Sweet romance drama - but leave your intelligence behind

I started this drama because I have heard that never ever have the same Chinese actor couple got the chance to stare in a total of 4 dramas! Of those four, this "The Eternal Love" series has 3 seasons; the 3rd one just got confirmed. I really wanted to see for myself, which couple is this lucky!
Here is my verdict: I would also recommend not watching it if you into more "intelligent" romance dramas if you know what I mean. You have to completely throw away your logical mind to enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was given this tip before watching it. I have to say that I was disappointed. I would, therefore, rate it as an average of 3/5 ★★★☆☆.

Like my last review, I will use my own seven criteria to provide some details to my score. Please refer to the footnote for more information.

1. Fantasization 2/5 ★★☆☆☆: I really like the start of the drama. I think the story was unique to combine time travel with two souls in one body setup. It started out really interesting in terms of her interactions with the ML Muo Lian Chen. However, I was disappointed with how this was not "well used" later on in the drama. A few episodes into the story, the modern Xiao Tan was dominating the scene, and historical Tan Er just more or less leave her body to Xiao Tan. Is this your natural reaction if your body gets taken by someone else? Even if Tan Er has a weak personality and wants to die, Xiao Tan uses Tan Er's body to sleep with a man she does not even love... I became not very convinced by how the story was going on from then onwards.

2. Emotional Rollercoaster 4/5 ★★★★☆: I like the main couple and found their chemistry between them really sweet. This has helped me to finish this drama and ignore a lot of inconsistency and plot holes. At first, I found Xing Zhao Lin's (starring the ML) acting very stiff and not very convincing but was shocked to know he was only in his teens when filming this drama! The fact that he is not that good looking (at least I find...) but still managed to make this drama such a success is a proof for his talent. I noticed he has a lot of potentials (which was proven to be right after watching the 2nd season).
As for the Liang Jie (starring the FL), I am not sure why, but I was slightly annoyed by her character. This is probably a bias arriving from my negative experience with her in Handsome Siblings. This time, I have a much better impression of her, especially her exceptional acting skills playing both Tan Er and Xiao Tan. Even though I still find her acting a bit over occasionally, I enjoyed the sweet and dorky romance scenes between her and the ML. Many cute scenes gave me fluttering, and the kiss scenes are something to look forward to.

3. Sleepless night 2/5 ★★☆☆☆: Despite the makers trying to make the drama more dramatic (e.g., the demon king, the mysterious soul stone...), I could not get into the seriousness of the story. This is primarily due to the plot holes and over-the-top story development. Another reason is that the entire drama just felt really cheap. I don't have a problem with low-budget dramas; in fact, many of my favorite dramas did not have a high-budget. But this one was way too obvious. The sets, the costumes, worst of all, the few extras! Can't they at least hire a few more extras to make the cast looking like they are actually kings and princes? For these reasons, I just did not feel like binge-watch the entire series.

4. Natural and intelligent storytelling 1/5 ★☆☆☆☆: The story has a lot of flaws. As if time traveling is not already complicated enough, the main characters are from another world? The MLs are the reincarnation of these people? What's up with this flute? Utterly confusion.
I also don't understand why Xiao Tan's family is this hostile to her, half-sister and stepmom aside, even her own father? A lot of the scenes are cut abruptly; thus they feel disconnected from each other.

5. Loveable supporting characters 3/5 ★★★☆☆: this one is a bit difficult. Jing Xin, the maid to FL is one of the most loveable supporting characters I have ever seen. There are times, at which I love her more than the FL herself. Yin Ning did a marvelous job, and she definitely deserves to play FL in a drama. Then there is the magical elderly Liu Qian Shui, who is the comedian in the show. The entire viewership is making fun of his hilarious accent. However, I am a bit disappointed with the remaining supporting roles. A few of the essential characters are even bad at acting, e.g., the 14th prince, FL's father, or the king.

6. Proper pacing 4/5 ★★★★☆: given the length of 24 episodes, the pace was appropriate. I recommend future C-dramas to be around 24-30 episodes. The ending felt a bit too quick esp. because the story was all over the place.

7. Solid finale 1/5 ★☆☆☆☆: the ending of this drama was a disaster, if I may say. I am not going to spoil this but just be prepared for a fast-pacing, jumpy and illogical development of events happening one after another. On top of that, the ending of some of the key characters, despite predictable, was unsatisfactory. This was coupled with the cheap-looking CGI that was heavily used at the end.

One additional point that I usually don't talk about but is worth mentioning is the excellent OST.

In general, I would say it's not a bad drama, if you are into a simple, sweet, playful love story with a refreshing setup. But if you are into some intelligent storytelling or good acting, I would suggest you skip it.

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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Fantasization": the degree of how much I care about the fate of the main leads, how often I have to think about them in my everyday life, and how much I wish the characters are part of my real life.
2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.).
3. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
4. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
5. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have proper motivations behind their actions.
6. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that starts to lose its grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.
Obviously, many other criteria could be important as well, such as unique story setup, visual elements, camera work, music, costumes, etc. Some of the points are indirectly included in the criteria, and others are not this important for me.

Leggi di Più

Despite average story, the romance and the main couple will make you fall in love with this drama

I just finished watching the series and could not wait to share with you my thoughts.

First I will start with what I do not like about the drama.

Under the power comprises four genres: mystery, romance, historical and palace politics. The producers wanted to focus on too many themes at once and therefore failed to do most of them justice.
The genre that was extremely well-adapted is romance. The remaining three can be pretty much ignored. Though this drama supposed to be set in the Ming Dynasty, it does not have any correct historical representations in there. It even had some fantasy elements: such as a mystical deer or wind chimes that create 4D illusions. In terms of mystery, most cases are unrealistic and quite silly sometimes. I found out that the scriptwriters came up with some original cases that were not in the original novel but - I mean really, a ghost ship?! How many Pirates of the Carribean movies did the makers watch? Or crazy cavemen who attack people based on their smells... And finally, the palace politics: the villain family Yan had trust from the emperor and supporters in the palace. The way the main characters/family Lu are trying to bring the family Yan down is rather predictable and nothing spectacular. The emperor was a puppet who had little own thoughts. It was a bit anti-climax at the end as the last "fight" between Yan and family Lu was kind of off-screen.

Also, many supporting characters could have been written better: Xie Xiao (male lead 2), Yang Yue (best friend of female lead) and Shang Guan Xi (female lead 2). Their characters are just not at all convincing in terms of behavior. Xie Xiao seems to be a joke and was only installed to make the main male lead looking better (though that was no need, cause he was outstanding on his own). Yang Yue's character just is way too into Shang Guan Xi so that he is willing to risk his own life multiple times though Shan Guan Xi does not care for him at all the entire time. Her love for Xie Xiao is also not convincing and does not fit her character. Though the actors themselves have done a pretty decent job it was just hard to care about their fate due to their unrealistic behavior.

Finally, the CG was pretty poor. You clearly can notice the CG part vs. the real part. Esp. the water and ship scenes were full of CG and looked just laughable. I will just blame this to the the production’s little budget. But if the production knows that the budget was little, why did they opt to produce so many water scenes?

Already early on, I started to fast forward most scenes about 1.25x or 1.5x except for the romantic scenes between the main leads and the few last episodes. With a total of 55 episodes, I would recommend you to watch to the end, fast-forward it is the best way to save some time but not to miss the overarching plot.

