This is the best executed C-drama that I have watched in the last 2 1/2 years. The production values are excellent, with an excellent cast, director, film editor, scriptwriter, music supervisor, wardrobe supervisor, stage design supervisor, location supervisor and all the diligent crew members. The caterers might have been excellent as well.

Bai Yu is the best C-detective, Lou Fei, who is charismatic, upper class, and well-dressed, and he possesses a sharp intellect and an analytical mind. Una You as Xiao Man is the perfect assisting police detective, with fighting skills and a sharp mind to complement Lou Fei's. Jeffrey Ji as Ben Jie Ming is the very handsome and tall coroner with a sharp mind and excellent inter-communication skills. Captain Savoy is the perfect boss and team leader, who leads, supports and respects his staff members. Their loyalty to him is shown in the final episode, when the police officers stand with him, against the raging director of the municipality.

Acting: 9.5
Directing: 9
Casting 9
Editing 9
Music 10
Costumes 9
Sets 10
Script 8.5

This is the first Chinese drama that I am willing to rewatch. The 24-episode length and the tight scripts are perfect for viewers with a short attention span.

ATTENTION: This drama contains NONE of the following drama flaws to disrupt the viewer's concentration;

(a) flashback and repetitive flashback filler,
(b) story filler,
(c) useless flashbacking,
(d) pattern-mad or garish wardrobe,
(e) obtrusive loud singing and loud incidental music score overlapping the characters' dialogs and scenes.

Final episode comment; The ending is the beginning.
From the structure and pace of the cases, the ending was designed to continue in a second season. Bai Yu and Una You comprise the best detective team, Lou Fei and Qin Xiao Man, since Inspector Earl Lynley and Detective Havers, Sherlock and Watson, Morse and Lewis. If Detective L had been launched as a 50 episode drama, we would have been bombarded with fillers and flashbacks, loud, repetitive singing and draggy incidental music.

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Boring drama, bad plot

I watched every episode until #20, but the erratic mood swings of Wei Wei and Yi Du, made me feel restless and listless. I switched to watching every five episodes until I reached the end of the line.

Story:
A love story/amnesia/revenge plot!  Too much, too little, too boring! Wei Wei acted like a childish teenager, as she kept pursuing Yi Du, even though he treated her shabbily. Yi Du was so trusting of his friend, who was his mortal enemy, yet he distrusted Wei Wei frequently, that I wanted to slap his head.  Mo Fan pursued a distorted revenge plot. Huao Xiao, Wei Wei's best friend, became needy and manipulative.

Acting/Cast
The cast did a good acting job with the bad script.  Joe Chen and Wang Kai looked very attractive as Wei Wei and Yi Du respectively, but their characters were not endearing. Zhang Duo is handsome as the snake friend, Mo Fan. Derek Chang was my favorite cast member. His character, Leo, seemed the most rational, although he chased Tiffany like a puppy.

Music:
Music outpaced the drama.

Overall score:
At best, this drama should have been 24 episodes long. The plot would not have been so burdensome to the viewers and the actors.

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This revenge plot drama was 50 episodes long, but it would have been more effective with 30 episodes.

Story 6.0
 It started out as a crime drama, but evolved midway into a melodrama. At some point, it felt as if the director, scriptwriter and actors played 'spin the bottle' to determine which character would gain the advantage at the end of the day.

Acting Cast 6.0
Mediocre acting by the leads! The best acting performance was given by Jung Bo-Suk as Byun Il-Jae, the despicable villain.

Music 6.5
Music was above average.

Rewatch value 1
The value should be 0. It is only rewatchable if 20 hours are shaved off the drama, and the final scene rewritten and reshot.

Overall 5
The drama title should have been "Monster Byun Il-Jae",  with deference given to Jung Bo-Suk. Byun did all the menacing and plotting, and was the real Monster.

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K2 is an ambitious independent drama. It started out with the introduction of a highly skilled mercenary ex-soldier, who looked like K-dramaworld's answer to Bond and Bourne. The drama then adapted the K-drama formula of melodrama, filler, flashback, love triangle and crying.

Story:
K2 is a mixed bag of espionage, political intrigue, romance, dysfunctional family and corruption in high circles.

Acting Cast 7,5
Chang Ji Wook and Song Yoon-A were exceptional in their roles.

