Incredibly tedious.
Started off interesting. After a while, the narrative gets bogged down with very superficial minutae.There's a huge focus on the state of the art IT system that gets irritating after a while. The story is supposedly over 24 hours. After several weeks of trying to sieve the difference in crucial plot details versus details of the IT infrastructure, clothing etc, it just got too tedious. Everyone walked around with supposedly blood and gore artistically applied on; no smearing, no change, only on the face with hair, clothing spared
The only army required seems to be those in the "IT" industry. Otherwise the male protagonist is perfectly capable of taking down endless stream of baddies with his shortened sword (mark of shame).
One word describes the OST - numbing. What was supposed to be suspenseful was just draggy.
Just got too tedious snd i stopped.
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A Shallow Storyline with Excessive Dragging
A Shallow Storyline with Excessive DraggingI have watched Ma Boyong twice, first in Luoyang and then in Chang'an.
I've never quite understood why his movies receive such high ratings. For me, the storyline feels shallow and drawn out, lacking in interest. The plot is overly complicated yet predictable, with too much unnecessary dialogue and drama. Perhaps Ma Boyong would do better to focus on shorter stories that are more engaging, rather than investing time and resources in lengthy endeavors.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's like taking a long hike and reaching the peak with no views
Heard rave reviews about this show on Reddit. Decided to give it a chance as I've previously enjoyed a somewhat similar drama - Advisor's Alliance.First half of the show was top tier but it started falling apart the moment the Holy Lantern failed to explode and the Emperor being kidnapped. From that point onwards, the plot started becoming increasingly unhinged. Extremely rushed ending with shoddy explanation of the main plot & multiple unexplained loose ends - like what with Prince Yong killing his aide and wtf happened to him? What happened to Lin Jiulang and his horde of loyal dogs? Long Bo being the extremely smart guy with the various backup plans suddenly had mental collapse and couldn't bear to kill the Emperor?? Who was the main instigator of this whole plot?? You baited us for 48 episodes and didn't even bother to reveal it at the end despite constantly hinting on the Persian Gold Coins??? Started a love line btw Zhang Xiaojing & Tan Qi but they separated for unknown reasons at the end???
I admit the production and cinemography was execellent and I did enjoy the suspense at first but the whole point of a Mystery drama is to reach a logical ending which this drama failed to do. Disappointed.
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Fantastic!
Fantastic in almost every way 〜starts as investigative mystery and soon combined into high action drama。why have I waited so long to watch ？48 episodes is not a huge mountain at all it was climbed in record time⭐️the strangest thing maybe was how this started out as investigation with Li Bi as central character and he faded out in last episodes while a side character suddenly becomes the genius to unravel the links of the plot but then himself goes unrecognized and unrewarded ；second how this drama ends on such a muted note、 no great unmasking of villains and rewards and punishments but then maybe this is in keeping with the arch of the drama； much is left not stated （maybe too much ）and must be understood ；the climax was amazing but the working out in the final episodes quite good also、 but for me if there is a failing it is in the somewhat rushed ending and because the fate of various characters is left in the dark〜
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Pity, because the set design and cinematography are great. The city feels alive and lived in with us getting a chance to see many subsets of cultures and people.
It's just that I found neither the plot nor the characters compelling or worth investing in.
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What's the rave about?
I am into the third episode and about to give up. It is produced in a very old Chinese style - with dim indoor lighting and rugged clothings. Realistic - yes, appealing - no. The audio recording was muffled and difficult to make out so I have to rely on the subtitles. All I see up to now was a lot of people running around, horse galloping, shouting and drum roll in an attempt to create an ambience of urgency and excitement. But the story is not developing fast enough and it is not keeping me interested.One of the earlier reviewers advised to watch until the tenth episode into the story but I do not think I have the patience. Also a reviewer did not declare there is a spoiler in her reviews which spoil it further for me. I do not understand why it was so highly rated on mydramalist.com. It is not my cup of tea.
Unlike 'The Untamed' which I did not like it much initially, but I got to like it very quickly by the second episode.
I am going to push on for a little while. If I change my opinion about it, I would come back to correct this review.
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