Now the reason why I actually really like this drama: the romance and acting. I have been always the opinion that no one can produce better romance dramas besides the Korean. But I was mistaken. I was literally blown away by the sweetness of the two main leads.
Lu Yi, son of the commander of the emperor's guard organization Jing Yi Wei, appears to be authoritarian, strong, self-focused, cold-blood at the start. Throughout the drama, he started to develop feelings for Jin Xia, the police girl who became his subordinate. Slowly one begins to see the caring, empathetic, righteous and even cute side of him (esp. when he gets jealous). Allen Ren depicts Lu Yi most perfectly, esp. impressive is that he is able to keep the serious face of Lu Yi but at the same act out all the emotions with eye glances and small facial expressions. If you are like me, you will melt into his glances and fall helplessly for him. However, later into the drama, you will realize that someone like him does not exist in the real world. :) A shout needs to made to the voice actor Zhang Jie, who made Lu Yi more manly and therefore irresistible. With Allen Ren's original voice, the character would have appeared less mature.
The female lead actress Tan Songyun is so far the best young female actress I have seen in all Chinese drama land - though I haven't watched this many Chinese dramas I have seen the work of many top-rated Chinese actresses. Tan Song Yun really impressed me with her natural acting. Jin Xia is a very likable character: boyish, righteous, strong-willed, smart and cute. Song Yun does a tremendous job of becoming one with Jin Xia so that she makes the audience feeling hurt, happy, anxious, angry and loved... And isn't this what marks an excellent actor?

The chemistry between Allen Ren and her is excellent. The two leads soon overcame their prejudices and started to express signs of likings of each other, therefore, the audience is able to enjoy sugar-coated scenes already early in the drama. And of course, some scenes are beautifully heartbreaking as well. This is quite different than most romantic Korean dramas, in which the writers almost abuse the leads throughout the drama and only "allowed them to become happy" towards the end, which is often too suffocating for the audience. Thus the balance between romance and heartache is just right. I have started making a list of my favorite romantic scenes of this drama - it came down to almost 40 of them!
In the beginning, you might need to get used to the fact that whenever there is a romantic scene, it goes into slow-motion and the title song will play as BGM. Also, there will be quiet a few playbacks as well. However, because the romantic scenes of the drama are really sweet, all these will not bother you. In fact, you end up winding back and watching the scenes again.
A big shout to the supporting character Lan Dao Heng, played by Han Cheng Yu and the antagonist Yan Shi Fan, played by Han Dong. They have done a fantastic job playing the roles. Though Yan Shi Fan was the evilest person you can imagine, you somehow have felt empathy towards him.

Finally, the costumes are really gorgeous and the songs are very beautiful. The ending song is sung by Allen Ren himself. I will be looking forward to seeing him performing on stage with this song.

All in all, I was amazed by myself how much I enjoyed this drama. Despite its many shortcomings in terms of the story I still very much recommend this drama if you like romance.

Leggi di Più

One of the top Chinese dramas of 2019

I was looking forward to this drama as the screenwriter is Wang Juan, the same person as Joy of Life. And indeed he did not disappoint me.
It is the story about 6 young men and women from a secret espionage school of the Song Country and how they complete difficult missions to protect their family and their country.

What seems to be rather serious is actually a total comedy. Wang Juan manages to create amusing dialogs and silly set-ups in rather serious cases that made me fall from my chair.
A lot of the amusement is coming from the main highlight of this drama: the six lead characters who form faction 7 for the espionage school. All six have distinguished personalities: the witty, the dummy, the naive, the honest, the stubborn, the muscle man...
All the characters are loveable and I am sure each one of you will find your favorite character very quickly. My favorite characters are Yuan Zhong Xin and Wei Ya Nei.
The other great thing about the characters is that you can create great pairs, we call it ”ke CP” in Chinese. Yuan Zhong Xin and Zhao Jian, Wang Kuan and Xiao Jing are the natural ones. But there are also BL ones such as Yuan Zhong Xin and Wang Kuan, Zhao Jian and Xiao Jing and esp. my favorite Wei Ya Nei and Xue Ying are so damned cute together, you just cannot believe it.
All characters undergo tremendous character development of which the end product even satisfies an Otaku like me.
The young actors who played the characters all have done an outstanding job. Despite having areas where their actions can be more natural or stronger emotionally I foresee that all of them will have a bright future as actors. Extra credit goes to Bruce He who plays Ya Nei. I have not seen such a foolish but pure-hearted dummy just attracts the audients’s love like a magnet. The side story of his dad is just so well played - I teared so much and he surely deserved an award for this! In terms of acting and character design, all supporting roles were great too. They all have their own little stories that spread a few episodes long so that it helps the audience to understand the reason behind their behavior. None of them are just tools for the story development and there is also no true villain.

The key themes of the story are the cases: They appear rather unspectacular at the start but developed to complicated, deeply entangled events concerning evil plots of traitors within their own borders or spies from neighboring countries Xia and Liao. Within one episode the same incident might have several turns and nothing appears at how they are at the surface: most of the people are lying/hiding the truth or there are some back stories behind all events. That is the style of Wang Juan: it is practically impossible to predict the story that keeps the audience interested until the end. There were several occasions at which I had to wind back to re-watch to the explanation to fully understand what has happened. The only drawback from this is that sometimes in order to create a surprise effect at the reveal, the ”reality” seems to be a bit exaggerated. Perhaps to the point that it might not be very logical or realistic if one would think about it in detail. After a while, I just started questioning everything that I see at first glance.

One improvement potential I need to mention is the end credit song of the drama: though the song itself is great, it just contains too many spoilers. I am unsure of the reason why they did that, maybe because their marketing budget is too low they wanted to use the end credit to hang on to the viewership. But I would say whoever turn into the first 1-2 episodes would certainly get hooked with our without the ending song’s content.

All in all, this is a drama that makes you laugh, and cry; your heart will cringe and fill with warm emotions. It very much reminds me of Japanese anime style about true friendship, effort and victory coming to real-life form. You will not regret having watched this.

Leggi di Più

Mystery Storytelling at its Brilliance with minor short-comings

The Long Night is a Mystery/Crime drama with its ups and downs, its tears and teeth clenching moment. A drama with its short-comings but one I would recommend.

1. "Sleepness Night": 5/5★★★★★
The second most talk-about mystery drama this year is "the Long Night," written by the same author of "the Bad Kids." Though both are very dim dramas showing society's dark side, it is very different from "the bad kids." In terms of storytelling, the long night has more typical crime-solving mystery elements: righteous detectives searching for the truth by uncovering villains' evil doings. Therefore, this drama knowingly steers the viewers into what it wants them to feel in certain moments. And it does this brilliantly. The investigations unfold in two, almost three, parallel periods, but the events flow seamlessly into each other without causing a lot of confusion. Though the ending and the main villains are quickly revealed in the drama, the show still kept viewers at the edge of their seats by slowly uncovering the story of our first main detective, Jiang Yang, and his "hotpot friends" who helped him along the way. Using pieces of a photo, a piece of clear evidence, the viewer only knows what crime the villains commit to all the bloodshed towards the drama's end. Finally, there is the reveal of why and how Jiang Yang's body was disposed of in the subway that showed us the real tragedy of this character. Speaking of storytelling for mystery, this is best in class.

2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": 5/5★★★★★
Jiang Yang's tragic life story is the highlight of this drama. It shows his almost decade fight to serve justice to someone he hasn't even met and present the villains what they deserve. And we all know that his struggle was not fruitful. The reality destroyed a motivated and bright young man, his career, his family, and eventually his life. This really brought me to tears. There are moments in this drama when I doubt whether this kind of character would ever exist in real life. But there is a brilliant dialogue between Yan Liang and Zhu Wei at the water bottle factory that perfectly explained why Jiang Yang and his friends never stopped fighting. Big applause to the actor Bai Yu's performance, who depicted Jiang Yang's multi-dimensional personality perfectly.

