Pluses and Minuses
On the whole--not too bad. While the story lacked emotional power, the plot was internally consistent and displayed some character development. In spite of being slow-moving, HIDDEN LOVE held my interest.BUT– lots of problems...
The FL acted like an overly-protected child for 3/4 of the series – collecting stuffed animals, expressing herself in words of one syllable, using the cadence and syntax of a six-year-old, and getting by on her cuteness. Really, Chinese writers? Is that the model you want girls to emulate? This same actress played a real bada$$ in WHO RULES THE WORLD.
Zheyuan Chen, the male lead, had a more nuanced role and was, for the most part, the glue that held the series together. Props also go to Victor Ma, as the brother.
This series, like others of the same kind, give girls an entirely unrealistic picture of what real relationships are like–and how they’re likely to go. But I appreciated the depiction of a slow-moving relationship, and what a relationship like that “could” be–if only they existed.
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DO OVER OF SOMETHING IN THE RAIN...
The Netflix writers liked SOMETHING IN THE RAIN so much that they thought they’d do it all over again and give it another name. Hence – ONE SPRING NIGHT.One of the main characters in OSN has a “flaw” that has to be hidden from friends and family of his would-be girlfriend--just as in SITR.
ONE SPRING NIGHT – features some of the same actors playing characters remarkably similar to those in SITR–only with different names and, in some cases, slightly different personalities. The actress who plays one of the mothers softens that role, so she isn’t as rigid and snobbish as she was in SITR. Of the two, SOMETHING IN THE RAIN is the better drama.
This FL has a jealous, acting out ex-boyfriend, though this one isn’t quite as psychotic as the one in SITR. He’s pretty awful nonetheless.
I guess Tammy Wynette wasn’t available this time. However, there’s another equally nauseating song playing endlessly in the background.
The dialogue in SITR wasn’t scintillating. But in ONE SPRING NIGHT, it’s confusing. When translated into English subtitles, many of the conversations are incomprehensible. Hard to care when not much is happening, and what IS happening is kind of a mess.
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A satisfying drama
I wasn’t expecting much from this series, but it exceeded my expectations. Both the ML and FL were surprisingly compelling as two lonely souls undergoing the stresses of modern life and managing somehow to cope. These two are surrounded by other eccentrics–in particular a male cross-dresser who’s included and embraced by the people in the neighborhood. I was blown away by the fact that this character is portrayed as human and likable–not as a monster to be rejected and despised. This drama is funny, well-acted, and poignant. The only negative is the last episode which rushed the ending, leaving a number of plot points dangling. Other than that–a very satisfying drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Dylan Wang nailed it
What I liked:1. Dylan Wang as Dongfang Qingcang completely nailed it. In the beginning he's robotic and unfeeling. Later he's depressed and angry. Finally he's loving and self-sacrificing. Wang delivers the many comic scenes with impeccable timing-and even plays a woman in a man's body without missing a beat. Added later: I just found out that a “line actor” dubbed Dylan’s voice in this series, so maybe not as great an acting job as I thought. But his visuals and expressions are still quite good.
2. Other actors also do a stellar job: Yu Shuxin as Orchid was warm, loving and believable as Dongfang's love interest. Although I agree that her nasal, whining voice almost made me change the channel in the beginning. Another great performance was that of Charles Lin who played ShangQue, Dongfang's faithful servant who is sometimes a man and sometimes a dragon-mobile. His facial expressions and general cluelessness were a wonder. Also Hong Xiao added feminine guile and energy along with a good dollop of humor. And I have to mention Zhang Linghe who goes from earnest to dissipated and back again--and is as charming as they come.
3. Costuming, CGI, and set design were gorgeous and magical. While the story got a little tedious with all the misunderstandings and downright deceit, plus the breakups and reconciliations between Dongfang and Orchid--the pace never slowed.
4. This is the first Chinese series I've seen that was genuinely both touching and funny. The humor worked seamlessly, which is rare with international dramas. Yes, it got a little sentimental in places, but otherwise-- not many missteps.
Things that could have been better:
1. A few blunders. I love the mournful flute solo that Rong Hao plays intermittently throughout the series. There's one scene where he's playing his song and then puts the instrument down-and the flute melody (at least on my screen) keeps playing. What happened to the spikes in Dongfang's body? They're supposed to cause him excruciating agony every night. We see them once, and then suddenly they're gone. Also some plot devices got recycled a bit too often. Repetitive ordeals of pain and suffering start losing their impact after the third time.
2. The music, in general, was OK, although some of the songs got a little tiresome by the end.
3. Speaking of the ending--there were a few dangling threads. For example, what happened with the romance between ShangQue and JieLi? They seemed happy, but were they dating? Were they married? Get with it, guys. It's been 500 years. Also, one of the main characters is supposedly gone forever, but then abruptly comes back. Why? How? Enquiring minds want to know.
Overall very enjoyable.
