Ephemeral Paradise (2025)

Fights and steam

They had money (for vertical standard). Enough for an impressive stand off between police/ MXY & helpers plus a crazy mouthy helicopter escape as the show opener. Absolutely OTT/ it reminded me of a Bruce Willis movie.
The storytelling? It was underwhelming, till the end the helicopter scene couldn’t be placed in the story or timeline.

But:
I make do with the simple joys in life. Watching a good-looking man shot from flattering angles...

A lot of fighting scenes, ambitious ones, and he managed to do all of these punches and clever moves with an open shirt, smoking his cigarette. OTT cool 😂?

The not only freaky but mediocre parts:
The timeline… crossed. 

Scenes were lined up haphazardly. *Kidnappings! We need them!* So we had one hostage situation plus two kidnappings in the first four minutes. They must have had a checklist and wanted it done early. To mess up the timeline?

Apart from trying to figure out where they were in the story-The past? Present? Before? After? - the plot itself wasn’t mysterious.
Anyone who’s seen “The Departed” knew what was going on five minutes in. But of course, it’s two totally different levels of quality in the editing room or of the production team and director? I have no clue. I can only say, with these scenes, the individual value of them, it might have been a decent movie. And it’s not that it looked like they mixed up episodes.

What they delivered on - coolness and steam
The hottest scene was when she was drugged , she stood with him under the shower..where he tried to resist her and cool her down without being her antidote. He was so tender and caring. 🔥🤗


And every time he teased her, you saw the couple had some chemistry. Big Plus: sweet, crazy mad menacing and steamy scenes. A lot. MXY more half dressed than dressed, a lot.

The villain was b o r i n g though- why? He had no chemistry at all with the FL. And he wasn’t mean or cruel. Just ambitious. And ruthless.

All in all, prepare yourself for a wild ride deep into the valley of “no brain required”. But if you have a sense of humor and a ready collection of sweets and drinks- it’s entertaining.

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Mob Boss Beside You

I love Ma Xiao Yu, Infernal Affairs, princess/bad boy romances, steamy verticals and Devil Beside You, and this show has it all, on steroïds. The plot is all over the place, she ran him over and sent him to prison, years later he's back as a mob boss and her new step brother with revenge in mind, she's engaged to his police officer frenemy, they can't decide if they want to kill or bang each other, Ma Xiao Yu's shirts are MIA or widely open, and the lady (as my last brain cell asking questions about plot logic) doesn't resist very long to temptation. The show has a budget : expensive cars (and not the usual overused Rolls Royce), helicopters, palaces, and it suscribes to the Rule of Cool : if it looks cool, even if it breaks the plot, we go with it. The best example of this is the baffling opening scene where he kidnaps her : when does it happen ? Why ? Who cares, it looks cool, the leads look hot, he kisses her passionately in the helico, we go with it. I think this is my favorite MXY vertical for now, since for once they let the romance progress more organically so the transition from hate to love feels natural. One scene is key : the way they did the obligatory aphrodisiac scene is amazing, he helps her with it instead of taking advantage, and it manages to be hotter and more explicit than many scenes in verticals where they have implied sex. Yuan Yu Han is also a big reason why the romance works so well, her Su Mina isn't very shy about wanting Kun Tai gege at least as much as he wants her so the sexual tension stays high, it's great. I'm on the "it's a metaphor" camp about the ending, I don't subscribe to the twist theory, and feel like it's a good send-off for the show. I strongly recommend it !

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