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This is quite an addictive melodrama. My first time watching Ma Tian Yu in a drama and I find that he is quite handsome. I've watched a few of Zheng Shuang's other drama and I thought her performance here is the best one, even compared with her performance in O2O. I thought she portrayed her role here pretty well. However, I don't know why is it but it seems like in every one of her drama, her stylist is very bad. Her outfits are terrible LoL. I get it that in this drama she came from a poor family. But even after she started a stable regular job, she still dresses poorly and more like a college student not an office worker. Anyway, enough about the costumes... As for the drama, I really like the friendship and family elements, and how it deals with a different (and sometimes mature) subject matter, like suicide. This drama depicts real people's problems like poverty, unrequited love, and the struggle that normal people faces in life. If you like melodrama and are looking for some variety in your drama watching, I would recommend this one for you. It's a bit long, but there are only a few episodes that I found boring. The rest is pretty well paced and kept you interested.
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Love it!
I won't write about the story line or character details because they have been written many times, so this is just my opinion for the series.I am not a fan of BL, which is why I have been putting The Untamed and Word of Honor on the to-watch shelf for a long time. I hesitated to watch this because of the BL storyline. But I didn't regret watching these two because they are one of the best chinese costume dramas that I've watched. The best ones in my opinion are Story of Yanxi Palace and Nirvana In Fire, but these two came close.
Word of Honor has all the elements that I like in a drama, good acting, handsome actors, beautiful costume and setting and wuxia scenes. Viewers are spoiled with beautiful colors in the costume, setting and cinematography as well as very amazing sceneries. There are plenty of WuXia fighting scenes in this drama that left you at the edge of your seats. There are also plenty of nice songs in the OST, I like the opening and ending theme and several others. That's why I always click "watch credit" and "play from the beginning" on Netflix for this drama because of the songs.
This drama is a rollercoaster of emotion for me. I felt sympathy for the characters, can feel happy, laughing at several scenes in the episodes, then change to feeling sad for some of the characters. The last three episodes in particular was a rollercoaster ride for me, like I didn't expect that to happen, why did it has to happen like that? Sad, then happy, and sad again.
I have to give a special shoutout to Simon Gong Jun as I thought he did a superb and excellent job as Wen Ke Xing. Huge kudos to Simon Gong!!!! I originally watch this because of Zhang Zhe Han, but Simon Gong stole my heart! He is so expressive and did very well in playing such a complex character. I first saw him in Begin Again, but after watching Word of Honor, I have just became a huge fan of Simon Gong Jun!!!
If you hesitate in watching this because of the BL element, please don't. It's there but it's subtle that I can just pass it on as true friendship and brotherhood. This drama is so much more than that, it is a story of friendship, family, loyalty, heroism and courage that it's very easy to overlook the BL element. It's there but in a subtle way, not "in your face" BL like those in Hollywood movies/series and Thai dramas. I would totally recommend this drama (and The Untamed of course).
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Not for the faint hearted
This is the first Japanese drama that I've watched since the classic Ordinary People and Tokyo Love Story. I mostly just watch Chinese drama nowadays, but this one came up in my Netflix recommendation, so I decided to give it a try. Compared to c-dramas, this is very short and I was able to finish it in just one day. It has a 9 scale on a binge-worthiness level, but declines to 2 or 3 on a memorable and re-watch value. The story is interesting and the first four episodes I thought was very good and succeeded in catching my attention and pushing that "watch next" button on Netflix. However, the second part of the show was just so-so and I thought what happens after Arisu arrived at the Beach was weird with the organization, the parties etc were weird and a bit inconsistent and left me with many questions marks, and even after watching the last episode, I still have lots of question marks.This series is definitely not for the faint hearted. There are a lot of blood and violence and I wouldn't recommend it to you if the sight of blood on your screen leaves you feeling queasy. Acting is just sub-par I think. None of the actors or actresses are good in my opinion. They are just so-so actors with unmemorable performance. I don't watch many Japanese drama, so I am not familiar with the actors and actresses, but I am not impressed with their acting.You might like this if you are a fan of the manga or the actors & actresses and likes gory psychological thriller. As for me? i am only in for the psychological thriller part, but only like 50% of the series, not like The Bad Kids, which I thought was superb from start to finish and still leaves some impression even months after watching The Bad Kids. Acting of the actors and actresses in The Bad Kids are far superior compared with Alice in Borderland.
But, hey, we all have different tastes and opinions.
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One of the best
At first I hesitated on watching this because of the "BL" theme from the novel. And I thought it felt weird to watch Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo play this BL character. But when I learned that the series is different from the novel and the BL element was subtle, I thought I would give it a try. And I did not regret it. I enjoyed this drama thoroughly and it's one of the best that I've watched so far. I thought the pace was good and not boring. The story line, the cast and the OST is great. This one definitely has a high rewatch value.Was this review helpful to you?
