A gritty show about resistance in its many forms.
What happens when you return home after years of fighting, only to find that the war is still raging, and your country is falling deeper under imperialist occupation?This ensemble drama explores that very question. When the characters split apart, the series breathes life into each of their stories while also expanding the scope of its world.
At first, I expected a war series centered primarily on action. Instead, what unfolds is a profound study of diverse characters placed in the countless situations that only a brutal occupation could create. And at the heart of it all is the squad leader, played by the incredible Hu Jun.
What a character! From the commanding figure of his unit, he grows into an empathetic yet unyielding warrior, embodying a paternal role for his subordinates while never losing sight of the greater mission: to drive out the Japanese invaders. A natural leader and motivating force, his journey spans years of relentless battles, each fought with resolve and vision.
What keeps the series fresh is its bold transitions between genres: guerrilla warfare, prison drama, human experimentation (Unit 731), espionage, and more. Each arc reshapes the show, preventing it from becoming repetitive. After all, 34 episodes of forest skirmishes alone would be hard to sustain.
It’s been a long time since I felt the energy and drive to binge-watch something this quickly. The strongest elements are undoubtedly the storytelling, pacing, and performances. The series balances dynamic action with powerful character-driven moments, pulling you in episode after episode while also leaving room to pause and reflect on the weight of it all.
What impressed me most was how well the narrative managed its large cast. Every core character is compelling in their own way, and the constant shifting of perspective and tone gives the story both depth and breathing space.
In the end, this is a must-watch for anyone interested in Chinese television or in better understanding a pivotal moment in China’s history, one that helped shape the nation we know today.
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Which "One"?
A mature Chinese drama about ordinary people and their daily lives in the bustling capital?Everything I'm looking forward to watching.
The story of three couples at different stages of life shows us how the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle of the metropolis transforms us in different ways we don't even realize, regardless of the country we live in.
After all, people are people.
Mundane yet extremely relatable dramas, with a couple in their 40s afraid and insecure about having to start over, and other couples realizing they're looking for different things for the future, and their partner doesn't seem to be the right companion for that.
But as the drama's title suggests, we were born to be the "one." But what is this "one"? What are we expected to be? What we already are now, or the result of others' expectations? These questions permeate the psyches of our protagonists, bringing about different actions and consequences in their lives.
What is truly important?
Be loyal to your bosses who treat you as disposable, or be loyal to yourself and those who will be by your side when you hit your lowest point?
Adapt to a lifestyle that makes no sense to you, just to please your partner's materialistic desires?
Accept the reality that society imposes on success and give up your health in pursuit of the desired financial freedom, in exchange for all other aspects of your life?
The drama's strongest point is developing these stories without making a definitive judgment value about which path is the right "one" or who is definitively right and who is wrong. On the contrary, it reinforces the different ways of living in this modern world we inhabit, and how different personalities and goals can, and should, bring different meanings to what it means to be the "one," something that everyone is to themselves, their own protagonists in their own story, but who are not necessarily beings who follow and aspire to travel the same path.
Once again, a Chinese series, from a country on the other side of the globe, manages to connect with me in a way that no other series from a "neighboring" country can, demonstrating the country's strength in this style of narrative, which for me is its strongest point in these fictional stories.
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Amazing and very smart show. A must watch!
What an incredible series. The way the story is told is magnificent.With an almost laconic narrative, where we have to fill in the pieces of the characters' unshown lives, at the same time that they tell us so much through their relationships, it is done in a very intelligent and clever way. It is impossible not to become attached to the children of the Qiao family and hate their father, while we follow and fervently support the personal and professional achievements of these people who suffered so much in their childhood, but who nevertheless remained honest in their principles and also in the relationship between siblings, always strengthening the bond that they cultivated through the needs that life imposed on them.
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A Different Dog Movie
Dog movies are a bit stale these days. Man meets dog, they become attached and transform each other's lives for the better, and sometimes it ends sadly with the now-classic pre-watch question, "Does the dog die at the end?"That's where the film's great insight comes in. It has all, or almost all, the themes and clichés of dog movies we've seen over the past few decades, regardless of the country, but the film's main story isn't about these themes.
