Impressive but far from perfection
First of all, this is a pretty good introduction to the theme of 'Tomb Raiding' genre in dramas.The production quality was okay and the direction was confusing at times, with weird screen transitions and time skips that pushed the story along further in the drama. There was a lot of information that went over my head because I'm not familiar with the original source material and this is my first time watching anything related to the franchise. I will say that the effort from the actors and CGI was good and that the writing and placement of '2-D characters' was annoying. I'm talking about the minor, filler characters like the background actors and mostly the women. All of the female characters fit into an old stereotype of 'pretty but temporary' - can't get in the way of brotherhood. (Except Granny Huo, she's a riot and I would have loved more of her and A-Ning in the show. Like, seriously, please give me more versatile women in this drama please!)
Even the henchmen and lackeys were expendable too. I would have liked to see more action in the room transition sequences and the archaeology details or reference points for the tombs they were raiding and better organization from a group of professors that have been on multiple expeditions, if the script is correct. It looks like the budget for the drama was big but not sufficient since these rich, young people are suppose to be the current generation and legacy of affluent families that have unlimited amount of riches to fund these life-threatening trips but why does everyone have a phone from the early 2000s? Flip phones, really?!
But I liked the small moments and the big grand ones of tomb reveals and history lessons (folktales?) shared in the story. I wasn't too impressed by this drama, but it does make me want to see more related media about Tomb Raiding in the future.
(Also, the age of the main character is suppose to be older than 30!!??! I don't believe it! When he mentioned that his 12th birthday was in 1989, I stopped and realized - wait what? He's not a fumbling, inexperienced but cocky and clever young college grad student like I thought he was?! It made more sense why everyone babies him in the show, if he was that young. His cousin even joked that 'his cleverness has to make up for his lack of physical prowess'. Insane. And the fat-shaming is only something I've seen done so normally and publicly like I do in Asian dramas. Specifically Chinese. It might be a cultural thing but it's still hard to digest that the character's name is 'Fatty' and nothing else.)
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The title says, Ultimate...ly 'Pick me up!' ?
As said in the drama, human heart is something that is scariest in the world but there are times when we are bound to deliver our fate in someone else's hand. The hands of the one whom we put all our trust on. Each time the tomb series rushes in with full of friendship, adventures and mysteries that give more and more addicting vibes. Among the series this one has a lot of moments of Pingxie. The iron trinity, their bond the care and trust, praises fall short for Wu Xie, Pan zi and Xiao ge. Adding on the moments of Xiao Hua and Black shades were icing on the cake. Like always the cliffhanger ending that was quite expected but for once I wished they would change it. The cast despite being changed was well coordinated and did a marvelous job; the comic timing, the sentiments. The tomb series keeps reminding us that time especially for being next to your loved ones is important. As for immortality; going against the laws of nature one cannot be spared to giving in an equal trade worthy price. Nearly forgot the soundtrack is really pleasing to the ear.Was this review helpful to you?
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You might not want to continue reading
I was going to drop this because several months ago I saw the first episode and it didn't grab me so I stopped watching it. Another member on here suggested I watch and I remembered this was the series I stopped watching. I was going to drop this after the third episode but I decided to give it a go.It turned out to be a good watch. It had great fighting in some episodes. Every cast member was on their A game. The chemistry was awesome. It had some great bromance scenes but I couldn't get past the main character. I kept thinking Harry Potter for some odd reason which was irritating to say the least but he was good. The second character who played stoic the whole series got on my everlasting nerves!!! Oh my gosh they showed his face about 20-30 times each episode which was teeth gritting. I'm like please stop showing his face if he's not saying anything!!!!
The guy who played Shades or Mr. Black was my favorite. Sadly they didn't show enough of him.
Here's why I say if anyone reads this they may want to stop after this sentence.
This series stopped in January of this year and left off in a cliff hanger. I seriously hate watching a series that have more than 10-16 episodes only to have it dangling in the air. If I had known this I wouldn't have watched the series. Seeing that it won't continue while I was in the midst of the series was disappointing. Plus one episode (21) didn't have full English subtitles. I missed the majority of the last 20 minutes of that episode because I couldn't understand what was being said.
