50FiftillidideeBrain

✒ ⛩️ Prince of Analytics VS Prince of the Body Snatchers °8.3° °Excellent°

What's between 1 & 0? 🌌Infinity?

Is our world all there is? Is this timeline the only one? TKEM explores the possibility of parallel universes. It opens dark and ominous. Ep1 is jammed packed, and arguably confusing. Stick with it, they pull it together well.

“LT Jung “Tae” Eul! I finally meet you!” Gon is elated. Who's this lunatic? Tae is irritated. This weirdo has no permit for his horse and then she learns that he has no 🆔! He doesn't have money (those strange bills with his face on them do NOT count).

“This is recorded in memorabilia of the three kingdoms. In the spring of the year 682, King Sinmum received a bamboo flute from the Dragon King of the East Sea. When the flute is played, enemies would retreat, diseases would be cured, rain would fall during droughts, the rainy season would end, the wind would stop, and strong waves would subside. Seeing its powers, King Sinmum named the flute Manpasikjeok.”

So says the blood speckled suspect (Lee Jung Jin of The Liar and His Lover & The K2 is uncle / Prince Geum). He is being questioned by police. The criminal is 70 but looks 20 years younger. He claims it's because he took over ownership of the flute. Time goes slower for the owner. His half brother, the king, didn't believe in the flute or its powers. Geum did. Brother didn't know the flute could bring the world to him. To be exact, different WORLDS. This detainee freely admits he killed his brother. There's no remorse showing. There's no emotion at all on his countenance, other than, perhaps, self-satisfaction. He's just reciting facts. Cold, bitter, terrifying facts. ‘I did expect that, one day, my nephew would face that legend too.’ To him it's no different than reporting that the sky is blue.

TKEM is a 2020 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 70-minute episodes. I watched this show early in my Asian programming addiction - before I was doing reviews and taking notes. Many things went over my head because I was a noob, but it left me with a good impression. Lately I've been revisiting my gateway Kdramas,to see how they flow, now that I'm an intermediate level watcher. One reason that this show is NOT a good selection for a Kdrama newbie is that it's intricate and nearly confusing. There's different worlds and the timeline gets warped as well. That's a lot to follow for one who is familiar with the setting, and it could be too much for one who is not. Many of these characters exist in both worlds. Some of the primary characters’ doubles were killed off leaving only one of them, but there's still quite a few doubles, and many actors have two roles to play. Compounding the confusion is that Kim Kyung Nam, as officer Kang Shin Jae, and Woo Do Hwan, as both Jo Eun Seop & Jo Yeong, look similar. (Many people looked the same to me when I first watched Kdramas, while now, very few do. My eyes, as well as my inner-sight, needed time to adjust. That's just the way the human brain works). Mr. Woo's characters are polar opposites and don't seem like the same actor is playing them at all. Between those 3 characters, Shin Jae and Jo Yeong act more alike than the two roles played by Mr. Woo. (As an aside, his Jo Eun Seop almost steals the show. He is 80% of the feature’s smiles). There's double sets of parents in the mix, too. So, this is for intermediate Kdrama fans.

After a brief intro we are taken to The Kingdom of Korea, 1994. This Korea is ruled by a king.

The show takes us back to the fateful night that Prince Geum murders his brother. He was in the process of murdering his nephew when an intruder (in sneakers, jeans, and a hoodie, no less) breaks it up. Prince Geum flees. The Flute was cut in half in the ruckus, and each Prince has a half. Young Prince Gon was also left holding Tae's work 🆔. It was issued in 2019. What's it doing in 1994? As Prince Geum flees through the woods he discovers that the flute opens gates to other worlds. He stumbles into the Republic of Korea.

Geum's aware of what the flute can potentially do, and he's no dummy. He quickly pieces together that he's stepped into an alternate reality. He runs into his family's doubles in SK🇰🇷. They're living a poor existence in this timeline. His other self is a wheelchair bound mute. This other self has the same DNA, which is perfect for Geum to fake his own death in /his/ Korea, the Kingdom. Geum murders his 🇰🇷counterpart. He offs the entire family, including his nephew'sdouble. He saved his nephew's mother for later; he has uses for her. That's just the kind of guy he is. Back home, they now believe he's dead because a body washed up with his features and DNA, though there were anomalies, such as a deformed spine. As a dead man, he can now work from the shadows without looking over his shoulder.

20 yrs later, King Lee Gon is participating in competitive rowing when he sees something familiar: A person in a black hoodie, black jeans, and sneakers. That's a sight he hasn't seen since he was 8. He gives chase, but the stranger escapes. How could that be the same person who rescued him years ago? How could they be wearing the same clothes?