3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": 4/5★★★★☆
This is one aspect at which I would deduct one point is the crime itself. The drama focused on mystery-solving but forgot to reality check a few of the story's key elements. Though I did not expect a mastermind level of crime, I felt that every wall that Jiang Yang's team hit was all very crude and almost repetitive. They use the same villain or the same method, and it is just not very well-though through. Therefore, it was also surprising why Jiang Yang's team could not pre-empt some of these actions. As if nothing could have prevented Yang Liang's tragic death. In contrast, the investigation conducted by detective Yan Liang's team went relatively smoothly without any significant interruptions by the villain. I could find ten ways how the villains could have prevented the pieces of photos from being slowly revealed by the newspaper. But all in all, storytelling has been brilliant in solving the mystery and building the tension.

4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": 4/5★★★★☆
The show has a great supporting cast who all did a great job in depicting their roles. My favorites were the entire extended "hot pot team," whose actors all did a marvelous job.
A few roles were not very deep and slightly tool-like, e.g., Yan Liang's team, including his partner Ren Yue Lin. The drama tried in some scenes to evoke the viewer's emotions but did not successfully achieve that. Also, the entire villain team was evil, but nothing more than that. For example, I would love to know what goes through the policeman Li Jiang Go's mind when he continued to betray the career he has spent his life performing. The same goes for "Yellow Hair", who was brilliant as the gangster. What happened to him at the end? I do not support the drama spending useless time on characters who are not important to the main plot, but some important ones could have been more three-dimensional.

5. "Proper Pacing.": 5/5★★★★★
With only 12 episodes, the pace was quick, the turns unexpected, and the events impactful.

6. "Technicalities": 4/5★★★★☆
Overall the show is well executed in terms of technical aspects. Two elements that could be improved: I am not sure if I can remember the show's BGM, and the lighting of the entire drama can be a bit too dark sometimes.

7. "Solid Finale": 4/5★★★★☆
*****Spoilers******
Like my critique in point number 3, I find the drama had a "too perfect ending". On the surface, Detective Yan Liang used his brilliance to solve the mystery of the subway and helped to clear Jiang Yang's name. But in reality, the true villains were only caught because the third witness came to light (who might have been able to turn the case if she did that in the first place). The subway mystery would have come to light in any case as this was performed by the "good guys". Also, I wouldn't say I liked how Chinese "censorship" cleared the police's name as they realize they have to punish the evil and honor the braves, such as our main lead. The last dialogue between the police's directors felt staged. All villain's punishments were written as text on the screen so quickly you cannot read the description, and the audience is left with a feeling of unbalancing and slight dissatisfaction.

Despite some critiques, I would still highly recommend this drama to anyone who likes good mystery/crime drama.

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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.

Leggi di Più

It's a youth drama full of hope, dream and love. It is worth your time!

While I completely agree that this drama has its flaws and writing its up and downs, I still enjoy it a lot. While I don’t think my review will ever appear on the first page I am going to skip the obvious parts and jump into why I think spending your time with this drama is going to be worth it.

Below are some of the reasons why I liked this drama:
**No, the boy from her childhood is not going to be the main lead. - To me, that’s one of the most surprising parts of this drama; in fact, I have not seen it in any romance drama before and this is super refreshing to me. I was never had the worry 2nd ML will actually become the ML cause there was not even one hint in the drama that the FL would ever fall for 2nd ML. I liked how the writer chose to end things between the two of them: let it stay as a beautiful memory of childhood.

**“Red thread stories” are beautifully written - I called them "red thread" cause they form the backbone of the story and how characters come together and meet. These "red thread stories" highlight the great writing of this drama and really improved the main plots.
Here are my favorites:

- How “Sandbox” came about - how Dal Mi’s dad told this story to SH VC’s president the day he passed away after struggling for so many years with its own startup; how this has become the support and dream of many young entrepreneurs and helped both daughters of Mr. Seo becoming successful.

- Why FL and In Jae got separated and became rival; the story of their parents' divorce and that both are strong-minded but internally still cared about each other and were worried that they have made a wrong choice

- The story between Han Ji Pyung and Dal Mi’s grandmother; it led to why HJP wrote the letters and started the story; they are one of the most heartwarming scenes in this drama

- The friendship of the members of Sam San Tech; how they stick together through thick and thin, trust and help each other out during hard times but don’t grow apart after becoming successful

Now a few words more to counter-argue with some of the critiques I have heard:

** Many viewers complain about how superficial and unrealistic the startup scenes are depicted there - Personally, I don’t fully agree. Though I agree the writers could have toned down the path to success slightly in later episodes, I liked how all key elements are incorporated. Some of the tough aspects are shown in Mr. Seo’s story or the early days of San Sam Tech. If you want to watch stories of real-life startups I am sure there are tons of drama/ documentaries for you to watch. Don’t waste your time on a 16 episode Korean drama full of pretty actors/ actresses, hope and dreams. I think this should have been clear when the ML walks into FL’s life like Cinderella in episode 2.

** Female lead becomes someone who is solely dependent on her choice of a man - I don’t know why many think this way, at the end, the FL was doing a great job working for her sister In Jae. She is hard-working, smart, ambitious, and dares to dream - she would have been a successful start-up CEO wherever she goes and would not have needed a man...

** ML becomes useless without the FL. - Well first, he is not really useless but just realizes how much she means to him. That the fame and the money he dreamt of isn't that interesting if he is all by himself. In the end, the Dal Mi really helped SST to get to where they were in the first place.
Though I agree it's slightly exaggerated but isn’t this what we all want to see from the ML in a Korean romance drama?

** It's a useless triangle, and the drama is abusing 2nd ML. - We shall recall that the Han Jin Pyong did not visit her after he found her again. He also did not admit his feeling to her and kept on being warm and cold with her. On the other hand, Nam Do San has been drawn to FL the moment he saw her and there are countless moments at which Do San did things for FL without hidden agenda, such as appearing at the event for her. For me, it was very clear, that Han Jin Pyong, although being a very loveable character and supportive mentor to the FL, did not have any chance. I found the maker did a great job by having Han Jin Pyong realizing exactly that and open the path for Nam Do San and Dal Mi to become happy. What do you want from a love who does not love you back?

Above are my general observations of Start Up. I would really recommend everyone watching it, especially those who are first time into Korean dramas.

Leggi di Più

One of my favorite dramas of the year!!

Hikaru no Go is one of my favorite animes when I was young. I even started learning Go (though I did not continue) because of this drama. When I heard that the Chinese drama adaption is very good, I just had to watch it. And I did not regret any minute of that.

★Passion for Go
What I find fascinating about this drama is the ability to show the suspense in every go game, though, at the same time, the audience has no understanding of the rules of the game. I cannot recall any anime/drama that has successfully achieved this. However, the makers still did enough research so that every set up is correct and each move is real so that they are faithful to the game itself.

★The characters
I have rarely seen a drama with such a great supporting cast. Have you seen a better and more loyal friend than Hong He? How about Fang Xu, who is both a great bigger brother to Yu Liang and a successful businessman to the Go World? Shi Guang's school friends had also supported Shi Guang all the way esp. when he most needed them. Even characters who just appeared in 1-2 episodes, such as the go factory workers, the monks in the temple, or the mystery go player who has beaten all go schools except for Yu Liang, are three-dimensional with a story to tell. Many of those characters are original characters of this drama, and one notices that the writer wants to show Go through these characters' eyes. Before Chu Ying's disappearance, it was very memorable that every character appeared to say good goodbye to him.

