This review may contain spoilers
Perfect 10 then crash & fall into the typical dreaded C-Drama ending!
Will this drama be remembered as one of the best of 23 or Worst ending of 23?Up to Ep 18:
Legendary actress paired up with OST fan fav = Chemistry Explosion! Unlikely pairing magical to watch!
Granted going into this drama I was already a fan of both leads so my tolerance for possible drama plot holes may be higher.
Already what's working:
1. ML/FL Paring: You have ML Liu Yu Ning who may not be the best actor (but lots potential) has been a fan favorite for his personality and music talent. He is paired up with a veteran actress Liu Shi Shi, who pulls off the badass female assassin way better than idol actresses. She's beautiful & fierce and even though it's been ages since she's done a period costume drama, she still can do those fight scenes well. Together the chemistry is intense with the slow burn romance brewing. By ep 11 it will definitely hit those emotions.
2. Script/Storyline/Execution: The script flows very well with just the right amount of humor. Characters (including the important supporting characters) are multidimensional.
3. Strong supporting cast. The rescue princess group is very entertaining.
-Love seeing Alen Fang playing a flirtatious character rather than the typical serious prince. The character allowed him to showcase his range of acting skills. When he cried, it hit.
-Wang Yi Zhe, the doctor that delivers the one liner at the opportunist time is interesting as well.
-He Lan Dou: The naive princess with the MOST character growth in the drama. She's probably my favorite character.
-Chen You Wei: Such a cute character.
Kudos to the casting & acting!
4. Fight choreography. Superb for actors that are not professionally trained. Superb for Liu Shi Shi who's no longer in her prime. But yes, there's a lot of freeze shots ....
5. Lighting, make up is not crazy pasty makeup in overly dark lit settings.
6. OST - Amazing!
Cinematography is not amazing but good enough. I could use a little less comedic sound effects but all that is minor consider the quality of this drama.
30s episodes in, the drama went into a direction I was NOT hoping for. In too many C-dramas they just kill off all the characters and call it a day (probably they got tired of writing) I get it, much of the drama is about sacrificing for the greater good. When will script writers learn that there's a 1000 other ways to end the drama....
Even though ending sucked to me I still think it's an exceptional drama and worth rewatching until the leads got together.
Was this review helpful to you?
Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] made it!
Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] : HAHAHAHA AI Face passes idol drama level acting! Although, I am not sure if Zhang Hao Wei didn't get cancelled that he could do any better with this boring EX character.Drama is watchable if you enjoy SPECIFIC actors. However put this next to Blossom 九重紫 that's airing right now, it won't compete. From a script, storytelling, characters, couple CP, cinematography, etc etc all fell short. However, if you watch it because you are fan of ML/FL then its enjoyable.
I am big fan of Zheng Ye Cheng. His Peking Opera background makes him a solid choice for these Heroic characters in costume dramas. He doesn't need constant doubles for horseback riding scenes, fight scenes, wire works, walking scenes, kneeling on the ground scenes.... (ahahaha like that 流光引 dude)
So I watch most of his dramas just for him, but he has zero CP w/ all the FLs thus far (expect for the Sleepless Princess).
As great as Tan Song Yun is, the pair just didn't work for me. Again, personal opinion.
Story is typical as is the dialogue. The evil character is always that actor.... Kind of lost count of how many times he played that type of character. It definitely did not need to be 40 episodes.
Was this review helpful to you?
Character set up to fail
First impression: Ep 1-2 Proper set up, good production quality. Intro music hits. ML: Wang Xing Yue solid choice for this kind of drama. Mystery murders hook the audience in especially for the ones that love ancient detective type of dramas.Ep 3: FL's behavior is illogical (spoiler section). Huge red flag to lazy writing. Not sure if her acting works for this role. Most of the time she sounds like she's just reciting lines with the same stare. Maybe her acting works for modern youth dramas, but this character requires more complex emotions. Her line delivery dubbed or not doesn't hit.
Ignoring FL's character setup this drama is quite enjoyable. The slow burn serial killing cases being the highlight along with the ML. Pacing is good in the earlier episodes but then the story progression into the mystery lost its way to the point where I just need this Yesha to show up and end it.
