Reviews

Unlocking Intrigue: Why You Need to Watch This Now!

I don't understand why the rating is so low. I genuinely enjoyed this series for several reasons:

1) Firstly, the plot kept me hooked until the final minute of the last episode. I truly hope there will be a second season or an additional episode. While the mystery of Nont is now solved, the main antagonist remains at large, and many characters' lives are still in jeopardy. Thus, I believe there is room for at least one more episode to provide either a happy or tragic ending.

2) I appreciated how, with each episode, I grew attached to every character. Despite each of them disappointing me at some point, I still cared about them. Perhaps it's because this reflects human nature – our ability to make mistakes and behave imperfectly. I prefer such flawed characters that can impart meaningful lessons to the audience, rather than the stereotypical flawless protagonist, which is rather unrealistic.

3) The series delves deeply into psychology and mental health issues, exploring traumas, distorted personalities, social pressures, and typical teenage worries and struggles.

4) Regarding the portrayal of sex: I'm not referring to the explicit scenes, although they were necessary to introduce and develop certain characters, especially in terms of their sexual preferences or attitudes toward sex. Instead, I'm highlighting how sex was depicted differently for each character – as a means of earning money, obtaining something, exerting control over others, expressing romantic feelings, seeking pleasure, and so on. Sex serves as the central theme that connects each character and is, moreover, the primary catalyst for the entire situation (the Playboy Club).

5) The series is filled with hilarious and entertaining scenes that had me laughing out loud.

6) Despite the portrayal of toxic relationships and characters, particularly involving prostitution, it's important to note that the series doesn't glorify these aspects. The root of the troubles lies in drug dealing and prostitution. What I appreciated was how the characters confronted their inner demons and bad habits through love. While this may seem idealistic, as love alone often isn't enough to heal people in real life, within the realm of fiction, it's heartening to see these young men find love and grow as individuals.

I really liked it!

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FINAL WORTHY, BUT DULL...

The last episode was out of sync with the others, it was a dull, slow episode with no great depth to the story. I think episodes 9 and 10 could have been combined, the makeup of the old and bedridden Anjin made me laugh, which is a shame because it was the only technical slip-up in this remarkable drama, and it didn't even impact the logical experience of the drama, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

The story, development, and pace were well done and detailed, we had competent art direction that accurately studied Japanese culture at the time. As for the story, I was a little frustrated because I thought we would have the war in the last episode, but instead, we had an excessive amount of dialogue and the closure of some character arcs. I still want to reflect on whether we had an open or semi-open ending because we now know that he managed to return to England and took memories with him, but Toranaga said he would never leave Japan, yet as we observed, he did leave.

The highlight of the acting and deserving of award nominations for best actress goes to Anna Sawai, who played the unforgettable and masterful Mariko.

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Worth watching

Nowadays it’s hard to find a good horror movie that can be actually described as horror. And this one definitely was the one I was searching for. From the beginning to the end every character was good written and the actors’s perfomance was amazing.

About the horror elements, it was definitely 10/10. The story showed something different and unexpected, every moment and scene were really interesting. This movie showed that it’s not necessarily for a horror movie to be all blood and chasing, which make me give it 10/10 about it. Strongly recommend to watch it.

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Emotional Reflection of Life

This is not a romcom, in my opinion. This is a romance-melodrama with some nice touches of well done humor. It’s far more than the slice-of-life I was anticipating. I’m trying hard to not give anything away. I’ve seen some very touching stories before, and even shed a few tears - but I’ve never felt this emotionally invested, with lasting after-affects, as I’ve experienced with QoT. No, not everything was perfect, but neither is life, so I found this drama to be perfectly imperfect. This drama brings powerful performances from the entire cast, a poignant storyline, breathtaking scenery and cinematography throughout, an outstanding OST, and brings out personal reflection about life and love.

