Regeneration

THE FRIENDS OF FEI KE is a FLAWLESS MASTERPIECE

Read my other reviews. Watch me tear apart bad writing, editing, pacing -- you name it -- I take no prisoners. MEET YOURSELF? Boring cotton candy. JOY OF LIFE? The only funny thing about it is that it thinks its so funny.

REGENERATION is a flawless masterpiece. It ties with TO THE WONDER as the best C-Drama I've ever seen, even though both are very short series -- which is likely why they're so good.

RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE and IMPERFECT VICTIM are both excellent, as is SHE AND HER GIRLS -- but REGENERATION is another notch above these critically acclaimed legends.

I'm not going to spoil any plot details at all -- but only share it's a great drama in the storytelling mode of America's LOST TV series. Except better. Way better.

The ML Jing Bo Ran was new to me. I believe I've finally found a ML in Wallace Huo's level, which means I'll likely watch anything he is in going forward. This is a star's star. I knew Zhou Yi Ran from the other best series I've ever seen -- TO THE WONDER -- and although her role was small it was tricky to play and she nailed it. I'll now watch anything she's in.

The rest of the cast was terrific. Everything else about the production was flawless. I'll eyeball the director from now on.

I have a few nitpicky things to say, but before I do -- ignore all other reviews not giving this a straight 10. I've read two reviews here, they say everything was great -- but then mysteriously give it an 8.5. WTF?!? Seriously: ignore them.

Nitpicky --

1. Disliked the title. AI informs that Regeneration has a different meaning in China, regarding being 'reborn' and being a Freshman in college. (Something like that.) But AI said my title for this series more matched the title of the original book, and so I'll call it THE FRIENDS OF FEI KE.

2. In Episode 7 we learn that... how to say this without spoiling... that we haven't been given the complete truth? This moment is jarring, because it makes you want to rewatch the series up to that point to learn if this revelation... worked. I had a mild anxiety that they 'cheated' somehow.

3. It did find one flaw, but it's so tiny as to be forgettable. Still, I'd pull the posted episode and correct it, so that it could truly be flawless. At the end of Episode 8, eyes meet between two of our characters in a very moving way. At the top of Episode 9, they recreate that same moment to pull us back into the story, but they edited it differently and it's no longer the same. And the difference is jarring. An editing mistake.

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Unique show that leaves a lasting impression

Regeneration is a complex, multi dimensional show with no hero or villain. It may sound unrealistic but the main hero is somewhat of an anti-hero playing with everyone while the victims are somewhat the villain but with reasons. It is understandable and reasonable for every character to act in the way they do and that is what makes a show relatable yet remaining a fantasy and a mystery.

The show changes genre quite a lot but mystery remains the core of it all. While the main character is established as dead and shrouded in mystery it is quite clear after a while that most if not everyone had knowledge of what they were doing and it is them that failed to make use of the main character where they got outsmarted while trying to play him. The show is smart, logical while not being overbearing to the audience.

The actions of the main hero is somewhat psychopathic and I would have loved the guy to have thought about his future more than trying to hurt others. I just didn't find the reason for most actions as there was no reason for him to hurt himself in trying to cheat for his brother. As he was going to cheat for his brother and he intentionally made him fail he could have just not given the exam. It felt quite dumb on his part while being a top student. Again he got out of jail and had plenty of opportunity to make use of his brain to do something with his life but he decided to go to university anyway and act like a student and got caught being involved way too much. It was not that obvious what his end goal was. As people go to university to learn and to get a degree, however, he was not learning much apart from business ideas from the finance club and he was surely not gonna get a degree.

Another gripe is his psychopathic girl friend. That girl seemed odd from the start and as time went by it was quite clear she was not in her right mind and he dumped her or she dumped him. But whatever it was it did not seem relevant to the story of why she was called into question and asked to come in his funeral.

Everyone tried to use him and failed while he used everyone and failed to make use of anything. I wish the show had a proper reason to why anything happened. It seemed it was a true story and I would not have minded if the director took some liberty in changing things to make some things more interesting.

