Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

To preface, I did binge the whole show in a few days so some of the meandering episodes didn't bother me and I probably enjoyed it more because of that.

The actors did a great job, everyone is believable and the main couple have fantastic chemistry together.

I feel like it is fairly obvious from the first few minutes that the original book was flawed with flat characters and plot (that's what the FL tells us) therefore anything where she keeps to the original plot seems much weaker then when she goes off script and we get to explore the characters and world more, that's the whole point. So to anyone who complains that the supporting cast are boring that is the point until you learn about them more later in the show.

Speaking of later, the end of the show for me actually changes my perspective of how the show is supposed to be understood which is fantastic because it adds depth and the small clues were there from the very beginning. Hard to explain without spoilers but safe to say it's not a simple fantasy romance, the romance aspect is just one part of the deeper message.

Not sure if this is a spoiler (so stop reading if you want absolutely no spoilers) the main couple never kiss during the whole show which I was disappointed in because they have great romantic chemistry but for me the end actually kind of explains why.