Chinese Drama time: Well intended Love Season 1 vs. Season 2 Review by Rebekah Walton

This review may contain spoilers for both seasons.

If you were a fan of Well Intended Love Season 1, or if you struggled through the fluff-filled episodes hoping for more substance, then Well Intended Love Season 2 is a refreshing surprise. When I first heard that Season 2 was coming out, I was expecting a typical sequel: a continuation of the same drama and recycled plot points with minimal growth or improvement. But what I got instead was a season that reworks the previous story into something much more compelling, with better character development, deeper emotional stakes, and a stronger overall narrative. I, at first, was disappointed but, I realized it was a good thing overall and begin to enjoy Season 2 much better than Season 1.

The Changes That Make Season 2 Shine

For those who enjoyed the first season, you might remember the main story line where the Male Lead (ML) tricks the Female Lead (FL) into marrying him by pretending she has cancer, and that his marriage to her is the only cure. This plot point, while dramatic, was a bit of a stretch, and the deceit left a bad taste in many viewers' mouths, including mine. In Season 2, however, this element is significantly altered.

Spoilers for Season 2: The whole "cancer trick" is gone. Instead of manipulating the FL through a life-threatening lie, the ML's actions are driven by a more genuine, if still complicated, motivation. He comes up with a solution to an issue the couple faces, but does not create the problem himself. This shift makes it much easier for the FL to forgive him, and the whole "big secret" is no longer the huge drama center that it was in Season 1. The emotional stakes feel more grounded, and the relationship between the leads evolves in a way that feels more authentic and less manipulative.

The Second Male Lead Gets His Own Story

One of the standout improvements in Season 2 is the development of the Second Male Lead (SML) and his romance. In the first season, the SML was involved in the love triangle, but in Season 2, he moves on relatively quickly from his feelings for the FL and focuses on growing his business. However, this doesn't mean he's left without a love story of his own.

A new female character enters the scene, and she takes the initiative in pursuing the SML. Her boldness and determination to win his heart are a refreshing change from the typical passive roles that female characters often play in romantic dramas. The way she boldly moves forward with her feelings for the SML is both empowering and endearing, and their relationship adds an enjoyable secondary storyline that complements the main couple’s journey. Without giving too much away, it's satisfying to watch how this subplot unfolds and provides an additional layer to the drama.

Same Great Chemistry, Better Storytelling

As for the acting, the cast remains as strong as ever. The leads from Season 1 bring their A-game again, and their chemistry is just as palpable, if not more so, this time around. The rapport between the ML and FL feels more natural, and their interactions are filled with more genuine emotion rather than relying on misunderstandings or dramatic plot twists to move the story forward.

Despite the improvements in the story and characters, one of the reasons Well Intended Love Season 2 works so well is because the actors truly elevate the material. Their ability to convey both the lighter, comedic moments and the more heartfelt, dramatic scenes makes the show enjoyable to watch from start to finish. The chemistry between the leads is off the charts, and that’s what keeps the audience hooked.

Can You Skip Season 1?

For those who haven’t watched Season 1, the good news is that it’s not essential to understanding or enjoying Season 2. There are a couple of references to the events of the first season—once in Episode 1 and again in the final episode—but aside from these brief nods, Season 2 stands on its own. In fact, I would recommend starting with Season 2 instead of Season 1, especially if you’re looking for a more satisfying and well-rounded narrative. While Season 1 had its moments, the pacing was slower, and the plot often felt repetitive. Season 2, on the other hand, is tighter, with a more focused story line that makes it a much more rewarding watch.

Final Thoughts

Well Intended Love Season 2 is a vast improvement over the first season, offering a more engaging story

line, better character arcs, and a romance that feels earned rather than forced. If you were unsure about continuing after the first season, I highly encourage you to give Season 2 a try. With stronger emotional development, more interesting secondary characters, and a fresh take on the central relationship, it’s a much more enjoyable and satisfying experience.

I’ll admit, I went into this season with low expectations, but it completely exceeded them. Whether you’re a fan of the first season or a newcomer, this is a drama worth watching.