Character assessment;
 K2 moved like lightning. He should be the executive trainer of NIS.
Choi Yoo Jin had excessive mood swings. She was bi-polar, psychotic, duplicitous, ruthless, manipulative, delusional. She should be the dictator of a country.
An Na;  bland! She should open a ramen shop.
Se Joon was a philanderer, dead beat father, sycophant. He should go on the talk show circuit.
Gwan Soo was the corrupt politician and K2's target. He should be attached to a bomb device.

Music: 7
The music kept the drama alive.

Rewatch value:  5
Some day!

Overall 6.5
The most annoying aspect of the production was the ridiculous abuse of Shaky Camera. The jerky movements caused the brain to readjust and lose concentration (especially when the international viewers were reading subtitles). This lowered the quality of the project, because it seemed as if amateurs were behind the camera, and in charge of the production.

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Another disconnected dynasty story

This was a filler drama for me. Thirty-nine episodes with filler writing, disjointed plot, plot holes, short cuts, mediocre CGI, good fighting skills, mediocre battle scenes, mediocre villains, grandiose ambitions. Di ZiYuan, Han Ye and Luo Mingxi were obsessed with a decade's old conspiracy that annihilated the Di clan and its 80,000 soldiers.

Han Ye
Jing's Crown Prince Charming's countenance was pretty to behold. He seemed to have one pained expression most of the time. He was steadfast, but possessed with the guilt complex of the Di clan massacre, and was obsessed with Di Ziyuan for ten years. His POV or internalizing over Ziyuan was OOTP (obsessive over the top). He loved diving off cliffs, and he survived without a scratch on his face or any broken bones. His red costume made him look regal.

Ren Anle/Di Ziyuan
Ren Anle Pirate Captain of the Anle Abode Navy was OTP. She was touchy feely wiith the Crown Prince, but he was nonplussed. He was too polite to tell her to back off. The People's Princess Di Ziyuan had two mantras, "80,000 soldiers", the #1 song hit of Jing, and "30,000 soldiers", the #2 song hit of Jing. Her heavy black eyebrows and white foundation makeup oveshadowed Dilraba's acting performance. Her red costumes made her look regal.

Luo Mingxi
Luo Mingxi was too mopey. He was always harping about the revenge plan, but we never saw him planning anything. It might have been all in his head. He was obsessed with Ziyuan, because she was his bride -to-be since birth. Meanwhile, he had the dreaded cough. His red costume made him look regal.

Mingxi was Jing's best tactitian, but I would not want him handling my invasion plan. He rerouted a massive Jing army enroute to Qingnan City to Ziyuan 's distant location to rescue her, instead of splitting the army into two rescue units, to assist General Anning and General Ziyuan. That was a waste of manpower because Han Ye had already rescued Ziyuan. The trio did not set out for Qingnan to assist Anning and Qignan. General Anning died, and Qingnan fell into the hands of the enemy Qin. Han Ye, Ziyuan, Mingxi, Anning failed the strategic planning and execution, teamwork and collaboration executive courses.

The acting, BGM and song music were very good. The writing and CGI were subpar. The producing, directing, writing and editing teams failed in teamwork and collaboration.

Overall rating changed to 7.

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Beautiful fantasy drama

Ten Miles Peach Blossoms is a rare drama phenomenon of the early 21st century.  Modestly produced, this fantasy romance costume drama became a sleeper hit.  It is ultimately the love story between a TV drama and the Chinese viewers and international viewers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Story:
The love stories and the characters, and the outstanding cast touch the heart.  The emotional pull of the story and creative plot transcended culture and language. When subtitles can draw tears of sorrow and joy, the actors, directors and the scriptwriter have done a very effective job.

Acting Cast:
Mark Chao was destined to play twin gods, Ye Hua and Mo Yuan.  He demonstrated his range of acting skills, and gained a very large fanbase across the oceans. Yang MI revealed her acting range with the three distinctive entities, Si Yin, Bai Qian and Su Su. Maggie Huang and Zhu Xudan were convincing as the psychotic, obsessive, delusioned antagonists, Su Jin and Xuan Nu, respectively.  The young actors, Hummer Zhang (A-Li), Huang Tianqi (Fire Qilin), Zhang Youhao (Mi Gu), and Little Zhao Ge character, ultimately stole the show.

Music:
The OST is very good. The main love ballad, Liang, Liang, was overplayed in every episode, and in totality, it may have been heard  90 billion times (30+billion views * 3 times per episode). The songs and the BGM were well composed, and haunting melodies.