He pulls out a souvenir from the night that defined his life - a police badge for detective Jung Tae Eul, born 1990. Nothing adds up here. Not yet. Spotting and following that hooded “white rabbit” a second time leads Gon to a gorgeous bamboo forest and the gate to the Republic of Korea. And to Jung Tae Eul, LT of the Seoul Metro PD.

The flute is a conduit that opens a portal to other worlds. It takes a person first to what is effectively a transfer station (TS). It's a non-world of pathways and pools, where there is no air or atmosphere, and time passes differently. We will later learn that since the flute is cut in half, most of its abilities are not functional. It allows the transfer of the two Royals between the kingdom of Korea and the Republic of Korea on a lateral, or real-time timeline, but they aren't able to go to any other worlds or any other times.

When either he or uncle Geum enter this TS area, everything in both worlds stops. Only Gon & his uncle are aware of what's going on. They can grab raindrops suspended in the air. Uncle has been hanging out in that TS, literally killing time, which moves exponentially faster there then in the real world. 4 months in TS realm, for instance, is 20 years on earth. It explains why Prince Geum doesn't look like he's aged.

The worst thing, though, is how Uncle has been switching people between the two worlds. He's been allowing his cronies who took part in the failed coup to escape justice and set up a nice life in 🇰🇷 by killing their Republic counterparts. He's also been recruiting people from the Republic🇰🇷 to work for him. He offers them a better life in the Kingdom. He's replacing the people around the king with his own agents! Gon pieces together that Uncle's been hanging out in the Republic, so he comes over often to investigate. He would come over anyway. He's in love with Tae. He's been enthralled with her since he was 8 and looked at her as his savior.

Every time he leaves the castle, Court lady Noh has a fit. The entire royal residence is in a state of royal flux! They really hate their routine being messed with. The king is slowly building up trust in the Republic, which is no easy task. When he arrived, he declared himself a monarch, and he was laughed at as a lunatic. People are starting to accept him. Tae couldn't fully accept it until she visited the Kingdom herself. In order to get that far, she had to trust Gon enough to go to that gate and then walk through it. Gon is persuasive! At one point he must switch out Eun Seop for his own bodyguard. Woo Do Hwan is marvelous at completely opposite personalities and also doing a blend: During the switch, one has to try and act like the other, but they don't fully pull it off. I'm actually in awe of his performance. Tae & her crew sink deep into this mess as well because Uncle is in the Republic committing murder & other crimes.

Lee Min Ho (Boys over Flowers-8.3, Pachinko) is the King, Lee “Gon”. Mathematical minds are a relatively rare thing. A mathematician with the soul of a romantic is even more rare, and that's who our King is. Kim Go Eun (Little Women, Cheese in the Trap-7.7) portrays Jung Tae Eul & Luna. (They just had to give Luna, a criminal, darker skin than her Republic counterpart with the same DNA, sigh. I shake my head at your ridiculous notions about skin tone, East Asia). Jeon Moo Song is Prince Yi Jong In, next in line👑. His first credited work is from back in 1981 and he didn't start in acting until he was 40, Kang Hong Suk (Chicago Typewriter) is the new detective on the force, Jang Michael. Played for a bit of comic relief, they start questioning him, at first believing he's a gangster when he arrives for his first day of work. He dresses alittle flamboyantly, but he has the heart of a teddy bear - And a poet. Kim Young Ok (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2, Dear My Friends) plays the King's primary caretaker, Lady Noh. This actress is so cute. Her earliest credited work is from 1957. Maybe she has a Manpasikjeok: She's almost 90 and she looks like she's in her 70s. She was around 82 when this show was being filmed. Screenwriter Kim Eun Sook is no rookie, with hits like The Glory, Descendants of the Sun-8.3, Mr. Sunshine-9, & The Heirs-7.3. Directors: Baek Sang Hoon, brought us DOTS, Jung Ji Hyun directed Twenty-Five Twenty-One, & the GREAT Yoo Je Won gifted us with Oh My Ghost-10.

The plot is pretty good! It's inventive, exciting, & intelligent. It works up to ep14, which is very exciting. Ep15 provides a bit of a breather. The opening credits are gorgeous. Of course, he'll rescue her on the White Horse. To neglect that would be malpractice.