Mulan All the Chinese versions vs. Live Action Disney Mulan by Rebekah Walton

( Yes, I know that this is my Kdrama blog and maybe if I create a Cdrama blog I will transfer this post over there but,  for now this is the best place to do this analysis.)

Hua Mulan is a legend which is possibly to be based on a real story although no one can tell for sure. The legend was about honor for the family and the country. I enjoyed reading English translations of the two most common written versions of Mulan: The Ballad of Mulan,and The Fallen Sakura. The animated Disney classic, strays away from either version of the legend and makes the story of Mulan about more protecting the family and not fitting in with everyone else but, using your smarts to outsmart the enemy. Which I guess is okay, but I never wanted a live action remake that followed this version. So, I was glad when they announced they wanted to make it more real and like the legend of Mulan. 

My dream live action version of Mulan is similar to The Great Wall movie: cool clothes, bright colors, and lots of action and strategy. This is what I wanted going into watching the movie. But, as people kept giving Mulan bad reviews I felt it was best to watch the other live action versions of Mulan before I saw the Disney version. 

In this way, I could give an analysis on what each of them gave us and figure out what the Disney Mulan gave to the audience that was special.

Since some of the movies made of Mulan cannot be watched anymore I decided to stick to those I could easily watch online with subs:

Mulan Joins the Army (1939)- This was a remake of a film that had been made a couple of times before, but, this version I could find easily on youtube. This is the only black and white film on the mix. 

What it brought to the table: This black and white movie is very comedic and has a romance, lighthearted and gritty and realistic like later adaptations.

Please read reviews on Letterboxd to get more in depth.

Lady General Hua Mu-lan (1964 film)- This is an opera musical and the only one based on Mulan that I could actually watch on youtube easily. This movie was such a delight to watch.

What it brought to the table: Comedy. Cute romance. Emotions show by clothes. Singing. Follows the Ballad of Mulan as closely as it can. Only Hong Kong version.

Mulan (2009 film)- Also known as Rise of the Warrior. This is as realistic as they are going to get. This was mostly based on the second version of the Tale of Mulan:

Sad ending, but, super impactful and it makes a lot of sense. Frankly, I kind of wish Disney had taken this story for their live action movie and made their twist based on this plot. It is a war story. Often we forget that Mulan was a war veteran and that wars are brutal. 

What it brought to the table: Realism. The Horror of War. The pain of Death. Brutal Honesty. 

Matchless Mulan (无双花木兰) (2020) - People actually know she is a girl in this version because they are from her village. When new recruits and herself are ordered to rescue the prince, Yuan Hong, she realizes that she must fight to protect her loved ones. 

What it brought to the table: The plot was made up of different smaller missions. More realistic approach, but, only spends a few minutes with her being a woman at the begining. 

Read the reviews on this page for more in depth:

https://mydramalist.com/61011-matchless-mulan

Mulan Legend (2020) - This was just trying to capitalize on Mulan and truly was a different sort of story.

What it brought to the table:

Wuxia-style action adventure that re-imagines the life of Mulan of folklore as a military general instead of a soldier. She goes on a mission to rescue a princess. 

Best review of this version is the only review on it's mydramalist profile page: https://mydramalist.com/68119-mulan-desert-rescue

Mulan Disney (2020)- Suppose to be based on the animation they made years before, but instead is not, they took out music, and added a random evil witch for a Mulan to fight.

What it brought to the table: Nothing, except for the fact we know they filmed on reeducation camps in China. Went along with the message of the CCP eventhough, they did not have to because they are in America and not China. Worst ever. Had the main Chinese American actress talk about about Hong Kong.

Here are the list of actresses that played Mulan in the different versions:

Mulan joins the army 1939:Chen Yunshang

Lady General Hua Mulan 1964:Ivy Ling Po

Mulan 2009: Zhao Wei 

Matchless Mulan 2020: Hu Xue Er

Mulan Legend 2020: Zhang Dong

Disney Mulan 2020: Liu Yifei 

Which actress I liked best:

Zhao Wei from the Mulan (2009).

