SarahD

The English version is highly censored, grrr

Having read some of the reviews I now realise it was not me going mad, but there are bits that made no sense because whole sections had been edited out, including:
In the English version there was a 5 second snippet where Rain and P’Payu were dressed in national costume and gazing at each other but nothing else so no reference to what they were doing or why they were doing it.
The consent scene was completely missing (after the bath for P’Payu and Rain where all I saw was them discussing the fact that they needed to wash off the rain so they didn’t get sick, in the English version there’s no dousing with the showerhead etc - I picked up some of the missing content from someone reviewing the episode on YouTube. The next scene available to me was Rain in bed alone the next morning.
In the version I saw there was no scene with Sky and Prapai in a bubble bath and at no point was there any reference to their wedding or what led to that point - the last thing the English version contained was Prapai comforting Sky and telling him that he’d dealt with Gun but after that very little else. Again, picked up a snippet from a reviewer for the first and a special montage which included the wedding that someone had put together.
R & P’s proposal - had Rain graduated, were they working together? This was in the same montage mentioned in my previous point so was this AI or was this actually part of the plot that had been censored out?
All 4 of them goofing about on the beach scenes. I found more content from two different montages where in one R&P were playing piggy back and splashing about in the sea and another one where they were looking at each other happily while still dry in highly coloured shirts with shell necklaces on.
None of this was included in the version that I saw
If anyone can recommend how I get to see the complete story I would be most grateful

Rewatch value? 100% if it was the complete, non censored version

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Light and fluffy romcom at its best

If you’re looking for a cute story to make you smile then this is one for you. The plot is fairly simple and it’s easy to predict the outcome but that’s ok as the actors carry you along with them so you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. The ending was perfect and even the bad guys’ ending made me smile and go “awwww” in a good way.
The plot centres on the monarch’s son who is saved by a girl in the woods. Something miraculous happens, she saves his life and when they part they take with them one half each of a piece of very distinctive living stone that they name jasper.
Roll forward a number of years and they meet up again and have an instant connection when he hears her playing the drums on one of his many trips round the fictional kingdom his father rules over - a peaceful place that thrives on music and honesty.
There are two other couples in this drama and eventually the right ones pair up but there are plot twists along the way that make you want to strangle some of the characters for being conniving or downright stupid. The jasper is key to a lot of the misunderstanding between the two main characters but eventually the truth comes to light.
The actors are really good with great chemistry and no expense has been spared for the production value. I want to give a special mention to the costumes which are amazing, especially the three main female outfits which are just beautiful and one particular male costume that stands out has fans embroidered along the edge which The Young Lord wore at the Jiuru Banquet. Even Eleven’s extract thumb looked fairly real.
Would I watch this again? Absolutely

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Great little story

I’m not sure why I spotted this little story but it’s a great plot.
There are plenty of emotions running through this and on the whole the acting is good although the body language between dialogue is a little stilted at times.
The story is about a poor little rich kid who has no love only duty to his father and his company and a rich little poor kid who’s been shown so much love by his father. Enough for the both of them.
Their path to happiness is not an easy one but eventually they get what they deserve.
Great production values and a realistic take on the harsh reality of real life for two men who take on the difficult decision to become a couple in a world not very tolerant of gay couples.
Would I watch it again? Probably not but it was a pleasant way to pass some time.

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Wow! Utterly awful yet brilliant at the same time

Wow! What an intense roller coaster of a ride! Not a story for the faint hearted or when you’re feeling down as there are so many utterly heartbreaking and angsty moments.
I hated this story as it was so tragic with lots of character deaths that upset me with their poignancy (OK so the heavenly empress was an absolutely horrible person and all I wanted was for her to just crawl back under her rock and die which finally she did) and sad plot lines. However this was also the reason that I loved this story. There were so many twists and turns that took my breath away.
The acting was incredible and the whole cast was perfect for the role they played. I loved Luo Yunxi’s character, so tragic and compelling. Yang Zi acted incredibly as she grew from completely silly air head (think most of Ester Yu’s sickly sweet characters and you’ll be close) to a woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders who flip flopped between the two brothers. I’d not seen Deng Lun in anything before and it’s so sad that he left the industry due to tax evasion as I loved him in this. His sobbing at the end practically broke me. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
There only seemed to be a couple of songs (but very haunting and definite ear worms) throughout the whole drama which was a bit weird as no expense was spared on the costumes, sets and CGI. The other frustration that I had was the floppy wig they gave Xu Feng as it fell all over his face in such a way as to detract from his beauty and acting.
Would I watch again? Probably not as it was so intense I’m not sure I’m strong enough to watch it twice!

