Light hearted historical drama

Same category as:
Dr. Cutie
Romance of Tiger & Rose
Romance of Hua Rong
A Girl like me

If you enjoy this kind of silly historical dramas then you will enjoy this one. Started off strong with so many funny moments. I loved the nickname ML called her. "Xiao Jian Shang" Drama also had more than average cuddly kissing playful couple scenes which is quite refreshing. The best friend couple was also a good pairing providing some comedic moments.

Of course the overall plot didn't flow & some of the characters just randomly popped in & out with no rhyme or reason.

The downfall came around ep 20. After so many of the SAME character introduction trying to pull them apart, it got tired out. Previous rivals all were likeable somewhere along the way except the last one was unbearable. They should've just ended at ep 20.

It was still quite enjoyable overall.

Leggi di Più

Only worth watching if you love the Leads

The only reason to watch this is because you saw the ML/FL in Love Better Than Immortality.

The story goes from mediocre to worse
The character development goes from bad to intolerable
The few good supporting characters goes from few to zero
Zhao Lusi's lovely voice gets dubbed & subpar at that

after ~20 the story just gets worse and worse. Obsessed people all turns evil over unattainable love as that's an excuse for bad drama

It could've been a great drama w/ the frame work. Magical land with CGI, fun magic powers, powerful healer with mysteries to be solved. Instead they focused entirely on evil obsession love.
Chu Tian Yao lives to be one the worst written characters ever in c-drama history. Completely unnecessary.

Leggi di Più

Obviously not a thriller

It started out promising with the serial killer mystery then it was poorly executed on so many levels.

1. Plot was predictable and there was no mystery even before midway.
2. "Romance" Why bother with the romance if you are not even go build the connection . That "I like you" came out of left field
3. No stand out likeable characters .... well there was 1 and he was killed.
4. Excessive yelling - ML cop character's yelling didn't make the drama feel more intense but rather it was just noise.
5. Mounting evidence ..... That's how they wrapped the obvious crime.
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a recording
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a witness
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video of you ... in the act .............................

Just watch "Children of Nobody" instead

Leggi di Più

One of the best of 2023!

This is not your typical idol drama but it's definitely an eye candy fest. You'll see many so many familiar good looking actors/actresses all gathered in 1 drama.

This is a quality production in a very dark setting. Ep 1 instantly got me hooked with the female assassin concept which remotely reminded me of Bloody Romance. The cinematography, CGI & fight scenes are all really good.
Make up on the MLs are a bit overwhelming but it works well on the FLs with the dark costumes. Costume designs are very beautiful with lots of black and fine gold detailing. Even the plain monk costumes you can see the fabric texture detailing. Quite impressive.

Storytelling & dialogue is engaging to where full attention is required at least the first 1/2. Story revolves some power struggles , murder mysteries, assassin frenemies making me wish this series is longer than just 24 eps.
Only parts I don't care for is the sister of ML. OTP forced humor feels out of place for this drama. A few lines were funny I admit but most I can do without. 2nd half though she did grow on me to my surprise. It's been a while since I loved almost every character and every fight scene!

Overall:
2nd FL & 2ML out acted the ML & FL
2ML's brother makes a great trio dynamic
Ending is.... tragically messy to the land of no where. Hoping S2 will magically appear one day and answer all unanswered questions.........................

Leggi di Più

Face change revenge drama. Insta Bro is great!

I kind of lost count of how many FL wronged and gets a chance at revenge dramas in the past 2 years now. I wasn't expecting much especially with the poster of ML Wei Zhe Ming in really bad hair.
Production isn't the greatest like these fake horseback riding scenes with hair not moving (at all) makes me laugh.

But if you disregard:
1. ML's bad hair days all day everyday
2. Typical female revenge drama storyline
3. Insta face change, Insta Kungfu
4. Mid way change dubbed voice of the evil sister
You can enjoy this.

This is better than other revenge dramas in that:
1. FL is smart & strong w/ her "insta" Kung Fu. Actress Xu Lu is doing a pretty good job.
2. Her insta Bro is a pretty darn good character.
3. Pacing is not bad. There are plenty of bad characters, but so far % of screen time is tolerable.