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Incessant Product Placement
Whew! I've been on the verge of giving up my Korean Drama addiction because, so far, so many new series have been duds. At first I thought LOVE NEXT DOOR was better, but now I'm having second thoughts.During the first half of this series, the male and female leads–played by two well known heart throbs--were mostly believable, especially Jung Hae-in who can make anything work.
The plot lurched off the rails in a few places, with enough crying and carrying on to deplete Korea-'s entire stock of menthol tear sticks. The parents, especially Seok-ryoo's mother acted crazy and abusive (and not in a fun way).
The actress who played Mo-Eum was winsome and likable, but she overacted. I liked her, so I liked the character. But I couldn't warm toward Seok-ryoo in this drama--she was just too arbitrary and cruel.
Let me just mention one other minor character, the ML’s mother. This woman loved her son, but she allowed someone else to raise him. She loved her husband, but she never learned to cook. Instead she’s had a wonderful, professional life–traveling the world and learning about other cultures. And how does this series present this unique woman? As someone who deserves punishment, someone who’s about to lose it all--friends, family, and her marriage. The subtext is clear–if insulting to modern women.
The incessant, in-your-face product placement disappointed me the most. I thought episode 11 was bad, but in episode fourteen, one of the leads actually shows the label on the can to the camera and says, "I had no idea alcohol tasted this good."
There were at least three major bouts of alcohol consumption (and product placement) in episode 14. Apparently, the writers aren't even trying to be subtle.
Nothing against alcohol here, but I really resent the cheap commercialization. Hey Studio Dragon (and you too Netflix)--please don't go down this path.
Why are Jung Hae-in and Jung So-min who are both incredible actors damaging their artistic reputations this way?
Throughout, the writers created trivial excuses and pretexts for various main characters to go on a bender. Whatever the problem–minor spats, bad news–hey, let’s all get drunk. It just seemed like the writers were looking for any chance to push the products.
Still...until the whole series fell apart toward the end, it was mostly watchable. The leads did a good job and hit all the right notes for a good, solid romance. I wasn't looking for high art, but the constant (and obvious) viewer manipulation ruined this one for me.
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Well-constructed drama
I'm a big fan of Liu Yuning and I also like Song Zu Er. As the two leads, they both did an excellent job conveying complicated emotions with slight facial expressions and gestures. Liu Yuning is a master at portraying an emotionally repressed man trying to find his humanity in a society riddled with stultifying rules and terrifying expectations. At least he has wealth, power, and a cadre of underlings to satisfy his every whim. The FL (Xiao Qiao) played by Song Zu Er has a riskier path and has to watch her step at every turn. In fact, she was almost murdered by her suspicious husband-to-be before they'd even met. The series follows the slowly-evolving trust between these two as each navigates the treacherous waters surrounding them..Xiao Qiao is beautiful enough to enchant her husband, but he's not a soft touch. He's suffered trauma and loss at the hands of the male members of her clan, and so he's especially wary of his new Qiao wife. But she's smart enough to weather the storm and allay most of his fears. The English title doesn’t seem accurate. The ML certainly isn't a "prisoner" of beauty--quite the contrary.
This is a slow-moving character study and a lot of drama time is given over to each minor issue as it arises. He reads her out-going letters; she soothes his silly and ignorant mother. He's annoyed that she doesn't wear the hairpin he chose for her. She worries he's interested in another woman.
Actually, all this was a little too much for me. It's true that there are more serious struggles from time to time. But the focus of this drama seems to be on all these trivial slights and misunderstandings. Did I mention that these two--though married--hadn't even kissed by Episode 22?
In THE TALE OF PEARL GIRL, Liu Yuning plays a similar character, a merchant preoccupied by revenge who becomes a more compassionate human being due to his love for a woman. But that drama, although flawed, has a more robust plot than this one, with Liu Yuning displaying different aspects of his personality in a variety of settings.
Also, why is the only fat guy in the series-he's the comic relief, naturally--matched up with the only overweight girl in the series?
Why does Son Zuer keep her mouth open so much of the time? It's quite distracting. Other than that, her character, Xiao Qiao, seems to be admirable in every way. She's a helpmate who continually spares her husband's ego, rarely makes a misstep, and almost never demands anything for herself. She's as soft and doughy as Wonder Bread. Even her calligraphy is perfect. It's true she shows some spunk in the end, but I can't help but get the impression that this woman is being presented as a model of what every young woman in China should aspire to–passively obedient. Lord help us all!
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This review may contain spoilers
Not perfect, but close
I’m not a fan of baseball or prison stories, so you’d think this drama wouldn’t be for me.You’d be wrong. It's excellent.
PRISON PLAYBOOK walks a narrow line-sometimes basking in sappy pathos, and at other times careening into hilarious caricature.
The creators of PRISON PLAYBOOK get it mostly right-with a few flubs. Is it always believable? No. But the story is original and entertaining enough for viewers to overlook the relatively few flaws.
Park Hae-Soo nails it as Je-Hyeok, a lovable, honorable lunk-head, who winds up in prison. But shows he has some brains when push comes to shove.