★The friendship between Shi Guang and Chu Ying
I have watched many dramas. As far as I can recall, I cannot remember a time that I cried as much as watching Hikaru no Go. The episode in which Chu Ying disappears is the most heartbreaking moment that I have experienced. My eyes were as puffy as grapes the next day.
For Shi Guang, Chu Ying was not only a Go teacher, but he was also his friend, his playmate, and his biggest cheerleader. To Chu Ying, Shi Guang started off to be someone who can help him play go, but soon he realized Shi Guang was so much more than that. Both of them believe in each other, depend on each other, and supported each other. If this is not the best friendship you have seen, then else is there?
This drama also demonstrated many other beautiful friendships: Shi Guang and Yu Liang, Shi Guang, Hong He, and Shen Yi Lang, Shi Guang and his school mates, teacher Da and teacher Ban Fang Xu and Bai Chuan... all very different but all very sincere and heartwarming.

★Sticking to the original story but adapted to a drama in China
The manga and the anime were an all-time favorite at that time of the airing, all thanks to the great writing. They have stayed true to the original story, at the same time, the writer adapted the story to China in its 90s and 2000s. Many details are well reproduced and nostalgic. While the original work was heavy Go focused, the drama goes beyond Go and focuses a lot on the characters, their real struggles, their achievements, and their contribution to where Go is today.

★The acting
This list would not be complete without praising the two main characters' outstanding acting: Hu Xian Xu starring Shi Guang and Juck Zhang starring Chu Ying. Hu Xiang Xu successfully depicted an immature young boy who wants to try Go as a hobby to someone with confidence and conviction. The audience can truly feel his desperation and his loss of direction after Chu Ying has left. He is indeed one of the best young actors of our time.
Juck Zhang did have an easy challenge as Sai's in the manga/anime is extremely unique, and there is a huge gap between the serious him and his 2-D cartoon one. I found it surprising that Juck Zhang gave us a different Sai - his own interpretation of Sai. A Sai who we also cherished and loved throughout the drama because of his loveable character, his passion for Go, his determination to support Shi Guang wherever Shi Guang needed him.
Hao Fu Shen's Yu Liang is slightly less of a show-off character, but I still did a great job depicting the serious Akira.
An honorable mention is the little actor who played the young Shi Guang. Oh, this kid has talent! He is better than many baby-faced grown-up actors in China!

Now one point which this drama could have done more to get to a 10/10 - the ending.

☆The last episode focused too much on Yu Liang and Shi Guang. It was slightly anti-climax as after Chu Ying has left and Yu Liang has finally found his way back to Go, it would have been great if the drama ended with an exciting game of the two on an international stage. However, this did not happen, and there was little happening until the very end. Though the episode lasted more than one hour (almost the time of a move), the writer should have made something better of this.

☆Another element they could have added is giving a more satisfactory closure to Chu Ying and Shi Guang. In the end, no one understood why Chu Ying never told Shi Guang that he was leaving before - though that might be the writer's intention to increase the drama and force Shi Guang to go through a tough phase of recovery. We could have more of a final moment of Shi Guang meeting Chu Ying in one way or another. For instance, Chu Ying returned to the past and picked up Go again, was he able to recover his name? If Shi Guang know where Chu Ying has gone back to and wouldn't he be happy for him? Did Shi Guang know that it was him, in the end, who fulfilled Chu Ying's drama and played "Hand by God"? What would be Shi Guang's reaction? All these elements could have been easily incorporated in the last episode.

Despite some shortcomings, all in all, Hikaru no Go is still one of my favorite dramas of this year. Who would have thought that! There is no romance, no good looking actors, no fancy special effects or CGs. But it has proven that you don't need all this to make a great drama. I promise, you will not regret watching this, even if you don't know the original work!

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A precious drama that makes you glued to the screen to the end

I got into this drama thanks to AvenuX' Youtube channel and the many good reviews on this drama. Indeed this drama has not disappointed me.

Story:
While the drama seems to be a dramatic love story at the start, it turns out to be one of many other genres, such as crime mystery, science fiction/fantasy, and life drama - and each of them done so well and integrated into the main story. The characters have the ability to transcend one's consciousness into someone who looks exactly like themselves in the past or the future and this way slowly solving the mysteries that revolve the main couple and their friends.
While the audience thinks that they have finally figured out how the story will develop they suddenly face something completely unexpected which on one hand explains the questions in the earlier part of the story but on the other hand poses many new mysteries. Your brain is constantly engaged while worrying about the main characters' fate. The story keeps the audience at the edge of the chair, esp. the last two episodes blew my mind as it completely surprised me with a final twist that I would have never expected. Despite all the despair, the makers were able to close the drama beautifully and convincingly.
It reminds me of one of these good mystery Japanese dramas with the main storyline being the love story of the two protagonists. And for the first time, I realize that with this technique the creators were able to recreate a dramatic love story of life and death similar to 3 miles of cherry blossom or ashes of love without repeating the same concept.
Another wonderful aspect of this drama is that it manages to integrate many difficult social topics such as school bullying, homosexuality, suicide, mental issues, etc. but they don't feel forced but flow extremely naturally.

Acting:
the acting of the main leads is just outstanding. Keep in mind, the story of this drama is extremely complicated with souls transpassing bodies - if this is not well reflected in the acting, the whole drama would become a failure. But thanks to the outstanding cast, this did not happen.
I am in awe with Alice Ke and her skills. She is 35 this year and managed to play a character about half her age with two different personalities so convincingly. You immediately see which characters she is playing (even when one character is faking to be the other one, you can clearly see that!). Her emotions are always right on spot - not too much, not too little. She won the Golden Belt in 2016 and I am not at all surprised. Greg Hsu was very good too. Esp. well done is his performance playing a high-school student, a young adult, and a nearly middle-aged man. Though I was not so taken by the chemistry of the two main leads I still find their love story very beautiful and their acting superb.

OST:
The music is also a great part of the drama. Both title and ending songs are beautiful, the text perfectly reflects the mainline of the story. They also use a lot of symbols that with a close look you will find they have all their meanings. I also very much enjoy the background songs and Last Dance from Wu Bai.

All in all, a great drama worth your time and I can only recommend to anyone.

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I have become the biggest fangirl!!

I usually write my review in sequence and avoid writing reviews in the middle before finishing. But I am just so obsessed with this drama that I have to speak about this. Word of Honor is the best BL-adapted dramas I have watched so far. In fact, I have lost sleep and working time in the last few days because of this drama.

Don't get me wrong, I still love and fangirl the Untamed, but Untamed was "just" a great drama, one of the best in China's drama history. But with regards to BL, I still had to get all the fangirl elements from many alternative sources (e.g., all the interpretation videos, the audio production, the original novel, etc.), while with Word of Honor, there is no need to look elsewhere. Everything is there, right in front of your eyes, in 3D, in sound, no need for imagination!! Sometimes we wonder, was there even a censorship committee? The makers only over-dubbed some of the too apparent lines but then put the original source shots with original words spoken online for us fans to see! OMG! And for me, that is reason enough to put this as no 1 of the BL-adapted dramas.
Some prefer to have BL elements slightly more settled where you have to read between the lines. I don't. But that's everyone's preference.

Now to the main content of this review. There are three elements that make up great BL-drama: Sticking to the original source material, suitable plus good-looking main leads, the chemistry between the two main leads (we called this the CP-Feel).

The first point, sticking to the source material: Unfortunately, many great BL-adaptions are downgraded or even destroyed because their adaptations are entirely beyond recognition. Why would they do this despite knowing that there is a natural flow of fans who will watch this because they like the original novel? Of course, we can always blame the China censorship, but that should not be an excuse for a bad script. There are many examples that showed us that.
I haven't read the original material (but definitely intend to check this out after drama), but I have heard from multiple sources that the drama is very close to the original material. Not only that, it added to the original source and expanded the plots of supporting and main characters even further to make it even better. For instance, the fact that both male leads know from childhood is something that was not in the original novel. In the book, Wen Ke Xing is into handsome men (also because he is gay) and therefore started to follow Zhou Zi Shu out of curiosity. This would have made his character shallow. But this change not only put WKX's personality in a better light but also circumvents the pronounced gay element: two birds with one stone. I found out that the scriptwriter is a big fan of Priest, and you can feel the love and delicacy she has put into this work. In fact, a lot of details you can only notice once you watch this drama a second time. And don't worry, you won't get bored even watching it n-times.