Leggi di Più

Happy 7 Happy Watch!

This is one of those silly dramas with stupid humor if that's your thing. It might be a good break between serious intense dramas.
80% of humor is blah but there's 20% that really hits! I am not sure if this works if you can't understand Chinese because 1/2 of the humor depends on the accent and word play.

Initially I watched for the FL: Bu Guan Jin. She's one phenomenal actress known for her animated expressions. Her character portrayal with her fake accent and expressions definitely don't disappoint.
I don't know if she gotten plastic surgery or just the makeup is overly heavy, but she looks almost unrecognizable here. Yes she's gotten prettier, but I much prefer her natural looks in "Dear Diary" Still! Wonderful actress!

Supporting character Fan Zhong Ju (Actor: Li Yin Wei) would be the 2nd character that delivered the funniest scenes.
As you get through 10 episodes the characters will grow on you and the drama becomes funnier. I end up loved all the characters and the pairings. Sweet funny all the way to the end!

Leggi di Più

FL is amazing! OTP silly humor worked!

Best watching this drama when on wine.

This is one of those dramas took me by surprise. I only watched this because someone posted on a feed with a specific funny scene of the FL catching an arrow then pretending to stab herself & die. The poster definitely was NOT appealing. Her expressions are so funny that I had to try out this drama.

These types of dramas are typical OTP stupid humor with paper thin plot so I can only watch these once in a while. The best part of the drama is the FL. Not that she looks like a guy at all but her gestures, her forced man voice & her manly expressions are exceptional. ML was ok but he was nowhere near the FL.

Strong supporting silly characters!
- 1st greatest assassin & the lovely princess who "never" lies
- Dad & the fake brothers
- 2nd ML

The stupid humor is not for everyone. If you want plot to totally work this is not it. If you want light humor, this is a good choice.

Leggi di Più

The teacher that brings hope to the special 5

The end of ep 1 reminds me of this video I saw many years ago: Social Inequalities Explained in a $100 Race. Where you start in life may be out of your control but how hard you race in life is up to you.

Since I don't particular like heavy content so I wouldn't have started this if weren't for the cast.
Zhang Ruo Yun is always a solid actor in all his roles. In recent years he took on more serious roles. Here he plays someone who looks a lot older than his actual age with a painful past he tried to escape from.

The students: played by actors Zhang Cheng and Wang Qiang did a great job in the drama "Cross Fire" (One of my unexpected favorites) Here they are part of that special 5 students and play completely different characters.

Story starts with Lei Ming (ML) returning to be a teacher. He wants to assemble a special class of 5 out to prove his unconventional teaching methods can help these kids make it to the top college.

The special 5 + the troubled Shen Yao:
1. Li Ran, an orphan living in the basement where his grandma works as a housekeeper. The son of the owner is the top student (Shen Yao) in the same grade but with a sick twisted mind. Li Ran fix electronics on the side to help with the bills.
2. Cheng Yu Shan, her mom remarries to a guy who only cares or his biological son. On the outside she's fearless and fends off all the unwanted boy's attention. One day she finds hidden cameras, she trembles in fear. She sits in her small room looking outside of her small window feeling completely trapped. The camera work was so well done for that scene.
3. Yu Yang, he's the bully target of many kids including the twisted top student.
4. Zeng You Zhen, she may not be living in poverty but she's constantly trying to please the girls pretending to be accepted. She has a secret she's trying to hide.
5. Jiang Qing Lang, he comes from successful parents in an unhealthy relationship, clearly not happy despite all that success. The overbearing mom character clearly that you'll want to skip through is his ultimate source of torment.
6. Shen Yao, he is not part of the 5 but he is such an interesting character. Outside he is the perfect student, but you see his anger brewing inside expressed in self-harm and doing bad things to others. His story finally unfolds in ep 23. This is the 1st time I've seen Li Ming De in a serious emotional scene, and he did a great job.

The content is not overly heavy but definitely meaningful. It touches upon self-harm, parental abuse, suicide, depression, teacher student dynamics & so on....

Only thing I don't like is ep 30 with the older version of the kids. Not relatable at all. They used the same actors for the teachers might as well use the same actors for the students. But they didn't and it was just not good.