This was good to watch. Adventures in nearly every episode. Too bad we won't know how it will end.
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A big pity things are left hanging
When I first started watching this after watching The Lost Tomb (2015), I could not get used to the cast. The lack of continuity from what I had watched also made me lose interest. After enough time had passed for me to forget much of The Lost Tomb (2015), I started on Ultimate Note again with a bit more patience and was pleasantly surprised.Although the references to other events may be confusing at the start, there is no need to have watched other DaoMuBiJi-based series. Apparently they don't join up very well anyway, and the cast, direction and even characterization tend to differ.
What I had hoped for after watching a few episodes was that Ultimate Note would be a nice series on its own. In some ways, it is. Although there are allusions to adventures that are not shown in the series, we can watch Ultimate Note without having to know the details. Ultimate Note is very much focused on Wu Xie and company's attempt to investigate the truth after receiving some mysterious VHS tapes, one of which featured someone who looks identical to the adult Wu Xie even though the tape was made when he was just a kid. One thing leads to another in the series, and we can follow the characters' adventures with relative ease.
Unfortunately, Ultimate Note suffers from the problem that all DMBJ series seem doomed to suffer from: things that do not get fully explained and ending in the middle of nowhere. Too many things that are important to the story in Ultimate Note end up not being explained, e.g. the apparent replicas of various characters, the identity of the man with the sloped shoulders, etc etc etc. This is the equivalent of watching a series about a locked-room murder and then the series just ends without explaining how the murderer has killed the victim and without the murderer being caught.
Despite the sense of incompleteness, the characters really grew on me in Ultimate Note. This was unexpected given how I was not used to the different cast after watching Li Yi Feng and Yang Yang's Wu Xie and Zhang Qi Ling. Whether it is the interactions amongst Wu Xie/Zhang Qi Ling/ Fatty or the growing friendship between Hua Er and Black Glasses or the understated strong bonds between Wu Xie and Hua Er, there is a lot to make them characters viewers actually like and care about.
At least a segment of viewers will like the bond between Wu Xie and Qi Ling, which is practically a romantic one. It's often portrayed through the characters talking about or teasing them about how they would die for each other. Fatty joking that he wants to complain about Qi Ling to Wu Xie or saying that he doesn't know how to account to Wu Xie if Qi Ling dies are just a couple of examples that make the relationship seem more than just strong friendship. The three of them are close friends, but Wu Xie and Qi Ling are definitely biased towards each other as they are extra protective of each other. However one interprets their relationship, it is a good thing that the characters come to life with the different ways one character would behave towards different people.
There is also nice development in Wu Xie's character. The general impression people seem to have of Wu Xie (from watching one DMBJ-based series or another) is that he is always needing to be saved by Qi Ling, like a damsel in distress. But in Ultimate Note, we see that he may not be very physically powerful, but he has the determination to fight for his friends and save them too. Whether it is the way he carries an unconscious Fatty to save him or the way he single-handedly fights off a snake and a monster to keep Hua Er safe, his character is admirable. Joseph Zeng does a good job portraying Wu Xie, managing to bring out both the kind, righteous side of him and the tougher, more jaded side of him when he has to deal with shadier people or challenging situations.
But why must the story end just as it seems to be getting somewhere near a climax? Even if there is no way to solve all the mysteries set up, there may be more appropriate moments to end Ultimate Note, e.g. at the moment he characters set off for the final adventure in the series. Some effort to provide a credible theory of the phenomenon of character replication-- even if it turns out to be wrong or inaccurate in a subsequent series or as compared to the novels--would also give a better sense of closure than what we have in Ultimate Note.
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A MUST WATCH SERIES
The bromance is strong in this one and I have no complaints! The friendship between these people are always my favorite part of these series.Although I did not get to watch the previous series, this one is easy enough to pick up and understand. and of course the bromance is HOT. The chemistry between all the actors—main and side characters—are amazing! I wasn’t expecting much from them when I first heard of this (because like I said, they’re competing with ZYL) but they actually made the characters for me, even more than ZYL and HJJ did. They fleshed them, and the relationships between them, out perfectly, in my opinion. Best Wu Xie and Xiao Ge relationship ever (I mean, Xiao Ge was angsting hard after Wu Xie in this, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, that in itself should already tell you how good it was). Pangzi was actually portrayed as the third pillar of the Iron Triangle, instead of just someone who is there to serve as comic relief. I mean, he still was the comic relief, but we actually got to see him be the strong, competent and important Pangzi that he was written to be.
