Reviews

I liked it until it lost me

TRIGGER WARNINGS of this series: Infertility issues, illness, death.
Comedy is on the thinner side and there is also melodrama.

Looking at the ratings of this drama I feel like I watched a different one than everyone else.
I really wanted to like this series because the premise and the start had potential and there are things I liked in the portrayal of flawed characters that don't do the best of things, but sadly this just progressively lost me as episodes went on and things started to annoy me.

Overall my main two issues here are:
The execution of the plot is a mess at times, it wants to do too many things at the same time but none are necessarily solved or are just there for the pure chaos of it, it got kind of boring. I certainly didn't expect to find this show boring considering its length and how much I wanted to like it because the characters are not presented as perfect like in many other dramas. At points I felt kind of disappointed in myself for not finding it engaging enough but I literally fell asleep a few times, and I never fall asleep with series or movies. Funny enough is how I didn't even bother in going back and I don't feel I missed anything even though I missed in total probably about an hour and a half or a bit more of the total series.
Until the later episodes most of it it's just going and coming from places without enough of a substance to me, felt like a lot of padding. They're just looking for the potential father while he's dragging the girl around and the other two are following them, and the scenes with SML's mother and all that I still don't know what they added to the plot.

The second worst thing in this drama is once again the obsession with the bloodline. At points I thought it was presenting different ideas here because of the main characters and the plot in general, only to fall into the same silly ideas with the blood and how once you see your parents "you know" just because and unconditional love and blah blah blah. Equally silly was the expectation that some dude that might be his potential father would care about him just because he gave the sperm once, this is when they were theorising what that potential father might do or not for him as well as potential inheritance. And then only in the end to go back to a father that was a piece of s*** and abandoned him back in the time. "Oh, but he did go to the school though!!" someone might say, yeah, and after he was missing he didn't move a finger to find him, and apparently didn't care about her blood daughter either. I get ML needed the closure so to speak, but he said it more in the line of getting back some kind of relationship with him again, what falls again into this korean idea that parents don't do wrong and that at the end of the day everything needs to be forgiven because they're your parents, blood and "unconditional love" again.
The whole series revolves too much around "daddy issues" and I'm not a fan of this plot device.

I get it wanted to be comedy at some points but at times it was simply bad taste to me, like how FL wanted to take that baby in the beginning or when she takes ML from the hospital towards the end.
I also didn't appreciate much the duality of going from comedy to melodrama from one scene to another. I don't like melodrama in general either but I think that the comedy bits fell even more flat at times when straight before or after everyone was having a melodramatic moment. One second they're crying about something and the next it's like it never happened and everyone is happy to then remember and cry again.

There are quite a few side characters for such a short drama and I don't feel any of them was explored in depth what it would be fine if it wasn't because it feels they wanted me to care more about them than I did. SML is explored more but it could have been better in my opinion, his whole personality is more or less following the girl all around for most of the drama and it's progressed quickly to have his ending as it is.

I liked the ML for the mess he is, but I would have liked a tiny bit of growth, why is everyone still following him around when he's trying so hard to push everyone away? just leave him get lost then. It's funny that of all the things he did that was the worst for me, because as a viewer this dynamic got repetitive. He's a bad person but a good character, but I wish there had been some progression and that we didn't get the same dynamics of him rejecting people to then leave to then the others try and follow him, it got old quickly.
FL was ok for the most part until she started annoying me with her extremely childish tantrums, she spends half the show screaming. So she might be a good character again but in her case I didn't enjoy watching her.
Her side of the story is never explored enough anyway, we're given some pieces but there is never more exploration about it. She didn't even ask the bio mother anything either, she just spent the time screaming once again. We're also not given any other answer or even conclusion to her menopause thing, because it's not a black or white topic that it's how they presented it here, she's told, that's the end apparently. Her character in general revolves too much around ML and she's just a girl with two personality traits.

The ending was expected considering how the show starts and still was a bit anti-climactic in my opinion, even more that credits scene with the car driving, it's that FL with ML's body inside or what? It also felt a bit rushed since we got so many bits of their trip in a few scenes, I really wished this had been a good chunk of the drama instead of the thugs pursuing them in the first half for example.

Overall it's not an awful drama and it can be watched. I wouldn't rewatch it personally and I wouldn't recommend to people that wants happy endings, perfect characters nor to those that might be triggered by some of the topics.

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Cringe and Funny at the same time

Situational comedy, romance with tons of shines. The two main characters have too much patience. There is a state of contrast that marks the entire series, the good and bad moments are linked fluidly, with small hints for k-drama connoisseurs. It is not too overwhelmed even though it is about "mental illnesses", as much as it is a way of drawing attention to the fact that they are often encountered and should not be stigmatized. It's warm, the way each characters grows, accepts themselves as they are and discovers that they can be loved.