Leggi di Più

13 years of no progress

The story line goes back and forth way too much that failed to deliver any kind of development. Everything happened in ep 22-24. As much as I am a fan of crime dramas this lacked the mystery and the progression that any good script requires. Burning Ice (2017) to me is still the gold standard for mystery with captivating characters.

The only outstanding character to me was actually the wife of the young cop, a supporting character. The MLs:

1. The old cop's character was all around frustrating. He lacked any sensibility, discriminating against a suspect that should've clearly been ruled out ultimately indirectly caused the tragedy that followed.

2. The young cop (who I actually watched the drama for) was the only character that had any crime solving brains. He made connections where as the old cop to me made zero progress. I didn't even see the point why they needed the old cop other than he was on the case 13 years ago and provided flash back minutes. Still I felt the character was rather bland until last 2 ep.

If you think about the critical developments were:
1. (NOT a cop) that provided the origins of a painting
2. DNA technology improvement
3. Key Witness (memory coming back)

Not much to do with actual detective work.

Leggi di Più

If you want to be reminded of classic cliches

This drama is definitely a good K drama classic cliche reminder. Once in a while I remines the dramas I grew up watching.
The ones that you have to ignore all logic like:

Kid hits girl in rain. next scene:
Boy in court room over the incident. Girl runs into the courtroom soaking wet "from that rain"
Like did you NOT go to the hospital first? Did you just got dragged straight to the court room w/o any due process?

So just enjoy the classic cliches:
Poor orphan girl <-- check
Piggie back rides <-- a must
Accident losing memory <-- always
Everyone lies to you when you have no memory as if that's good for you <-- yup
Obsessive girl on the side wishing nothing but the worst <--- essential
Stalker Obsessive behaviors - Ok if you are a cute ML
First love = Fated eternal love <-- check. I mean who wants to watch the 98% failed first relationships anyhow like in real life.

Now whether you enjoy those or not, there are lovely things about this drama:
1. Young versions (which I thought should've lasted longer) are the most adorable parts of the drama
ML in the teens <-- I watched his later works first and wanted to watch his earlier works. He's definitely my favorite part of the drama
2. 20s ML - I watched his supporting roles and he's one of my favorite supporting actors.

Leggi di Più

Nice Detective storyline but ignore the acting

This is one of those underrated dramas that less people will get to watch. If you enjoy Ancient detective story lines you will enjoy the story but don't expect a big budget production or strong acting.

FL - Acting started out ok but later episodes got worse & worse as she can't portray the array of emotions needed. "love, anger, sad" all end up with this blank stare reciting lines.
ML 1 - I think he carried the show in terms of acting
ML 2 as Su Fu - I've enjoyed some of his other works and obviously he's manly hot but his lack of expression didn't do the role justice

What I enjoyed:
Mysteries that connected to the bigger mystery of the missing mom
The love triangle was well written, better than most actually. Instead of the standard 2nd lead syndrome she had real feelings for both although with Su Fu it's more because he saved her. A mysterious badass assassin that random shows up and rescues you is obviously appealing.
Xiao Song started off as a like/hate relationship. As the story continued they grew to love each other while she's trying to forget Su Fu for his betrayal (but which she didn't try to understand why? and she's "Miss Truth" WHAT WHAT??)
Nicknames for each other: Fish & Fox very cute.
Pace of the drama didn't feel slow. Not so many "filler" moments
Sidekick Sang Chen was a fun character

What's lacking
Obviously needed better acting
Story was a bit too fast, they founded clues super speed
Lack of character development, No depth to the characters. How they started out is how they ended
I really wished there was more story to the ML
Su Fu : Initially not too much background on him. Too many questions of why later episodes. Total downfall of a great character potential

What you will need to ignore:
Standard jumping out of water scenes and "insta dry" moments
The cheesy freeze flying fight scenes (low budget) not very well choreographed
The countless moments of she being knocked out, pass out and randomly wake up on a bed
The cheesy props
Last 2 ep. very rushed. Didn't make a lot of sense to me

Leggi di Più

Questionable Casting

I was excited for this to air as I really enjoyed watching Lin Yu Shen in his many supportive roles in varies historical dramas. The first episode took off with a promising start. But overall story was average with mediocre dialogue at best. Nothing witty or memorable.