This show is elegant. Prince Geum walks around like the grim reaper the entire time. He appears mythical - mythically evil. It's a nice touch. According to KKday the two meet at “An unmissable spot in Seoul, Gwanghwamun Square is a national landmark across Gyeongbokgung where the statue of King Sejong the Great - the fourth and most respected king of the Joseon Dynasty who invented Hangeul, Korea’s writing system - stands right at its center.” The iconic forest, Ahopsan Forest in Busan, is privately-owned. It “has been featured in famous period K-Dramas including Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, 100 Days My Prince, and Ruler: Master of the Mask. It is also open to tourists looking for an escape to nature.”

The action is great! There's a couple excellent fight scenes. Most impressive is a rescue scene in ep11. In ep12 we get to look at it from a different perspective. The optics are beautiful and it is crazy romantic. With only half a flute, Gon gets trapped in 1994. He has to hang out in TS for 4 mos to go forward 20 years. He makes a couple tourist stops on the way and meets Tae at age 5. He visits her at a couple points in her life. He asks her to be nicer to him when they meet again in Busan. It's freakin wonderful.

Ep16 does what too many Kdramas fail to do: Give us a satisfying wrap up. The very end isn't really an end. I have mixed feelings about it, but it's just a state of stasis. Let's just say that they have the best dating life ever. Ever ever ever.


QUOTES🗣

Where there's fate, there are no coincidences.

Open all the doors of the universe to return to me.


IMHO〰🖍


📣8.3 📝8.4 🎭8.5 💓7 🦋5 🎨8.5 🎵/🔊7.8 🔚5.5 🤗6.5 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡6 😅3 😭5 😱3.5 😯3 🤢4 🤔5.5 💤0

Shazams: Please Don′t Cry by DAVICHI


Age + Language: PG-13 at a minimum Rated TV-15: Parents Strongly Cautioned.


Re-📺? I've already looped around



In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Romance with Royalty, or something like it

Crazy Love-7.8,
My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (But for eps 20 &21 it's an 8+)
99 days with the Superstar-7,
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
Oh My Ghost 10,
Rookie Historian-7.6,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7, ♡Saimdang-8.5,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,
The King's Affection-8.3,
My Mister 9.5,

🎎 -
My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Mr. Queen 8.5,
My Sassy Girl 8.5,
Saimdang 8.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Mr. Sunshine 9

⚡/🚀 -
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Tomorrow with you-7,
Sisyphus 8 (give it 2 episodes, ep1 is confusing),
Tunnel 8.5,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,

Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Heirs-7.3,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8


Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9, Love and Redemption 10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama 10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo 7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4, or Toradora 8.5

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✝ Oh HAIL No ✝ °4.5° °repugnant°

What the H£!!?

The 1-sentence review: The door opened and the light blinded her, the sign warned in red fiery letters: “ALL WHO ENTER HERE ABANDON ALL HOPE,” and that is the warning the potential viewer should be cautioned by.

TJFH is not remotely good.

Kang Bitna died a while back. Justitia (Goddess of Justice, though she calls herself a demon, is played by Oh Na Ra from My Mister-9.5 & Racket Boys-8.3), she screwed up that day. Even though Bitna wasn't on the docket, even though she insisted she never killed anyone, the judge had seen and heard all of /that/ before. Only murderers make it to her courtroom, so she sentenced this murderer. Then Bael, her boss, showed up and gave her a punishment for convicting an innocent woman. She must live on earth as that woman and send 10 unrepentant murderers to Hell. Bitna.2.0 (Park Shin Hye from Flower Boy Next Door-7, The Heirs-7.3, Memories of the Alhambra-7) is Justitia in Bitna's body. She's not great with kids. She does recycle, though. Bitna was a judge, so she will see some murderers. She has 1 yr. Finding 10 murderers to clear out in 12 mos won't be easy. Fortunately, there's a loophole: 1 murderer who has killed 10 people would count as 10, just as any other combo of murderers, whose the victims add up to at least 10, would. She realizes it would be great to locate some double-dippers.

TJFH is a 2024 release that is 1 season consisting of 14 70-minute episodes. It is rated 92 on AWiki, 8.6 on MDL and 7.8 on IMDb. I simply find that hard to comprehend. Forget the fact that the plot is sloppy and the romance is utterly unconvincing (in episode 11 they do have a very cute date), TJFH is loaded with gore, blood, violence - extreme violence against women and children - and it makes light of all kinds of spiritual issues that should be taken more seriously. From a technical standpoint it's better than mediocre, but not great. From an EQ-POV it's rancid. I hated this show. Just loathed it. The more I see of the Hulu K-catalog the more they seem to line up with some of the crazy rumors about them. Hulu's Korean lineup is loaded with gore, violence, bad language, and more causal sex than usual. They're trying to turn Kcountry into Hollyweird, and my eyes expatriated to east Asia to get away from that rot. Many of the Hulu shows are good, but not all of them. TJFH is not a good show. Oh HAIL no. Even the great Park Shin Hye can't resurrect this corpse.