What storyline was my favorite:

Lady General Hua Mulan 

Mulan (2009)

Which ones I would recommend: 

For those that like Musicals: Lady General Hua Mulan

For those that like Realistic war movies: Mulan (2009)

At What Point do Underrated Kdramas become Overrated? by Rebekah Walton

As I scroll through lists of underrated Kdramas, I wonder about the fact that I have seen a lot of the same Kdramas on these lists by totally different people. Which gets me thinking, At what Point do underrated Kdramas become overrated? 

Now, this could easily be a post on my other blogger since I believe this question applies to not only Asian Dramas, but, also, Anime, and American Tv shows and movies. But, I decided to narrow it down to only Kdramas. We all know the Overrated Kdramas: BOF, You're Beautiful, Full House, The Heirs, My Love From the Stars, Coffee Prince, Descendants of the Sun, Goblin,Strong woman do bong soo, Secret Garden, Cheese in the Trap, and so many others including: Scarlet Heart:Ryeo, and Hwarang. 

These dramas whether they were good or not is not what I am discussing here. I enjoyed many of these and I understand why they have been over hyped. But, I am discussing what makes a kdrama overrated or underrated.

But, the underrated kdramas are more up for discussion.While Gentlemen's Dignity, Healer, Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds, Weightlifting Fairy, Dr. Stranger, Tomorrow with You,Surplus Princess,Playful Kiss,I’m Not A Robot, and Duel were not overhyped when they were airing and in some cases got over low ratings in Korea or Internationally, they can not really be on the underrated Kdramas list anymore since now, they are or almost all overhyped.

I can't get by an international list without Healer being mentioned and Playful Kiss has it's own cult following because it is a remake of Itazura Na Kiss, and all 12 million of those have their own group of people who love them. (I am included, I love all the remakes and the original, infact, we do not have enough I want an American version too, I know I am greedy.)

When I was looking down an underrated list I was very suprised to see I'm Not a Robot since, I enjoyed that drama a lot and everyone I saw was talking about that drama and how sweet they were. But, since it did get low ratings in Korea I see why people were saying it was underrated, but, I really think it was only underrated in Korea. If we wanted to be accurate and list all kdramas underrated by Korea, Scarlet Heart: Ryeo should really be on that list. Korea did not really care for the show so much that it never got renewed for a second season unlike the original Chinese one Scarlet Heart. 

Weightlifting Fairy was not highly rated during it's time, but, I have recently found this drama included in overrated Kdrama lists.

Dr. Stranger is a favorite of mine but, it still seems to be underrated by a whole lot of people, that and Tomorrow with You. Dr. Stranger had an awesome couple, but, apparently some people got SLS, I don't know, the main couple was cute, hot and could survive gunshots, they seemed liked the perfect couple.

I have no clue why Tomorrow with You was underrated, I considered it better than Tunnel and I loved Tunnel.

Mermaid Kdramas do not seem to do very well in Korea so that's why Surplus Princess is on this list, although I must say there might be another reason for this kdrama being underrated, it truely wasn't that great. (Kind of boring if I say so myself, and I love Mermaid stories.). Also, since they were cut to 10 episodes the story wasn't able to be fleshed out and therefore has a lot of weird plot gaps.

Moonlight Drawn by the Clouds seemed to be underrated mostly by the International community while it was currently airing since everyone was watching Scarlet Heart: Ryeo instead. But, now it probably does not deserve to be on the underrated list now, as I am pretty sure everyone has watched and heard about this drama by now.
 

So, back to what I am trying to say. Maybe, we should second guess if a Kdrama is underrated if it is on everyone's list, really underrated Kdramas should be ones that not everyone has heard of about a billion times. In most cases, these kdramas should no longer reconsidered underrated. So, next time you are looking at an underrated Kdrama list, try to find kdramas you have never heard of.

Taoris Reunion Day 2019 by Rebekah Walton

The New Year came and went, and some made resultions while others forgave and became friends again with former besties. One of these besties does include: Kris Wu and Huang Zitao. As far as we could tell they haven't talked in four years. But, now at the start of the year at an end of year awards music show, Kris Wu hugged Z. Tao. It was such a cute a sweet moment but, the hug is not the only thing that occurred. Kris Wu and Z.Tao proceeded to follow each other on Instagram and Luhan joined in on the fun. Our OT3 are one step closer to former a group together and making a collab. I would love to see the day when they make a movie together, an album together and or a cdrama together!

