19th Floor

19层 ‧ Drama ‧ 2024
Completed
Jae Jin
1 people found this review helpful
Mar 14, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

Great First 10 Episodes, but fell off after

I guess to compare, it's basically squid game but a watered-down version. No, I think it would be more similar to Alice in Borderland.

The story at the beginning was really, really good. It's hype, it's intense, and the stakes are high. But after you get past episode 10, that's where it goes downhill. I'm not the type who reads comments when I'm currently watching the show, just to avoid poisoning my own judgment and enjoyment of the media, but when I was still probably in the first 5 episodes, I couldn't help but read a few just to see what's up because I'm liking it! It had a strong start! And some people said, "Ohh, fell off in 2nd half, fell off after the 3rd death game," and yeah, I can kinda see why. I didn't fall off after episode 10 like other people. I fell off around 17-18, and that's when I started watching this show at 2x speed just so I could move on to the next show.

Here's why: I think the main problem is that the writer has overwritten the side characters too much. I get that they want to make the viewers get invested with the side characters too, and it worked, but they did too much, to the point that it made the show draggy. The writers know that, of course, ML and FL are going to stand out; they're strong and smart, people are gonna like them, but they didn't want them to be the only main stars of the show; they didn't want them to overshadow the others. So to offset that, they tried to give more screentime to the side characters by giving them a lot of exploration, but I didn't like it sometimes, especially when it comes to 'Zhang Tian Qiang' This guy is introduced clearly to be the asshole of the show, but they showed some vulnerable moments of him too. At first, I liked it because it gave balance to his character, but when they kept repeating it over and over, is where it starts to get annoying. Like we barely got any exploration for ML; we did, but personally, I feel like that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had a lot of curiosity towards him. With FL it was fine since we got some, but it got confusing a little bit because of the twists and turns. I can also see why the romance aspect got in the way of the show; at first, I liked the subtleness of it, and I wished for it to develop even further, but when it did become obvious, I don't know... there's just something about it that made me feel like "Naaah... can we just go back to making it open for interpretation?"

The games in this show were good; they gave each character a chance to shine and show their strengths. The CGI was alright, nothing to complain about, but I couldn't wrap my head around that dungeon space that they've introduced, where the people who died in-game are just trapped there and can still live normally like in real life. Like "Yeah sure, while your real-life body is barely living off of dextrose." And I feel like there could've been other sci-fi ways to realize the vision for that part. I don't know if it's culturally rooted or not, but I liked the 2nd game, where they listen to a song and guess which symbol they're gonna insert through the door. And I don't know about you guys, but I was so annoyed that they kept being mysterious about how these people were entering a VR game without a helmet (I'm so dumb!!! That's why it's a mystery!!). But when they did explain it, I was still dissatisfied because the one thing that made me question it was, how did these people not feel the sting when the chip was injected into their head? Because it was revealed that it was injected in real time when they were testing out the helmet. So you're telling me, you can feel the mosquito biting into you, but you can't feel a chip being injected deep into your brain? That sounds like crap.

As for the characters, since I've said my piece regarding the side characters being overwritten, no one really stood out to me like he/she is my favorite character, so I'm just gonna try to comment on each one.

For FL, it's more about her actress Sun Qian, and probably an unpopular opinion, but this is what I've been meaning for her. I've watched 3 works of hers at this point with 'All These Years' and 'A Robot in the Orange Orchard' being the others. From what I can gather, I think her strength lies in characters where she's not required to act cutesy. Now, I still need to watch her other cutesy character dramas to confirm it, but that's how I feel currently. She's rocking this tomboy concept by the way.

For ML, This is my first drama of him, and I love it when he speaks very low, ghaaad!! I can feel it deep in my eardrums, and he's a great actor. If Sun Qian and Wei Zhe Ming get paired again, I hope it's a romance drama because I liked the spark of chemistry that I felt from them.

For Yang Ba Wan, my ghad! I hate him so much; he's such a cringe character. He's the type of person who would get bullied a lot in real life for being such a dork and cringe, but because of his development throughout the show, he's become somewhat okay, like whatever.

Nan Xiao Qing, I think she's okay, but I didn't liked her romantic development with Bawan. I was like "No, No, No! I do not approve this relationship!" But they have a good dynamic together later on. As for the actress Rachel Wang, I was amazed by her look. At first, I was shocked, but I think she rocked it.

Zhang Tian Qiang, bro, it would've been fine for me after the scene of you caring for your bros who are in a coma, but after it kept repeating like it became annoying to me because they would show a scene, then he would fumble the next episode. And you pair him with Bawan, It's like a match made in heaven of Annoying and Cringe. I can also feel his actor being 200% into this character.

Qing You, girl, I feel what it's like when your bff is being stolen by other people, but there was something about it to me that didn't look smooth as it was being built up.

For the rest, they are all okay. I laughed when the CEO antagonist chased after FL after some sad family drama happened to her and just casually asked "Please help us finish this death game project." like what????... Yeah, sure Mr. CEO even though it will cost us our lives. lmao.

