Romance of a Twin Flower

Another one that starts great but then goes downhill

Im really sad to drop this as I've been excited to watch this for the cast and waited for it to be complete so i could binge watch - in the end i didnt even get past ep 10.

I'm especially disappointed with the writing of FL. In the first episodes they showed us her strong personality and quick wits. I loved the episode where she quickly figured out the arsonist. That episode promised me a smart independant woman with quick thinking, also one who would bite back if she was wronged.

Throughout the next few episodes she kinda felt dumbed down (save for when she built her businesses). I especially hoped to see the quick witted woman again in the episode when the Priggish scholars spread rumors about her, instead she came out like a fool after trying to deal with them. So what do you do when others wrong you? Go to hubby dearest of course and that's how it was handled, even though she was perfectly capable of doing so herself. Which brings me to another point.

So after the episode where she was WRONGLY flogged, she tries to divorce ML. In my opinion, she should've tried harder. She had so many chances to run from him, especially when he was down and injured. Even if it wasn't him who ordered her to be flogged, she THINKS it was him and she's so very valid for feeling angry and humiliated. She shouldn't have gotten over it and forgiven him so easily. She basically got flogged for NO REASON at all and they just sweeped it under a rug. I dont know if it's mentioned later on in the drama again but that should've been a bottom line, he should've had a harder time earning her love (even if it wasnt his doing she THINKS so and thats the main point).

Read More

The Usual Messy Simplicity

Nothing you haven't seen a hundred times before. Twin girls split up at birth, the bad one dies, the good one loses her memory and takes on the bad one's identity. Both sisters are the children of the man who killed the ML's father.

Really, the usual melodrama tropes of mistaken identity. Super drawn out, and super boring. I don't like the actor that plays the ML, but I did think he was good in this. The actor that plays the ML scowls when he's angry, he scowls when he's sad, he scowls when he's happy. I need more than that. I don't even think he's good looking for a ML. He just seems juvenile at all times and I want more than that from a ML. The script, not the acting was the biggest flaw of this drama. My goodness this is a boring melodrama! Completely predictable and incredibly boring.

Read More

Handsome men. Overstuffed convoluted plot that deserves a better ending

Overstuffed convoluted plot & overly long series-would be much better with 10 less episodes. Cast boasts alot of handsome males & a very perky attractive female lead (who seems a bit limited in expressiveness), but then again her character is written a bit flat & narrowly business focused. Ding Yu Xi plays a very similar character as he had in many other dramas & if you're not tired of seeing him cast that way, then settle in & enjoy. The romance makes little to no sense except from the point of view that the male lead's character has a bad judge of character when it comes to women & is married to 2 harpies making anyone less like a harpy more attractive ! Romances of secondary characters start out interesting but their stories end up unsatisfyingly bland or abrupt . Male lead's character is both very hardy ( survives 3 stabbings & yet somehow is also extremely fragile ( suffers nightmares, phobias, fevers, weakness when it comes to physical labor. ) On the other hand, the female lead is stronger mentally & physically.

Spoiler:
there is a 1 year time skip at end (which "steamed my clams")
During which male lead pines away, (not knowing if she is dead-while female lead does not even let him know she's alive as pragmatically decides to keep her distance, even after she meets up with him again.) The trope of singularly job/career/ focused female leads and male leads who are the more emotionally invested is getting extremely tiresome.

Read More

Too short and not sweet enough

LIKE

Story started great and I kind of like the bickering between "Nie Sang Yu" and Ning Yu Xuan but after a while...

DISLIKE

I'm not sure if the version I watched was cut off here and there but some episode just did not have content and suddenly there was an answer - like when Ji Man tried to expose Wen Wan but got backfired

I was expecting to see more of Nie Sang Yu

No chemistry between Ning Yu Xuan and Ji Man - I could not feel the love, pain and hurt at all

What happened to Tao Si Wei - ended abruptly and I was like what??

MUSIC - personal fav

你是倒映的微星 Ni Shi Dao Ying De Wei Xing - 單依純 Shan Yi Chun
誰念鏡中緣 Shei Nian Jing Zhong Yuan - 葉炫清 Ye Xuan Qing
长相诺 Zhang Xiang Nuo - 刘宇宁 Liu Yu Ning
淡写 Dan Xie - 刘惜君 Liu Xi Jun
且待梦中人 Qie Dai Meng Zhong Ren - 双笙 Shuang Sheng
剪星辰 Jian Xing Chen - 李紫婷 Li Zi Ting

REWATCH VALUE

It doesn't matter if I re-watch or not

Read More

Failed its Potential

I almost quit this one about 8 episodes in, but I decided to keep trying because I’m in between shows and I love Ryan Ding. I thought things were looking up after that. We finally saw some chemistry with the leads. The ML was finally getting likeable… Etc. But, ultimately… I couldn’t.