Second point: suitable plus good-looking male leads: there is no denying that both leads are delicacies for the eyes. Both leads have had some years of experience, but none of them were that famous at that point in time. I even heard that Gong Jun's acting is rather wooden and of low-quality. Well, not in Word of Honor. He seems to have found his natural element. All the eying, evil smiles and small gestures are on the point. Also, Zhang Zhe Han, although he seems to be slightly stiff in the first six episodes, his expressions become much more vivid and soft after that. I am also very impressed with the gap he showed before and after the disguise - both from acting and from make-up; I really believed these are two different actors! It is said that the scriptwriter asks the director to find someone who has edgy and sharp facial features for ZZS and someone who has soft and slander features for WKX. I have to say the team did a great job picking the perfect actors for the roles. One cannot imagine someone else playing these roles.

Finally, the last point and most important: the CP-Feel:
The biggest thing you worry about in a BL adaption is that both actors cannot act out their affection naturally because it is just awkward. But that's no issue in Word of Honor. I only knew later that GJ's first major acting role was in an actual BL movie. It got taken down because of censorship issues. This explains a lot of his very natural and open form of acting as the "lover-hunter." And you can find this in all the apparent expressions he makes when eying his beloved. Of course, many of the gestures would have come from the master-level instructions of the directors. On the surface, WKX seems to be a witty, sometimes cute, and confident character. But we all know that this character’s dark and mad side which is feared by everyone will be slowly revealed. Will ZZS’s warmth save WKX from his despair? My anticipation rises to the maximum when thinking about the upcoming reveal of this most interesting and deep character.
On the other hand, it is also ZZS's set-up, starting off cold and indifferent towards the temptations of WKX, slowly opens up like a beautiful flower. This slow change in attitude is perfectly shown in his facial expressions, word choice, and gestures in response to WKX. Again, another mastery by Zhang ZZH, the director, and the writer! There is also a slight gap between his mostly cold sober side and sometimes dorky side + loving side that reveal themselves at times. It is like finding a treasure that brings me to smile. Both of the characters, putting together, brings this big explosion of sparks from whom I just cannot get enough.

There are many other great aspects of this drama that I won't go into details: e.g., great music, well-choreographed fighting scenes, well-framed shots, a terrifically tragic side love-line, in-depth supporting characters including even villains.
Certainly, there are some flaws (e.g. the first episode is slightly boring, the entry of clans and characters is too quick, and can be confusing, the low-quality CG, and some acting of the main characters can still be improved). However, these weaknesses just become so insignificant that I just cannot rate this drama with a rational mind anymore. In fact, I think the makers spent their little money on the right things (camera angles and costumes instead of the not-so-important ones (using the same sceneries for multiple scenes).
Now, I just can hope the team will do this drama justice and carry this quality, pacing, and acting into the second half of this drama. This will hopefully create some history for the Chinese BL-drama fandom.

*Edits after watching the full drama
There are a few plot holes, poor editing, and out-of-character behavior in the last episodes (particular episodes 31 and 32) that have made me downgrading the drama from a 10 to a 9.5. However, in my heart, this is still the best drama I have seen so far and really deserves a special place. I am particularly happy with the character development and acting of ZZH as ZZS, truly a man with 2000 layers of ashes.

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A tragic but beautiful romance for you to cry on. But be aware of the last 12 episodes.

I have adored this drama and have shed a lot of tears. Those who love tragic romance and are interested in palace politics and romance but are looking for one with more depth in terms of story and character development are in the right place.

Let me start with what I appreciate about this drama.

♡ In-depth character design of antagonists:
GBMP is the first drama at which I cried over the antagonists. Stories of antagonists were so developed that you truly understood the reasons for their actions. This drama succeeded in making them human, not merely tools. There are three main antagonists: the 2nd prince, the Queen, and the minister uncle, and I felt so much empathy for each of them. Unlike some dramas, at which additions could be seen as a way to add unnecessary episodes, this was not the case for GBMP. Their stories blend well with the main plot and provided the depth and appreciation we have for Li Cheng Yin's character development.

♡ Excellent blending of palace politics and romance:
I enjoy romance dramas with more depth and breadth. GBMP managed to blend the romantic aspects with political elements, such as war waging with neighboring countries and the internal power struggle of empirical families. It is a romance that is not about love at first sight and happily ever after, but about conditioned by political success and selfish personal objectives.

♡ Character design of Li Cheng Yin:
Primarily our main male protagonist Li Cheng Yin has all the aspects above built into his character development, which made him extremely interesting to watch. Throughout 55 episodes, I felt a rainbow of emotions towards him: love, respect, hate, sympathy, disgust, fear, and pity. I don't think there hasn't been one character ever that evoked this many different emotions in me. This inconsistency is what made me want to continue caring about the fate of him, Princess Xiao Feng, and the people around him. Despite having been spoiled of the ending of the drama, the anticipation of how LCY would become at the end is what kept me glued to the screen.

♡ Excellent acting and high-quality production:
As mentioned by many viewers, the acting of Peng Xiao Ran (starring Princess Xiao Feng) and Cheng Xing Xu is marvelous. Peng Xiao Ran perfectly depicted the innocent and playful Princess full of hope for the future, who, however, later becomes disillusioned of love and life. Cheng Xing Xu has the more difficult task of acting out the multi-faced character LCY: dark, ruthless at times, loving at times, unyielding to achieve his objectives and obtain the love of XF. At the start, LCY seemed a bit immature in acting, especially when crying, but it slowly got a lot better. In fact, especially since it was their first lead-role drama, both actors have excellent chemistry, which made the audience love and cry for them. I will continue to watch both of them.
One of the things I adore about this drama is the cinematography, especially the landscape shots at the start: the dunes, the valley, the prairie... It must be an expensive production. If it's not for the romance, I would recommend everyone to watch it just for these jaw-dropping shots. Finally, the OST is fantastic. This drama has one of my favorite songs and background music that again and again evoke those emotions in me whenever I hear them.

Now I few words about what I don't like about the drama and why I cannot give it a 10.

❤︎ The last 12 episodes were painful to watch:
I enjoy tragic dramas lot when they are well executed. I also don't have any issues with the final episode; in fact, I think it was well executed and XF's logical behavior. However, I don't particularly appreciate it when the makers create drama for the sake of creating drama. This already became apparent during the first arc, on which I closed one eye. But when the same script came back at full swing in the last 12 episodes, I started to get annoyed. A lot of the decisions and actions by the main characters were utterly illogical and groundless. Story development just felt very forced to justify female lead's final decision. Whether this has come from the novel or is original, I wish the makers would have put more thoughts into this (viewers are not dumb and realize all this); there are so many ways to conclude the same ending with more logical story development.

Overall, I would still recommend this drama as I find the story original, the production high-quality, and the acting of main leads outstanding. My heart still aches when remembering some of the scenes, and I can understand why some fans cannot let go of this drama, and rewatch it so many times. If you like tragic romance, this is the drama for you. If the story had found a sound ending at around episode 45, I would have given it a 9.5 or 10.