***Spoiler ep 3***
Standard bad C-drama writing:
She supposed to be smart and even with evidence, girl stabs ML, makes him take a pill....
"Accident" poison pill, which I can't even with that...
Fire burns, ML has to princess carry her out w/o any internal energy. Scene right after she walks w/o a limp.
I am sure there will be more crappy logic to come but I am just going to put all that aside and focus on the positives.
Sadly, the ending crash and burned for me. Should've drop it when the red thread killing spree ended....
Was this review helpful to you?
Thrilling all the way
If you love crime solving mysteries this would be very enjoyable. The story involves the tragic death of a beautiful girl who's life was already miserable. It will hit home with many of us who grew up under these unhealthy cultural norms. It will hit home when the victim's parents yelled out "I gave you life!" Therefore that gift of life justifies controlling the kid's every decision in life ultimately leading to her death. The toxic love that prior generation can't see as an issue until it's too late.As the story continues it also focuses on the FL cop marriage struggles. Her inability to separate her job from her husband. Her mental state deteriorated as the case continued to the point of ruining her relationship with a perfect husband. Although the story ended on a high note, it was frustrating watching that relationship breakdown.
What I loved:
1. Cast. Every actor played their character well. This is the first time I've watched Song Jia (FL)'s work and she's amazing in this role.
Wang Yang - He's been one of my favorite veteran actor.
Hou Wen Yuan (supporting cop) - Hope I see him in more roles in the future
2. Overall story. Satisfying ending with many love & love to hate characters
3. Pacing of the story was very good. I like that the case had few twist and turns but not excessive.
4. Dialogue - Mature, insightful, relatable
Only dislike:
1. FL went overboard IMO by ep 12
It would be cool to see future dramas based off on this FL.
Was this review helpful to you?
ML Lipstick ultra Fail
I can't believe so many good reviews for this. The story is nothing new which means script needs:1. ML & FL Chemistry which none that I could feel. I've enjoyed both of the leads in other dramas but this pairing didn't work for me at all
2. Dynamic characters with witty dialogue and..... Lead characters were flat.
3. Great supporting characters, they had potential but not a lot of time were spent on them
Too many scenes with major lipstick fail on the ML. One restaurant scene his lip liner was 5 shades off from his spotty lipstick. It was just all too distracting. Other scenes his lipstick was heavier than the FL. Maybe it should've been a lipstick commercial instead.
Only character that stood out was the Lee Jae Woon, the rich friend and of course ALL other supporting characters were more interesting than the Main couple.
Was this review helpful to you?
Started out strong, downhill ep 12 on
The moment she left the train, all logic lost.The story started out fun & interesting, so I thought it was going to be as strong as the drama "Extraordinary you."
Favorite aspects of this drama:
-ML Byeon Woo Seok did an amazing job and surprised me with that singing voice.
-FL Kim Hye Yoon always does a great job with these kinds of roles.
-The pairing is super cute, great chemistry
Not so great....
-Weak supporting characters & stories.
-Pacing started to slow down midway, and the constant crying scenes got repetitive. Nowadays the most annoying trend is for dramas to replay scenes that JUST happened 10 seconds ago as if viewers need a reminder.
-Ep 12 on the script went south as the FL made illogical decisions. And if you just go with those decisions she comes back to current time, shouldn't she try to find the SAME one-dimensional suspect? Girl has a cop friend/2wk ex/15 yrs 2nd lead she can ask..... Running away from the killer situation is not really fixing the source of the problem.
Downfall of many fluffy romances with strong beginning is the sloppy writing at the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
Typical revenge drama but very enjoyable!
The recycled revenge drama script continues to be the trend. It's one of the better ones though at as the production quality is very nice. It gives off a darker vibe with vibrant colors. Make up / costume design especially unique. Lots more dark reds right down to the makeup & wardrobe of the ML. Compared to a similar drama like Story of Kunning Palace I think this drama did a better job in terms of storytelling, casting, & production. So even if the script is nothing new, and lots of unbelievable scenes, it's still a great watch!FL/ML pairing works nicely IMO. Both are equally mysterious and calculating. The acting's convincing especially the FL's crying scenes.
FL : I am not familiar with her prior works, but dancer background brings that special grace that non dancer background actors can't fake.