Rewatch Value:
On a rainy day,  I might attempt to rewatch this drama,  but the second time time around, I would focus on my favorite characters, Ye Hua, Mo Yuan, Bai Qian/Si Yin/Su Su and Si Ming.

Overall Score:
The calibre of acting, writing, directing, editing, music composition, set design, and costume and hair design, is reflected in this cinematic masterpiece.  There were several draggy sections involving Li Jing,  Feng Jiu or Dong Hua. The plot could have been tighter, and very effective with 48 episodes instead of 58 episodes.

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Bad Drama of the Year Award

The drama has two actors of interest, Hu Ge and Chen Long.  They dressed well, and looked handsome in their business suits.  Chen Long's character, Lin Bai, was my favorite character.

This is the story of the survival of the underdog, Qiu Dong; his fall from grace, and his climb out of the hole, with a few female companions along the way, to keep his company.  I was intrigued by the trailer, but the intrigue thinned out over the duration of the drama. The actors did a good job, but their characters had no spark, and the plot stretched into oblivion. 

The incidental music was pretty but monotonous, and a disruption during the dramatic moments. The last arc about the widow Yan was nonsensical filler.  The director should have ended the drama at episode 44, with the lovers' reunion, and time jumped to Qiu Dong's success with his headhunting empire. This drama should have been 24 episodes only. Half of the content was drivel. The budget was wasted on this drama. Hu Ge and Chen Long must have taken the acting assignment as a favor; a bad decision on their part!

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Very good costume drama

This was my first major costume C-drama for 2021 that I looked forward to, weekly. The subbed episodes could not come, fast enough.

The casting of Dilraba, Wu Lei, Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning in the four main roles was an excellent decision. I knew Dilraba and Wu Lei previously, but watched Zhao Lu Si and Liu Yu Ning for the first time. The LeYan and Hao Du storyline was more interesting than Changge and Ashile Sun’s.

I was very impressed with Wu Lei’s acting in this drama. At 21, he has proved with this acting job, that he can out-act the seasoned actors who might be in their 20s and 30s. This may be Wu Lei’s best acting performance to-date. This could also be Dilraba’s best acting performance to-date. I also loved Liu Yu Ning's acting, and went searching for his other dramas while Long Ballad was airing. I also enjoyed Zhao Lu Si's acting. She was a tiny fireball. Le Yan went from timid to self-assertive over the forty-nine episodes.

The story flow was well done. There were some draggy parts with Khan, Khatun and their underlings, as well as the Tang palace personnel. The ending was a bit vague. The anime scenes overcompensated for story telling action. We know there are talented graphic artists in China, but many scenes could have been live action, or just recounted via dialog.

A lot of beautiful people in this drama! The OST was very good.

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Best C-Drama of the 21st century

I watched this drama later than everyone else; 16 months after the original TV broadcast. I watched the entire drama in three weeks, staying up until 3AM, to watch episodes.

Nirvana in Fire is a TV drama masterpiece, that was brilliantly written and produced. All the actors in the primary and supporting roles, gave exceptional acting performances. Hu Ge and Wang Kai were the perfect casting choices for the Mei Chang Su and Prince Jing Yan roles. The costume designs and the set designs were flawless, and the music soundtrack was perfect. The directing and editing were very good.

The intricate plot flowed like an English Literature textbook. Hai Yan's novel, "Lang Ya Bang", deserves recognition in the Asian and Western literary worlds, and the TV drama deserves honors in the Asian and Western entertainment industries. All TV production houses should use the Nirvana in Fire as the benchmark for their dramas.

This is the first TV drama that I awarded 10 points across the board.

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This is Zhang Yimou's epic fantasy movie, and he pulled off an incredible feat of the imagination. I describe it as fantasy versus historical, because the monsters did not exist in historical times. The CGI was amazing, and took me back to the advent of Lord of the Rings. The movie was fast-paced, and the two hours zipped by quickly. I looked forward to this movie because of Andy Lau and Lu Han.

Matt Damon stepped up the plate in his first Chinese movie, as an European mercenary in China during the Song dynasty.  Damon's only flaw was the American accent, that did not match the job title.

Jing Tian was credible as Commander Lin Mae.

Andy Lau showed his competency in the second language.  I was very impressed that the scriptwriter entrusted a lot of English dialog to his character, the military strategist.  Andy Lau should have received third billing.

Lu Han did a very good job as the apprentice soldier, whose work experience was in the kitchen.