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Great story, wonderful ending

I’m not going to say what the ending is but it is priceless!
I will admit that for me the plot gets a little bit boring in the middle as the main characters take a very loooong time to unearth the truth behind a fire that claimed the lives of many people over a decade earlier but it all make sense in the end.
The ML and FL are brilliant and over time their romance blossoms and they fall deeply in love and there are super angsty bits as well as some lighthearted moments peppered throughout.
Production values, costumes and supporting cast values are high in this drama.
Ding Yuxi is brilliant and provides a stellar performance as the ice cold, totally focused Head of Imperial Guard and is the perfect foil for Anci Deng’s character who is sceptical about finding anything good in their arranged marriage. Over time they learn to trust and enjoy each other’s superior intellect and then love starts to blossom as they realise they are just what the other needs. Twists and turns take this otherwise very pedestrian plot up a notch as bit by bit they put the puzzle pieces together.
Would I watch again? Definitely

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Rom com at its finest

Great but simple plot line that is filled with humour, love, intrigue and the odd battle or two.
From the get go the cast were brilliant and very believable. Production values were also good (even if there were only about 30 soldiers per side for a ‘major’ battle… 🤭)
I’d never watched Song Weilong in anything before so wasn’t sure what to expect but he successfully plays the part of a quiet prince who uses few words and his eyes to convey many of the emotions that he feels. He may be eye candy, but in my book he epitomised the character of Prince Dingbei so brilliantly I can say he has depth and breadth in his acting.
I’d never heard of Bao Sheng En before and so again I found her utterly captivating. Big doe eyes and a fairy like quality that captured the ML’s heart very quickly and most of the single men around her (without her realising how special she was).
The two other pairs of love interest helped to make the story more rounded and added a wee bit more intensity to the overall drama.
Overall a lovely watch, would I watch again. Probably not as there is so much I have yet to see

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Does not really follow on from Go Go Squid (GGS)

The title of this drama is misleading as although there are a sprinkling of characters from the first GGS, only about 4 of them are played by the original actors and the plot line follows the one from that drama a lot of the time.
If you ignore the original, then this drama stands ok on its own but if you are expecting a story that weaves into and is intertwined with GGS then you will be disappointed.
Wu Bai is still played by Hu Yitian (Li Xian is still Han Shanghai and Yang Zi plays Squid) but both Solo and Appledog are played by different actors so the feel of the plot is very different even though the characters they play have similar traits to GGS (but they ARE played by different actors so no matter how hard you squint they’re not the same). Additionally, K&K and SP compete in a very different arena - that of robot wars. Additionally the buildings they operate out of are completely different so again this highlights the difference.
The acting is believable and you feel for them as they go through the ups and downs of their relationships. For example, Appledog’s manager (before she joins SP) is brilliantly flaky and slimy so for me his is a stand out performance as he brown noses anyone that he thinks will earn him brownie points and/or a promotion. Hu Yitian as Wu Bai conveys so much with just his facial expressions as, just like in GGS he says very little, but you really know what he is thinking just from his body language etc.
I first found Li Yitong in Dream within a Dream and in this story she doesn’t disappoint either. She has great chemistry with Wu Bai and still has to deal with conflicts created when Team Solo splits up (though for different reasons).

Would I watch this again? Probably not as for me GGS had so much more to offer and I found this plot lacking as on the whole the wonderfully funny antics of the original Team K&K weren’t there to pick up the tempo (probably a budget constraint lead to this much smaller team) That said the way the boys keep tabs on their captain’s burgeoning romance and subsequent proposal fails are funny and endearing but with less characters it all felt a bit lonely somehow.

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Great chemistry but a story that just goes on and on

There is so much to enjoy about this drama but equally lots that frustrates.
The ML falls in love with the FL very quickly but as they are both pretending to be someone they are not and as they are both bound by social and familial restrictions it takes a while for them to realise what they mean to each other so slow burn is an understatement.
The ending is very rushed as some of the plot that winds its way through this story just fizzles out without any real understanding or resolution. A great example is the copper box and gold keys which are integral to the story for 75% of the time but we never really find out if anyone managed to collect all the puzzle pieces and successfully open it.
Yang Zi and Qin Jun Jie act brilliantly together and his long lingering looks could set a room on fire, it’s just a shame that her character is too focused on her mission to see it and reciprocate until the last couple of episodes and by then it’s too late.
The production values are good, the costumes and cast excellent and if they could have cut out a whole pile of irrelevance this would have been even better than it was. I did find it quite repetitive at times.
The final scene is gut wrenchingly sad and my heart broke as the words of the grandmother came true. Nuff said, I won’t spoil it any further.
Would I watch it again? Probably not as the brutal editing of the ending leaves too much to the imagination with no clear outcome

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Real blockbuster of a tale with two sets of strong ML & FL

I’m not normally a fan of Dilraba as she mostly leaves me cold but I felt she did really well in this even though the plot line was a little predictable as she leapfrogged over everyone in her path (just by being an ‘awfully nice’ person) to become the most important ‘saviour’ to complete strangers who trusted her completely despite knowing nothing about her.
Leo Wu was brilliant as the main ML, smouldering and dark one moment, adoring of his FL and fiercely protective the next.