I consider a show rewatchable if I want to see it again “sometime soon”. With this, I’m ready to rewatch it right now, have played the last 15 minutes at least 7 times already, and have the last song on repeat on Spotify. I NEVER do this. Kdrama endings are often cute, sometimes rewarding, but usually dissatisfying for me. This one has some controversy, but for me, it was complete.

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CAMBIO LA TRAYECTORIA DE MI VIDA

la cinematografía 10/10
la actuación 10/10
y claramente 10 para la historia también, este drama sabe como mantenerte atrapado durante una hora y q los capítulos se sientan eternos pero no in bad way, la historia es tan desgarradora y grafica en algunos momentos que me dieron ganas de vomitarme y llorar al mismo tiempo.
creo firmemente que la temporada 2 es mucho mejor que la , empezando por el desarrollo de personaje de gilchae, el como paso de ser una niña mimada rodeada de flores a una mujer valiente que sufrio TANTO.
El protagonista una total green flag definitivamente mi fav boy de kdrama historico, el amor tan genuino que él tenia hacia ella es imposible no patalear de emoción al verlo.

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los ultimos 2 capítulos hicieron que el drama cayera !!

la cinematografía, actuación y soundtrack 10/10.

ni hablar que para tener episodios de hasta 1 hora y media me engancho desde el capítulo 1, pero recayó al rededor del capítulo 13 o 14 porque todo giraba demasiado en torno a el relleno que tenia el drama, si muy bien el final no se sintio forzado como tal siento que tenían más potencial que explotar en los últimos 2 capítulos y medio los desperdiciaron en seguirle dandole vueltas a las cosas innecesarias.

igual fue un drama memorable para mi porque se puede reir y llorar en un mismo capítulo de manera genuina, sin mencionar que fue super divertido los episodios de la familia hong en youngduri !! ajdkakf

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Great potential but terrible miscast of FL

This was a good series, pretty engaging. It had great potential to score an 8 or 9 (I rarely give those scores). But I took points off mainly because of the terrible miscasting of the female lead. This was not the role for this actress. She just could not not pull off the comedy, emotional range or screen presence. This if the first time I've seen this actress in a lead role, and I don't think she's ready to be the main lead in a series and is better suited for 2nd lead or supporting role. She did fine in her 2nd lead in Ashes of Love, but this was not the role for her.

Two actresses come to mind whom this Bu Yin Lou role was written for: 1) Song Zu Er from Legally Romance, Cupid's Kitchen, The Bond; or 2) Zhao Lu Si from Romance of Tiger & Rose, and Love Like the Galaxy. If either of these actresses played the FL role this series would've been one of my top favorites.

Pros:
- The ML (Dylan Wang) was perfect in this role. I watched this series after seeing how great he was in Love Between Fairy & Devil. His facial expressions and body language are perfectly conveyed for every emotion. You want to smile when he's happy, your heart breaks for him when he's sad.
- The 2nd ML / Villain Emperor (Peter Ho) - he was totally believable in how he evolved from of a kind hearted, cowardly prince to a sadistic, egomaniac tyrant. I pitied him when he was trampled on as the kind and gullible prince, but then my skin crawled anticipating what he would do next when he became the villainous emperor.
- Overall the support characters were good, nothing terrible or too annoying about them.

Cons:
- Terrible miscast of the FL. He facial expressions were over-the-top but could not quite convey true emotions - her eyes mainly just bulged widely with eyebrows furrowed. Her comedic abilities did not come natural at all, very forced.
- Some plot holes, but none too major that you can't overlook.

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The ML is one of the greenest flags in Kdrama history. (2nd watch)

The ML was such a kind and nice person from the get go. He had a hard time expressing himself sometimes but once he understood things he avoided making those same mistakes again. And we could hardly call them mistakes.