See this epic moment in the video links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kdODidh5Lo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSZpB6ShRE


They look so happy, too just standing next to each other before they hug.

What makes a bad remake of an Asian anime, manga, live action or kdrama by Rebekah Walton

Despite what people like to say online, it is not ''whitewashing'' the said story. It is perfectly fine to make all the characters white, chocolate, Hispanic, or Eskimo. That should not change a good story.



A good story is a good story that story should be able to be told outside of the borders it was put in for the story. Despite the fact that Shakespeare was put in olden days in England, I can think of plenty of good ways to make a modern version of these stories.

 Putting them in a different culture does not automatically ruin the story. Pride and Prejudice can be modernized, just because they haven't done a good version yet does not mean they can't.


 Why do we only have this ''whitewashing'' rule for the USA? This seems like hypocrisy, if any other country made this remake we wouldn't even blink an eye if they did this. In fact, I can prove it.

 Let me use some examples to prove my point.

Itazura Na Kiss and remakes

I have watched almost all of the remakes made of this manga and anime. When this story is remade in every country, no one is arguing that the characters are not Japanese and thus the story can't be any good. No one even cares. In fact, several people argue that the best story was the Taiwanese version, did this contain any Japanese at all? No, it did not. Now, you might argue something like this well there are all Asian so it shouldn't matter. (And if you said that you are stupid). I know you are going to say well Chinese use Koreans and Thais in their dramas and don't even blink an eye. (That is entirely true, but you are kind of missing the point.)

(All the guys on these covers are Korean, but the drama is Taiwanese and Chinese respectively.) (Although, now due to THAAD, they are not hiring as much Koreans to do Chinese dramas now, but they still use Thailanders. In fact, the sequel of My Amazing Boyfriend now has a Thai actor instead of the korean guy last season.)


First off, that's China not Japan and it's mostly because it does not matter if they can speak Chinese at all in their dramas, since their dramas are all dubbed over.

Second off, really now you are telling me that it only matters because they are all Asian, but, that's not true I bet if another country had an entirely black cast for these remakes no one would even care. So, you are only holding America to these random standards. Also, The Magnificent Seven was a sucess in the states and it was based off the Japanese movie, ''The Seven Samurai.'' Not to mention the Korean movie,'' "Il Mare'', was made into a movie called, ''The Lake house''. And another Korean movie is going to be remade by Gaumont, the movie called ''Train to Busan'' if they remade it with Tom Cruise no one should even blind an eye. If you want to watch one with Korean guys go watch the Korean movie.

In fact, here are some more examples: Full House and She was Pretty remakes

The remakes were made in Turkey and I hear by most they were okay and pretty good and it had nothing to do with ''Whitewashing''. Here is a link to web page about several Turkish remakes:
http://azade-ruh.tumblr.com/post/150153578252/turkish-korean-tv-dramas

Now, on to the next issues people say are the problem with bad remakes.


Changing the story or details of a story. All of the remakes of Itazura Na Kiss changed something, otherwise you would just be watching the same thing with a different cast and in a different language. They changed the story to fit their culture. Some details were changed a lot and others were left entirely in tact. They got the essence of the story and understood why people loved it and thus were able to get it right.



So, what makes a bad remake is changing a story so significantly that it cannot be recognized as the same story, characters, or sometimes going into direct opposition of the story. The point of remake is to make the story better not change the story so that we lose what made the story good in the first place.

Everyone knows that the reason the BOF remake failed in American was not because of ''White washing'', but rather because of the lack of money and the change of actors  every episode plus, a really badly made script that caused Boys Before Friends to fail so badly:

The main girl actress changed three times throughout the six episodes filmed. And the main guy changed twice.

http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/boys-before-friends-hostage-episode.html

That is why Death Note (2017) failed not because of ''whitewashing'' or being set in America or even the details of the story being changed, but rather because they did not understand what truly made the series great.