Real life crime stories are interesting, however, it is not often satisfying. The same goes for here. Every story ends on a cliffhanger where we know what happened and why it happened but we desperately want to know more and want the hero to say why he did what he did and if he had any reasonable explanation to what he did. It is generally better to give some plot armor to the main character and give him a reasonable love interest that we all can relate to. I understand a true story has its limits and what we got is not something I would say is unfinished just it is unfulfilling to some degree.

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Frustrante

Vou explicar por que esse drama me deixou tão frustrada.

A história gira em torno de um grupo de pessoas que não têm nada em comum além de terem sido enganadas pelo mesmo estelionatário, o protagonista. O começo é bobo, a forma como juntam essas pessoas tão diferentes é clichê, pouco crível e, sinceramente, meio preguiçosa. Só que, ao mesmo tempo, você sente que há algo oculto, que não pode ser tão raso assim.

A trama então começa a alternar entre presente e passado. No presente, cada personagem conta como foi enganado, e aí mergulhamos no passado e as cenas são espetaculares, sem exagero. O protagonista é carismático, sedutor, extremamente inteligente, manipula sem remorso, com uma confiança quase hipnótica. O ator é fenomenal e a cada cena você quer mais e mais. Como ele fez isso? Por quê? O que o motiva? Ele é interessante demais para não ser assistido.

O problema começa quando voltamos ao presente. O ritmo quebra de forma insuportável. Eu simplesmente não consegui maratonar por mais que tentasse. O presente é chato, arrastado, e os personagens não inspiram empatia. Tudo o que queremos é saber como foram enganados e o roteiro claramente quer que gostemos do protagonista, não das vítimas.

Até aí tudo bem.

Mas então vem a reta final e tudo desmorona com muita força e de forma abrupta. Surge a revelação de que nem tudo é o que parece. Essa é uma arma muito poderosa para thrillers quando bem usada. O problema é que aqui os roteiristas não souberam o que fazer com ela. Em vez de construir pistas sutis ao longo da narrativa, de modo que a descoberta complementasse a história e preenchesse lacunas, eles simplesmente mentiram.

Metade do drama nos faz apaixonar por um personagem que no fim praticamente não existiu, pelo menos não da forma como foi mostrado. Ou seja, tudo aquilo que vimos e admiramos, todo o impacto das cenas do passado, simplesmente não valeu de nada. É uma quebra imensa de roteiro, um balde de água fria que destrói justamente a parte mais interessante da história.

Descobri que havia quatro roteiristas envolvidos no projeto, e chega a ser perceptível qual parte cada um assumiu. Um escreveu o passado (perfeito), outro cuidou do presente (arrastado), outro inventou esse plot twist mal aproveitado, e outro ficou responsável pela pior personagem do drama: a jornalista. Ela não tem personalidade, não existe para a trama, só para explicar tudo para o telespectador. Sinto como se ela estivesse lá apenas para mastigar a história e cuspir na boca do telespectador para ficar mais fácil de engolir. Cada diálogo dela é expositivo, artificial, mastigando as mensagens que o diretor quer passar, inclusive a lição de moral final e aquela redenção apressada e forçada do protagonista.

Quando um diretor faz isso, sinto como se ele estivesse chamando o público dele de burro, e foi exatamente essa a sensação que tive. E eu de verdade me senti ofendida.

É uma história com potencial, um protagonista fascinante e um elenco muito bom, principalmente o ator principal que é gigantesco, mas o presente é mal desenvolvido, a narrativa se perde e a reviravolta destrói a própria trama. Os dois últimos episódios ainda conseguem brilhar um pouco ao retomar o passado e mostrar a adolescência e o início da fase adulta do protagonista, mas já é tarde demais, o estrago já tinha sido feito.

No fim, não dá pra dizer que é um drama inteiramente ruim. As cenas do passado são um primor, a cinematografia impressiona e o protagonista é irresistível (muito irresistível). Mas também não dá pra dizer que é bom. As quebras de ritmo, os diálogos expositivos, o presente arrastado, a reviravolta mal construída e o final clichê tornaram a experiência frustrante. A sensação que fica é de ter investido tempo em algo que no fim não aconteceu.

É uma pena. Esse drama poderia ter sido incrível, mas escolheu se sabotar. Saí da experiência me sentindo meio idiota, meio roubada.

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