The FL was nice and all but the the ML stole the show. The 2nd couple were more interesting than the FL, but she was a good partner for ML. Seeing them together makes me feel so warm and happy. The 2nd couple had a breakup that wasn't really needed. I'm not even sure if they ended up together as a couple or just friends. The guy clearly likes her but they spent some time apart and he might have gotten over it. They obviously share some affection but its hard to surmise from the scenes after they met again if they were going to try being together again.

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Wow!!

I have to say one of the best bl series I’ve watched and I’ve watched quite a few of em so that’s saying something I think Taiwanese series hit different and portray the characters and acting to a next level I was drawn in from the start and bindged watched it in one sitting the chemistry was unbelievable,from the love scenes to the arguing to disagreements they all felt so real and protrayed emotion well it also tackled the coming out and struggles and denial which I found heart warming to watch and see the growth I would defo rewatch this one day and definitely recommend this to anyone weather that’s you starting bl’s or are experienced it’s a must watch thanks for the creators and directors for making a masterpiece I’ll remember for a while.!

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The classic relationship: one of the members of the couple dominates and the other is dominated

Produced by Lu Po Wen and Li Yun Ming, the director and producer of the three parts of 'Ghost Boyfriend', 'River Knows Fish Heart' revolves around the romance of two high school students Situ Xiao Yu (Chinese name that translates such as "Little Fish"), a rich young man who runs away from home and pursues his dream of being a musician, and An He (literally "River"), a musical genius who is experiencing composer's block.
Written and directed by Lv Bowen, the romantic, musical and youth drama with an LGBT+ theme addresses topics such as campus life, coexistence, coming of age, obsession and the power difference in a relationship in which one of one member of the couple dominates and the other is dominated.
The two enthusiastic music lovers with parental problems, played by Zhen Jia Jian and Meng Yue Chen, respectively, decide to live together after meeting at the school to which Xiao Yu has transferred after leaving his parents' home.
As they organize their lives to participate in the musical competition, a subtle and elusive feeling arises between the two of them. However, the day before the event, Xiao Yu disappears, leaving An He in an embarrassing situation, not knowing how to deal with this situation.
Despite their different personalities, between the athletic Xiao Yu with a cold smile, mysterious eyes and bad boy vibe, and the bright student with a tender, innocent and childish look An He, love arises. When Xiao Yu sees their relationship threatened, he explains his actions as follows: "I'm just a little fish in the river. It's just my human nature to protect my habitat from being invaded."
Needing to move after disagreements with his father, Xiao Yi enters the house and, above all, An He's life. Soon the visitor will leave the living room couch and take up space on the shy teenager's bed, despite the fact that he repeatedly rejects his seductive but dominant roommate.
Using old school kinky and problematic tropes such as dominant boy and dominated boy, 'River Knows Fish Heart' touches on themes of communication, consent and self-acceptance.
The film enters 'Addicted' territory, only this time with the muscular, seme athlete who falls madly in love with the tender, nerdy uke and decides to take charge of his life and protect him even from his mother, who has never heard his son sing or play. the piano or the guitar.
The character of Zheng Jia Jian is not innocent at all: with his 185 centimeters of height, an athletic and slightly bossy body, on the other hand he has plenty of inspiring vibes that find resonance in a contemporary youth who feels identified by making them dream. Furthermore, his dominant traits and the way he penetrates An He's life until he breaks him really makes the viewer want to be in the position of the dominated boy.
Lovers of the genre will enjoy the most daring scene in 'River Knows Fish Heart', in which we can see how Xiao Yu forces his roommate to kiss him in the bathroom, erotically whispering: "I want to possess every inch of your skin." Even more sensual is that the film offers us scenes of hot kisses and tender and very well-done sexual interactions.
An He's cold, reserved, and even hostile demeanor soon transforms into that of someone warm, sensitive, and friendly. He is a tsundere in all the rules. For his part, the seme Xiao Yu is very aggressive; so the dynamic between the two directly enters another territory, dubcon or "dubious consent", since consent on An He's part is not completely absent, but the situation has certain elements that in real life could be interpreted as a rape.
The relationship between An He and Xiao Yu is the classic blouse and pants combination. Or put another way, it exposes the nature of 'yin and yang' style. When the two energies complement and balance each other is when they achieve a harmonious and happy relationship.
In order to bring to life this cliché story of a bad boy who overpowers the innocent high school student, the director summons two idols admired by the younger generation in China: Meng Yue Chen and Zhen Jia Jian.
Both actors were born to play this type of cute young men who make up the ideal couple for fans who enjoy gay romance.
The first is a musician, Dai dance dancer and actor who in the world of acting became known precisely with this film, but has subsequently participated in the dramas 'Capture Love', 'In Your Heart', the documentary ' Capture Love Special', always playing queer characters, and the film 'Yin Yuan', among other works.
'River Knows Fish Heart' is a film in which Men Yue Chen can, in addition to demonstrating his histrionic qualities, expose his skills as a singer and musician: he plays the acoustic guitar and lets us hear his beautiful and well-pitched voice.
After the premiere of 'River Knows Fish Heart', Meng Yue Chen becomes an Internet phenomenon and is considered by the public to be China's new (gay) girlfriend for his tender look, his fair skin and his beautiful features.
The passionate and moving acting skills of Zhen Jia Jian, who among the youth audience of his country has earned the title of being the personification of attractive and sexy, allows us to remember him for playing Cheng Yue in 'Love Is Not Easy to Have' or Xiao Jie in the drama 'French Love', both with LGBT+ themes.
Audiences will find it difficult to forget two other lines said by his character: "I feel like my dream is not important because I found someone more important than my dream," referring to having left behind his passion for music after finding the love of his life in Little An He, or "This river doesn't need that fish, but without it there isn't much fun."
At the same time, the film also marks the debut of Han Jing Cheng in the role of Wang Zheng. The viewer will remember him for being the protagonist of the films 'Ghost Boyfriend 2' and 'Love Is Not Easy to Have', and the drama series 'Capture Lover', all with LGBT+ themes.
Due to the success of the film, after playing Xiao Yi, Zheng Jia Jian then manages to play another homosexual character in 'Love is not Easy to Have', another famous Chinese film, in which these last two actors will join. Along with Han Jing Cheng, Zheng Jia Jian plays another gay couple with a lot of chemistry and visual beauty that steals sighs from Chinese and international audiences.
According to the director, to represent this story much more clearly, he tried to demonstrate the connection between love and dreams by making the protagonists experience the contradictory mentality of their characters, expecting them to carry out the shyness of teenage romance.