Yes, they're there, but as a means, not an end.
These clichés catapult events that address various topics, such as life after incarceration, the consequences of past actions, social and economic changes, and ultimately the great quest that human beings pursue: purpose.
All this with a beautiful story of friendship between man and dog, a relationship so ancient and strong that it survives the modernization of times and the replacement of the old with the new.
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Nirvana in Fire Season 2: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin
1 people found this review helpful
How did they manage to sink so low?
I finally managed to finish the series.Oh my god, what a disappointment, especially the arcs after the time jumps and the post-plague saga.
Poor Yuanqi, he was the only one who didn't get a script in the last 10 or 15 episodes, because all the characters start guessing every plot just because, especially Pingjing, who gets the script by carrier pigeon, hehe.
The script is so lazy, I could only laugh at the main character's "evolution" from an anxious brat who only messes up, to a pseudo-melancholic brat who received the entire series' script to justify how he was always the most strategic, smart, honorable, and, of course, the strongest in the fight, just because.
And that's all this show deserves time being talked about.
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The Hero's Journey.
I've always liked martial arts movies. And this series gave me the feeling I had when I watched Jet Li's movies in the 90s.Caricatured villains, fallen heroes and a revenge that transforms as the events unfold.
What else do you want?
Excellent action scenes?
Well, here you go, Qin Jun Jie and Lin Yu Shen don't disappoint. They have the best choreographed fight in a TV series that I've seen in a long time.
Simply a treat for martial arts fans.
Just watch and enjoy.
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Good entry for cdramas newbies
A beautiful story about 3 modern girls dealing with the different facets of growing up in a man's world that shows no concern for it.A great series of romance and growth, with characters who are not perfect, but who seek within these imperfections to achieve their goals, and also build new ones.
Easy to follow, fun and with a lot of charisma, it is a great series to introduce to those who have never watched cdrama.
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It's Qin Jun Jie's show and it's awesome.
The series tells the story of changing times and how people, whether relevant or not in the grand scheme of things, try or avoid fitting in.At first it seems that we have three protagonists, a former guard of the deposed emperor, a police officer and an outlaw swordsman. The actions of some cause changes in the status of the other, all against the backdrop of the imminent and historic revolt that will lead to the end of the imperial system.
Men San Dao stands out from the others, both because of the character and his actor, the always excellent Qin Jun Jie. He quickly takes the lead role in the series.
It is a seemingly simple story, several groups with different interests in a race to find a legendary treasure that will allow each one to achieve their goals, which would affect the fate of the nation.
Great drama, excellent action scenes and character development in a production of great value.
It didn't get a higher score because of some secondary characters who leave something to be desired in terms of acting, such as the spy girl and the swordsman named Zhuo Bu Fan. In addition, the ending has a lot of information in the form of text on the screen, which always displeases me and shows a lack of skill in delivering it.
But even so, it's worth it for the journey of the character Men San Dao, one of the best characters I've come across in recent times.
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Just ok.
Cinematically beautiful, but with little depth to the characters.The actor who plays Xu Tian is very weak, he spends all the episodes on the same note (being a weirdo), while Xiao Duo presents many more layers, which is unbelievable, since she is not the original personality. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the original should be cooler or anything like that, but that he should have something, even if it's just the fact that he is someone empty.
I believe that the show would have benefited if it had given more space to the other personalities (especially the biker, great acting), making it possible for us to understand Xu Tian's subconscious more deeply through them and their traumas. However, I think it is a good series, especially because of the visual aspect. Beautiful shot.
The epilogue is completely unnecessary, made exclusively for those who watched it while sleeping and for some reason still hadn't understood what happened. They decided to take this person by the hand and make sure she understood.
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The anguish of injustice
The series tells the story of a woman named Ye Sibei who has long since lost her sparkle. Her passivity and inability to say no to others have transformed her once promising life into an existence that merely drifts through the days. We enter the story at the peak of this, where people take advantage of her in almost every facet of her daily life, whether at work with colleagues who delegate tasks to her or in her family, favoring her younger brother. This lack of assertiveness on her part ends up ruining her marriage, with her husband tired of trying to share his life with someone who merely exists.Until one day, something happens. After a work dinner where she was encouraged to drink excessively, she ends up being sexually assaulted by someone whose identity is still unknown.
