Amarina

This Short OTT Angsty Trope-packed Melodrama Won't Be For Everyone

This series will absolutely stand as either a love it or hate it type series for most viewers. The synopsis is just detailed enough to entice a viewer but honestly if only going off the official synopsis you'll be blindsided by the truly toxic relationship Gu Yi (Luo Zheng) and Qiao Jing (He Rui Xian) have developed over their three year time together.

From the first episode tropes are thrown at the screen in record numbers. It would not suprise me in the slightest if the writer began this project with a sheet of paper detailing a list of tropes and put a check mark next to each one each time one was used. This makes for an over the top and highly dramatic show that has the viewer wondering if they even want any of the characters to even survive the shows ending, let alone have a Happy Ending.

Tonal shifts among episodes zigzag back and forth to the point of whiplash, especially in the first half of the series. Reality is thrown out the window as we have a front row seat to a ML who defies logic of having had a heart transplant as he eats and drinks whatever he wants and even runs miles after being hospitalized so he can see the FL. By the last four episodes though, even with the dramatic events still occurring and needing to be uncovered, the tone definitely shifts to being more easy-going and uplifting instead of leaving you with heart-pounding anxiety.

Characters:

Gu Yi - Beginning the show he starts as a stereotype of a possessive, self-entitled, mentally ill male lead and descends into stalking and emotionally blackmailing QJ to force her return to his side. He goes through several trials in his effort to redeem himself, failing in his sincerity until his ultimate fall allows him to prove he is capable of more.

Qiao Jing - This is definitely a complicated woman and if anything I wish the show could have been longer to have explored her emotional turmoil more. When she walks out on GY the first time you want to cheer after what she's gone through. When she drags her suitcase back each time something happens and she gives in it hurts. The criticism though comes from the drama being as short as it is and not allowing enough time to fully showcase her feelings of turmoil between Gu Yi/Su Juan/Bai Yun.

Bai Yun - The first third 2nd ML, BY is the foil to GY. His strength is his kindness and patience and he is willing to take a punch and go toe to toe to protect QJ from GY. Unfortunately, once he defeated as a rival he literally disappears from the drama never to be seen or mentioned again. This leads the viewer to unintentionally wonder if he will pop up again in the plot but this doesn't occur.

Bai Yan - The 2nd FL, BY is the childhood friend of GY and is a renown pianist. Returning home their families arrange the marriage of the two and she is over joyed. Her actions within the show have severe consequences and she is sent to prison just before the 2/3 mark. Both ML and FL refuse to forgive her to the very end but FL does accept her apology letter in last episode which may infuriate the viewer.

Su Juan - The catalyst for QJ seeking out GY originally is the mistaken thought he carried Su Juan's heart inside him. Overall most plot holes within the series have to due with this character. Again, more episodes could have allowed for him to develop further. He has a very minor arc with Bai Yan due to time restrictions on episode count that I wanted to see more of, especially in conflict with QJ. Because of the lack of time to develop scenes the viewer is sometimes left with doubt as to what his actual emotion is or if he is acting in a particular situation.

Fang Pei (GY mother) - Stereotyped and needed more time to truly showcase a change of heart, especially towards QJ. However, at the very least with this character the writers were able to find a way to express her true feelings during a scene with both GY and QJ mother's getting drunk together. Here we finally see that her opinions on the relationship haven't truly 100% changed, she just loves her son enough that she's given up fighting. Especially after the "other option" of BY is no longer socially or morally acceptable to her. In the penultimate scene of the series she tells her side of the events surrounding Su Juan and it will probably have you rolling your eyes in disbelief.

Zhou Yue - As a supporting character always by Gu Yi's side his relationships to and with everyone appear to almost be made deliberately vague. Bai Yan refers to him as her brother despite having differing last names and he refers to Bai mom as Auntie. His story development at the end of the last couple episodes makes for one of the least punished characters as his lawsuit had been dropped and Gu Yi is seen having a beer with him and calling him brother even as ZY is letting him know he's turning himself in. Honestly, he needed at least a minute or twos worth of time within the show to have focused more on his facial expressions. That or have switched the actor to someone more nuanced with microexpressions. Then maybe every thing would be slightly more believable from a viewers point of view.

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Light On Coherency, Heavy On Pretty & Spice

If there is one important thing to know before beginning this show, it is that there is little point in trying to follow the plot beyond: The FL has an object in her body needed to free the MLs people. She forms a bond with him that makes it so that when she sneezes, he shows up to protect her. She wants to clear her family's name. The ML has an evil entity inside him that wants to kill.

