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Hopes dashed
Seven stars for the first half and 2 for the latter. The early episodes were funny and lighthearted, and our leads Ning Yi and Tan’er had good synergy. The dialogue matched the atmosphere and whatever issues they faced were dealt with intelligently, however, once the story transitioned to the bandit arc, it lost its vitality and essence. Clearly, the plot is meant to be darker and in many ways the writers attempted to achieve that by introducing more violence and gore but the dialogue and acting never quite matched what should have been deadly situations. Guo Qilin was out of his depth. He lacks the skills needed to fully convey the direness of their situation. It was also at this point that Guo’s acting veered towards Zhang Ruoyun’s mannerisms. The pursed lips, the head tilt and a few more which, if you’ve ever watched Joy of Life or Sword Snow Stride, are easily discernible.Another factor that dragged down the rating is the set design, both for the first half and the palace scenes. It looked low budget and lacked the aesthetics required to fully immerse the viewer. Everything looked staged, as in it’s obvious this was a film set. Even the vista looked fake as if generated by CGI.
Lastly, it ends on a cliffhanger, and for those of us who are still pinning for Joy of Life season two, you’re better off shelving this until season two is released.
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Well, everyone got what they deserved
What's done is done, but I believe this drama was miscast. Change the leading man to the smoking hot Monk guy (Zhou Lu La) and we at least would believe the guy was indeed a general because he had the right form plus an expressive face that conveyed more emotions than Ren Jia Lun has done in all his dramas combined.Moreover, and I can't emphasize enough, this drama suffered from the screenwriter's depiction of the protagonists and antagonists who were done a disservice by being characterized with such clearly delineated qualities. There were no gray areas, everyone was either white or black. Our ML was entirely too selfless while our heroine had less gravitas than cooked noodles. The combination of the two of them kept me entertained because god knows nothing good would ever come out of their combined idiocy. Perhaps I'm being too critical but having just come from watching the masterclass acting and screenplay that is "Royal Nirvana", I'll give myself a pass for being dissatisfied with a drama that needed a couple more re-writes.
While it's normal to romanticize star-crossed lovers, I still need them to not offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs. Zhou Sheng Chen as a character didn't quite ring true for me and for a drama that's this character-driven, I needed to believe he was being tormented by the vow he'd prematurely taken. How could he have been allowed to have his cake and eat it too? Yes, I know he died and all but he never actually suffered unrequited love since whatshername was basically handed to him on a golden platter. What a joke.
In all, the clusterfuck that was the premise could have only worked if they all died, which they did. So, all's well.
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S'okay
Will someone please deliver C drama from the curse of useless misunderstandings between the leads?This is a woman who wants complete independence yet her business is largely funded by a man
She wants to expand her business and instead of saving up she expects the male lead to fork over a very large sum of money and when a mistake happens, she automatically writes him off and then turns to another man to dig her out of the mess she made all by herself.
I swear I wasn’t sure if the creators of this drama were poking fun at women’s independence or celebrating it cause all this series does is show that women could only have anything bc men allowed or funded it.
I did enjoy eps one through 16 but the FL stood too long on her soapbox and compounded that by making avoidable mistakes for no reason whatsoever.
Now, let’s talk about the male lead.
That the wind blew the mortgage receipt was all due to the idiocy of the ML. So fucking what if your father caused harm to the FL’s family? That was not a good reason or time to play the avoidance game when all he had to do was tell her the relationship was done. Avoiding her was a convenient plot device that allowed the producers drag the series by an additional fifteen episodes. It was all about the money otherwise A Dream of Splendor should have only had 20 episodes.
If you want a show with true female empowerment then watch “New Life Begins”. The women in that series truly support each other and funded their businesses themselves.
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Flatlined from the very start
It's a wonder Xu Kai doesn't have a hunched back from having to carry this entire series on his back. My goodness, someone please get Cheng Xiao some acting lessons and maybe tell her to slow down on the plastic surgery cos she may forever lose the ability to emote should her face stay that frozen.If you've seen one e-sport drama believe me this will by no means give you a different story. They play, win/lose, practice, run around being cute, have to debunk several malicious rumors and finally a happy-ever-after (I would imagine since I dropped this halfway).
Sigh
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Good/Evil twin; Amnesia; First Love; and many more tropes await you....enjoy
This was quite engaging through the first three episodes but then it lost me once the FL's character started acting like an idiot. In addition, the dialogue and plot lacked depth. The writers really dropped the ball on this because even with all the tropes being crammed into the series, it still had so much potential if only the characters didn't keep making illogical decisions. I've finished 20 episodes which I believe is the best I can do. Tapping out.XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
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One of the worst female leads ever
What in the fresh hell is this and who tf thought having a FL who was afraid of her own shadow would be good drama? My heart hurts from having to self-flagellate since I kept watching episode after episode even though I knew nothing would change. The FL would still be a walk over and the ML would still be a dreadful, verbally abusive jerk. It's kinda shocking that this series is just 7 yrs old because the story is dated and unrealistic, and no woman born north of the year 1990 would put up with all the crap that was thrown at the FL by what seemed like all the female characters in the drama.Next, what's with the ridiculous hairstyles of both leads? Wallace looked old and Tang's head and body looked like a mushroom cap and stalk respectively.