I will admit that my favourite characters were played by Zhao Lusi and Lui Yuning. They were a fantastic match and I love everything both of these actors have been in and their chemistry as Hao Du and Le Li A did not disappoint. It was off the charts as they went from hating each other to being unable to live without each other. They were incredibly watchable and their character development was subtle at times but so beautiful to watch.
The storyline was excellent, the acting, production values and costumes amazing but I don’t understand why there always has to be a main support character that gets killed off - I didn’t think this added anything to the plot.

Wonderful all rounder but probably not one I’d watch again

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Great story - can’t wait for the sequel

From the get go I was invested in this drama and pleased to see that Yang Zi and Li Xian work just as well together as they did in Go Go Squid.
FL & ML are so good together and the chemistry is excellent even though this is not a typical romance story in the beginning. He quietly watches from a distance and readies himself to step in even as she solves her problems on her own, each success she achieves makes him more and more proud of her as well as fiercely protective. In the beginning she sees him as an irrelevant playboy wastrel but by halfway through the series she begins to realise all is not as it seems and becomes intrigued as to what he is up to. Theirs is a slow build romance that develops naturally as they realise that they are stronger together than apart and start to notice each others strong points rather than perceived flaws.
Miles Wei is brilliant as Lui Chang, the pathetic, down trodden ex husband of the FL. He is bulldozed into marrying the spoilt princess Yu Zhen. Yu Zhen spends most of her time trying to sabotage FL rather than work on the sham of a marriage she has forced upon a man who suddenly realises he should have stuck with bride #1 which leads to several of the problems FL faces. By the end ML, who has a real problem with Yu Zhen’s father, realises he has to deal with the whole family not just the patriarch which makes his mission even more complicated.

Can’t wait for the sequel and would happily watch this again.

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Xu Kai acts his cotton socks off in this drama

What I love about this drama is how the main characters grow and develop.
Xu Kai plays 2 roles brilliantly. The first, Yue Jin Zhao, is an innocent who is very protective of the FL and the second Bian Luo Huan is his maker. At one point I was sobbing at the actions Bian Luo Huan takes in order to save everyone.
Ester Yu is typecast as Yue Qi a sweet and adorable girl who loves to eat noodles and is endlessly hungry. Unfortunately, for me, she’s just a bit too sickly sweet - I’d have loved to see her tone it all down a bit, to be honest.
The story follows the FL and ML as they investigate where they’ve come from and along the way they not only uncover their beginnings but help to restore law and order across their land.
The support cast are really good and Jia Nai Na, who plays a demon, and another one (who has worked with XK in the past) is Liu Min and they were firm favourites of mine.
Production, costumes and action were all brilliant but Ester Yu was too sickly sweet for me.

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Not Ester Yu’s usual character type - hurray!

Originally I began watching this because of ZLH but was pleasantly surprised that EY was not playing an airhead which was very refreshing and her character was totally believable.

The plot follows two female spies from the evil and vicious Wufeng sect that infiltrate an introverted and mysterious sect controlled by the Gongs who specialise in lotions, potions and poisons only to find that the second son has suddenly become the sect leader upon the death of his father and heir apparent elder brother. Their aim is to destroy Gong so that Wufeng can proceed with its plan for world domination.

The FL starts to fall for the ML as she helps him to conquer physical obstacles, his family members and the elders who don’t want him as their leader. He gains in confidence and their relationship grows and she confesses to being by his side with a mission to kill him and help destroy the sect. Due to their honesty (he lets her see how little confidence he has, how unhappy he was to be made the ruler and how he longs to return to being the ‘spare’. She tells him how she longs for her freedom and to break free from her contract with Wufeng) they build not just deep feelings but absolute trust in each other and there is abundant chemistry as they fall in love.

The second spy manages to build a relationship with MLs cousin but lies and cheats her way into his bed and yet despite their relationship being built on lust not love, there are still feelings between them, no matter how conflicted, and the actors really bring to life their complex characters and the situations they find themselves in.

Although this seems like a really dark tale, there are some amusing moments as MLs sister chases after his body guard in subtle and not so subtle ways.

My only criticism is that this story finishes on a bit of a cliffy but I’m not sure if there will ever be a second series to tie up the large number of loose ends which is a shame as the chemistry between the main characters is so good and there is enough content to put into a sequel.

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