It's a series for the bad days where you laugh a lot, with the characters but also about the absurd situations.

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Too hyped up but, yall need to watch it

Moving on to season 2, I still feel the same about Teh he seriously annoyed me! He would complain about Oh-aew’s lack of commitment to certain things, but he failed to realize that Oh-aew never gave up on his love for him. Maybe Oh-aew was unsure about his life and career path, but he was always certain of who he loved and wanted to be with. I also felt like Teh didn't understand that life is about growth and change. The fact that Oh-aew repeatedly expressed his hurt since season 1, while Teh continued to act clueless, was baffling to me.

While watching, I often had to remind myself that there were two protagonists, as the focus felt heavily skewed toward Teh’s perspective, leaving the viewer mostly hearing his side of the story. However, whenever Oh-aew did speak, it was powerful and deeply moving. I loved how open and honest he was, which made it all the more heartbreaking to see him hurt repeatedly. It felt fitting that the final scene and argument were left for him to speak.

Overall, the series was good, even if I expected a bit more, probably because of the hype. The ending could have offered a bit more closure, but I liked how they brought everyone together. In short, it's a story of great value that showcases real people and real struggles. At times, I was getting fed up with Oh-aew too, thinking, "Just leave him!" But then I remembered moments in my own life when I didn’t leave either, and that really resonated with me as a viewer.

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Get a piña colada to watch this.

The series was honestly long overdue for me to watch, but I kept avoiding it because of the "alleged trauma" it brings—I never wanted to start! The first thing that caught my attention was that they used different actors to portray the characters as children, which helped emphasize the growth of the characters. Teh and Oh-aew are a realistic portrayal of the teenage experience. Episode 3 was such a beautiful journey of self-discovery mixed with trauma. Oh-aew is my hero. I feel like he already knew that his feelings for Bas were just fleeting lust. He was so honest and brave about his emotions; he didn’t express these feelings openly, but he knew they weren't as deep as what he felt for Teh.

I tried not to be too frustrated with Teh, because I felt he was the one struggling the most with understanding and accepting his sexuality. But he was definitely playing too much with both Oh-aew’s and Tarn’s feelings. Despite this, both characters were relatable, and the actors did an extraordinary job. However, I have to say they both cry in a way that isn’t exactly pretty!

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Great Horror Series

This was a great horror series and also one of the best series of 2024 for cdramas. Even though this show was only allowed to be aired on international platforms due to source material being a BL, I hope that cdramas are able to make more horror style shows such as this in this future. This is a highly recommended.

The Good

Strong plot! The show executed the horror theme very well and kept things engaging throughout. It didn't have any boring plots or stories in the doors throughout for me. Production was decent for a modern drama and the OST was nice. The highlight of the show were definitely the relationships between each character and the connections they formed with each other. The acting was also decent and everybody played their character well. Each of the characters were also interesting throughout the series. I appreciated that romance wasn't the main focus of this story as it is with most cdramas. It's nice to watch something different sometimes. I loved that focus of the story was on the doors. They rarely deviated from the main plot of the story with subplots which kept our attention on what mattered most in this show.

The Bad

A couple of loose ends that never was handled such as Ling Jiushi's friend still being shrouded in mystery. The last 20 minutes of the last episode fell a little flat for me but I assume it was to pass censorship. Wish ed it could have wrapped it up stronger. Would have liked to see a little more world building and character backstory for some of the other characters but was satisfied with the overall focus being on what was happening in the doors.

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Certified Immortality Clowns

Gather around, weary fans of The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, for the tale of a drama that was promised… and then promptly vanished into the void. Yes, I’m talking about Immortality, the show so mysterious that waiting for it has become an official fandom kink. At this point, it’s like that toxic crush who keeps sending you mixed signals: "Soon, babe. I’ll be there soon." Next thing you know, you’re on year three, checking the internet like a hopeless simp, holding out for a release date that’s probably gaslighting us all.

In the beginning, we had hope. The cast was and is EVERYTHING. Luo Yunxi as the elegant, stone-faced Shizun? Perfect. Chen Feiyu as his chaotic disaster disciple? Chef’s kiss. They even gave us promo photos and character shots, enough to fuel entire Pinterest boards and fan edits. For a while, we were convinced that Immortality would air any day now. Any day. Soon-ish. Probably next month. Maybe next year?

Then came… well, the wait. And we are talking waiting longer than a text back from your ex. Every few months, we would get a teaser, a leaked photo, maybe a random Weibo post and we would get excited again, thinking, “This is it! It’s really happening!” But nope. By now, I think the Immortality team might just be gaslighting us into thinking this drama actually exists. I mean, do we even know if it was filmed at this point? Or is it just an elaborate prank to drive us all a little bit insane?