Anything and everything else within the show is irrelevant because nothing is ever fully explained. Each episode manages to hint that maybe 'next' episode more information will be doled out, only for that hope to die at the end of the next episode and the following after. With enough of these instances of shattered plot development coherency, what's left behind is a male lead often in various states of undress who doesn't shy away from being petty or jealous when he's not devouring the female leads face in yet another kiss scene.

The acting during emotional portions was rather well done. Scenes where the eyes needed to switch back and forth during the MLs inner struggles were praise worthy. Likewise, the scenes showcasing blank, vacant stares are also interesting to see on the screen.

If you are able to turn your brain completely off to the plot inconsistencies and lack of follow-through the show is watchable. It's best quality is its shameless ML and his comedic jealous nature around other people. As long as expectations for a coherent plot are removed, you should be able to sit back and enjoy the show.

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Asked For Plot, Got Plotholes

There aren't enough pretty people with competent acting skills capable of covering up the massive plotholes littered throughout this drama. What starts out as an honestly truly interesting plot concept devolves into a chaotic mess as soon as the plot hits it's first wall and needs to reset.

From then on, everything they have previously established is thrown out the window as "required" scenes rearrange when they happen and rules are suddenly created that didn't exist in the first episode. By the time the story makes its way to its finale you're no longer thinking that your brain hurts but rather sitting with a blank-eyed stare thinking that you're now so numb you can no longer feel the pain so 'sure' pile on more ridiculousness.

The characters somehow manage to make you care for them in an inverse proportional way. Where the usual dramas want you to care most about the main leads, I honestly didn't... Throughout the entire show they managed to stay completely one-dimensional to me with the sum of our Jin Zhu being "I don't want to die, I want to live" (whatever that means... who knows, we know nothing actually about HER), and Lou Siyi being "I want to marry the female lead".

Meanwhile, the supporting characters are where I actually FELT something. Zhou Nanzhi is the sort of character trapped in a seemingly no-win situation... he laments at one point that as soon as he gave in he lost but realistically, what was HE supposed to do alone? (Also, his character is one with one of the bigger plot holes I swear). We had Luo Li who was always so confident she was one step ahead as she crumbles when plot points become clear to her. Even the Princess, Empress and the barely there little Prince had meaningful moments that dug deep into the feeling of realizing you're trapped... I never honestly felt that with the leads and it left them flat.

I honestly can't talk about the actual story without getting angry because it takes a VERY good idea and just fumbles it so bad with nonsense. Not the sort of nonsense that is "suspend your disbelief, this is a comic world" but rather "you wrote yourself in a corner and said f-k it let's just keep writing".

Score:
(Starting at 5/10)
enjoyment 0
story 0
main leads 0
support .5
intimacy/chemistry 0
coherence/plotholes -1

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The Sacrifices of Upholding "The People First, The State Second, The Ruler Third"

On surface level this was an achingly beautiful tale about two people trying to do what they felt was best for their country. There is angst and heartbreak and tears and sadness radiating off the screen during the initial episodes.

Su Leyu comes off as an upright and honest woman who will always hold true to her promise to protect the country; even if she can no longer trust the man she once loved. She isn't afraid to play the long game in order to achieve her goals and is often a step ahead of those against her. Her biggest weakness though, is her unshakable loyalty to those she grew up with as she naturally wants to believe that the teachings she internalized from the Empress were also internalized by others.

Yin Changyan has an even heavier burden than his female counterpart. As the Emperor he bears the stigma of how he came into power as well as the teachings of his mother the former Empress. The world is his chessboard and he must delicately balance the pieces so as to not topple the game. Because of this he must often work against his own wishes and interests in order to prioritize his future success.

While the acting, chemistry, costuming and even music are all things that evoke strong visceral reactions, they are let down by the story connecting the plot points together. A 16 episode palace intrigue storyline was always going to be ambitious and here it does fall short. There are plenty of loose threads and hand-wave convient plotploints that are either not explained or inferred to have become known off-screen. The Emperor waltzes around outside the palace often each time he needs to help assist his Consort with an investigation. Characters dissappear from the plot and seem to have zero purpose. Sometimes revelations are made to the viewer only for them to later be found inaccurate despite there being no reason for the misinformation to be given originally. Even the very timeline during which the story takes place appears to not match what is "actually" shown during the episodes; the viewer is told the story takes place over three years and yet the actions don't feel like it and there are no time markers of "1 month later", "4 months later", etc.