ML: I watched some of his prior works and he can act but in terms of characters, this character is the most interesting thus far
Killer Ex husband: His acting is outstanding. Character is more complex than the ML.
Slow romance:
Their encounters were not overly forced, and the development of the relationship is slowly brewing which I am enjoying. Ep 9 on the leads finally starts to have more interactions. The chemistry becomes more evident in ep 11!
Ending..... UGHHHH honestly the last episode was NOT needed. Did they REALLY need to send ML away for yet another battle? Really could've ended before that.
Was this review helpful to you?
Love is a repetitive script
Watch if you love the leads as they are both big stars but literally its the same script over and over again. If the story , dialogue is good then a repetitive script with typical otp cliches can be done right. This is not that. Not only that the story was pretty much done for by ep 30 but they dragged it out by another 6.Cliche story goes:
1. A boy who likes a girl in secret ever since a million years ago and never had any other love interest
2. The boy orders the girl around but is secretly helping her
3. Girl is COMPLETELY ignorant and cannot see he's helping her but thinks he's a bully instead
4. Girl is supposedly smart but yet let every one boss her around
5. Mean girl who can't get a clue or won't give up even after the leads got together
6. 2nd Lead who never had a chance but yet won't give up
7. 2nd Lead's confession is 20 ep too late? why not what? and of course the girl had no clue
Supporting couple not strong as well.
Few fun moments but majority is rather dull so if you are a fan of the leads then you might like it. Else skip for a better cliche love scripts that's done right.
Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing script
I love the leads in many of their roles, so I was excited to see the pairing in this promising drama.No fault to the acting but the script is too absurd.
Matched up with some overly annoying support characters like the Madam Yoo , the ex wife of ML, the Mother of 2nd ML, Female office worker.... it was really hard to watch.
The plot of raising an orphan child bride just served no purpose.
Then pops in the ex wife adding to the annoyingness of the whole story
The few parts I did enjoy:
ML's character in general. His awkwardness and comments in the beginning episodes were hilarious. The more awkward he got the more FL finds him cute.
Gay roommate/BFF/BF/Husband. His character is the most lovable.
Pretty much those are the only factors why I continued with the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
Can't escape the typical drama trope
I am sure every XZ fan has been waiting for this highly anticipated drama.This is a big production so definitely some beautiful costumes, sets & cinematography (i.e ep 1 with the dessert)
XZ visuals .... I mean probably the most important reason why I can't drop this drama. It is a shame that they used too much orange tone on his face. Some scenes the lighting makes both his cheeks and eye lids super ORANGE which is completely distracting.
Good supporting cast overall with many familiar faces. I particularly like Zhi Yuan's character, a worthy 2nd lead.
FL .... This is a tough one as I never felt any female lead in his past works ever matched him equal level. Zhao Lusi (in Oh! My Emperor) was pretty good but XZ was the 2nd lead there. Wu Xuan Yi (in Douluo Continent) came very close but I am still waiting for that perfect pairing.
It doesn't help that Ren Min's character falls into that typical drama trope FL (which is not the actress fault). The character never really matured. She's did a decent job but I just don't see the chemistry. She's cute in her own way but not FL worthy.
Ep 31 in that's when the drama gets into the ridiculous misunderstandings followed by a hot mess of an ending:
-Multiple resurrections & death
-Multiple memory loss
-Multiple soul possessions
Sadly this will be a just another ok watch that's completely forgettable.
Was this review helpful to you?
Ruined Potential
I was excited to see Ryan Cheng in a ML role since (A Familiar Stranger) but this is just not it.Classic cringe bad C drama writing:
-Not even 1 ep to set up character's background to establish some kind of emotional connection
-FL being blind randomly gets saved by the ML. I mean why is he even there? Should at least be logical.
-FL not convincing as a male which I never expect looks wise, but if you compare Yang Zi (in Lost Forever) as a male, the way she walked, talked she was very convincing. Or Zhang Ya Qin in Love in Between, that legit is actually caring about the character trying to pass as a guy. Nothing like FL here fluttering her eyes at the ML before the big reveal.