Ms Park played the shy and tortured type early on in her career. She's amazing as an eye-rolling kick@$$ in Sisyphus-8 and this is yet a new look for her. She's confident, ruthless, decisive, and rather diabolical. Her drinks come in macabre red and black cans; when she pops them open we can almost hear: “I'm evil,” instead of the scrape of metal and the popping release of CO2.

Kim Jae Young was in 2 shows that I love enough to have already rewatched: My Secret Romance-7 & Black-9. Here, he's Han “Da” On, a cop on trial for using excessive force. This actor always looks slightly sad even when he smiles. He's self-represented. Afterall, he's innocent, so why should he use a lawyer? Even with a fool for a lawyer, Bitna acquits him. He introduces himself to her outside and thanks her, which she deflects. He hands his card to her and tells her to contact him If she ever needs assistance. She deflects that, too, telling him she'll remember his information.

In TV style, she'll need to call him mere hours later. She's been arrested! The police believe she's delusional. The unfavorable psych evaluation that dropped out of her purse might have had something to do with it. “I don't know about demons, but I'm certain God doesn't exist,” Da says to her later on. She makes sure to inform him that humans are the ones that cause the current mess that we're in. Demon or not, Da thinks she's an impeccable judge. He doesn't want to see her step down. They realize they actually have a common case together and the trial starts tomorrow.

She shocks him the next day. She lets a serial, deranged wife-beater off with a small fine. Da is incredulous. The victim is in serious danger of being murdered by this perp.

Her POA to accomplish her mission is short-sighted, but she doesn't need it to work, longterm. She needs a year. It's a mad dash to the finish line. Her strategy is to give these heinous criminals light (or no) sentences so that she can murder them when they're released. They torture people in this show. Sure, some have it coming, however, it's too much. The death penalty is one thing; torture is another.

The other perpetrators of this debacle are Kim In Kwon as Valak, Bitna's assistant; Kim Ah Young as Gremory, Bitna's other assistant; andvLee Joong Ok & Ha Kyung Min on cleanup crew. Kim Jae Hwa is the local Christian, Jung Myeong Suk. She's always inviting the judge to church regardless of the daggers the judge shoots from her eyes whenever Ms Jung is around. (The judge's assistant does decide to take a look at belief from the other end of the spectrum). We learn that Ms Lee's son was murdered a couple decades back. She almost seems demon possessed at the funeral, which we see in flashback. Ms Kim has credits dating back to 2010. She's been in alot of features including Cleaning Up, Ssanahui Sunjeong, & The Tale of Lady Ok.

Kim Young Ok (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2, Dear My Friends) plays O Mi Ja, a Hwangcheon villa resident and busybody. This actress is so cute. Her earliest credited work is from 1957. She's almost 90 and she looks like she's in her 70s. She and Park Shin Hye square off and it's glorious. Toward the end of the show she seems like she's slightly uncomfortable with her hokey lines. Yang Kyung Won from Crash Landing on You-9.1 makes an appearance as a multiple personality (DID) sufferer in eps5&6. He's unbelievable. His performance is incredible. He plays so many different roles. In Big Mouth-7.4 he's the semi-psycho in a crime family that poses as a legit one, and I'm currently watching him in Vincenzo where he is a pawn shop owner who likes to act tough. I didn't recognize him in any of these parts until I looked him up. He presents that differently each time. Oh Eui Shik makes a guest appearance. I've been a fan since Oh My Ghost-10. Everything he's in is good. The director is Park Jin Pyo of Brave Citizen, and the screenwriter, Cho I Su, is just starting out.

“If you stay near that woman you'll both die,” old lady Mi Ja warns. In the meanwhile, another demon is killed for falling in love with a human. The demons have a law enforcement agency devoted to tracking down such criminals. Bitna's totally sus, so Da is investigating her while he acts like he's helping her, while he acts to himself like he's not falling for her. Falling for him never occurs to her until it's too late. She's mystified by her rapid heartbeats and stray tears. Tensions are building.

“I realize now what it is that I have to do. To be exact, it's attaining success and wealth through marriage. I want to go into politics. I'm a great liar, shameless, selfish, hypocritical, and I like money. I think what I have what it takes to be a great politician.” So says one straightforward but ambitious character. Well, firstly, one can see how unimaginative the dialogue is, but hmmm… Maybe it's not a work of fiction🤔. I'm on board with 50% of the premise: Judges who give out light sentences to criminals who, beyond any reasonable doubt deserve more, are doing Hell's bidding.