So, while the acting and relationship between the leads was gorgeous to watch, the actual palace plot, while "good", needed improvement.

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This Made Me Feel Dumb

It was quite odd. The show had the premise that I usually go for and sounded quite exciting, but once you start actually WATCHING there is just "something" missing making it boring and just "there". In fact, I'm rather certain that within 3 months I won't remember anything about this Mini at all.

The plot about coming back and restarting was complicated by both actors not communicating with each other, despite the ML KNOWING the FL came back since it was obvious to him...

The actual conspiracy about who was the traitor honestly made very little sense to me and the characters did so many things that made NO sense that I could only stretch my disbelief so far.

Personally, I liked the looks of the ML and his height but that's personal preference and not really something to base watching the show strictly on since this isn't a high skinship mini.

Overall, I'm just left scratching my head about the traitor plot and mostly just nodding my head and pretending I understand what's going on. And then the VERY last scene was thrown out and I gave up.

It's not the worst thing I've seen but parts of it really made me not care about finishing it rather than actively hating it.

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Started Out Strong, Becomes Unintentional Comedy

I knew going in there was no way this was going to be a full red flag drama and also had an "idea" about "a" possible ending so I was essentially going in to this with eyes wide open.

I liked much of the first part for what it was, including the jaunt into the village.

Where it broke down for ME was the seeming plothole 2nd cpl love story (maybe scenes were cut idk) and then the brain melting episodes 24-27. I had to literally force myself NOT to rate the entire show lower than a 5 JUST based on those few episodes alone.

But then they gave us episode 28 and it was hilarious to me. I don't think I was supposed to find it funny but I did...

The final episodes made a run for giving me the title of most inappropriate laughter during a show but whatever, at least I didn't want to actively turn the show off during them.

So what is this show? Who is this show for?

This is a baseline popcorn drams you can watch without paying attention to half of what's going on and still understand. It has a deep message it wants to convey and for those it resonates with it will hit hard... but for the most part everyone else will roll their eyes.

I'm not going to say it's not worth your time to watch it... just be aware of what you're getting before jumping in so you're not disappointed.

Full Episode Rating Breakdown:
Initial Set-up - first 5 eps 10/10
Repairing the screen, the hunt, the village - 6-18 8.5/10
Return and Downfall - 19-23 7.5/10 (mostly for plothole reasons with 2nd Cpl)
Qingzhou 1 - 24-27 2/10 Burn these episodes with fire specifically - I could have sworn this lasted more episodes based on how slow they felt, but nope.
🤣 - 28 8.5/10
Qingzhou 2 - 29-31 7/10 People are introduced JUST to die 🤡 FUN!
Final Episode - 32 8.5/10

Final Rating 7/10

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A Very Western Action Thriller

Sitting down to watch Mobius was both a thrilling experience and a slight headache.

Episode one immediately grabs your attention and locks you in; but at the same time the action sequences make little sense beyond to "look nice" and be "thrilling". Somersaults and sideways jumps with bullets blasting are things one would expect to see in your average popcorn action movie, not quite what you think of in a Chinese Web Drama. The constant switch between "Please turn off your brain" and "Please pay close attention so you can follow the plot" meant I could enjoy the show, but I was rolling my eyes and shaking my head often.

One of the personal negatives that I found was that the audience kept being fed tiny bits of details about various side characters sprinkled among the various time loops, and yet we often still learned nothing concrete. Instead everything felt as though you were sitting at a table next to a table where people you know are talking to other people you don't know and hearing bits and pieces of their conversation but not interacting with them at all, just listening. As such, there may be a few stories they talk about where you know the people and the entire story makes sense, and others where you just have the tiny bits that were mentioned and not elaborated on.

While in the end, the main case is solved, some of the small little issues that crept up did not and were left hanging. While there may have been a small montage of scenes where people are shown as a "what happens after" sort of closure, they rang very hollow based on the multiple details learned in each loop. Two characters aren't even mentioned at ALL in the end, even as a quick camera pan, leaving their fates fully and completely unresolved.

One thing I didn't mind was the slight romance aspect. I picked up on the feelings portion between the two characters at the beginning and then followed along in the montage as working in close proximity allowed them to finally become closer without guilt. During the loop days not a lot of time was spent of romantic pursuits because these days would be forgotten so having deep conversations would be mostly worthless. This didn't stop them from still being able to demonstrate their feelings during these loops, even if no words were actually provided, which was nice. And at least he gives more than a handshake.

