Appreciated some, annoyed in some.

Another yet highly rated Chinese series along with LIGHTER AND PRINCESS that I didn't enjoy much, if not for some depth, with regard to some relationship values, friendship and family wise.

I'll be honest here, I didn't like this much. Maybe I'm just too old for this genre or way too annoyed, with regard to some aspects of this series. Mainly because I'm not into girls chasing their boys. It annoyed me greatly that this young girl is obsessing about a crush, trying hard to be so cute, doing all the initiatives to get his attention, so forth so on. I'm so not into this.

Don't get me wrong here. This maybe an unpopular review, and a great series for most, and I respect that. Yet this is how I see this. It annoyed and bored me to no end in most chapters and scenes. I'm a reader and I hate my heroines obsessing over a hero in my books, doing all the chasing. Most frustrating to read or watch, is if the hero is an arse or in this case, a quiet non smiling boy most of the time, who's just wanting to be left alone, yet here's this annoying girl who does everything to garner his attention, following him like his dog, despite the clear message, he isn't interested to be bothered.

I understand the message yes. This is a youthful coming of age drama about friendship, family dynamics and mostly about a bubbly cheerful girl, eventually helping a quiet boy to trust her, come out of his shell and believe more in himself. In doing so, she greatly annoyed me.

There are things I appreciated about this series though, that's why I'm not fully relegating it as a waste of my time.
I appreciated the friendship dynamics. That the story isn't mainly focused on one or two characters. They each have their own stories to tell. I find it adorable mostly, the heartwarming relationship between the grandma and the other boy. This made me miss my own granny.

The support system between the friends and the deep messages and values this series tried to convey, are good, especially when it comes to self belief, trust, redemption, and mostly certain facets inside a family unit. That family is the most important foundation and this is where you lay down the most important aspects, to be able to raise good, self respecting successful youths not only career wise, but as they face life's challenges.

When it comes to romance though, I'm still old school I guess. It's okay to like someone yes, or go for what or who you want. Up to a certain extent. There are a lot of ways to like a boy or a man, and for him to appreciate you back . One thing is like and respect yourself first, for a man to like and respect you back. For a drama, this might be deemed as cute and heartwarming, but in reality, boys or men may get flattered with girls' attention, but you're just paving a way for some heartaches.

I understand this is a youthful drama, about first loves, being innocent and naive and all that, still I didn't appreciate some aspects of it. It's a good thing this series didn't just try to focus on the main couple's story or else I would have dropped it.

Overall a heartwarming series. One Chinese series though, HIDDEN LOVE is similar to this, but more to my liking.

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Title should be "LIGHTER AND OBSESSION"

This is a highly rated drama. I bet it's a good one if I dared to overlook some behaviours. I know many loved this and I fully respect their sentiments. I'm sorry, I guess not for me. I tried to like it. There were some good moments where I could say it was okay. Annoyance and boredom though won in the end.

I can't stand to watch women like this one. I know she's presented as a young, immature and naive girl in the game of love in the beginning. She's sheltered and he's her first love. She's so in love that she overlooks most ugly things through the course of the series. How about in the latter episodes where she's already a mature woman years after, who has undergone so much hurt and expected to have learned her ways?

I don't get it. She's also smart defiant, determined, competitive and brave when it comes to what she believes in, but when it comes to the male lead, why oh why she lets herself lose her self respect and identity, beats me.

Even the supporting characters, I couldn't understand why he gets away with this kind of behaviour and attitude. A not so good message, relationship wise be it in friendship or romance, that just because you're good looking and a prodigy, you're entitled and you deserve to be a jerk regardless of a sad past.

Main leads as the way I see it from the episodes I tried to finish, which greatly bored and annoyed me, wouldn't be together, if FL doesn't keep showing up or running after the ML in each episode. Last straw for me was despite the great pain she went through after years, she's still this pathetic obsessed woman.

I'd say this is a drama series I could appreciate because of some good acting and character development of some actors like GAO, the second male lead. Main leads remain the same for me. FL still pathetic and obsessed and ML still an arse.
This is still a romantic drama regardless of all these techno innovations whatever. I'm still old school with regard to romance, be it in books and TV series. I hate doormats when it comes to my female heroines.
Overall, this could be a drama with great potential for me if the FL isn't made like this love obsessed girl. And I don't believe ML is believable that he loved this girl after everything he put her through.

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Cliched but still fun to watch

I guess I'm still old school when it comes to romances, so I'd say this series still clicked with me.

It took me a while before deciding to watch this, thinking it's another boring series. This has been streaming for long on Netflix. Others say this is kind of outdated, same same old, but this kind of plot never ceases to get old for me. It never fails to leave that heartwarming and lighthearted feel for me in every watch.

Outrageous and unbelievably ridiculous in some, but still fun to watch. What I liked most here is the ML falling for FL first, holding on and fighting for her. I'm not into women chasing their men, or men pushing away or letting go. I got so frustrated with the series YOUNG LADY AND A GENTLEMAN, so I'm really good with this one. Kind of refreshed me.

Final scene left me feeling lacking and unsatisfied though. Nevertheless a fun, enjoyable series to watch.

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The good.. the bad.. and the ugly.

One of my favorite genres. A convincingly dark tale of a woman played by three actresses, all good supported by also great actors.

I don't need to elaborate so much on the plot to avoid much spoilers, but I do love this series because of its depth and the message it's conveying. It's dark yes, but needed to be told. Real ugly consequences of societal issues we face today, must be addressed and thanks to the producers and writers who bravely do it, using these mediums.

The thing is, for me there was no need to use three actresses throughout the episodes, regardless if several years had passed. Though they were greatly portrayed by these women, I just think two were enough. Second actress was needed of course, but as several years had passed in some episodes, for me they could had just used some prosthetic makeup to make one look older, considering how advanced films or television series are made today. Some supporting actors didn't even change much or got much older, how come main actress changed that much.

Main issue for me as mentioned above, the mature actress used in the last two final episodes, though she was great too, didn't even resemble the second younger actress in any way, when it came to facial features, to make it more convincing that she used to be Mask girl after surgery. We retain some of our facial features regardless, through the years.

Other than my one issue, I'd say this is a beautifully done must see series if you're okay with some dark themes associated with it.

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LOTS OF AMUSING COINCIDENCES

I'd say I'm recently liking watching Korean dramas. I like the heartwarming feel,the humour and the drama combined. Mostly because of their short episodes.

I remember my mom watching Mexican and American soaps for months or even years, because of long episodes and never ending seasons.

This one though, is kind of long for a Korean series compared to the other few Korean series I've seen at Netflix mostly with just 16 episodes.

Plot wise, kind of interesting but overdone at the most and tend to drag and be cliched. It's to be expected of long episode series, so it's understandable. Some writers' imagination and creativity tend to get too far sometimes to the point of getting ridiculous. Acting wise, South Korean actors are always great except for the shouting and hitting.

Issues above, I'm good with them considering this is a long series. What I couldn't get past, is the over the top number of coincidences. Coincidences are real yes, but up to a certain extent.

South Korea is a big country. How in the world most characters are interconnected mostly by blood connection in one setting, in one plot, in most circumstances, is quite hard to believe. What a small world for these characters.

Main and supporting characters fit the roles except for the mother of Ms Jo, the one who manages the rich household. I've seen this beautiful lady in another mother role and she was fit in the role of an elegant sophisticated lady. In here, it's kind of awkward to watch her in her role. Though certain acting and scenes are awkward and dragging to watch, I'm okay with them.

Overall another yet heartwarming, feel good series.

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