I’m at ep. 23 and I can’t bring myself to finish. The plot has changed into the day to day aspects of their job; the villains who were compelling in the first half are nowhere to be seen. The actions of the ML are odd, and I just don’t get them. Not to mention, we finally found out the backstory… and it’s just ridiculously unbelievable. Overall, I’m bummed, but it’s gonna be a no from me.

Read More

Cute and fun drama good for passing time

If you plan to watch this show, go in with low expectations on the plot and writing.

A cute and fun drama to watch when you’re in a slump and can’t decide on what drama to be emotionally invested in next. Interesting premise, light-hearted comedy but relatively heavy angst compared to most romcoms, depending on how much you feel for the FL (Ji Man). She’s this headstrong female lead that is determined to make a name for herself in business, but had to live under the shadow of Nie Sangyu’s (her twin) evil past after she lost her memories and their identities were swapped. Actress did great in portraying the feeling of intense guilt over actions you didn’t even know you did (and in reality didn’t) but people are pointing fingers at you for their trauma. I really felt for her.

Overall plot and writing is relatively weak, and the main CP’s chemistry was mid. But the acting of the main leads, the comedy and fluff, Ji Man’s story and Ding Yuxi all made it worth watching for me. Ding Yuxi’s expressive eyes can convince anyone that he thinks the actress he’s playing opposite from is the most beautiful woman in the world, so the romance works. I think I can watch him pine for his love interest anytime. He has the best “I’m in love” gaze from all c-actors I’ve watched.

I don’t really have much motivation to continue and finish this drama right now because I’ve already had my dose of fluff, but will probably pick it up again some other time.

Read More

Simpática serie histórica

Esta es una serie que he visto estas Navidades gracias a Amazon Prime.

Lo primero que tengo que decir que me gustan las series históricas pero en general las series chinas de este tipo me resultan un peculiares porque la protagonista suele ser bastante irritante. Por no llamarla idiota. Por suerte en esta serie no es así.

La historia es fácil. Muy fácil. Dos hermanas gemelas son separadas nada más nacer. Una queda a cargo de un general importante y la otra es adoptada por uno de los hombres de su padre, un antiguo jefe de la banda del Té, ahora comerciante. Después de dieciocho años siguen sin saber la una de la otra, pero por circunstancias del destino, la joven que quedó al cuidado del comerciante es confundida con su hermana, que se tiró por un barranco para huir de la ira de su marido.
Primero decir que entre el marido y la esposa no hay una buena relación. Ella es malvada, golpea a los criados y tiene aterrorizado a todo el mundo. Lleva casada unos cuatro años -se casó así con catorce, si las cuentas salen- con un importante hombre -cinco años mayor que ella- que es uno de los fieles oficiales del rey, quien a su vez tiene una odio personal contra la antigua banda del Té porque mataron a su padre. En el primer episodio la hermana mala salta por un acantilado, y la buena ocupa su lugar. Pero esta no ese acuerda de nada, así que cuando se despierta en la masión y le dicen que es la señora de la casa, asume la personalidad de su hermana. Nadie sospecha nada aunque ahora la joven protagonista ahora es una mujer muy virtuosa y amable, pero lo achacan al golpe que se dio en la cabeza. Seguro que si lo llegan a saber antes tiran a la esposa por el barranco antes.
Por el medio hay una sirvienta muy fiel. Una segunda esposa que el protagonista masculino adquirió por obligación moral pero que no tiene ningún sentimiento hacia ella, aunque esta mujer está locamente enamorada de él, y como es una arpía manipuladora hará todo lo que puede para acabar con la protagonista, ahora convertida en santa. Y hombre que busca venganza. Otro que busca el poder.

Y ahí está la trama. La protagonista principal no es muy irritante. Los primeros capítulos busca congraciarse con su marido pero después de un par de sucesos, decide que mejor sola, que quiere el divorcio. Lo que me irrita de ella, es esa locura que tiene por el dinero, y todo lo que está relacionado con la crema de la cara, y bla, bla, bla... ya sé que es una serie de ficción pero no sé, todo lo que se relaciona con la crema, la tienda, las hierbas y demás me parece demasiado superficial. Demasiado femenino, si se quiere decir. Lo importante es que todas las mujeres se vean hermosas y para eso la crema que les deja la piel perfecta.

En general no hay nada muy profundo aquí, y si hay algo interesante está en los primeros episodios, porque cuando la pasas de los veinte -por ser generosa- episodios y aún están con la crema y la tienda y todo lo demás, ya estás cansada de esta trama. Y el caso es que no hay nada más que masticar, la parte de intriga política, en muchos episodios no está porque se centra en la tienda, la crema y el protagonistas haciéndose carantoñas y siendo extremedamente repelentes en sus afectos. Y cuando estos dos ya aburren se centra en las parejas secundarias, una de las cuales tiene su trama en un par de episodios mientras que la otra se alarga un poco más. Destaca la historia de la bailaria y el guardaespaldas en sus primeros momentos, luego como no pasa nada, le ocurre lo mismo que con la pareja principal, se hace tediosa y repetitiva.