Costumes: some of the best I've seen. I always appreciate the fine details of these elaborate costumes. The FL had almost daily outfits.
Fight scenes: great choreography and no shortage of them.

I wish the casting matched to the characters age.

You have the drama start off with ML at the age of 13. He's smart can save bunch of people with his quick thinking then he leaves. BOOM! 5 years later he should be (18 or at least under 20) but looking like a 35-40 year old. All his youthful smarts disappeared, and he got himself almost killed many times over. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Good thing FL came to the rescue! Now the FL has a lot of historical dramas under her belt, but there was 0 chemistry between her and this ML.
Mid way through FL left and came in FL2 the poison girl. Again, this character rescued ML a million time because she's smarter than him. Somewhere along the way ML's Kungfu improved 10x and in a flash ended with an anti-climatic finish. What I call an EASY way out with so many stereotypical C-dramas.

Leggi di Più

Perfect balance of mystery, romance & comedy

Don't miss the Epilogues!

I haven't seen the ML/FL in many dramas but my goodness the pairing is so good! The supporting cast are filled with veteran actors. Production quality, storytelling and pacing all so good. I find myself watching every episode 1x speed without skipping ANY scenes (which is hard to do these days with so many generic stories out there.) 8 ep in (where most K dramas fall apart) this drama is still going strong. Every episode I find myself laughing at something.

FL is so impressive with her acting skills and the scene where she dressed up as a man is one of the best I've seen.
ML is equally good. Their chemistry is so HAWTTT! despite the age gap in the actors.

I could've used another 10 ep of this series. So sad it's over!!!

Leggi di Più

A Struggle to finish

Such big names cannot make this script work.

First ep. was so enjoyable. The over the top comedy of Seo In Guk and his team operating cafe Minamdang got me laughing non stop.
Then came in the FL's grand entrance, taking down a van of bad guys, walking in slow motion with wind blowing up her hair on one side. WOW! SO Good I thought!

And then.....
FL went from super smart to can't connect the dots.
Somehow FL met ML are supposed to be at least a decade apart yet ML didn't age after so many years . Meanwhile she looks older than him. When casting doesn't match the characters, it's hard to make it believable.
FL & ML -- Zero chemistry. I enjoyed these actors in other dramas but this pairing was just terrible.
The last "twist" was not necessary.
Again same age characters as children (school age boys) ending up looking 10-15 years apart.

I finally finished it but definitely time wasted.

Leggi di Più

Surprisingly I didn't hate this

I only watch these types of dramas for some noise on the side as most of the storylines falls into the typical drama tropes.

Surprisingly its decent. Few interesting parts:

1. The topic of AI over human translator. AI language translator will continue to advance, and I believe it will close the gap between different nations.
2. The beauty of languages. "lost in translation" happens a lot. It's important to capture the essence of true meaning. I think it takes a lot to be a good translator so, it's a cool profession!
3. Some decent supporting cast: The single mom that became successful w/o needing a father for her child.

What's NOT working for me:
1. Beginning quotes in terrible Chinese accents. Honestly there are plenty of Chinese English speakers that can deliver the quotes better.
2. Over skin smoothing. Typical for modern dramas. What's wrong with texture of real skin? The anti ageism is overboard with K and C dramas.
3. Weak 2nd lead. the "spare tire" is childish and not even worthy of a 2nd Lead no fault to the acting but the actual character.
4. Typical drama tropes. Yeah ... there's a lot... if you hate these just don't watch.
5. Nonmatching dialogue. You can tell when the original dialogue changed for whatever reason so then it doesn't match the lip sync.
6. FL/ML mediocre chemistry. I don't find Victoria Song having strong chemistry with any male leads. Her acting is enough for these types of roles, but when there's an emotional breakdown scene that's when her acting cracks.

Is it a worthy watch? On the side yes..... If you love the main leads, then Yes.... If you expect unique story, then NO. Literally there is nothing new to this story line. It's very typical other than the topic of AI vs traditional translating service.

Leggi di Più