Overall, this is a solid storyline where a group of friends set out to seek the missing memories of a friend and along the way happen to unravel hidden (not so hidden) secrets. It was an enjoyable watch and I really loved it as an avid Dao Mu Bi Ji fan.
So, I most definitely recommend this series to people if you like this genre and/or the actors that portray these characters!
The ending is a cliffhanger,
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More Daomu, with all the usual good and bad.
Reunion was pretty good.So it's quite jarring to start watching UN and be back to pre-Reunion Daomu standards.
It's a step up from the previous Lost Tombs, but barely up to Reunion's ankles.
The Actors:
They're mostly good. I wasn't sure about Wuxie and Zhang at first, because they're a switch up of the usual formula - a rather masculine Wuxie (with what looks like permanent 5 o'clock shadow and a massive chin) and a very feminine looking Little Master. But they're both pretty good. This might actually be one of my fav Zhang's, because he actually acts at times and shows some emotions. Fatty's acceptable, Xiao Hua is hot and pouty and Shades is also there. (honestly, Shades' actor is one of the weaker ones and his role is super one note. But I did enjoy his flirting with XH)
The side cast is ok, no real standouts.
The Story:
It's bad. We're used to this, right? Daomu is a mess. It goes absolutely nowhere, there's no resolution to anything, nothing builds up, nothing happens, we get an open ending as usual. No surprises, but it still hurts.
The Production:
It's ok? Maybe weaker than we're used to. Solid CG at times, but much of the tomb raiding feels very cheap, and the fights with the usual animal hazards look super silly. Luckily there isn't much mystic nine intrigue and plotting, but the tomb raiding which I mostly watch these shows for is not that great.
Random notes:
- is Panzi a joke? Is he a joke character? I've not read the books, so someone please tell me. Is the fact we have two characters who are friends named Panzi and Pang Zi a joke?
- there's some fanservice in this one. Oh boy.
- We get Ah Ning and she's handled even worse than in Reunion. I laughed out loud when THAT happened. I guess the book has to be to blame, it's so silly.
That's about it. Another Daomu notch in the ol' belt. Will we ever get to see Palace in the Clouds? Who even knows.
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Captivating show that will blow anyone away
Disclaimer: this is the first one out of the daomu biji series I've seen!As someone who just started this drama after seeing Joseph Zeng in Take my Brother Away, I was blown away! Firstly, I did not know it was a whole series but even then I think I was able to keep up pretty well. I thought the casting was amazing and all the actors did such a great job, it will be hard for the one's in the sequel to live up to. I found the pacing of the story to be weird in some parts but overall it was fine.
I'm not sure if it's because of the actor's ages or what, but none of the characters ages made sense or the year this story takes place. They're dressed pretty modern but they use phones from the early 2000s but they also have access to hi-tech drones? Also, Ah Ning's death was inadequate for a main character and it was weird how her body kept showing up in places with no explanation. A lot of elements are introduced and made to seem important but as soon as its inconvenient, it gets dropped or ignored. For example, the doppelgängers theory was introduced (with no basis may I add) but was never mentioned again. The deadly bugs that can kill you with one bite is another example of this as by the end of the show, they're just shooing them away. I thought the snakes were way too overused and wished they brought in something new. I liked how they changed the objectives as the show went on and it wasn't set in 1 place for too long. However, it became really confusing at times as to how the objectives were connected and related to the larger story. We go from finding the secret of immortality to Wu Xie's uncle missing to Zhang Qi Ling losing his memory to hunting for the Zhang family pavilion just to get Zhang Qi Ling's memory back?