But don't worry we have got our coping tactics down. Every day, fans are out here on Twitter and Weibo posting cursed memes, sassy comments and conspiracy theories about when or if this show will ever actually air. We are basically in the five stages of grief over this damn thing. We have gone from hopeful and cute to existential crisis level insane. Some fans are out here writing 100k-word fanfics to get through the pain (no judgment, I’m right there with you),while others have turned to making dark humor memes about how we are all just waiting for a drama that may never come. “Still waiting for Immortality,” one meme says, with a picture of a wrinkled old person on their deathbed. That’s us now. Old. Sad hags. Still thirsting.

If Immortality ever does air, it may just crash the internet from sheer collective disbelief. Until then, it remains the Schrödinger’s Cat of dramas: both alive and not, both real and just a cruelly pixelated illusion.

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عالی به معنای واقعی

اولش موقع دیدنش استرس داشتم
میترسیدم مثل فصل اول خوب درنیارن، استرس داشتم بازیگرا عوض شده باشن نتونم حس بگیرم ، تا قسمت 5/6 هم این استرس رو داشتم ولی بعد 6 کاملا روند سریال مثل قبل عادی شد برام، داستان مثل فصل 1 هیجان شو داشت و بازیگری هم عالی بود، ، سر این فصلم کلی خندیدم و از داستان لذت بردمف تنها چیزی که درموردش دوست نداشتم عموش بود که این فصل کمتر نشونش دادن، من عاشق عموشممم

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exccentric but not even medicore.

If you are a Thai major in a university and you have a native speaker there, would you not speak thai? :)
This different language and it's explaination made no sense at all. And if you are friends and grew up together, would you not be able to speak each other languages after a time?

I would have wished, they would have not the "murder" case in it, which was clumsy and unrealistic and concentrating more of the MLs opening up their feelings for each others more in detail. They could even save money by only have eight episodes. ?

The show was ok-ish, besides the fluffy moments and some character growth of the MLs, it did not have anything special or worth remembering. Again a show which did not need to exist and if you do two languages, just don't explain it at all and nobody would care so much about it.

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به تمام معنی عالییی

از اون سریالایی بود که با اکراه شروعش کردم، دوسال تمام دانلودش کرده بودم ولی برای اینکه معمولا ژانر عاشقانه میبینم اصلا حوصله ی دیدنش و نداشتم ، بعد دوسال بالاخره از بیکاری نشستم پاش و از قسمت اول میخکوبم کرد پای سریال ، به معنای واقعی نویسنده ی سریال نخبه بوده، داستان سریال خیلی خوب و قوی و معمای جالبی داره که لحظه به لحظه میخکوبت میکنه پای سریال تا ببینی ته داستان چی میشه
تا الان سه بار دیدمش و هنوز از دیدنش خسته نشدم

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You gotta stick with it to get to the good stuff!

I'll admit, I'm a big fan of Shen Yue and that's the reason I was excited to watch Smile Code. The clips and trailers make it look like it's a typical rom-com, but it's not. After watching 8 episodes, I can say that It has more depth and heart than almost anything I've seen lately. I wasn't sure of what was happening the 1st two or three shows. Their meeting is not a "meetcute". The lighting is dark and sometimes scary as we get to see what Liang Daiwen dreams about. He suffers from Alexithymia, a condition that renders the person unable to feel or express emotions. This is from a past childhood trauma. In the 1st three episodes we see his trauma, but you can't really tell what it is.

GuYi's life is also somewhat dark and scary. She shares a place with 3 others. Things are weird there. By the end of episode 3, it changes. Liang Daiwen moves her into his house for her safety and she gets to see his world. I've only watched 8 episodes, but I can see that there are reactions he has been showing since episode 1, you just don't realize what you are seeing.

This show has 30 episodes. It will take a while to open Liang Daiwen up, but I have no doubt that GuYi is the one to do it! Along the way, we meeting others in both if their lives. Even these don't follow the same rom-com pattern.

For Meteor Garden fans, I can absolutely see a parallel with Liang Dai Wen and Dao Ming Si. Both are lost little boys until Gu Yi and Shancai open them up. I can say this because I am watching Meteor Garden concurrently with Smile Code. I'm doing that because MG is my all time favorite and it's going away from Netflix in 2 weeks. Because I'm watching it for the 6th and last time, I can say they both give me the same feelings.

So, please don't stop watching Smile Code to early because it seems dark, scary and boring at times. If you leave early you will miss some absolutely amazing moments and storylines!!

So watch Smile Code, stick with ut when its tough at the beginning and trust that It will absolutely be well worth your time! Pretty soon, you too will be on the edge of your seat waiting for the next episode, just like the rest of us!