The monsters looked like relatives of the alien species in the Alien movies.

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Prince Chu Bei Jie, Man of the Year

The best thing about this drama is that the 62 episodes were translated in seven weeks on the DF site. I watched all the episodes, but started skipping the Bai Lan State scenes, due to lack of interest in their melodrama.S

Story:
A love story/epic battle costume historical drama.

Acting/Cast: General Prince Chu Bei Jie wins the Man of the Year award. Throughout the story, he was steadfast in his ethics and integrity. Bai Ping Ting was an adequate military strategist but she was also an expert waffler.  She waffled between Chu Bei Jie and He Xia. He Xia started out as the underdog prince, but his royal ambition and the callous manipulation of the needy Princess Yao Tian, made me grimace.

Music:
The BGM kept the drama moving to its conclusion.

Rewatch value:
Not likely to rewatch this drama, due to the lengthy drama and the lengthy filler.

Overall:
Chu Bei Jie, Fan Lu and Ze Yin saved the day, and the drama.

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Excellent food show

This was an excellent show; a beautiful adventure with a fun team. CEO Lee was the quirky boss with a sense of humor. Executive Director Yu worked the hardest, rolling gimbap and making rice bowls. Senior Chef Park made perfect fricken, ramyeon and corn dogs, and worked the front kitchen, too. Intern Choi was Server and PR Manager, conversing in mutiple languages with dinner guests. Intern Kim washed pots and dishes, and made delicious fricken. Security Guard Inspector Perro was diligent. I hope he got meals every day of operation.

The team work and comraderie was amazing. They demonstrated that language, culture and a sense of humor have no barriers. Perro and Tae Hyung were my most favorite employees.

All the foods looked delicious. Food presentation was superb. Yu Mi and Park Seo Jin worked like professional chefs. Senior Intern Kim Tae Hyung made some beautiful looking fricken and ramyeon.

I was sad that the restaurant closed down after a week. It could have gone on forever. Ceo Lee should have studied the logistics of when to open and close the restaurant, for effective sales performance. I believe siesta time is a popular habit in Mexico.

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Best Drama Couple of 2018 - Li Zi Cheng and Lin Qian

I sat through the entire drama, unlike other C-dramas that I dropped, due to lack of interest.

The casting of Jin Han was an excellent choice. He really lit up the screen, and he and Zhao LiYing had very good rapport. The casting of Zhao LiYing was another excellent choice, but there were serious issues with continuity, and her appearances on screen were not seamless. Her hair had varying lengths in the same scene, and seemed to grow several inches within a week.

Despite the perfect casting of the two main leads, I was bored with the remaining characters and their issues. Too much filler, too much dialog, too much bad editing, too much bad fashion!

For a drama set in a fashion industry, the fashions were fugly and painful to watch. Boss Chen wore the most ludicrous men's clothing, and Manager Ning wore two dozen or three dozen double-breasted busisness suits in every color, that were all two sizes too small for him. The male actors, who seemed to be in the height range of 5'9 to 6'0, wore clothes that were manufactured for males, 5'7 or shorter.

The haircuts were another story. Most of the actors had bad haircuts. Bad haircuts and fugly fashions weighed down the drama. Editing was bad. The scene with Lin Qin and Brother in the beginning episodes stretched over two or three episodes. The intercut scene editing made it look like they had been talking for twenty-four hours, and Lin Qian's hair length kept changing. That one scene should have been ten minutes long without the dreaded intercuts.

Flashbacking/flashback filler; this was almost as bad as Age of Legends, that I dropped because of the excessive flashbacks. The C-Drama Directors seem to forget that the viewers have a short attention span, and that constant interruptions only serve to disrupt the concentration. The Director should be trying to keep the viewer engaged in the plot.

Loud music; 75% of the time, the music volume was turned up when the characters were having a discussion. In real life, I don't think people have loud music playing when they are talking, unless they are in a dance club or concert.

Despite all the above criticisms, I found Jin Han and Zhao Liying to be charismatic, congenial, and refreshing in their characters. One might say that I loved the drama for these two actors, and the love story of their characters.