Below are some of my detailed rant about the unlogical parts of this drama which made me deduct so many points from the story despite me loving this drama so much (focusing on the two main leads' actions):

------------------------Please don't read beyond this point if you don't like spoilers-------------------------------------

Li Cheng Yin:
- To easily decide to take revenge at the Queen although she raised him for 20 years
- To naively believe Tanchi tripe has killed his brother and end up killing tripe of the woman his loves based on one person's statement
- To say out loud" he will overthrow the Queen as "he has proof to appoint her sins" and later "be sad/ disappointed" she decided to assassinate him
- Not to show any affection to XF to the very last minute although Queen has died and the uncle has almost lost too
- To suddenly become" a good king without any bloodshed" after XF has died despite being so ruthless all along

Xiao Feng:
- To be oblivious and naively believe that LCY only loves ZSS but not her
- After regaining her memory, to complete forget LCY's good after losing memory and only remembers his betrayal before that; also to hang on to the love of Gu Xiao Wu (who was lying to her at that time) but not that of LCY
- To hate LCY so much though the truth before losing memory is not much different from what she got to find out after losing memory at that time, she already forgave him
- To decide not to tell LCY anything about her hate towards him despite knowing he cannot remember and LCY asking so many times" why", i.e., she forced him to act this ruthlessly at the end
- To not to tell LCY that he is GXW despite GZ being killed in front of her eyes

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Do not look further: if you are still wondering which drama to watch. This is the one.

Story/plot: ★★★★★
I just love the story. I have been always a fan of BL but I do have not seen any proper adaption into a drama.
This is the first one and it has settled a bar for any great BL drama (or should I say bromance) to come. I really hope more great BL novels and mangas get this kind of level of adaptions so these masterpieces can be seen by more. That being said, this piece is certainly not a pure bromance drama but the description of the two life stories of Wei Wu Xian (WWX), his struggles in life and battle against the general crowd by sticking to his believes and values. Throughout the journey WWX experiences extreme sorrow and challenges that helped him to grow. I am absolutely fascinated by the character development WWX is going through in the drama. It made me reading the original novel and listening to the audio drama which made me fall in love with the original story Mo Dao Zhu Shi. And I am just grateful that the adaption stuck mostly to the source materials, one of the main reasons why the drama is so well done.

The reason why I did not give a 10 is because of some plot holes the drama was not able to adapt too well from the novel: e.g. the whole pre-story around collecting the Ying metal pieces is just super confusing and not necessary; why would the sword soul of Nie Ming Jue be caught in the left arms of people? Also the end scene; while indeed it is very beautiful it totally speaks against the character of Lan Wang Ji (LWJ). This scene is inserted to create the reunite scenes which I feel was a bit artificial. One adaption I also really did not like was that the both Jin Zi Xuan’s death and Bu Ye Tian’s death were blamed to Jin Guan Yao and which again looked artificial to me. The best in Mao Dao Zhu Shi’s WWX is that he is human. He was blinded by revenge and was controlled by the dark spirit of Ying Huo Fu. That partially to his downfall and death, out of which he learned after his “rebirth”. But by then introducing these plot changes it showed an inconsistent picture, that at the end it was not WWX’s fault but he is just perfect?
Though the drama has created some of the most favorite scenes in the drama such as the goodbye scene in the rain, the snow scene in Yun Sheng Bu Chi Chu or the reveal scenes to Jiang Cheng in Yun Meng.

Acting: ★★★★☆
If I just judge the drama just based on the two lead characters Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo I would give it a 10 (even a 100 if there is). Xiao Zhan has done an amazing job portraying WWX as if he jumped out of the book. I have since then been in love with Xiao Zhan. His smile is just magic and makes you smile too.
Also, Wang Yi Bo has done a terrific job by portraying LWJ though the emotions he is allowed to show are limited he is still able to reveal his feeling through small facial movements, gestures, and vocal changes. Something that the book does not really describe as it is purely written form the angle of WWX. Both actors are fairly young and have no proper acting schooling. Despite playing lead roles in very harsh conditions, this is excellent performance and surprising to many. And besides, they are both damned good looking... just perfect for a BL adaption!
However, the reason why I deducted the two points is because of the supporting characters. While some of them performed great (e.g. Zhu Zan Jin playing Jin Guang Yao, Paul Yu playing Wen Ning and oh I just love the amazing job of Zhang Jing Tong playing San Niang Zi, mother of Jiang Cheng) other actors and actresses are rather only ok. One can see that their actions are still at an early stage and many need more training. A big pity I find was the triangle side story of Xiao Xing Cheng, Song Lan, and Xuan Yang. It is one of the best well-written side stories of all time. The complex deep feeling hidden inside the characters did not come out well from the acting.

Music: ★★★★★
The drama has one of my favorite OSTs. I have been listening to the songs (both instrumental and the character songs) over and over. And the combination of Chinese flute and Gu Zheng is just really beautiful and perfect enforcement to highlight the drama’s high and low moments.

Camera work & post-production: ★★★☆☆
This is, unfortunately, the only part that needs quite a bit of improvement. While I agree that some scenes are beautifully shot (e.g. those I mentioned above) and most fighting scenes are quite nicely performed, many key scenes are quite disappointing:
The fight at Bu Ye Tian is just full of chaos - one cannot see who is who and not even the faces of the lead characters.
The evil spirits and zombies are just a laugh... one could have made those a bit more real (they could have referred to Korean dramas such as Hotel del Luna or Master Sun to learn how to make those real but not turn into horror movie characters.) In the end, we want to display demonic cultivation and living death and not a Halloween party. So what’s up with these grey smokes? And the mop in the water?
Throughout the whole drama, the lighting is often dull and grayish, making the characters look a bit sick.
And the worst part is the CG. They were just in some areas a bit too cheap and badly done.
I understood that the drama really did not have much of budget - so these areas must have been where they saved money. But I cannot stop thinking how much better this drama would have become if some more work is out on the camera and post-production.

Summary: ★★★★★
Despite some shortcomings, all in all, I can only recommend anyone, whether new or veteran into dramas, BL or non-BL fans to watch this. It is indeed the best drama of 2019. It is the first drama I have completely rewatched, after the audio drama and the novel (and I have watched many dramas!). I believe also you will fall into the magic of Untamed/Mo Dao Zhu Shi as much as I do.

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Do not miss this treasure!

Let me keep this review short as many people have shared the opinion about this drama.

The watchpoint of Winter Begonia is how the characters unfold their relationships are developed. Not very long into the show, you will fall in love with the two main characters Shang Xi Rui and Cheng Feng Tai, also named Er Ye. Shang Xi Rui is just one of a kind of a character, which is just stubborn, strong, but adorable in so many ways. Especially at the start of the show, you are worried that he does not make another big fuss that Er Ye has to get him out from. At the start, there are only dramas that surround Beijing Opera and Shang Xi Rui's relationship with many others in the Opera circle. Still, later in the show, it also concerns how to protect China's culture against a foreign enemy and our characters' survival.

The friendship between Shang Xi Rui and Cheng Feng Tai is just beautiful. This is another successful adaption of a BL novel: the romance element is not obvious, but the audience can certainly feel that their souls are connected somehow. If it's not for something else, this is one key reason why you should watch this drama.

Besides, there are so many reasons that make the audience continue watching the show: the mix of everyday happiness as well as drama, the beautify of Beijing Opera, the wonderful characters from main to supporting cast. From young cast to elder ones, everyone's performance is top-notch, even the evil ones. No one is just a tool for the story, but they are three-dimensional human beings.

Finally, these delightful wide-angle shots, delicate sets, and detailed costumes show the makers have really put money in the right places. After the show, I became very interested in Beijing Opera and was grateful for this beautiful art form that our Chinese ancestors have left us.

If there is one thing I can improve, it is the part about WWII and the Japanese being the evil that needs to be destroyed. I just cannot help but feel the propaganda. But if I am objective and overlook that side, it is still a wonderful piece of work that no one should miss. I sincerely hope more of these wonderful BL adaptions can be made.