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One of the top dramas of 2024. Very special to me and I will rewatch it for decades to come!

**SPOILERS AT THE END OF REVIEW**

First I have to say that this drama helped me a lot personally. It's funny to me that the last episode dropped on April 28th, my 30th birthday. In one scene, Hae-in says something along the lines of "what's so wrong with aging, it's a blessing. It's a beautiful thing in life," in response to being told that Hercyna only wants employees under 27 years old to sell their products. Hae-in's reaction to life after being told she has cancer was written beautifully. It's the classic story of having a wakeup call after being told you don't have long to live. I've never had a terminal illness but as that 30th number was approaching me, I started to panic because I wasn't were I thought I would be in life. This drama made me realize how foolish I was and how I should be thankful that I'm living a healthy life. This show was made at the perfect time for me and I'm forever thankful <3

NOW as for the show, arguably some of the best acting, if not the best I've seen of any show out there (and I'm including Game of Thrones when I say this). Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won have set the gold standard in acting, so much so that it's actually inspiring. They made is so easy to feel how the characters felt. I also can't forget Kwak Dong-yeon. His bike scenes were all so special

Shout out to the villains, especially Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-seong. The acting from him and writing of the character were exceptional. He portrays someone desperate for love perfectly

The soundtrack is one of the best I've heard and the visuals were amazing, especially the shots in Germany. The Germany scenes alone are enough to rewatch, especially the big kiss, which is by far the most genuine and passionate kiss I've seen in any movies or shows