Overall, it's alright. started strong, but slowly dwindled because of the over-written side characters. This could've been shorter if you cut all the draggy scenes. I wouldn't recommend it personally.

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Completed
Emily
2 people found this review helpful
Feb 13, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 9.5

19th floor is best drama...

It was an interesting and entertaining drama. I became interested in the series mostly because of Miles, but the story was also really great, full of suspense and adventure, a stable and promising friendship, I admire their intelligence, it was very cool, I myself like smart and smart people because They solve the problems faster.Of course, in my opinion, the actor Chun Yu could have been a little more emotional and kind, but he was still good and he seemed interesting next to Gao Xuan. I think the comedy is about Bavan, he is a madman in every sense, his relationship with Dodo was also funny .I suggest you see it. I had a great time 🙏🏻😍

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Completed
Bells21
1 people found this review helpful
Oct 17, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 10

Good action and suspense drama with a happy ending.

Was creepy and scary at times, but an enjoyable series to watch. There were some slow or boring moments for me so I ended up skipping some scenes just to get to the more exciting parts. I also skipped those parts because I was very into the story and just wanted to see what would happen next. But I'll definitely rewatch this series since it kept me on the edge of my seat and will watch the whole episodes next time around. Overall it was a great story I would recommend it to all who are into suspense and action dramas. There were some sad parts, but all turns out good in the end with a happy ending.


* The ending was confusing??!! Is that a hint to a second season??!!. What does everybody else think?? I wouldn't mind a second season, as long as it doesn't ruin the happy ending from the first season.

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Completed
pash
1 people found this review helpful
Feb 21, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I picked up this drama both for the intriguing plot and for my beloved Sun Qian, and I'm happy to say I wasn't let down. Quite the opposite, the series exceeded my expectations, and although perhaps not absolutely perfect, it's still one I can wholeheartedly recommend!
The premise was nicely developed, the setting very nice, and the production value pretty high.
The whole cast did a marvelous job, seriously. My hat goes off to all of them! Honorable mentions for Sun Qian, for Luo Yu Tong (who grew on me so much that by the end of the drama I was liking her even more than the FL - and that's saying quite a lot!!!) and for Tao Hai.
The script was very good and I particularly appreciated how well they accomplished character development and how nicely they managed to convey a wonderfully positive, ethical message.
The only reasons I'm not giving this a perfect 10 are, on the one hand, that I really didn't like how they set things up for a potential second season (I'm talking about the very last scene with the never seen before character - totally unrelated to the rest of the series), and on the other hand, that I found a coupla scenes a bit weak/forced. But then again, perhaps the machine-translated subs (that at times one had to *interpret*, rather than simply *read*) are to blame for that? Whatever, beggars can't be choosers and machine-translated subs are still a whole lot better than no subs at all, of course. 9/10

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Completed
chewwyy99
1 people found this review helpful
May 7, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

Very interesting storyline (in a good way)

This is by far one of my favourite dramas to watch! The characters are all very entertaining, and the main plot is the most interesting one I've seen thus far (in a good way). All the acting seems very natural to me, and there is almost nothing wrong with the drama itself. The games themselves are all great, except maybe the night before the remaining members enter the Ultimate Space (that one was good, but I feel they could've made it a bit more interesting in some way or another).
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Completed
JJahnavi
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10

The cast & plot make up for the poor editing & transitions

Despite the classic chinese drama style bad scene transitions, this drama roped me in firstly for its plot, and then for its cast. I have new favourites in, especially Bai Shu (yang bawan) & Sun Qian (chun yu) - their reactive acting was exceptional, and the rest of the cast were great too! In the beginning, I found Chun Yu's acting quite expressionless but, in time, that explains itself.

Few scenes (especially in the beginning) were not convincing enough, and repetitive dialogues made me roll my eyes, but again, the plot (what happens next) kept me going.
It's purely the cast and visual fx that pulled the 9 star rating. Even when I got bored in parts, I came back for them. I will definitely rewatch this drama for the cast. Their chemistry was spot on.

All in all, I highly recommend the drama.

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Completed
piyasharma
0 people found this review helpful
Feb 10, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0

Very Entertaining

This was surprisingly good. all graphics and everything was very well done. They chose experienced and good actors which made it even more entertaining cuz even scenes between side characters were enjoyable. that suspense factor was there in every episode till the last episode. and ending was very wholesome cuz everyone got a happy ending. I was annoyed with the evil girl but thankfully she didn't get to do much damage.

There are many loopholes, yeah definitely there were times when I felt that this was unnecessary or that didn't make any sense but that happens in almost every drama, nothing major, overall everything was neatly tied by the end. I binge-watched it and didn't feel like I wasted my time cuz it was worth watching.

