It's Not Amazing, Not Bad, Just Watchable
It’s not bad. The storytelling is not boring enough that you wouldn't want to tune in for tomorrow's episode, but also not interesting enough that you would be raving about it to all your friends. It's not infuriating in that there is no plague of "noble idiocy", unreasonably villainous characters, unnecessary conflicts springing up out of nowhere solely for the purpose of giving our CPs a reason to be pushed together. This author has set up a complex and logical world and the characters are logically flowing along in it.
And the ending is tragic but they set you up well for it (even if you don't have any context from the other drama/books, you should be able to guess who will survive or not if you're listening closely to what the characters say). And there’s not unnecessary tragedy and losses along the way.
+10 points because every male actor is incredibly good looking and makes watching super enjoyable.
I am a long time Ding Yu Xi fan, but before this drama I was starting to doubt his acting ability when re-watching his older dramas (they kind of lose their spark after the 3rd/4th watch). But now in an ensemble cast where he is not the ML and I can do side by side comparison with other lead actors at his level, I can pick out what makes him so great. The way he uses his facial muscles, how his expressions are actually distinct from one moment to the next. The way he tried to give the impression that he is reacting to the situation in real-time and is not just the plot armored “perfect guy”/ “always keep his composure as if I know what’s coming next in the script”. So this drama was good for restoring my appreciation for DYX.
So nice production overall, but only an 8.0 because it has no re-watchability factor.
And the ending is tragic but they set you up well for it (even if you don't have any context from the other drama/books, you should be able to guess who will survive or not if you're listening closely to what the characters say). And there’s not unnecessary tragedy and losses along the way.
+10 points because every male actor is incredibly good looking and makes watching super enjoyable.
I am a long time Ding Yu Xi fan, but before this drama I was starting to doubt his acting ability when re-watching his older dramas (they kind of lose their spark after the 3rd/4th watch). But now in an ensemble cast where he is not the ML and I can do side by side comparison with other lead actors at his level, I can pick out what makes him so great. The way he uses his facial muscles, how his expressions are actually distinct from one moment to the next. The way he tried to give the impression that he is reacting to the situation in real-time and is not just the plot armored “perfect guy”/ “always keep his composure as if I know what’s coming next in the script”. So this drama was good for restoring my appreciation for DYX.
So nice production overall, but only an 8.0 because it has no re-watchability factor.
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