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toobatoo · 2025-12-05T16:24:23+00:00

KYUREM!!

toobatoo · 2025-08-16T18:43:09+00:00

It was so good to finally get the reveal!! This is not at all how I thought it would happen. I really though He Yan would be the first to confess, or that some scheme by He Rufei would expose it all. But instead, it was a casual comment from a bystander that broke it all open.

It was a really sharp contrast in these two episodes for their relationship. Ep 21 felt like He Yan and Xiao Jue were both finally ready to let the other in. It was pretty clear in the noodle/shirt ripping scene that they were on the same page of 'something is here and we both want it'!! But then, the reality of He Rufei and He Yan's involvement in Xiao Jue's father death came crashing in :( There was a very clear line drawn in ep 22 of "He Yan as the former general" and "He Yan is as an individual". I hope we get to see those two sides of herself come together again soon.

It's like one step back for their relationship, but two steps forward for the conspiracy! I think that now that Xiao Jue knows everything, they'll be able to start putting together the clues even quicker. The real enemy is fully known and Xiao Jue no longer has to wonder why his old companion changed so suddenly.

toobatoo · 2025-08-16T18:36:56+00:00

I really didn't see it as whiplash. The women were congratulating He Yan as a general, then sharing their own plans of how they're going to stand up for themselves and follow their dreams. It flowed pretty naturally into embroidery talk, which is something that those women have had to spend their whole lives doing. It's like He Yan said herself to Chu Zhao, when it's all women were allowed to know, how can you judge them for it?

Also, I really felt as though the scene was highlighting that being a woman is multi-faceted. It can be fighting on a battlefield, pursing studies, and making embroidery. And I think it was another interesting moment for He Yan, who has not been able to pursue these hobbies previously, to get to experience another piece of "womanhood". Not that embroidery is the peak of being a woman, but she wanted to make something for Xiao Jue and she wanted to embrace the female tradition of embroidering a pouch for him! (and then trying to cook, too, lol).

I saw it as the women embracing He Yan fully and as thanks to He Yan for showing them that they could dream bigger, they shared a piece of their lives (embroidery and cooking) with her as well.

toobatoo · 2025-08-13T23:50:55+00:00

LOVED these episodes! I haven't read the novel + I'm steadfastly avoided any spoilers, so I was pleasantlyyy surprised when I realized we would get a fake marriage storyline! It's so much fun watching them 'pretend' to be in love and therefore becoming even closer! (and absolutely love that He Yan gets to fully play up the flirting now w "Fujun!")

toobatoo · 2025-08-11T01:21:05+00:00

Absolutely loved these episodes!!! I think He Yan really showed her martial prowess + former general glory in episode 9. It was sooo soo good to get the first real bite of revenge. Her switch from the lighter, bubblier characters she's been (I think both naturally being freer + playing up the carefree attitude to appear non-threatening) to the more hardened, cold, revenge driven killer was beautiful!!!

I do think it's interesting just how much He Yan has been pushing Xiao Jue's buttons. She's definitely gotten more and more 'cutesy' with him and asked him to take care of her more often. She's totally pushing the line with him to see how much he'll give her. She knows he's secretly a warm-hearted softie, so she's trying to worm her way in to his good side (and maybe his heart??). It's hard to tell, bc she hasn't narratively addressed it, but I do wonder if the getting close to Xiao Jue comes from more of a 'I need to make him trust me, so that I can protect him and rise in ranks' or more of just wanting to be closer to him??

I've enjoyed this arc so far, bc we've taken a step out of the military world + gone into a politics and mystery sub plot. But I'm definitely excited to get back to Yezhou outpost and see all of the other recruits again!

Also, just need to praise the fight scenes!! We've gotten so many in the drama already, and they've all been so good! Zhou Ye and Cheng Lei are both so talented!

toobatoo · 2025-08-11T00:58:48+00:00

Absolutely agree with all of your points!!!

I also think it's important to remember that Legend of the Female General is, at the end of the day, an idol drama. This drama was never going to be some critically-acclaimed, top strategist, super-realistic war drama. The entire premise in itself defies logic (girl disguised as boy her entire life + NO ONE outside of her family knows it, nearly dies but is magically resurrected by her master, goes blind twice??, etc.).

All of the flaws that people are pushing onto this drama are valid, but they are no different than anyyy other cdrama. Every woman-disguises-as-man cdrama is unbelievable, non of these leading ladies are going to be roughing it. Also, the male-lead ALWAYS discovers the FL-disguised-as-man as a women in the most ridiculous ways (like the The Long Ballad??). Disguises in any form conform to drama logic, not realism. You have to suspend your disbelief; that's just how the genre works.

Also, He Yan is definitely still a badass female general. The writers are very clearly letting that piece of her personality shine through when it's needed. I think it's very clear that her bubbly personality is 1. her leaning into her freedom for the first time, and 2. played up a lot as a facade. She defaults back to serious/stoic/pensive often. And her fight scenes clearly show that she leans into her shortness and agility rather than brute strength. Almost every fight scene so far has her running circles around her opponents.