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Completed
Enchanting Leviosa
0 people found this review helpful
Apr 28, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

INCREDIBLE

This drama was just soooooooooo good! So the story is about this group of people that enter a game that turns dangerous because they realise that when people die in the game they go into a come in reality. So it's just about them growing together, building a bond and figuring out what happened, and why it is happening. It SUCH a well played out drama that it's truly exciting. The games were very innovative and different and I absolutely loved watching the growing relationships between each character, whether it be friendship, comradeship or romance, it was just magical. Loved watching this drama soo much and in sure you will too if you like dramas with exciting, clever plots and just as much romance and growing friendships. The storyline was really interesting and each episode was enticing! Watching this brilliantly laid out drama was truly incredible. The actors have done SUCHHH a good job in this drama, like they truly brought their characters to life, I absolutely enjoyed watching their onscreen chemistry with each other. And the music was just perfect! It perfectly suited the vibe of this drama, and it's soo great! Overall, it's an incredible drama that has a clever plot and brilliant storyline with cute characters that are so fun to watch, as fathers-daughters, friends, and something more. 🏚️🎮👩🏻🙂🧑🏻🎮🏚️

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Completed
Muskan
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 19, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

A Hidden Gem: *19th Floor* Delivers Thrills and Gripping Performances

*

*19th Floor* is an exhilarating drama that masterfully blends suspense, excitement, and exceptional storytelling, yet it remains vastly underrated. This is a show that truly deserves more attention and praise for its captivating narrative and outstanding performances.

From the very first scene, *19th Floor* hooks viewers with its fast-paced and thrilling plot. The drama skillfully balances intrigue and action, creating a rollercoaster of emotions that keeps you at the edge of your seat. The writing ensures that every twist and turn feels earned, making the viewing experience both unpredictable and satisfying.

The cast selection is impeccable. Each actor brings depth and authenticity to their roles, breathing life into the complex characters. Their chemistry is palpable, making the story even more immersive. It’s rare to see a cast so perfectly aligned with the vision of the narrative, and *19th Floor* excels in this aspect.

While the drama occasionally delves into elements involving artificial intelligence, which may leave some viewers wanting more clarity, this minor flaw is easily overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of the rest of the story. The AI subplot could have been explored in greater depth, but it doesn’t detract from the overall impact of the drama.

In a sea of overhyped shows, *19th Floor* stands out as a true hidden gem. Its thrilling pace, stellar performances, and engaging storyline make it a must-watch for anyone seeking quality entertainment. If you’re looking for something gripping and unique, give *19th Floor* the recognition it so rightfully deserves—you won’t be disappointed.

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Completed
ellenshuura
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

was really great in the first half then became so slow to the point i basically dropped it

The premise sounds interesting: Six people involved in the same car accident + 1 mystery person end up trapped in the infamous haunted Building 19 of the university I don't remember the name of. There are monsters and puzzles, similar to an escape room. The CGI is fantastic. And the story does live up to what the synopsis promises, in the beginning at least. For the first 10 or 15 episodes, I was pretty engrossed in the whole story and the puzzles and the relationship between the two leads (they're cute). However, the plot slowed down so much after that (I think during the circus level), everything began seeming repetitive, and whatever was supposed to be a plot twist just never really hit at all. And the lack of realism in parts of the plot was pretty annoying. Also, I just didn't really fw the team at this point and the power of friendship stuff and whatever. I got so bored at the end that I ended up skipping over the last 5 episodes because I just could not force myself to sit through that snail's pace of a plot.

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Completed
Melina Asli
0 people found this review helpful
Mar 27, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

In another world...

The series has an interesting script. The first half is emotional, and it goes more into the concept phase than the second half, which lowers the tension a bit. There is a lot of positive characterization growth for all the characters, but the characterization of the main female character is really difficult and the author completely transforms her into someone else.

It have romance. They are two couples who are very beautiful together, but I would have preferred the romance of the main couple in the series to have a different form and instead of childhood love, they gave us a hot couple, which is just my personal opinion. I wanted their feelings to spark during these games and I really wanted those romantic relationships...

The special effects of the series and the locations are really good. I don't say it's great, but it had good special effects. It was a successful series. action sequences were no joke. In some places, it was really stressful to watch. The theme song that was playing also helped in this matter. Between the osts, I loved the ending ost.

In short, if you are looking for a series in the style of survival game, it is interesting to see the series for once. If the screen writer had worked better at last 10 eps, it would definitely be one of my suggestions...

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Completed
JosefinaRamrez
0 people found this review helpful
Nov 16, 2025
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 3.0

Surprised

“19th Floor” surprised me far more than I expected. At first, I thought it would be just another story about games and virtual reality, but it ended up keeping me hooked until the very end. What I liked the most is that behind all the puzzles and the tension, the series always brings to the forefront values that truly resonate: friendship, loyalty, and the importance of trusting others even when everything around you seems to be falling apart.
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  • Score: 8.2 (scored by 3,039 users)
  • Ranked: #1519
  • Popularity: #2158
  • Watchers: 10,444

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