The whole making light of demons, Hell, Satan, blood, guts, and gore didn't bother me much when I was young, but it just does now. I'm not in that cool club anymore. The world is too messed up. Crime that's been documented to have been committed by devil worshippers is horrific and the rumors of what's going on is ultra horrifying. The softening of public opinion is part of what's alleged to be their playbook. So are the makers of TJFH playing with us or playing us? I can't tell.

From the start, many things about this are uncomfortable. Supposedly, a demon is our protagonist. She's also a “goddess” but definitely from the wrong side of the divide. I hate the moral confusion of elevating bad guys like mobsters, demons, and the devil. That's just what they would want - for us to lower our resolve against evil. All of the imagery is off, too. The end of ep1 is horrific. Bitna focuses on her goal and utilizes horrific means to get it. She's already said she has no empathy for the victims. We will see where this strategy takes her: To an overabundance of violence and blood. There's long and protracted violent imagery. They juxtaposed it with lighthearted words and quirky elements, so the horrific scenes are not given proper gravity. The show's tone is just off.

The show also wanders around without structure or rules while they make light of faith, spirituality, God, Satan and angels. Perhaps what's worse is that it's a mess. It's sloppy, directionless, and incoherent. The disconnect between the show's quality and its score is so profound I wonder if Hulu is using bots.

The opening scene graphics are excellent, from the roses of blood to the inverted cross of light to the bronze statuary come to life screaming and squirming However, Hell’s courtroom isn't really ominous (it looks like the haunted playhouse) and the demon, Bael, is overdone. The filming is loaded up with upended crossees, Bael, Satan, Lucifer, walnuts, baby head sized melons getting chopped, demons, blood, gore, violence against women and children, underground passageways, subterranean lairs, and naturally, the wacko Christian - one of the worst offenders claimed to be a Christian but he gets sent to hell, while the main song lyrics croon “Please don't pray anymore “ Yet, God is said to be the master of all, in the end. Bitna says God gave them their authority. Fascinating.



QUOTES🗣

We didn't know how happy our ordinary days were.

The heavens may fall but there will be justice on earth. (On the statue at the courthouse)


IMHO〰🖍


📣5 📝4 🎭7 💓4 🦋4 🎨7 🎵/🔊7 🔚6 🤗1 ▪ 🌞3⚡5 😅1 😭5 😱5 😯3 🤢7.3 🤔4 💤0


Shazams:Crossroad, by SUNMI


Age 18+ Language: b!+ch, $h!+; Violence and bloody crime victims. Brutal violence against a woman and children. Extended violent stabbing and torture scenes. It is alittle much. Rated TV-15


Re-📺? HAIL NAW


In no particular order, here's some recommendations

〰 Getting it on with the supernatural or Mythical 〰

Alchemy of Souls-7.9,
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds-7.2,
Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days-6.7,
Black-9,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
The Cursed-8.3,
Death's Game-7.8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (this show is marvelous except for taking a quality dip in eps 20-22)
Light Shop-8.6,
Missing: The Other Side-8.3,
My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9,
Mystic Pop-up Bar-8.2,
Oh My Ghost-10,
Uncanny counter S1 only °S1-8.4 S2-4,
The Wailing-8.8

〰 Crime 〰

Oldboy-9,
Tunnel-8.1;
Inspector Koo-8.4,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
K2-8,
Flower of Evil-8.9,
Awaken-8.7,
Beyond Evil-7.4,
Moving-8.5,
The Man from Nowhere-8.9,
Law School -8,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
The Worst of Evil-7.9

〰 Hulu Catalog 〰

Big Mouth-7.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Call It Love-8.4,
Crazy Love-7.8,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.1,
High School Return of a Gangster-7,
The Judge from Hell-4.5
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (this show is marvelous except for taking a quality dip in eps 20-22)
Light Shop-8.6,
Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7,
Maestra: Strings of Truth-6.8,
Moving-8.5
Pandora: Beneath the Paradise-3.9,
Parasite-9,
Revenant-7.4,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
So I Married the Anti Fan-6.8,
Uncle Samsik-8.4,
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8,
Why Her?-8,
Wonderful World-7.8,
The Worst of Evil-7.7

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A Song of Fire & Flower ♧ Ode to the Toxic Mother & the Emptiness Within °6.4° °good & bad°