En cuanto a los actores, me han gustado todos. La protagonista femenina no ha estado mal pero a veces se hace difícil pensar que interpreta a una mujer de dieciocho años. Su voz de ratita no resulta irritante. En cambio él tienen la edad más o menos de su personaje y se le ve más en su papel. Juntos no lo hacen mal. Lo único criticable es que él al principio era un hombre seco, y duro con carácter y luego se volvió blanducho total. Entiendo el cambio, la evolución que tiene como hombre que no conoce el amor a la un hombre que abraza sus sentimientos pero aún sí una cosa es ser ahora consciente del amor de una mujer y otra convertirse un hombre que parece que tiene diez años y se ha echado su primera novia.
Me gustó el papel del segundo protagonista. Y con respecto a la mala, malísima, es una actriz que me pareció excesivamente delgada. Muy delgada.

En cuanto a elementos técnicos, es una producción que se nota que tiene dinero -se han gastado un dineral en velas- pero en general los personajes visten siempre igual y los escenarios son casi siempre los mismos. No te das cuenta de ello hasta que has visto unos cuantos episodios.
La calidad es buena, no se les ve las pelucas -si es que llevan- y todos los personajes tienen una piel perfecta. A la protagonista a veces le han puesto el filtro tan alto que parece que se difumina con la pared.

En general no es una mala serie, es fácil de ver y de disfrutar pero al igual que otras series su mayor problema es que son treinta y ocho episodios con una historia que quedaría muy corta incluso para una miniserie. Se alarga todo en exceso, sobre todo a partir del episodio diez. La verdad es que si no estás muy aburrida la puedes ver sin problema, pero si la quieres ver de golpe, no pierdas en tiempo es mejor mirar los primeros capítulos y luego saltar a los dos últimos. No se pierde nada., te lo dijo yo que los he visto a cámara rápida. Salvo, claro, si te gustan esas series en las que los protagonsitas se miran con ojos relucientes y se meten los unos con los otros de forma divertida, y hacen cosas románticas para sus amados.

¿Recomendada? Yo no me arrepiento de verla, ha sido una correcta elección para mis vacaciones de Navidad en la que buscaba algo liviano que ver, pero no la volvería a ver. Ni buscaría ciertas escenas en la red de redes porque me han gustado mucho. Vista, y nada más.

Read More

Seconda metà infinita e esasperante

Sono approdata a questo titolo con mille aspettative, perché adoro Ding Yu Xi. Mi piace come attore e, naturalmente, anche come aspetto. Certo, non tutte le parti sono nelle sue corde, ma la commedia romantica con qualche risvolto drammatico non molto pesante gli si addice molto. Anche Peng Xiao Ran, che interpretava la FL, ha lavorato molto bene.

Inizialmente il drama mi aveva preso moltissimo: era molto gradevole, con la giusta dose di mistero, suspense, fraintendimenti, ingiustizie. Quando la coppia principale ha cominciato a intendersi, le cose sono migliorate ulteriormente: i loro scambi di battute mi hanno intrattenuta parecchio. Sul fronte dei personaggi di spalla, se il “fratello Yuan” di Yi Da Qian lasciava parecchio a desiderare, per fortuna la guardia del corpo Gu Bai, magistralmente interpretata da He Chang Xi, ha interagito con tutti con la sua peculiare forma di umorismo. Le sue occhiate parlanti non le dimenticherò facilmente!

Quella che invece vorrei dimenticare in fretta è la delusione che è via via montata a partire dalla seconda metà della serie in avanti, per diventare irritazione ed esasperazione man mano che ci si avvicinava alla conclusione. Gli episodi dal trentesimo circa in avanti li ho affrontati con stoicismo, col solo intento di arrivare alla fine ma, a metà del trentaquattresimo, ho dovuto gettare la spugna a pochi metri dal traguardo, per così dire.

38 episodi sono veramente troppi per questo titolo. L’hanno tirata troppo per le lunghe, inventandosi ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili per la coppia principale e un lunghissimo e inutile torneo per diventare fornitori di corte, stiracchiando oltre ogni limite l’equivoco dell’identità della FL, un segreto di pulcinella praticamente gridato ai quattro venti, ma che viene tradito dalla persona più improbabile per la motivazione più stupida. Proprio questo tradimento assurdo mi ha convinta ad abbandonare la visione sulla dirittura d’arrivo. Ho perso qualsivoglia motivazione per continuare, mi basta sapere che alla fine tutti i santi finiranno in gloria e i cattivi saranno puniti, e lo so perché fa parte del genere.

Se, mentre stai finendo un titolo, invece di guardarlo vai a cercarne altri da vedere, c’è qualcosa, molto, che non va. Sono veramente sconfortata: aspettavo questo drama da mesi e vederlo affondare così mi ha davvero delusa. Immagino che molti non saranno d’accordo, ma il mondo è bello perché vario. In questo caso, però, è avariato. Peccato.

Read More