From this point, the story the series wanted to tell begins...
Look, this is definitely a sensitive topic. However, while it's delicate to address, it's also very common in modern society. Not only the crime itself, but the entire process that follows it, with the difficulty of reporting it, stemming from fear, guilt, and societal judgment. And it is in these issues that the show is most robust.
It explores various situations, the different ways people react in these situations, ranging from those who prefer to simply forget and not let anyone else know, to unconditional support, sensationalist media, and finally, people's selfishness. It is in the most difficult situations that the true nature of individuals flourishes.
Yes, despite being a distressing story, with the audience watching varying their feelings from wanting to hug Ye Sibei to punching many other characters, this series is above all about empathy. About how being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes can transform the way you think and consequently how relationships unfold from then on.
Truly, without a doubt, an excellent series with a cohesive and sensitive script and direction that only strengthened the great performances of the protagonists, Mao Xiaotong and Zhang Binbin (incredible in the role of the husband. Has there ever been a better one in a series?).
At first, it may seem difficult to watch, but it's worth it. After all, the best is always yet to come.
oh yeah, big F. to ChuChu!
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Fighting with HERself
"Her" tells the story of Liu Yan, abandoned by her mother as a child and who literally struggles to survive the conditions she was placed in from a young age until she became an adult. From a boxer with little success, mainly due to the mischief of others, her life begins to change when she receives information about her "missing" mother, embarking on a journey of self-discovery, acceptance, love, and overcoming.What I really liked about this series was the main character. Strong on the outside and fragile on the inside, she gradually opens up and allows different people into her life, even though through these relationships, many of her weaknesses end up being highlighted, especially the trauma of fear of abandonment she has due to her mother. This trauma shapes much of her personality, preventing the development of close and healthy relationships with those around her.
See, she's not mean or treats others badly (sometimes) because she wants, but rather because of the distorted sense of love she developed with her mother, a gambling addict. The way their relationship is portrayed in the series is quite realistic, reflecting the manipulative, sociopathic nature of a person with a gambling disorder, with family members suffering the most.
Another crucial character is Lu Tianchi, the "lawyer." A sort of "good" Saul Goodman, Lu is an older man who initially helps Liu Yan find her mother and everything else she needs. From this point on, their relationship gradually seems to be moving toward something more.
The story is told quite dynamically for the most part, becoming a bit sluggish during the episodes surrounding Liu Yan's mother's official return, which ends up being quite detrimental to the overall series, as this was perhaps the story's greatest aspect and expectation.
The place where they live (is it a country?) is also very little explored. It seems like a made-up place, filmed in Macau (notable for its plaques and tombs with Portuguese writing), but nothing made much sense or felt necessary to invent a location.
The highlight of the series is definitely the restaurant's dynamic and her rise as a chef, while in parallel her social life also improved, especially strengthening her relationship with Tianchi, her brother and the restaurant's boss.
All of her friend's Tang stories are completely unnecessary, with the last one being a complete waste of time while dealing with a very serious topic.
In the end, I found "the event" a bit exaggerated. It seemed more shock value than an organic result of everything unfolding in the series. The final black-and-white episode made me question for a long time whether it was really happening or a dream, until almost halfway through the episode, the tragedy of the previous episode was confirmed and the whole journey of overcoming that she had to go through, and was going through, in the last part of the last episode, leaving that taste that life will go on, fighting and eating when she is at rock bottom.
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Look ahead!
Talking about this series is really complicated. How to define it? At first, it seems like a crime drama—at least that's how the series "sells itself," but as the episodes progress, it demonstrates its true power: the story of three men frozen in time by a series of traumatic and unresolved events.The Long Season is a story about looking forward, about leaving behind the unresolved issues of the past and living life with what you have and what you can build from there.
The characters are amazing: a taxi driver obsessed with uncovering every detail of a crime that happened 20 years ago; another in a failed marriage whose life hasn't lived up to expectations; and a third who tries to follow the popular saying "he who dances away his troubles" but is still waiting for his "last dance."