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Time Stretching in Chang'An

For fans of the espionage genre, this drama gives a rare glimpse into the MI-5 of ancient China; the imperial secret service, the Peacekeeper Corps of Chang 'An, and its solitary field agent. The COO (…chief operating officer) is Li Bi, the young genius and ally of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. Li Bi has his pulse on every street, every alley, every house, every waterway of the capital city, via an impressive scale model that was designed by the famous architect, and he has a database manned manually by his underlings. (Roger that!) The lone secret service agent underdog hero is Army Captain Zhang Xiao Jing, a force of one, who bulldozes his way through throngs of soldiers who are armed with sword and crossbow. Everyone else shows up for a day's work, and their compensation is to live or die another day. (Spoiler alert!)

Conspiracy in the court, revenge plots, invasion, loyalty, villains popping out of the woodwork, and a grand scale Lantern Festival (that rivals the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony), are components of the plot. Forty-eight episodes are a very generous representation of twenty-four hours in the Tang dynasty. That translates into an average of two episodes per hour, but the timekeeper's random declaration of the time contradicts the equation. One might question how Time was interpreted during the Tang dynasty. There were a few draggy parts and lengthy chatty scenes and generous close-ups, but the clock stopped ticking many times, when flashbacks and flashbacking sequences interrupted the crucial minutes of the Chang 'An day.

The directing, writing, casting, acting, costume design and set design, music score high marks. Editing did not run away as it often does in C-dramas, but the flashbacking scenes were positioned in the wrong moments.

This is one drama where the Director reined in the supporting departments to work in unison toward a common goal; achieving high entertainment and high quality in television drama production. The planning and execution is apparent in front of, and behind the camera.

The marvel and lynchpin of the drama is the indomitable Zhang Xiao Jing, whose motto is “Never give up the fight.” In fact, he might have fought a few hundred soldiers in the course of twenty-four hours, without breaking a sweat. Emperor, give that man a promotion and the title of God of War.

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Heartbreak drama

Here to Heart was my Go-To Drama for May 2018. It started out very favorable, owing to the participation of Hans Zhang and Janine Chang, who are engaging actors. As the drama progressed, with the characters remaining in a rut, I began to notice the bipolar, depressed, weepy and/or deluded characteristics of several characters. Midstream, the weepiness began to wear on me. By the end, I was too worn out, to cry during the lovers' emotional reunion.

Story: 6.5
A credible romance plot with too much weepiness, depression, delusion. By the middle of the story, I had no empathy and sympathy for the two lovers, Wen Nuan and Zhan Nanxian. Their persistent weepiness and inadequate communication skill made me indifferent to the lovers' plight. While the supporting characters were beautiful to behold, their mini stories also seemed to drag on forever.

Acting/Cast: 8
Credible acting by the main and supporting casts! Janine Chang's range of emotions was impressive, but she was wept her way through this drama, and that was depressing. Hans Zhang exuded charm and elegance on screen, but his weepiness was depressing. My favorite character was Gao Fang (… actor Ji Xiao Bing), who was the only rational, normal person.

Music: 9.5
The incidental music was beautiful. I wondered if the Winter Sonata composer composed the music. The theme song was overplayed too much; two or three times in the episodes. Once is enough, during the opening credits.

Rewatch value: 1
I was too depressed, watching the depressed, bipolar, deluded characters. Never again!

Overall rating: 6.5
If the drama had been trimmed to 30 episodes, with a tighter plot, less drivel, less weepiness, less depression, it would have been awarded the title of Ultimate Romance Drama to challenge the K-drama, Winter Sonata, sitting at the top of the Romance Drama chart. The Writer, Director and Actors put too much emphasis on the MELODRAMA, versus DRAMA.

Wardrobe notes:
Janine and Hans wore the most beautiful fashions, but some of their wardrobe should have been rejected. Nanxian wore checkered pajama pants and a tailored black tuxedo jacket and bowtie, and loafer shoes that looked like bedroom slippers, at his wedding in episode 45. Wen Nuan's red dress in the final London scene looked ill-fitting. It was loose and ready to fall off her. Yixin was an extreme fashionista, wearing elegant or tacky outfits. In general, all the actors were subjected to the whims of the wardrobe department.

Observation:
I felt that HTH had the tone of Winter Sonata, in story, characters and music. Lost love, love rivals, lost memory, interfering deluded parent, lack of communication, dream house, weepiness, depression, delusion! There were similarities between the four main characters of HTH and WS. Wen Nuan (=Yu Jin), Nanxian (=Joon Sang), Linlu (=Sang Hyuk) and Yixin (=Chaelin)! The HTH characters had more depth of character and job responsibilities.

The final montage of the couple in their State of Happiness was unnecessary. The drama should have ended at their final reunion by the River Thames.

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