No plot holes to my knowledge, just some things that could've been expanded on

**SPOILERS**

Now even though the writing was great overall, it seemed to have gotten lazy and too tropy towards the end. It was very predictable and everyone could see Hyun-woo being run over from miles away. Made me roll my eyes when I saw him across the busy street from Hae-in and again when he got run over

Also:
- Hae-in's journal being fine thanks to the rain was lazy
- No one even cared that Eun-seong threatened Hae-in, the people around him went about business as usual
- Hae-in's side effects seemingly stopped after some episodes to make more room in each episode. Not the most realistic thing lol
- That car hit on Hyun-woo was brutal. More surprising he survived that than the bullet in his upper back
- Wish to have seen Hyun-woo's reaction to finding out he saved Hae-in from drowning as kids
- Hae-in seeing old Hyun-woo in mourning as a ghost when on their honeymoon, while beautiful foreshadowing, is out of place for a non-fantasy show since modern Hyun-woo couldn't see him

The ending was perfect. It's sad to see that Hae-in dies at an old age before Hyun-woo but it's perfect since she told him before the surgery to mourn her for four seasons and then forget about her and live his life. I interpret it as when he got to the lavender field to mourn her there, he was about dead as well from the emotion and then died shortly after to be with Hae-in once again <3

In summary, the show was very worth the watch and I hope it teaches others lessons like it did me. I will rewatch this one for decades to come and will always think about it because of those lessons leading up to my 30th birthday <3 Will be rewatching with my sister very soon!

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a chance that will dictate the rest of life

The live rivalries were too much for me as if seemed when 1 decided to give up the next came up so seemed like everyone was taking turns. Now the past incident, I found heartwarming as it really captured high school romance and what first love truly is.

The acting I felt everyone was a bit over the top when trying to achieve their goals as manipulative behaviour was being used and they had no consequences for them.

I don't quite believe the first rival just giving up as they've known each other for a while and know him quite deeply. The second one is more believable as if makes sense he was going nowhere

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Great acting, storyline doesn’t make sense

Then again, most things in drama land doesn’t make sense ;);)

It’s the kind of drama where the bad guy will win win win all the way to the last episode, then he will fall or get justice in just 10mins! Yeah, I hate dramas like this. There’s so much more could be done, build and focus on, but unfortunately the writing did not support the hype it’s receiving.

First 3 episodes I found annoying; 4-12 were riveting, interesting and intense; last 4 episodes were a bummer. This is mostly where a lot of scenes didn’t make sense. Both lead actors did a great job though! And the ending was wrapped up quite nicely. I didn’t really care for the other side couples and other storylines. Found them redundant and boring.

Watch if you must, just don’t get your expectations too high.

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Oh so boring! :(

Unfortunately, yes. The trailers and reels would make you think it’s a romance story between Yangzi and Xukai, but it’s really not.

The drama revolves around Mai Chenghuan and her family, centering on her relationship with her mother. The mother has a really annoying character where she talks too much and constantly interferes with other people lives. Too much screen time were given to both the parents which I did not enjoy. The other couple which is her best friend and little brother also did not interest me one bit.

The first half focused mainly on the FL relationship with her bf of 3 years, whom she didn’t know was the son of a very wealthy family. Somehow forced to get married, she finds there’s too many differences in their social status and creates conflict with the future mother and sister in law. These scenes were so frustrating to watch. And her own mother never learns- even after breaking off the relationship, she secretly held an engagement party , tricked her to attend it and it was SUCH A MESS!

After that it gets boring, a grandma dies, she inherits a hotel and navigates her way to run the hotel, whilst getting closer to xukai and liking him… really not that interesting.

So unfortunately will be dropping this. I just fast forward too too much just to get to their kiss scene in ep26- and even that was a lack of chemistry and let down. Definitely not recommended.

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