Update: I understand the movie adaptation (You Are My Sunshine) starring Yang Mi and Huang Xiao Ming is much better than this series.
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Nothing new
For some reason, this reminds me of King The Land in that we have all these beautiful people and set design yet the plot itself is the epitome of cliche. As much as Kim Yoo Jung can be considered a veteran actor (she's been acting for over a decade) I still think her performances are average. Don't get me wrong, I love her as a person but the characters she plays all seem to be on the same spectrum. Anyway, this drama, as other reviews have mentioned, brings nothing new to the table as we've been there and seen it all when it comes to K dramas about gods and demons (go watch the exceptional "Goblin"). Currently at episode 8 and I've already started fast-forwarding because this has me rolling my eyes and scoffing. I can't imagine having to go through eight more episodes.Was this review helpful to you?
What fresh hell is this?
Yang Yang's acting is mainly him keeping a straight face or speaking with his mouth barely open while standing around looking like a god who was benevolent enough to let the viewer gaze upon his chiseled jawline. But that only works in a romantic drama not one where he alone has 80-90% screentime that's supposed to serve as a bridge that brings the other characters in line. Look, I know he has an insane number of fans who will no doubt rave about his dramas despite the fact that his performance was mediocre at best. However, what he does have going for him is that Tom Cruise-like face and height which will probably keep him on the idol pedastal for a long while. So, really, no one will ever complain because he brings in the money and keeps the womenfolk (and men) happy with his face alone.Naturally, the story sucked but I can see why and how it appeals to men because it has minimal romance and plenty of games, so, I guess that's all that matters.
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Something about this drama just does it for me
Luo Yun Xi, oh, Luo Yun Xi! That scene where he turns around and the camera zooms in on his face is worth all the hours spent watching this amazing drama. This is the drama to watch if you love dramatic and tragic romance..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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It could have been the best based solely on the aesthetics
The strength of MJTY lies in the cinematography and the various eye candy actors yet it still falls prone to the C drama Achilles heel where the audience is given a taut beginning that rapidly descends into hum -drum. Time and again the middle will drag and answers that could have been provided incrementally are dumped at the last minute. In addition, there was barely any chemistry between Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He with both performances verging on robotic, meanwhile, Ryan Cheng and Tian Jia Rui's looks and performances overshadowed the main leads.Also, the fight scenes were a tad acrobatic-ish (and boring) with multiple skirts flying amid the ridiculous gymnastics but overall a good drama
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What was the point?
I'd never seen so many not so good looking guys in one drama and even though I don't consider myself to be superficial, I found that the lack of eye candy in addition to such a boring slow-as-hell plot did nothing to assuage the ennui that crept in with each new episode.Frankly, I found this uninspired and at times ridiculous. For an ensemble cast of relatively talented actors, the script really let them down and gave them little to work with other than creating division and disharmony over whether inner beauty trumped the physical. That was further compounded by making our weak-looking love interests do acts that were cruel, demeaning, and vastly inappropriate (looking at you Teacher Mai). Was there a lesson in there somewhere?
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Someone help, I think I cracked a rib
Indulge yourself in this hilarious faux-crime drama and ignore everything that looks like plot contrivances. I haven't laughed this hard in forever and I mean the full-bellyache tears running down my face-kind of laughter. It certainly helped that the drama did not take itself too seriously even though there were some heavy themes being showcased. I will def rewatch it whenever I need a little pick me up.XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
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Laughable
This might be the first true Chinese soap opera I've ever watched. Every aspect of it from the plot to the camera angles and the overly dramatic reactions from most of the characters puts this firmly in that category. The unbelievable part is that this was actually filmed in 2015. 2015! Ayia, I couldn't help but laugh as the plot progressed. Nothing to see here folks.VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
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Disturbing to say the least
This movie has the basest yet most disturbing plotline I've seen in a while and the thought this was made in 2019 almost brought me to the brink of despair. The scriptwriter has to have been a sadist otherwise there was absolutely no reason to tell this half-assed story about a special needs young girl who was raped repeatedly -on screen- in the most harrowing of circumstances. What was the point of this?OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Terrible
What a mess. Gaaaaah, I hated this drama. I hated the FL actress’ face with her fish-like pucker lips. I hated the palace nonsense and lack of anything resembling a sensible story. I hated the almost dying and hapless Emperor. Mostly, I hated the way the youtube comments were all fawning over this non-existent love story. I mean, despite Cheng Yi’s valiant attempt to dial up the scorching eyes and pursed lips, it still couldn't create any chemistry with the skinny-noodle-like FL who, btw, we're supposed to believe is a martial artist (el oh el). Why do I do this to myself?Was this review helpful to you?