17 ep in:
-No chemistry between the leads IMO (Although I do think the leads can act given a good script)
-No strong interesting supporting cast stories
-Jokes don't hit and often awkward
Potential lost.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch
3 people found this review helpful
Make you miss S1
Everything felt differentActing was still ok but the connection didn't feel as strong. Was there really feel of character development? Not really to me.
New addition was a fail. He wasn't funny and maintained his annoying status all the way through.
Evil characters - they out acted the good characters. I really enjoyed them actually. Kim Hieora played a crazy one eyed b*8ch really spiced up the show. I absolutely loved her acting. Kang Ki Young (one of my fav. supporting characters) who always played as the comedic supporting role really pulled off the evil role.
The story had too many loopholes that makes you ask why didn't ... that happen? Made no sense. Sloppy writing honestly.
Still semi enjoyable. if you just focus on the stunts and action. Prob should quite at S2.
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond your average Youth Drama
I found this Drama by chance because I enjoyed some of the prior works by the cast. This is not your typical youth drama that you can play on the side because you'll miss out on all the funny moments. It's a shame that this drama is under the radar as the subs are terrible. However if you do at least understand partial Chinese this would be a great pick even if you don't care for debate. Also I watched S2 before S1 and I am glad I did because if I watched S1 I would not go for S2 as the acting was so bad. S1 & S2 are completely independent stories because I saw a few same actors playing completely different characters (like Ma Nan & Tao Hao's ex)What I enjoyed:
1. Cast. After watching Zhai Zi Lu (in "My Calorie boy") & Wu Jai Yi (from "The Letter from the Cloud") I thought the pairing would be super cute. Great chemistry between them and love the pace of development from friends to couple.
Ma Nan (Wang Ze Xuan) - I've only seen this actor in supporting bad guy roles, but his character was my favorite one in the show with the best one liners. Honestly it's a shame he hasn't been in good ML roles.
2. Actual story. Yes its the typical don't give up till you come out of the gutter and reach your goal, but there's actual depth to the script. I liked how they tied the debate topics to what the characters are going through.
3. Comedy aspect - Lots of laughs every episode mixed with subtle and OTP acting but all so entertaining!
4. Coupling - Very rare do I enjoy all the match ups
5. Ma Nan's Ending - Classic!
Could've been better:
1. First 10 episodes were really good and then the pace slowed down. A few episodes felt like pure fillers almost out of place.
2. Scene transition isn't always smooth like the development of supporting couple just went silent for a long time then all of a sudden they are together.
3. Team 1 Yin Nan's character came in as an one sided antagonist and then the great face off never really happened.
4. Team 2 captain Yan Ze, his voice was so mono tuned, it was hard to watch
5. Tuan Zi's doll dresses .... YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
How about S3?
Was this review helpful to you?
Semi Dark comedy delight
I didn't expect this from a C-drama. Story started with a heavy topic but in a comedic way mixed with some artistic visuals and deep troubled thoughts. ML and FL did an awesome job acting out the characters. They had good chemistry and even though it's a short watch the character development was strong. With OST like these, I wished the story expanded as the dialogue was very good.Don't worry it's not truly dark but it does touch up on subjects of suicide, gang life, rape, friend's family betrayal with hope around the corner.
Was this review helpful to you?
Crash course in proper casting
Honestly I don't understand why the rating is so high for this drama. There are 2 major issues that killed the drama for me.1. Proper casting complete fail
Really no offense to the FL as I've seen her other works, however this is all about age appropriate casting based on the character. Lets say FL's character was around ~22 years old & ~13 years later she should at MOST be in the late 30s. FL actress is 50 and definitely looks older than her age. Literally ALL the other moms looked younger than her. So when there are comments like "Oh she looks too young to be a mom." .... umm she can be grandma status. Needless to say there was zero chemistry between the leads. Scenes were cringe worthy....
2. For a drama that was promoted as a romantic comedy it turned into a dark theme with murder suicide? Whole story line felt forced but predicable.
The only reason I continued is because of the strong student cast and some more interesting characters like Chi Yeol's scretary, the Detective & FL's bestie. This story line would've been better if it was more of a school series like Solomon's Perjury. It's already got the beautiful young talented actors in all the classic student roles. So if you skip literally all the ML/FL's scenes, this drama will be actually enjoyable.
Was this review helpful to you?
