Unique story to each character and very original plot (only if logic isn't used when watching)
This is the first time I've seen a drama where every review left here is below 5. As someone who has watched approximately more than 200 dramas under my profile, I can say this was not that bad. Yes, I admit the story itself was messy because there were way too many characters to keep track of. BUT, if you watched every minute of it until the end (and did not pay attention to the flaws of course), then you will realize that the story itself actually revolves around the brother/sisterhood of the 5 of them. The romance is there but to build on each of their unique characters in terms of how they became bad I guess...because that is reality, not everyone will walk the same path.Many reviews complain why the purple eye girl isn't the main character because she was physically special (her eye colour) and how that didn't come with any superpowers. All I can say is that her eye colour didn't exist for no reason. In the story, it was there as a defect/deformity and the explanation to why she was treated badly by others and as a sign of bad luck... which then comes to explains why she went down the wrong path later in the story. Also, many people complained about why so many male characters liked the main female lead when she was such a boring character. My explanation is that she is 1. Beautiful and 2. Kindhearted. There were 5 who liked her in total and if you have watched dramas like Handsome Siblings or Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre, around 5 female characters also fall in love with the male lead and that number is normal. But what I liked about this drama is these male characters move on and come to like a different girl rather than blindly like the main female lead until the end of the story. Although the female lead lacked characterisation that differentiate her as the very main character, in the latter half of the drama, this improved. Her intelligence and wits was shown and if you have watched General and I, she reminded me of Bai Pingting. The pacing of the drama was not slow at all to me and I reckon it was because it told many stories within the story (about other characters) and that detail made it unique because it explained every character and their importance in the story such as why they exist and why they act this certain way. This way, the story doesn't rely completely on the leads (especially if you found their characters/romance/story boring). Every bad character in this also had their own reasons which are covered in detail in the drama and that's why I can feel for them compared to bad characters in other dramas. The ending was the best part of this drama and it was beautifully scripted; every character, both good and bad, had a very happy ending.
Overall, I enjoyed the drama from start to finish but I wouldn't recommend it to those who haven't watched many similar types of dramas in the same genre like I have. This is because those that have seen many would enjoy it more without using logic to criticise these types of long dramas.
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This review may contain spoilers
The emotions are not quite there
First of all, out of all the versions of this drama, this one had the best couple in my opinion since I've seen their chemistry in The Eternal Love 1&2. While watching though, I couldn't help but compare it to the first and original Taiwanese version (I rewatched this 4 times already).Characters: I liked the characterisation of the male lead better in this version because he made up his made earlier on and he wasn't a complete jerk like in the Taiwanese version and blamed everything on the female lead. This was also because he wasn't drugged by her relatives so he couldn't blame it on anyone. However, since he was portrayed as a better character, that also meant that Anna was portrayed as more of a bad person. Of course, I liked how his aunt and cousin were also portrayed to be not as bad as in the Taiwanese version but this also meant that there fewer complications that give the drama some depth. Dylan as the second male lead was more significant in the Taiwanese version and had a deeper connection with the female lead since she always went to him for relationship advice. He also backed her up more and gave her justice by exposing the truth prior to the car accident scene.
Emotions: What this version did well was the storyline was not draggy and it was straight to the point, especially at the start. But at the most important scenes such as the car accident, it was too rushed and I didn't feel the emotions. For example:
1) the Taiwanese version had more emotional soundtrack played in the car accident scene
2) their dialogue was shorter and less significant before she got hit by a car (in the Taiwanese version, he ONLY made up his mind who to choose after he realised how much the female lead actually sacrificed for him on the day; that's what made the car accident more emotional)
3) there were no flashbacks
4) the overall events leading towards it was rushed and didn't unfold more dramatically in comparison.
Overall, it was not the lead's fault since their acting was great but in this version, the emotions, in this case, were lacking because of other effects and layout of events.
Still, I decided to give this version an 8 star-rating because if I didn't watch the original, I wouldn't even notice these flaws. It is a creative attempt to recreate the original with a more well-characterised male lead and good twists in some events.
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