I would hesitate to even call the ending an ending. Wu Xie is seemingly distressed about his friends but never goes to look for them? And Cox Hendry says he will join when they get close to the entrance but misses his cue? They should've at least tied up some loose ends. I'm just being a little nit picky but overall this big budget production will be a great watch for anyone (maybe not romance fans).
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The Best Lost Tomb Series
after seeing all Lost tombs series, i really believe it was the best series of all Lost tombs series ever.it include the story and of course chosen actors for main roles.
so when it ended unfinished, i really feels like crying.
its not some melodrama so u read the story to know what would happen next.
all action and.....are really worthy to see.
i really hope they would continue the rest of story (of course with same actors)
it was the best Pang Zi and Zhang Qi Ling ever!!!!
I really wish, hope,....it will continues.....
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Must Watch!
I love CDrama specially when it has bromance on it but aside from that, I also focus on the plot. If the first episode is good to me, it will continue and not hesitant to drop the series. This series was so good even there sequels but some says that it is not necessary to watch them. This series will give you more details on it and it didn't disappoint me. I really recommend this series not just only the good acting skills of the actors, the places, and the music, good storyline also. It will not mislead you if you are paying attention on every each episodes. Hoping for next season and same cast much better!Was this review helpful to you?
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I was crying so much when it ended!
Seriously Joseph did a fantastic job playing Wu Xie, one of my absolute FAVE ULT CHARACTERS and that's why the ending was so devastatingly beautiful and intense cause you know in your heart you're basically breaking up with the cast ㅜㅜ
And boy did he look SMOKING HOT in those shirts every time he took off his coats and sweaters, bruh those forearms, and just the way he's built he's FIT.
And okay I ASSURE YOU despite that Wuxie Ning story line THIS ONE IS SO MUCH GAYER LOL THAN OTHERS and I loved every second ^^
But okay now for my second favorite character, which used to be Fatty or Qi Ling - BLACK. I was HOOKED when Baron Chen played it in Providence and this time Liu Yu Nang aka Hou Du from long ballad played it so well! In fact both Liu Yu Nang and Yu Han as Xiao Han (Yu Chen) their bromance was just as epic as Xie - Qi Ling.
In fact, if I'm being completely honest I MIGHT HAVE DONE SOME WUXIE - XIAO HAN SHIPPING you know when they were solving the riddles together and getting angsty and hurt ㅜㅜ like that whole 'neither of our lovers are here tonight' vibe they had
And omg fatty and his mpreg jokes about Wu Xie doesn't he know he's just giving us ideas lol like that wouldn't even be Fatty's baby ffs okay I'll stop
Seriously well written script and the ending was so much more like a proper ending even though Xu Kennedy don't do proper resolution of arcs so by now I'm used to it, you know take it or leave it
Xu Kennedy loves leaving us stranded even his main 'bromance' is one naive sweet boy and a super hot ghoster ffs and Black is basically Qi Ling with one liners lol let's face it he ghosts the characters just as much.
So, after every season I have to break up with the cast and its brutal and this time it was no different! And I hated it.
Will for sure re watch again soon!
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The best lost tomb series-Xiao Ge appearance most of the time
Ultimate Note – The Best in the Lost Tomb Series (Highly Recommended!)I found Ultimate Note through a recommendation—and wow, it did not disappoint! Among all the Lost Tomb series, I personally think Ultimate Note is the best.
Why I love it:
Xiao Ge appears more often in this version, and that alone makes a big difference compared to the other series.
The bromance/brotherhood between Wu Xie, Xiao Ge, and Pang Zi is truly heartwarming. I love seeing this trio together—their bond is everything!
another one of my favourite character is Hei Yan Jing (Black). He’s so hilarious and his acting is on point. He brings the perfect touch of humor to balance the intense storyline.
The sci-fi fantasy vibe of the story just makes it more exciting. It’s mysterious, emotional, and imaginative all in one.
What I didn’t like:
The last episode... it left us with a hanging story. It felt incomplete, and I was craving for more.
Because of that, I can’t give it a perfect score—but still, I’d rate it 9.5/10.
Final thoughts:
I’m really hoping for a Season 2 because Ultimate Note is too good to end like that. It deserves a proper continuation!
Highly recommended for fans of action, mystery, and strong character bonds!
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