AOL opens to a goddess giving birth & this is one angry goddess. Wronged by the baby-daddy, she commands everyone to keep the birth of her dtr, Jimni, a secret. Auguring a disaster in Jimni's first 10,000 years, she forbids her successors from allowing Jimni to leave The Flower Realm and also gives Jimni an elixir that blocks love: Love will only give her daughter pain. Zifen, the goddess, passes away on the birthing bed leaving a rift between The Flower Realm & the heavenly one. The flowers have disappeared from heaven & relations have faded. Raised as an orphan w/ lots of supervision but no family, the loquacious Jimni is lackluster in her cultivation & unmotivated in her studies. Jimni wants /escape/. She also wants to revive her lost friend, who was murdered. Jimni has preserved her spirit in a small potted plant, believing a supreme being in The Heavenly Realm can restore her fallen loved one. These are her wishes on a meteor Jimni sees shooting through the sky one night. Wait. That meteor is headed right at her! A partially roasted bird, that she takes for a crow, is all that Jimni finds at the sight of the crash. It's actually the emperor 's son, Xufeng, who is a phoenix. Jimni renders him assistance (of sorts) & finagles a ride w/ him back toThe Heavenly Realm where she's an instant hit.

Don't judge Jimni too harshly. She's actually weak b/c her spirit has been blocked. No matter how much she practices, she can't get ahead. Over time, this has corraded her resolve & she's given up a bit. The Heavenly Realm is a new setting that injects fresh hope into Jimni. People there are exceedingly wealthy when it comes to spiritual prowess, & some of that begins to trickle her way. She begins leveling up by doing favors in exchange for power. She's totally cheating. Bully for her!

AOL is a 2018 release that is rated 8.2 on IMDB. It is 1 season consisting of 63 45-minute eps. Based on the novel, Heavy Sweetness Ash-like Frost (2009) by Dian Xian, AOL & the book it's based on seems to provide inspiration for 2 novels that were also made into shows: Ancient Love Poetry-8.6, & Love & Redemption-10. For that, I'm eternally thankful. As the latter two seem to be standing on AOL's shoulders, comparison isn't entirely fair. In the realm of personal taste, L&R currently holds 1st place as the best thing I've ever seen - despite the often clunky special effects. ALP takes the viewer on a painful journey & flirts w/ being over the top, but they pull it off. It's magnificent. Director Chu Yui Bun also has Who Rules the World & Under The Power-8.6 to his credit, along w/ other popular shows that are all on my watchlist. I want to see everything he's done - his work is of the highest caliber. His shows are technically outstanding but even moreso, they touch the heart. He may or may not have been involved w/ AOL. On most sites Cheng Feng is credited as the director; consistently 1 or 2 steps behind, he hasn't caught up to Chu Yui Bun yet, but he is successful nonetheless.

AOL is a great story, but not perfect. It has pacing issues, it lacks crispness & actually drags. It floats on the surface & does not delve into the depths. That's fine - not every show has to, but one reason Shakespearean tragedies are so popular is that they are cathartically satisfying. Real life is heartbreaking enough. I don't want to watch something that's going to grab my heart, stomp on it, and leave it to bleed out. I'll be straightforward & say that I didn't like AOL very much. Some parts I loved, but overall the show pales next to other fantasy pieces. I'm already spoiled. Seeing how popular AOL is, I feel quite out of place. I want to like it. I tried to like it. However, AOL is not congealed well. It languishes & drags, the plot isn't tight, the characters aren't engaging enough so it fails to pull in the viewer fully from an emotional standpoint and it doesn't sell the romance. Furthermore, what occurs is heartbreaking, yet my emotions remained 70%... detached? Suspended?. It began to feel like a pile of compost. It kept accumulating and nothing cleared it away. That's how AOL became a weight on top of me that provided no release. It ironically does to the viewer what Zifen did to Jimni! AOL takes a loooong time to pick up steam. eps1-9 are mostly set up that tickled the interest but failed to grab it.

When Jimni has to "do time" in the mortal realm, north of ep20, things get more interesting. Typically, earth is where all the fun is in a fantasy Cdrama. Quite often they mention the bland food in heaven & how Earth's food is much more savory. {This is reminiscent of how, in the West, we think of Heaven as sitting on a cloud w/ a harp. We just can't imagine it. I'll say to people of faith that if you believe God made this world w/ all the beauty, love & laughter in it (despite all the evil - that's another topic) you should be able to believe that if God says Heaven is better, it is better.} Anyway, in the human realm, Xufeng is a king & Jimni is a healer. Since the king has never taken a wife nor a consort she believes him to be impotent. He takes special exception to that rumor and he lets her know what's what. As he's falling for her and tries to win her over, he and his general liken the process to war, which leads to countless amusing analogies. Around halfway they provide fascinating backstory.