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One of the best romcoms I have seen!

If you are looking for a romcom full of heart-racing cute scenes, hilarious jokes, and a great story, you are at the right place. The Romance of Tiger and Rose (RTR) will not disappoint to provide all types of audiences an enjoyable viewing experience.

Let me start what I love about this drama:

♡ The creative world setting:
With so many costumes dramas get produced these days, time-travels are not new. However, the female lead Chen Qian Qian will have to survive in a city in which the role of male and female are reversed (the rose city). Imagining that this world exists in an ancient environment builds up the curiosity about how she will survive there. This provides a novel touch to the drama. I would almost watch a story just about this city itself. I appreciate that despite a comical and foolish nature of a romcom, the makers use a world setting to indirectly criticize the inbalance and biases existing in historical and even in the present world. Coming from a Chinese costume drama that is usually scrutinized by various types of censorships, this gives me hope in the future of the Chinese drama world.

♡ The pacing and hilarious jokes:
I cannot remember the last time to be this entertained by a drama. Next to the time-travel aspect, there is also the fact that the female protagonist knows she is stuck in her own script. Thus, the 4th wall between viewers and characters is continually being broken - a brand new way that feels refreshed. Then there are these a bit stupid but hilarious supporting characters such as the two close footmen of the main leads or the mountain bandit leader. Even when the plot became more serious towards the end, they manage to pull off a very amusing scene between the lords of the two cities.
The pacing of this drama is swift (e.g., it took the female lead about 5 min to realize she is stuck in her own script), and 24 episodes are quick to absorb. The turns in events are not expected but still very logical. The makers use the right storytelling methods to build suspense and release anxiety quickly enough (e.g., by clarifying misunderstandings between the leads).

♡ The switch in roles between male and female leads; their chemistry:
I have never watched a Zhao Luo Si-led drama though I have heard great things about her (and that she has had a bite of the cutest actors nowadays, including my favorite Xu Kai.. arrg). After watching RTR, I finally got to know why she is this popular. She has a cute round face that does not appear to be sculptured or perfect. There is no idol aura in her acting, and she does not refrain from pulling off all kinds of facial expressions. This makes her acting very natural. ZLS is well-known for her dorky, adorable, slight foolish but pure-hearted characters. One can see that CQQ's personality assembles ZLS in real life, so you cannot help but like her.
However, I was most surprised by the performance of the young actor Ding Yu Xi playing Han Shuo. At the start, I found his acting a bit stiff, but he soon showed his other sides: cold and determined, kind and sweet, funny and dorky, strong and protective. The makers purposely switched the script between the female and male leads, letting Han Shuo chase the female lead for the most of the drama and show this cute and dorky part of his personality. And this is so irresistible! My heart soon was taken away by Han Shuo and his sweetness. I think I have not experienced this kind of heart racing and pain for a long time. His and CQQ's chemistry is top, so that some drama reviewers believed DYX really fell in love with ZLS. I started to rewatch the drama even before the final episodes were out just to watch these two lovebirds. I sincerely hope DYX becomes more popular from this drama, so he gets to try out various roles as I see endless possibilities for this 25 years old actor.

Now I few words why I did not give the drama a 10 (I really wanted to...!):

❤ ︎Plot holes in the world setting:
Despite my liking for the world setup, there are few plot bugs to this arrangement that could have been more thought through. For example, militarism is considered the main symbol of power, even in the rose city does not make sense. I agree that women can be equally talented and passionate about militarism, but retain this concept for a female-led society is a bit shallow thinking.
Also, why would the musical concubines behave this feministic? Why do they play music in the first place (which is the same art as female concubines in ancient times)? Why can't they perform arts that are "more masculine" and appreciated by women? I wished there could have been more creativity to some of the details given the stage was all set.

❤ ︎Losing the grip towards the end:
Though this drama does not have a lousy tail, it did disappoint me a bit towards the end. The story continued to pace very fast from one surprise to the other without the full logic. The behaviors of lead and supporting characters became less rational so that I even became confused at the end what QCC really wanted to achieve. Also, the ending is up for interpretation of the viewers. It can either be read as a happy end and that there has been a bug in the character setup of Han Shuo or that there is no problem in the character setup. It can also be read as a mixed ending. The fact that there are so many somewhat different interpretations of the ending deducts a few points for me.

Overall, I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves romcom but cannot stand draggyness or sudden change of theme from comedy to tragedy. Once again, it has also proven to us that it's not about the budget as this drama clearly did not have a big one... Do not hesitate and let the world of Tiger and Romance take you away.

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Watch only if you are a fan of Zhang Ruo Yun

Story: ★★
The drama start of pretty promising with a good set up (from the Novoland book series) and interesting characters. Though some parts seemed to be a bit fast I was looking forward to the rest. However starting around ep. 10 the drama lost me esp. with a lot of artificially created scenes to make the drama “exciting” (e.g. scenes to create a series misunderstanding between the leads) but for me they achieve the opposite. Then the show continued with its plot holes (e.g. relationships were introduced that did not existed before), its not so convincing character development (e.g. actions that don’t fit to certain characters) and illogical story progress (e.g. no logical explanation for certain incidents and why the producers created them).
I really had a hard time continuing with this drama.
Then the drama ended as bad as one would expect - both endings were bad and predictable. Though the happy ending was slightly better, but the fact they created an alternative happy ending make it less good.

Acting/cast: ★★★★
The only reason why I continued with this drama (which I did not regret) is the over the top performance of Zhang Ruo Yun. I just finished watching Joy of Life and became a big fan of his acting. With this drama he showed other acting talents of his by depicting the arrogant and fiery tempered bird sect crown prince Feng Tian Yi. He was able to show the full range of human emotions such as ruthlessness, pride, anger, grief, pain or joy so naturally and convincing that just leaves me in awe. And the viewer can clearly see how his character smoothly developed to a more kinder version (which was his natural character) after falling in love with the female lead. On top of that I need to say that Feng Tian Yi probably the most beautiful male character I have ever seen in any (and I have watched many costume dramas!) dramas before!

The one star needs to be deducted due to the not so great job of the other leads, particularly the female lead, Guan Xiao Tong. Her acting was really below average, just not very natural.
There are scenes in which I was not able to distinguish that she was actually crying if not by her voice and tears cause her facial expression did not change. It feels like there is a certain barrier or constrain she is not able to break free from. Because of that I just did not feel the chemistry between her and Zhang Ruo Yun which bothers me during the entire show.

The second male lead Liu Chang played a very interesting human crown prince that had a lot to potential for great acting. But it might have been a bit too much for him and there was quiet a bit of room for improvement. What I liked though is his courage of not restrict himself by the “idol” way as opposed to the female lead. Though I found the character change towards end of the show not very natural (but perhaps it is the story that is to blame rather than his acting).

I really liked Cheng Ruo Xuan playing the skillful Yu Huan Zhen. His acting is very natural. He started off rather comical and cute but also underwent great development to a more mature character.

Production and music: ★★★
The landscape artworks are actually quiet nice. The CGI was very smooth and a good job. The two of them are key for a good fantasy/Xianxia drama. While I liked the designs, the sets and the costumes looked unfortunately very cheap and it is very noticeable (maybe they ran out of money...). The drama songs are nice, though nothing to be particularly remembered, except for the ending songs which is from a kids boy group that did not fit the theme of the drama at all. Really don’t understand how and why they have made this decision.

Summary: ★★★
I would have given a lower rating or even dropped it if it’s not for Zhang Ruo Yun’s acting. If you are a fan of his, like me, give it a go as you would even more fall in love with him (and particularly even more because a lot of other aspects are bad). If not, please pick another better drama to spend your precious time with.

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This drama deserves its fame!