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Not a BL (again), coming of age and discovering yourself

While many of us not understanding japanese have gripes with some of the subtitles, the second negative was the wig. It was a distraction in the whole series. It's not such projects are done overnight, so after casting they could have told him to grow his hair and use extensions.

The third negative is the ending for one of the characters, keeping in the closet, being at least gay and denying himself to be truly happy but getting married for the "family".

The ending for Mishima could be closer to the manga where you see him living with Fujimoto together as a happy couple.

Other than that, the team removed some of the harshest scenes from the manga and tuned it down for normal viewers in contrast to "Happy of the End" which was raw. Other than that, the story was very close to the manga, the acting and cinematography was really good.

Mishima grows after enduring mental and sexual abuse, also with help of his understanding mother. The change of Fujimoto from bully to lover was also nicely done.

Overall a depcition of the harsh reality in a rural area in the 1990ties which is still common nowadways where especially boys who do not conform to expectations of society are still bullied without reason and due to bad parenting. There should be licence to be a parent imho, because it's a lot harder than driving a car.

When you find a service which offers good subtitles, you should watch it, but don't expect a BL, because it's a gay series which is a trend I wholeheartedly approve of.

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Starting off soooo strong

This has the potential to become a 10 stars story from me, judging from 3/4th of the episodes. It started off so strong, and just getting stronger and more griping for me as it goes on. I enjoyed the storyline so much, and the acting was so strong, not to mention the chemistry between LXY and WJY was chef kiss. To me, the plot was convincing and the execution was near perfect, up until the final fight in which Murong Jinghe finally exacts his revenge and brings down Murong Xuanlie. However, the arc after that started to stress me out. It feels like there are 2 different scriptwriter writing the first 25 plus episodes, and another writer took over and botch the last few episodes after that. The arc in which Yue Qin suddenly became stupid and turned evil and the laughable scene of a King thieving on his son’s herb and eating it like a goat for the sake of immortality was ridiculous, in fact I need to stop my bingewatching at that point of time and regroup. Lol. They did YueQin dirty after such long episodes, he was such a likeable SML from the start *sigh. Not to mention how ridiculous they turn the mighty Murong Jinghe with the 7days idiotic outofmind vigil over the supposed death of Mei Lin. Even borderline creepy (who the hell kept on romancing a corpse?? Not to mention, she should be smelly rotten corpse and on her way to liquidify within that time span if you want to be realistic lol. But who watch Cdramas for the realisticality of it right? Hahaha). Luckily they save the plot back after that with the war etc, even though not to the point of this story deserving a 10.

This is my second dramas of LXY (first know of him in The Blood of Youth, and his character there was charming even though he’s a baldy boy. Lol). Not many actors can pull off being baldy and still looking quite good and it shows in this drama. With his get up as Murong Jinghe, he was so charming and lovely and handsome and beautiful all at the same time. He carried off a vengeful soft hearted wronged prince so well, his cry made you want to cry as well sometimes. Though he did cry too pathetically during his return after losing Qingyan, I felt that it is unbecoming for a general to be that way in front of his other soldiers, trying to upkeep moral. He just lost a few mighty points there lol. Wu Jinyan as usual, really delivers. Her earlier fight scenes were so well executed I was gleefully clapping in my mind. In fact, almost 85% of all fight scenes choreography was very much well executed and enchanting. YQ’s actor carries the second male lead role well, even though you are team Jinghe/Mei Lin, you still want him to be happy (except for those few episodes near the end). The villain (Murong Xuanlie) was also well written, coming as someone so cunning, but also was a poor wronged soul turn bad. His end is bittersweet in a way. General Lin was so and so though, i’m not that much into her character or care too much for her. Surprisingly, the role of Princess Zigu was acted quite well, coming across as lovely innocent girl and even though her love story with someone maybe 30years her senior ideally sounds quite erghhh sometimes, but the acting of Zigu’s and the emperor’s was able to make it less awkward and mature love, rather than the pedophile vibe it can possibly be. Qingyan should have an honorary mention as well and his death broke me as much as it broke Prince Jing, but I pity that guy having to deal with Murong Jinghe during his 7day vigil with a dead girl. Lol. You are a strong man Qingyan! Lol. And as much as Qingyan deserved his appreciation scenes, I was as disappointed that Eunuch Liu was killed that easily without any mention whatsoever after that. He died heroic! I love that old fatherly eunuch how dare you!


Costumes were allllll so nice and beautifully crafted, no matter if it was jinghe, mei lin, yueqin or even Zigu. It was a feast to the eyes. The cinematography was also pleasant to the eyes. Ost was also heard beautifully accompanying so many scenes, not overly done or underused. And of course, the whump scenes I got from this drama kept me well fed (I adore those male lead whump scenes beat me!)


All in all, I very much enjoy this drama and staying up late for 3nights bingewatching this in between work shift was well deserved.

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