Back in heaven, though, it starts to drag again. I believed it would come together & be wonderful based on what I had read. It didn't. I ended up forcing myself to watch the final 20 eps 1-at-a-sitting to complete the deed. This is not to criticize anyone who loves AOL. Emotional connections are based on a myriad of factors, none of which have to do w/ technical excellence. There's plenty of awful stuff that I love to watch. Everyone is entitled to h/h own form of mindless entertainment. Technically, though, AOL is not at the level of Ancient Love Poetry, Love & Redemption, Love Between Fairy & Devil-8.9, The Romance of Tiger & Rose-9.8, The Sleepless Princess-9, Eternal Love-8.3, its sequel - Eternal Love of Dream-7.4, the action thrillers Handsome Siblings-8.7, Duoluo Continent-9.1, or Heavenly Sword & Dragon Slaying Saber-9, & it's not on the level of the period dramas The Rebel Princess-9, Under the Power-8.6, The Sword & the Brocade-8.6, The Rise of the Phoenixes-9, or even Overlord-8.4. I'll go out on a limb & say that even Once Upon a Time in Linglian Mountain-7.5 is better. With the benefit of hindsight, I would not choose to watch AOL for the first time, while I would watch any of the above shows again, & some I already have.

The characters are as likable as generic vanilla ice cream. The viewer cares about them, but those feelings are limited & the emotional investment tops out at mid-range. Many of these characters are irritating & I'm not very irritable. They're either too weak, too blind to the faults of those they love, too forgiving of evil when it suits them, too naive, or too quick to accept false choices. We see this in every drama, & the last two are common tropes in Cdramas, but there's a delicate balance between what one is able to brush aside & what starts obstructing enjoyment. Yang Zi is Jimni. She's got a dry quality that shows up in The Oath Of Love, one of the better modern-day Chinese shows. (China leads the world in imaginative fantasy, but their modern-day stuff is almost as bad as their fantasy & historical features are good). Simply likable, Yang Zi carries OOL. Going into AOL w/ such positive feelings about her carried me through many eps before I realized that I don't like her character very much. She isn't cute, she's not smart, she's not diligent, she's only marginally brave, & she's mostly bland. Just don't blame it on the actress.

Now for some Mosts: Wang Yi Fei plays Sui He, the empress's niece & the woman who feels that she's most entitled to marry the soon to be Crown Prince, Xufeng. She has the most beautiful eyes. She's an iceberg & adept at playing a loathsome character. Speaking of loathsome, Kathy Chow is queen b!+ch, Tu Yao / the Heavenly Empress. She's perfect for these roles. In Heavenly Sword & Dragon Slaying Saber, she plays a most domineering martial arts sect leader & she kicks butt! Most of her work was in the 80s & 90s. Chen Yu Qi is the most likable character as Liu Ying, the Bian Princess. You should see her in Heavenly Sword & Dragon Slaying Saber - She's fantastic. The character that tugged at my heart the most is Runyu, the Night Deity (Luo Yun Xi). His story is tragic; he never gets a fair shake. He becomes more and more like his father. It's understandable that Runyu gives up, but he certainly pulls an Anakin Skywalker: Once steeped in bitterness, he goes real bad real quick (that's a mini spoiler, but one can see it coming eps ahead of time. They painstakingly build his resentment. The dam cracks here & there, then it breaks. Does he stay that way? Not telling…). He Zhong Hua is Tai Wei, the Heavenly Emperor. He plays a completely different character, though also a ruler, in Love & Redemption. He looks quite a bit different (older) as well. Talk about most in-demand, since 2011 he's appeared in 3-6 shows/yr, and he's usually in a movie or two as well. How is that even possible? Cloning program?

Deng Lun is Xufeng/Phoenix/Fire Deity. He mostly looks like an Italian kid from South Philly. No complaints about his looks or his acting; he's solid. His character runs out of the baselines, however. The way Xufeng hangs on seems deranged. He pursues Jimni as if he's entitled to her w/o regard for his brother. While he's not wrong (Jimni does not love Runyu) his sense of entitlement & lack of perspective or empathy for Runyu is icky. Runyu's descent into a bitter quest for revenge is heartbreaking. If a story is going to break my heart, I need something back in exchange. AOL creates an unpaid debt to the viewer. The way Xufeng defends his mother is off the righthand path. We should be true to family, friends, & most of all our parents, but we should be most true to what is right. Otherwise, it's selfish indulgence. The emperor lived for selfish indulgence and, later, his sons did the same in their own ways. Xufeng acts like he owns Jimni and he expects his toxic, downright evil parents to be respected regardless of the heinous things they've done, while Runyu wants to kill everyone that crosses him, as is the case w/ most that obtain power. Being wronged doesn't make a person right. Wallowing in victimhood leads to the bad 7: discontent, ingratitude, anger, unforgiveness, hate, bitterness, & misery. They will turn the victim into the victimizer.