Ultimately, by the end I was checking to see how much longer I had left in the last episode. When there were no repercussions for that last loops final days outcome beyond those that resulted in the actual apprehension, I tuned out and put it on 2x speed. The final scene made me want to throw phone.

End of day - it's popcorn, not amazing.

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Funny Sitcom-style RomCom... Until it's Not

The majority of this show was rather good and the various situations within the hotel "just" real enough that adding comedic elements to them doesn't make them over the top and hammy. But then the last several episodes refocus the plot in order to be able to wrap it up with a proper ending and this is where it falls apart.

Suddenly you have a more serious plotline happening with very little to no comedy, the best-friend's very minor storyline feels shoe-horned in and out of place, and the 2nd leads storyline realizes the writer STILL hasn't set them up as a CP yet...

Essentially what happens is it feels like the writer asked themselves "how do I write myself OUT of a corner" for a bunch of plotlines and picked the first one that came to mind regardless of if it makes sense or not.

End watching the show when the leads get together and you won't miss anything but your eyes rolling.

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Intense Political Schemes Amidst A Sweet Enemies to Lovers Romance

This show made me wonder how much better it could have been if made even longer and allowed the leads to ALSO be morally grey.

Positives for me:
• 2 vastly different yet similar countries showcasing palace politics
• The first several episodes show casing a brutal enemies-to-lovers that puts the emphasis on them being from enemy countries having tried to kill eachother.
• Not shying away from blood (no pink and your imagination)
• War and fighting scenes "mostly" feel realistic


Negatives for me:
• Plot threads were dropped and "barely" brought up again
• Several things just had to be "just go with it" while watching
• The ending scene explaining what happened to everyone left a LOT of questions in my head
• Once the leads were TOGETHER they became boring background figures where everything interesting was happening elsewhere while they were being "heart-eyes even in dark days".
• The Storm Alliance could have been fleshed out and actually had something DONE with it but instead it felt like a plot convience they slightly expanded upon to give the leads time each episode.

At the beginning of the show my favorite characters were Fu Yixiao and Feng Suige. By the end, I rolled my eyes every time these perfect people were on my screen and my favorite characters were Feng Xiyeng and Xia Jingyan.

Perhaps some of my distaste for the romance of the leads came from the production repeating their songs over and over and over again. I wasn't feeling hearts, or butterflies or tension but instead thinking "really"? The song for the Princess was also repeated A LOT and may have the same effect for other people but it honestly almost came across as an irony when it came on for her each time something bad would happen and tears would well in her eyes so I didn't really mind it as much.

The side characters were interesting but I felt they could have been fleshed out MORE in order to give them a deeper motive. For instance we never quite learn "exactly" what some of the actions people take were supposed to achieve...
• Why did the "masked man" meet up with "person from Jinxiu"? What did the masked man ACTUALLY gain from it?
• Why were there camps in Susha?
• WHY attack the Storm Alliance back then and how was this place SUCH a secret?
(I could go on but that would require spoilers even posing the questions...)


Ultimately I liked the show a lot but it REALLY made me wistful for a thought on what it might have been able to be if made a bit longer and to have allowed the leads to also be grey characters.

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The Definition of "Tolerable"

With a mix of multiple tropes from various big name Xianxia-type shows, this show manages to be "watchable".

There are absolutely periods of time where the level of investment was higher but then the story would shift focus again and go in another direction. If there were anything positive to say about doing this with so many IP homages, it's that there was a level of not 'quite' knowing where the story would go next in a definite sense.

Watching this with bullet comments enabled does add a level of humor to the show as people who have already watched point out JUST how wet and/or greasy the MLs wig looks, and JUST how much the script reminds them of a Wattspad fanfiction written by a teenager.

The acting goes from not bad and actually sort of good, to 'Please close your mouth when you're not talking'. Personally I found the chemistry lacking for much of the show until the last life.

By and large I felt little with each life's death as it was a "rinse and repeat" story plotline delivered with no emotional buildup. If you know that the cycle repeats, basically per episode at one point, why should the audience care?

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Does Stunning Cinematography Excuse Weak Story Development

What this drama showcases best is a stone-cold FL willing to use anything and anyone to her advantage in order to achieve her revenge for the past.

What this drama does poorly is provide a ML with any defining characteristics or a romance that makes you feel invested.

Rather than a strict romance it is a revenge melodrama where every detail is only surface level and you're left to try and piece together a coherent plot behind the pretty cinematography. Things as simple as how the baby was explained to the ML are left unanswered. Details about the 2FL and her Eunuch are swept aside and only explained in the very last episodes. At no time did it ever feel like the ML and FL were a true "couple", even to the very end; rather there was a feeling of "they are attracted to each other and using each other".

