, he planned to get revenge on the female lead character after 14 years of breaking up. REALLY? Basically, his revenge was to be mean and childish. BTW, I wonder if he's the same guy from Love Alarm? I am not sure whether or not I will drop this drama, but I do like the school teacher, and the famous actor. The very attractive gangsta has to go or rather, should have never been in the story. It would have been better for the writers to have made his character a competitive film agency (who wants to steal the female lead character, clients, movies, and talent), instead of a gangsta.

Things that make this drama weird or unrealistic are:
1. Attractive gangsta (the character, not the actor).
2. The fact that there are four attractive (some famous, some normal) men, all liking one middle aged woman at the same time.
3. If one of the four guys is her child's father (which I think it's the writer/director). It's weird that there was no emotion shown by the female lead character when dad and daughter were together for the first time ever.
4. The hot younger teacher living with his student mom (conflict of interest).

Leia Mais

Where do I begin?

This was one of the Chinese historical dramas that I waited for to air. So, I had high expectations.

THE ACTING
The script is well written. However, due to the directors direction, the female lead actress did not act as good as she could have. The actress did an excellent job in the Legend of Fu Yo and other historical and period dramas, but in this drama, she was lacking, tremendously. Firstly, her character acted immaturely for the first 20 episodes, even in the scenes when she was supposed to be brave.

ROMANCE
Secondly, I did not feel the romance between the female and male lead characters, meaning it wasn't captivating for a big budget drama like this. The romance between the female lead and male lead was stale...maybe dry is a better word for it. Sidenote: The actors and actress who played the king, the male lead (up until episode 20), and the consort acted their butt off (meaning they did an excellent job). Although the king was very cruel, his behavior for an ancient king character is one of the most realistic I've seen in Chinese historical dramas (check the article out on my page for details). I also did not like the romance between the adopted brother of the female lead, and the character from the fabric department. I was bored the whole time watching their love story unfold, and I skipped a lot of their scenes. Again, I think the director didn't do all of the characters justice. This drama should have had more a serious undertone, especially for these types of characters who were strong and skilled warriors. Instead of having the female lead actress and her adopted brother be shy and cutesy about romance, this was an opportunity to have these character develop from being aloof about romance due to childhood trauma, to becoming open to it, gradually (which is what the director did for the male lead).

WHAT I LIKED
I liked the fact that both the king and the male lead are healthy (not anorexic and or bone thin). There are a lot of male actors who act in Chinese historical dramas who are so thin and frail. So much so, you can see their rib cage when they take off their shirts in historical dramas. This trend in China should absolutely come to an end. Just because someone is skinny doesn't mean that they are healthy.

On the brighter side, the political storyline in this drama was great. It is the reason that I didn't give this drama a rating of less than 7.5. Additionally, the reason why I am not going to drop this drama at episode 20 is because I'm invested in the political plot. The actor who played the king by far, was the best actor in this drama. Seriously, pay attention to his mannerisms, his voice fluctuations, his facial expressions, and his body movements. It is not as easy as it appears to act, especially as a king during ancient times. I'm amazed by his acting skills. Kudos to the casting director for casting this actor.

I will edit this review at another time to fix all grammatical errors. I'm typing this review from my cellphone. I'll also let you know what I thought about the end!

FINAL UPDATE:
I decided to drop this drama. Episode 21( or 22?) was horrible and it didn't make any sense.

Leia Mais

From a rating of a 8.5 to a rating of 9.5!

THE ROMANCE
The female lead actress actually helped me believe the romantic relationship between the female lead and male lead characters. In my opinion, respectfully, the male lead actor (not character), begins to act better starting with episode 15.

ACTING & CHARACTERS
The actress who plays the female lead character in this drama, usually plays damsel in distress characters in other Chinese dramas. This is the first time that she played a warrior, carefree type character. I prefer the warrior characters over the damsel in distress characters. I have to admit that it took me 3 episodes not to think of her in her old acting roles. I actually skipped most of her parts in previous dramas, not because she isn't a talented actress but because of the damsel in distress roles/characters. With that being said, it's surprising that she can actually act as a warrior. She did a FANTASTIC job acting carefree, flirtatious, strong, and caring. I'm actually surprised...pleasantly surprised.

For some reason I didn't like the male lead acting in this specific drama before episode 15. Instead of him acting pretentious, maybe he could have acted like a witty and wise prince (like the actor who plays a prince in this drama and also acted in Legend of Fu Yao). After episode 15, his acting improves a lot. After watching the male leading acting in episode 28, I increased my review rating from 9.0 to 9.5.

THE STORY & PACING
I almost dropped this drama because of the first 3 episodes. The first 3 episodes was rushed, especially the first two episodes. I was confused after watching episode 1, and I thought this drama was going to be a poorly written and poorly directed drama. The first 2 episodes should have given greater details when introducting the main characters in this drama. Additionally, there were not many transitional scenes (the characters just kept appearing at the same location together). It felt very choppy, instead of transitioning smoothly. After episode 3, the quality of the storyline picks up tremendously, and the pacing improves. Also within episode 2 and 3 the female lead character (not actress) points out how conniving the male lead character (not actor)is, more than three times. It was overkill and it made me think there was an error with the editing in episode 2 of this drama.

LOOPHOLES
The king (the protagonist father) is known to hate lies, and doesn't want anyone to threaten his kingship. In episode 28, he nearly beat his son to death (I won't say which son) for not telling him the truth about what he was up to, but when it came to the queen, the king allowed her to deceive him, lie to him, and try to kill his son on many occasions. He even knew her plan to try to get rid of him (the king) so that she can be the queen dagger. He let the queen off with a warning (multiple times). This is a major loophole in the storyline and also the king's character.

I'm currently watching episode 13, and thus far my rating is a 8.5. I couldn't give this drama a 9.0 because the first 2 episodes were really bad in terms of pacing, editing, and storytelling.

I'm now on episode 18, I decided to increase my rating to a 9.0 because episodes 15-18 were really good.

After watching episode 28, I increased my rating to a 9.5.

After watching episode 35, I want to give this drama a 10 but I can't because of the first 3 episodes!

Leia Mais