Excessive Flashbacks
The premise of the story is interesting and it starred Shawn Dou and Yang Shuo, so I decided to watch it. The first episode was good, however the FL starts to annoy me a few episodes in. I persisted because i wanted to see how it ends and i’m not the kind who skipped and just watch the last episode. Middle towards the end gets really weird in my opinion. I also think the flashbacks are excessive and repetitive. I hate those. A few are okay, but if you have to see the same ones multiple times, you start to get annoyed and bored. Hello… we know what he or she is thinking already, so stop it with the flashbacks! Finally finished this series. Rewatch value for me is 0. I won’t put myself through the same torture of watching those repetitive flashbacks, no matter how handsome Shawn Dou and Yang Shuo are in this drama 😁Was this review helpful to you?
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sweet love story
this is a sweet love story. there is very minimal to no conflict throughout the series. i like the chemistry between wu leo and zhao jin mai, but found the series to be a slow burn as it’s just sugary sweet most of the time. what is missing is spice 😄 but it’s quite a change watching a drama without any annoying characters. if you like idol romance drama, you should watch this. this drama is also full of eye candy. overall, it’s okay for me, but the no spice thing for me is rather boringWas this review helpful to you?
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Okay, so many people and reviews that I read told me that this does not end happy. For me, I don't care about sad ending. It's those sad ending ones that stays with you for years after you watch it, because it's just so emotional at the end, so it last longer in my memory (open ending is the one i hate!). Even though I've prepared myself for that last episode, it's still brings tears to my eyes. It's that forbidden love story element that gets me at the end. I thought both Bai Lu and Allen Ren did well in this drama. They portray the emotion so well that you feel their lost love pain. I would say don't be frightened with the sad ending, the story and acting itself is worth the journey. Beware though: it's a slow burn :) Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond my expectation
This drama is beyond my expectation. At first, i'm like many people comparing this drama to Eternal Love or 10 miles peach blossom. This drama is in no way a sequel or a prequel to Eternal Love. There are of course similarities, such as the formula (deity and human world) and the realm and setting of the drama. But the story and characters are different. Love and Destiny in my opinion can be a classic story, that I will watch again in the future, time permitted. It's a sad and classic love story. The middle part (human world) is a bit slow, but it continues to pick up after that. Ni Ni is a great actress. I've watched her in Rise of The Phoenix as well and she did excellent acting in both dramas. I thought she and Chang Chen made a great couple in this drama. The couple are reunited in Gucci's latest campaign. The supporting characters in this drama are also interesting. I like watching their storyline. The drama albeit some sad moments are also filled with comedy moments that made me laughing so loud. If you like Xian Xia dramas, this is a classic must watch in my opinion.Was this review helpful to you?
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Story about strong women
This drama is one of the favorites that I've watched this year (2023). I enjoy watching slice of life drama and especially one that deals with real and difficult issues. This drama is one that deals with real life issues such as infidelity, divorce, workplace and business competition. The characters feel real and the actors played them really well. The three main female characters are all strong women, but I particularly like Gu Jia. She's the strongest of them all I think.SPOILER ALERT!
Throughout the drama you get to see character developments for the main characters. Zhong Xiao Qin started out as a dependent and rather spoiled, a people pleaser that cannot survive on her own. She always has her parents and her husband to guide her through life. But she became a strong women after the divorce and can stand up for herself. Wang Man Ni's character development is not too significant in my opinion. She is already a strong, independent woman and she's my least favorite character. Gu Jia, now she is my favorite. I love her character. She can be soft but strong at the same time. In the beginning, I thought she's just a boring upper middle income housewife with a kid and adoring husband. But as you progressed, you get to see that she's actually the one that works hard for her family and she's one that will not hesitate to give the harsh truth to the friends to get them to wake up and move on from the problems. I like her! I thought she's the one that has it all and will have the happy ending. But her life was turned upside down when a home-wrecker chased her husband. But, She handled the husband's infidelity in an elegant way. She is the strongest of them all.
I like to see the friendship between these three women. And it's also interesting to see how life in a big city like Shanghai is. The struggles that you have to endure to live in Shanghai (there's a part of the story where Man Ni returns to her hometown and there, everybody is friendly and know everybody and always ready with a helping hand, a contrast with life in Shanghai).
There is a silent family at the end of each episode that I also like. I think the main idea of this family is to show that it's simple life that brings happiness and wealth and more money comes with its problems.
I think this drama is excellent and would definitely recommend it if you like slice of life stories.
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Okay, back to the drama. This is a good forbidden love story. I was initially annoyed with Esther Yu because she sounded like those annoying female that is weak, needy and clingy. But she’s proven her acting throughout the drama. She can be serious, she can be fierce; she just has that annoying tone of voice, but she’s okay. Dylan Wang is excellent in this drama. I’ve become a hardcore fans of Dylan. I thought he portrayed Dong Fang Qing Cang really well. I can see his emotions and feel his pain and sorrow (and joy too). The character is a conflicted soul and he played that well. The series I thought have minimal boring moments. The pace is well and I enjoyed the story of the different supporting characters as well. There are also some funny moments between the two main characters. The OST is great! I love most of the songs in this drama and immediately added them to my listening rotation.
If you like Xian Xia, I would definitely recommend you to watch this drama. Hopefully you will end up liking this as much as I do. This is one of the ones where moving on from the main characters are difficult for me. This is definitely on my rewatch list if time permits. God knows i have a long to watch list that just gets longer and longer :)
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