By the end, all the build-ups fall flat and had me rolling my eyes. The 2FLs end scenes felt random and used to try and prove that she too was a victim; yet none of it excused how she treated either the FL or her cousin.

For me this was a one time only watch and I'm not even interested in revisiting it through rewatching clips in the future. Falls victim to "if you've seen one revenge show you've seen them all."

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A Whole Lot of Nothing

Reading the premise of show based on the synopsis I was intrigued enough to give this show a shot after a LONG dry spell of not watching mini dramas...

I was very dissapointed with what it delivered.

We are promised a story intertwining her dreams with his 10 lifetimes but what we GET is a couple of dreams... (one of which never is shown to be averted and one of which isn't even shown with her having HAD the dream) and the MLs 10th lifetime in action. What happened during ANY of the other lifetimes we have no idea because that's not important, just this final 10th one is... Is the ML trying to solve a mystery with this timeloop? Who knows... he certainly doesn't seem to be too concerned with the fact he's on his "last life".

Later, when the plot goes in the forgone path you KNOW it will go eventually, the story just waves it's hand and tries to make up a rules for what is happening on the screen. These actions and rules do not follow and logic and instead become a matter of "we wrote it this way and it's happening so JUST GO WITH IT".
I couldn't turn my brain off far enough.

Basically... the story is messy and asks you to overlook a lot of silliness for a plot they are playing straight. The romance goes from zero to 100 in whiplash speed but hey... they start making out so why complain right? (The funniest part for ME was when they tried to justify the romance being at 100 by showing flashbacks to scenes where she was NOT feeling romantic towards the ML at all but they were in the same frame so that counts... right?

Score:
(Starting at a 5/10)
enjoyment -0.5
story -0.5
main leads 0
support 0
intimacy/chemistry .5
coherence/plotholes -0.5

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Another Over-Powered Harem Mini

Was this mind-less, brain-less fun? For the most part, yes. Was this some masterpiece? Absolutely not in my opinion. If you have seen one over-powered harem you have seen this one: Multiple girls fall in line for a guy that is obviously VASTLY more powerful than anyone around him but they will call him names and sneer at him until each one falls in line.

The best selling point of this specific show is that they did get a rather engaging OST that honestly IS very good and makes you feel pumped up.

As for the acting, obviously some people have loved it, personally I thought it was awful and the ML couldn't "quite" pull of the "I'm confident in my abilities and don't care what anyone else says" look. Instead for me he looked cartoonish and goofy. The dubbing didn't help either for me.

The villian casting was... odd with the 4th prince specifically mentioned as being "young" and "handsome" but had visible wrinkles on his face.

For the CGI, I have seen plenty of mini-dramas and low budget mid-length dramas, I've seen bad cgi and don't care. It very rarely bothers me. But this does not have "good" and absolutely not "AMAZING" cgi in any way. It was Okay and consistent which is more what I look for.

I do recommend because it's a fun show, but again, don't expect a masterpiece. 🤷‍♀️

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A Palace Revenge Plot to Put Others to Shame

This Mini is what other shows are TRYING to achieve. It has a blend of everything, spice level on the heavier side of medium level, revenge, palace politics, relationship growth, tension, plot twists, sword fights, blood and a nice ost.

The main characters scheme JUST as much as the antagonists and until the very end you're constantly left wondering what's going to happen next; if it will go a conventional route or mix things up and be unconventional.

There WAS some slight editing issues a couple times that took me put personally. One time for instance there were green tracking boxes over the ML face 🤡. But these were mostly minor issues. Otherwise, I loved the costumes and camerawork as they made use of diagonal sweeping shots for instance.

Definitely placing this as a favorite.

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Misunderstandings^2 - ML Is Entitled Baby

This is very much a turn your brain off show. Beyond that it revolves around: how long can a man who has NEVER met his wife continue to have an affair WITH his wife while NOT knowing she IS his wife. That is essentially the plot. Yes there are small other things happening aside from this major plot but they are just that, small other minor plots.

What follows is a woman CONSTANTLY hearing how much he hates her and despises her AS he's kissing up to her telling her how much he adores her as the "other woman". Again, he so thoroughly hates and despises this woman he has NEVER once met.

I was vaguely entertained by the ML's clown acting but overall I just could not turn my brain off enough to enjoy a man who so thoroughly did not care about his original marriage OR her "fake" marriage because only what HE wanted was important.

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