I have been keeping this drama until the end of the year as crime/mystery dramas are not my favorite genre. I also heard this drama is quite dark, which discourages me from watching.
But since I heard so many good things about it, I just had to give it a go now that the year has ended. After going through the 12 episodes, I understand why it has been crowned the year's best Chinese drama.

1. "Sleepness Night": 5/5★★★★★
I did not binge this drama though I totally could have done it. It has probably the best storytelling I have seen in any dramas so far. In contrast to traditional mystery stories, the show reveals the main villain, the dark but tragic Zhang Dong Shen, in the first 10 min of the show with a bang. Slowly after that, it introduces to the remaining protagonists, the three kids, Zhu Chao Yang, Yan Liang, and PuPu. The four of them get entangled when the three accidentally recorded Zhang Don Shen performs a murder in action. The drama then tells how this event snowballs into a gigantic non-stoppable monster that alters the fate of all of the involved. Each episode ends at a key event of the story that is perfectly timed. On top, it is accompanied by a dark BGM that sometimes even sounds like acoustics rather than music. There are no big "reveal moments" but rather a slow but steady description of each character's actions that force you to glue your eyes to the screen, desperately wanting to know what the characters will do next.

2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": 5/5 ★★★★★
What this drama perfected is the casting of the roles. The crew auditioned thousands of kids across the country until they found our leads. All of the leads, even our main villain, both light and have dark elements in their personalities, which the actors brought to light perfectly. Nothing is what it seems. The details and clues that the makers hide in the show wanted to give us a much bleak and gloomy story, which was also the original novel's intention. I will be spoiling if I tell more, but Zhu Chao Yang, the three kids' brain, is one of the most interesting roles I have seen in this year's drama. I saw myself, not sure if I wanted to support him or not. When I read more about this series and the original work, I finally understand that this kid, unlike the surface, has a darker side than anyone in this show. There is also Pupu, who I loved as a character. This kid has a pure heart and even showed mercy for our villain. But even if this was the case, you will notice how all the snowball events started with Pupu. Finally, there is Zhang Dong Shen, for whom you develop a strong empathy towards the end. Rather than putting him as an emotionless psychopath, he is a victim of societal and familial pressure. Deep in his heart, he longed for a family and love. One of my top three villains this year.

3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling." 5/5 ★★★★★
The story is told in a natural flow, leaving out all the unnecessary fillers. What I love the most is that a lot of characters' inner motivation and emotions are exhibited without them uttering any words. Many "still" scenes give the viewer a big room for own interpretation. That reminds me of a lot of Hayao Miyazaki's form of storytelling. This open storytelling does not dictate to the viewer how the director wants the viewer to see and think, but it is up to the viewer to form their own opinion and ideas of the characters. And isn't this what real life is all about? Nothing is absolute, and everything is subjective through our own lenses.

4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": 5/5 ★★★★★
This show has chosen a tremendous supporting cast. Most of them are played by respected veterans from the industry who present deep emotions by a small look, a tear, or a simple gesture. My favorite supporting characters are Zhu Chao Yang's mother, acted by Liu Lin, and his dad, starred by Zhang Song Wen. Hats down to their acting.

5. "Proper Pacing.": 5/5 ★★★★★
The pacing of this drama is perfect. With only 12 episodes, it tells a complex and dramatic story, emphasizing the right occasion, slows down and speeds up adequately, and gives all leading and supporting characters their moments to shine without making them feel redundant in any moment.

6. "Technicalities": 5/5 ★★★★★
The whole show primarily provides a feeling of a movie. This is achieved using long and wide shots and not beautifying the characters. The dirt and wrinkles are seen clearly, which gives a perception of realism. The color and tons of each scene are chosen by professionals. Each shot's camera angle is carefully selected so that it does need to be altered many times that otherwise would disturb the scene. Thus, you can see the results of perfect play between light and shadow. The director is a musician who composed some of the original BGM of this show. You do not notice the BGM; they blend in with the scenes and elevate the audience's emotions.

7. "Solid Finale": 5/5 ★★★★★
The drama has a close ending on the surface, with each character having his/her proper closure. But in reality, it has an open finish. Like many viewers, I immediately started to watch and read all kinds of interpretations of the ending. They give another layer of depth to the show - I cannot help but praise the makers. Without spoiling, I would just say that anyone will find an ending that suits his/her interpretation: those who like tragic ending will get their tears and sorrow; those who believe in fairytales will get their "happy ever after."

All in all, I am proud that today's Chinese drama world can produce a masterpiece with this kind of quality. It is not a story for the fainted hearts. But to everyone else, I would recommend it without any hesitancy. Your time is well spent!

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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.

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My first Chinese drama - which I will not forget

This is a beautiful Xian Xia drama that I would recommend anyone who loves Romance, great acting and beautiful costumes. I have not watched a Chinese drama for years until Youtube inserted a beautiful edited video of Ashes of Love into my playlist. I immediately fell in love with the tragic love story between the three main leads, the gorgeous cast and the marvelous shots.

I will quickly run through my 7 criteria (definitions below the review):

1. Emotional rollercoaster: 5/5 ★★★★★
Oh yes! This drama had so many up and downs, melting moments but also tearing scenes between the two main leads that it was bad for my heart. I deeply fell in love with Deng Lung who played Feng Huang as he all to well embodied this proud, strong, loving and later on hurt and nonchalant phoenix. Also hat down to the acting skills of our female lead Yang Zi and Male Lead 2 Leo Luo. Both of them really make the characters alive.
There is a famous climax in the middle at which Jing Mi said: "never" to our ML - this one of the most heartbreaking scenes in a romance drama I have seen.

2. Sleepless Nights: 5/5 ★★★★★
I binged-watched this drama from begin to the end

3. Natural and intelligent Storytelling: 4/5 ★★★★☆
Most of the part the writing is logic and convincing. Only that towards end, some actions of Run Yu felt a bit too farfetched. Though I completely understand the reason behind his "turning-evil", his actions sabotaged his real character, which is still kind and loving. It felt slightly unnatural for me.

4. Loveable supporting Roles: 3/5 ★★★☆☆
There are a 1-2 very succssful supporting roles, esp. Dan Zhu, played by Xia Zhi Yuan, is my favourite. His acting is very natural. Despite playing a young man by look, his performance really reminds me of a old man. The demon princess, casted by Yukee Chen, also caried out well. However, for most part, I find most supporting characters realtively one-dimensional and not deep enough. That goes for our FL2/anti-hero, Sui He, the heavenly couples and Mu Ci. Thus they feel very much like medium to carry the story forward as opposed to personalities the audience can empathize with.

5. Proper Pacing: 3/5 ★★★☆☆
With 63 episodes, this is once again a drama that could have been shortened. Towards the later half of the drama, there is a lot of air time for the love story of demon princess and Muci, which felt draggy. Though both actors don't lack in acting skills, there was little chemistry between them, and the audience cannot really relate to their tragic story.

6. Technicalities: 4/5 ★★★★☆
For most of the part, I think the CGI has been executed well. The sets are a bit bright and too colorful, but overall it depicts the XianXia vibe well. The main song is also beautiful, is just that it was played too often - I wished they had more variations when it comes to background music.

7. Solid Final: 4/5: ★★★★☆
The ending of this drama was beautiful and sweet. The scenes at which finally all misunderstandings were resolved and the evil doings of the antagonists were revealt provided a lot satisfaction.
I just wished that the last 1/3rd of the drama could have been shortened. Also, the scenes before the ending, the acting/character design of Feng Huang showed a bit too much sorrow. But that's my personal taste.

Ashes of Love is and will remain a legendary drama for me as it has punched me back into the Chinese drama land, which I will be forever grateful. This is a work of art no-one should miss.

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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.

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