Wait, wasn't it a thriller? And the mystery to be solved, so tightly tied together by two timelines, several interesting characters, and a world-building and atmosphere that leaves us wondering "what the hell happened in 1998" that leaves all these people, in a sense, broken 20 years later?
In the end, this is the message; it doesn't really matter. There won't be an answer or revelation that will transport you back to that time and allow you to make new decisions and act differently.
Just look ahead, not backward; the season shouldn't be so long.
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70% is great, the rest is a slippery slope.
Okay, let's get this straight: this is a great drama. It starts off with an interesting setting, a main character played by the always excellent Qin Hao, and a story of murder, prison system, and the eventual escape from prison.With these characteristics, I'm always in. And I stayed in, at least up to a certain point, when what could have become an excellent series slipped into disappointment, both in comparison to other series that address similar themes (Prison Break and Rectify) and in comparison to what it had delivered in previous episodes.
A complete waste after the time jump and the discovery of the real killer. Mind you, I liked the way it was revealed, in a simple and almost "occasional" way. For me, it brought a good aspect of realism. But it lost strength because we saw practically nothing of Wen Guo's life up to this point, we couldn't feel almost anything of his suffering.
We need to see a little of that, even if it was a montage of a few minutes with the years passing by and him living in hiding and having to accept all kinds of jobs to support himself. He just reappears, with a plan that isn't very clear and gives up as quickly as the passage of time was shown to us. This was the moment that should have followed a "Rectify" style, about the difficulty of reintegrating into society and the traumas carried by an ex-convict of a media crime.
Anyway, I won't even go into the plot of the wife at the end, which is completely insane and absurd.
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Great show with some flaws
Northward tells the story of a group of neighbors who live by the canal. Previously productive due to shipping, the canal workers face the harsh reality of changing times and their way of life as the country grows and modernizes.The main characters are a group of friends (3 boys and 2 girls) and their parents or grandparents.
The series follows the maturation and changes of all these characters, including the place where they live. I particularly like this type of series, realistic and mature slice of life. But that doesn't mean there aren't any problems that caused its rating to be reduced.
First, there is a noticeable problem with the narrative pace at several points in the series, from the excessive length of the phase when they are in high school to the endless scenes of them as adults in the workplace. It's like, okay, I get that life is hard and you have to work a lot, but I don't need to watch several episodes about billing, Excel tables and graphs about delivery apps.
The program's strong point is the effect that this type of environment has on the characters' relationships and personalities, and not watching countless discussions about something that we don't care about witnessing.
Just show us how Wang He became even more obsessed with money and everything will be fine (for us, not for him).
There comes a point in the series when the most interesting people are the supporting characters, like Xing Chi who tries to get his life together after a bad decision in the past, and Hai Kuo, who in contrast to Wang He, wants to live a quieter life and less tied to the corporate world and its endless workload. I won't even get into the "terminal illness" phase, because it's so overused that it only made me shake my head when that part started.
Another strong point is the maintenance of the core of the parents and grandfather with Alzheimer's (done with unparalleled delicacy). I wish there had been even more of them, instead of evil schemes by jealous directors in delivery companies.
Great show, great soundtrack and great representation of leaving home with the ambition to conquer the world and the consequent maturity that this brings.
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Such a Gaslight love
What initially seemed like a beautiful love story between two young people who were still trying to find their place in the world, is becoming more and more a realistic demonstration of what a toxic relationship can do to the other. My God, what a bad person the female protagonist is.Episode after episode, she sucks all and any vitality out of the male protagonist. From a dreamy and fun boy, all that's left is melancholy from such an uneven and selfish relationship.
Of course, he's not perfect, far from it. But many, if not all, of the problems stem from her need to control him and dictate what he should want, when he wants it and how he wants it. Hell, she even manages to find a way to blame him for the fact that her mother is horrible.
Here at home, the only thing we could hope for was that for the love of God, he wouldn't end up with her in the end.
But even though it's terrible to watch her destroy everything he wanted to be, the show is great, very well filmed (especially the first half), and demonstrates in a very raw way how the concrete jungle of the big city and the adult world can destroy dreams, relationships and, consequently, mold us into people very different from who we imagined we would be.
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