Emotions are much stronger than logic, but if we don't check them w/ a humble perspective they will create chaos & misery. Pretending a person's dirty is clean is just existing in lies. It all leads to Xufeng 's regret. He and his father drove his mother to act out. She is still fully responsible for her own stuff, but he contributed. Is there such a thing as loss w/o regret? Doubtful. It's very tricky: Taking on ALL the fault would be overstating his own importance which is another form of self-absorption.

Narcissistic mothers & toxic women drive the plot of AOL. The ambitions of the Heavenly empress for Xufeng have everything to do w/ what she wants & nothing to do w/ her son. They taint her outlook like mud smeared glasses. All she can see are things related to her, for her, & against her. Her niece, Suihe, is her disciple & follows suit. Runyu's birth-mother is near sadistic as she plots her devastating revenge. Zifen, Jimni's mother, utilized extreme measures to exert control as she left the world. Even the floral realm has a harshness to it, though their motives are mostly pure. One way people pass down trauma to their children is by overreacting to it & exerting hyper-vigilance. Not only does that hand a knife to the children (if they want to hurt their parents, they know exactly what to do) but it keeps a family enslaved to the ongoing pain.

Women & men are equal - they are equally guilty of toxic self-absorption. In AOL, the emperor is ultimately to blame. He married for power & pursued what he wanted every step of the way. He speaks of love, but he only loves himself. He never checked the empress b/c he couldn't be bothered. He created the incubator for the disease that spread later.

Narcissists tend to develop from imbalance - from spoiled or neglected children. Narcissistic behavior is handed down generationally & only results in bitter misery. It's a trap, & those who fall into it are enslaved and, in turn, enslave those in their sphere. Self-involvement is like a whirlpool: It's hard to escape once we get spinning inward. It creates appetites that can never be satisfied, leading to the bad 7. We don't need to love ourselves: We need to accept ourselves (imperfection is reality) & always strive to improve. Suihe is a good example. She wastes her life wanting something that clearly won't be hers. At the same time, instead of focusing on self-improvement which will lead to the right mate & true happiness, she works towards what she wants. One thing getting older has taught me is that people don't want the right things. I never wanted the right things. All I want now is to help others avoid some of the regrets that I have. A simple life of love & contentment w/ enough - but not too much - is the best we can hope for. Don't let wanting the wrong things rob you of love, peace & joy.

AOL is a visual banquet. Some of the sets are excessively busy; Flowerworld is almost too colorful, but there's no denying that they labored on the art of the show. What is fascinating is what looks like 1930's streamline design in the heavenly realm. Streamline is simplified Art Deco. The Russian designer, Vladimir Yourkevitch, birthed this look when he crafted the design for the SS Normandie. I don't know if the AOL set designers relied on traditional Chinese motifs or if they incorporated western elements, but there are objects of stunning and familiar detail in the show. Even traditional Greek block scrolling design lines many heavenly structures. (Evidence of a common human origin?). The mosaic lights at the bird realm are my favs. In one masterfully innovative shot, faces are reflected off of a drop of wine. They mention that something is made from ancient mithril - That's from JRR Tolkien's works! That connection gave me a thrill. The big battle scene is impressive. The soundtrack, particularly Sa Ding Ding’s song, is beautiful.

The viewer will smile here & there. He's a phoenix, son of the emperor & the most popular boy in the heavenly realm, but she calls him a magpie. That's once she generously stops calling him a crow. Unfortunately, there aren't many laughs. What goes on in AOL is very bitter. It gets dysfunctional, and we aren't provided with any elixir to help us manage it.


QUOTES📢

You judge me from a villain's perspective.

{She} involves her preconceived ideas in her words, which is a bit biased.

You know yourself least.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣68 📝68 🎭75 💓67 🦋71 🌞49 🎨65 ⚡60 🎵/🔊68 😅35 😭55 😱40 😯40 😖35 🤔44 💤48 🔚73

Age 12+ Language: hell &darnn; violence; references to sex & abusive situations; we see the start of a sexual assault - the woman is dragged away from the camera as she grabs at the ground.

Re-📺? No

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

Historical/Period:
The Romance of Tiger & Rose 9.8,
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1


Fantasy:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Love & Redemption 10;
Heavenly Sword 9.

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