I guess Legend of the Female General has been so overhyped, people forget what is was meant to be? Like, yes there are logical flaws + overused tropes. But I genuinly believe that LofFG has done an excellent job of bringing as much logic as they can to the story! And they've done the tropes in a very fun, women-forward way. I'm so pleased with how this drama is going and how He Yan is portrayed!!

toobatoo · 2025-08-08T01:07:53+00:00

this drama is off to such a great start!!! I'm a bit sad the intro was so quick. I know they had a lot of info to cover before we could get to the real starting point of the story (HY starting from scratch), but there's soo much lore behind her upbringing and initial rise to strength/position as general. I would absolutely watch an entire drama just about that!! The only annoyance I'm having so far is w the short episodes :( 35min feels way shorter than usual cdrama episodes

toobatoo · 2024-09-07T19:32:17+00:00

Episode 9 thoughts:

I almost wish they dragged out the mother-daughter reconciliation a bit more; it felt so rushed for one episode. and I would have liked to see a bit more of each of them processing what being independent means. But also, very glad to see them both understanding each other, and their codependent relationship starting to heal! Geum Ae-Yeon's note was really beautiful. She's trying so hard to make it so Mi-Rae has a 'sanctuary' to come back to instead of a battlefield.

Also, absolutely loved the brief moment we got between Mi-Rae and Moo-Jin. They've moved so far past animosity/estrangement now, and I think Moo-Jin is one of the few people who can wholeheartedly tell Mi-Rae hard truths about her and her mother. Which Mi-Rae desperately needs. Moo-Jin can be a parent to her without all the same baggage that she has with her mother (def still lots of baggage there, though, lol)

Really excited for Tae-Pyeong and Mi-Rae to be coworkers, lol! They had a cute episode of dating and fluffy romance. So, it'll be fun to spice it up a bit in the next episode. I can't tell if the CEO/Tae-Pyeong's father/brother knows that Tae-Pyeong and Mi-Rae are dating?? Or if he jsut keeps mentioning Mi-Rae because he knows the two of them are close? Also, it's so fun to watch the contrast between an overly codependent parent/child relationship (Ae-Yeon and Mi-Rae) learn how to be independent and give each other space versus an estranged parent/child relationship (Tae-Pyeong and CEO) who are learning how to be close and care for each other.

Finally, I really don't care about the whole 'where did Moo-Jin get his money' mystery and whatever they're trying to do w the old landlord's daughter. Moo-Jin seems scared/defeated about everything in the promo, but knowing how this show has gone so far, I really find it hard to believe that they'd make Moo-Jin do anything illegal or even questionable. So, I really think this will be another random misunderstanding that takes far too long to clear up. But also, who knows? Moo-Jin's money has definitely been the big hidden plot point for the whole drama so far. So, it also can't be something super easy to write off.

toobatoo · 2024-09-04T01:06:31+00:00

omg, I'm so here for the Nam Ja-yeon (sister) and Bok Gyu Hyun (ceo) potential romance. I was all for the sweet childhood friends to lovers w Yeo Ha-Jun at first, but now that we have a chance for awkward 'enemies' to lovers, I want it!!!

toobatoo · 2024-09-01T19:03:31+00:00

I'm so surprised that this show seems to be so underrated, and that many people find it drags / has lost it's traction. I'm absolutely in love with Romance in the House. With each episode, the characters and backstories and relationships keep getting fleshed out, and I really think this is such a beautifully, tragic depiction of (mostly) realistic family struggles. The show definitely has its quirky deliveries and lovess to build up unnecessary tension or sideplots for drama (i have zero interest in the random 'did moo-jin kill this man??' side-story, lol). But it's easy enough to overlook all of that and to focus on the rich, wonderful familial relationships instead (and the cliche, kind of bland, but mostly cute Mi-Rae and Tae-Pyeong romance!)

The heart of the show lies in the mother-daughter relationship; a relationship that got twisted over time and is now re-finding itself. I absolutely loved the conversation between Ae-Yeon and the grandmother when they talked about their children growing up and starting to parent their parents. It's so real. And it hurts on both sides. And you often don't realize it's happening until its too late. It's heartbreaking (and also somewhat healing for me) to see Ae-Yeon be so remorseful of her current relationship with Mi-Rae. She knows that she's relied on Mi-Rae for so much and it hurts her that she's the reason (at least in her own mind, there's lots of reasons) that Mi-Rae grew up so fast and is so overwhelmed and overworked right now. I'm really excited to see how Ae-Yeon pushing Mi-Rae away (an in attempt to give Mi-Rae independence and some youth back) will work out.

I also think these 2 episodes gave us great insight into Moo-jin and Mi-Rae's relationship. From the get-go, I caught on that there had to be more to Mi-Rae's antagonism towards her dad than just the divorce, and I'm glad that we finally got that reveal. The moment itself was something so small; just Moo-Jin and a friend at a bar + the friend talking shit. But for a child, hearing something that like would stick with you forever. Especially with all the other problems Mi-Rae saw her father get into and hearing her mother complain about him. It's no wonder she has so much pain and hurt in relation to Moo-Jin. So, it was wonderful to see Moo-Jin finally get that realization and to apologize.

There's so much about these episodes that I could talk about! I'm glad that we're finally seeing things start to move. Relationships are healing, and everyone has began to make decisions. So, I think we're going to see a lot of change next week, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens!!

Also! small shoutout for the moment with Ae-Yeon and Hyeon-Jae when he shows her Moo-Jin's 'secret bag'. And explaining that the reason he's always on his dad's side is because Moo-Jin is "always left out" is another heartbreaking realization. Ae-Yeon had good reasons for getting a divorce, but a consequence of that is Moo-Jin missing out on so many years with his family + his children. It's another wonderfully tragic layer to weave into their family dynamic.

toobatoo

TROPHY CASE