Jung Kyoung-Ho's portrayal of Je-Hyeok's loyal best friend is so convincing and touching that I now want to watch every drama he's ever been in. Another stand-out was Choi Moo-seung. He brought tears to my eyes more than once. What an incredible performer!
Captain Yoo, played by Jung Hae-In, enters this drama as a supposed vicious murderer. Yeah, right. This sweet-faced actor is about as scary as a kitten. In every other drama, he plays the perfect boyfriend - see LOVE NEXT DOOR. Not to worry. He improves throughout--as do most of the others.
A few negatives: Lots of product placement going on-which mostly didn't interfere with the meandering plot. The wrestling and fighting between the cell mates often looked staged. And when Go Park-sa was suddenly rushed out the door, a promising secondary plot involving corporate malfeasance was cut off at the knees. What was that all about?
Soundtrack: When a mournful oboe is wailing in the background or a saccharine piano melody is plucking at our heart strings - additional sound effects interject a note of humor and frivolity (dharma drums, off-key chords), as if to say, "You guys aren't taking all this too seriously, are you?" Nice.
I could have done without the incessant bird whistles.
In a real prison, things aren't quite as benign as presented in this series. Or so I’ve been told.
Here, the seven or eight rotating cell mates-a unique collection of lock-down losers-are all endearing and likable. Most are societal victims. Some get justice, some don't.
Sort of like life.
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Confusing
In episodes 1 through 4 of VEIL OF SHADOWS, viewers are introduced to a cacophony of characters–humans and demons, multi-tailed foxes and magical entities. Some are allies, others are mortal or immortal enemies, quite a few seem to be in disguise or ludicrously made up. Sword play, CGI, romantic tension, and overacting abound–-wuxia up the wazoo. Someone has been murdered, someone else is getting married (or not). Who, what, or why? Enquiring minds want to know.A few of the characters exchange witticisms and barbed remarks. The fighting scenes are choreographed like a ballet. Still—most of the actors appear to be just phoning it in. No one seems to be taking the plot all that seriously.
If they aren’t, why should I?
After about 20 minutes of chaos and confusion, I give up and consult Dr. Google to see if I can sort out the strum and drang. I can’t. One reviewer assures me that if I hold on until Episode 5, all will come clear.
I do, and it doesn’t. (Or, truth be told, I just don’t care anymore.)
Someone else informs me that the problem is – ME. I’m culturally ignorant and not proficient in the stylized vocabulary of this particular art form.
Well...OK. It’s not as if there’s a dearth of dramas awaiting my perusal.
Guess I’ll move on to something less veiled and shadowy.
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Morally Simplistic
I watch a drama for one of three reasons: to learn something, feel something, or be entertained. So far this drama is weak in all three.In the first 14 episodes, people have been slaughtered by the hundreds–all as various factions struggle to acquire power. The repetitive and boring fight scenes take up a huge percentage of each episode. For me, at least, the different combatants are hard to differentiate, let alone care about.
Our hero, Ning Que, is a fighter. He has a personal score to settle. Other than that, he just wants to survive in this treacherous world. He’s skilled in swordsmanship, talented in calligraphy and martial arts, and attractive to the ladies. The bad guys, dressed in black, are mostly a bunch of uglies who aim to install the child of Hades as ruler of the world–so we know which side to root for. As I said–pretty simple-minded.
The violence is sanitized, so the audience doesn’t have to feel upset when someone is murdered. We’re anesthetized to the torture and murder taking place in the name of glory and “courage.”
Ning Que seems really fond of his engaging little maid, Sang Sang. Of course she has to obey his every whim, but she seems happy to do it. While ignorant and self-centered, NQ wants to gain knowledge through cultivation–mostly to gain more skill so he can overcome his enemies. That seems to be his main goal.
Ning Que, is mostly an unknown at this point. If there’s more to his character, we haven’t seen it yet.
Have to admit I’m a sucker for mystical teachings and magic special effects, and those abound in EVER NIGHT.
I also love seeing the flora and fauna of the Chinese landscape.
Two questions:
1. Why is Sang-Sang always obsessing about her “dark skin” when she appears lighter-skinned than Ning Que?
2. Hey, writers! Why all this hatred toward crows? Crows are wonderful, intelligent birds. And while our ancestors feared them, please don’t encourage cruelty by showing people throwing rocks at them.
Later: As there’s very little character development in this series, I decided to watch a more substantial drama. BUT... if you decide to do the same, at least watch episode 60 before you go. This episode shows a grand battle between two major antagonists (I won’t say who--no spoiler here). The CGI depiction of this fight is the best, and most original, I’ve ever seen.
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Outstanding Cast
A-list Korean actors in this series save it from being another banal treatise on the excesses of the super rich. Kim Ji-won does an outstanding job as the brittle, cold, and superficial FL (Hong Hae-in) who is fabulously wealthy and--as it turns out--tough as nails. The ML, Kim Soo-hyun plays the kind, honest, handsome, athletic, intelligent Baek Hyeon-woo, who (for some reason) can’t get enough of Hae-in, who deigns to throw him a crumb now and then. In spite of the threadworn plot, the writing and acting give this drama a boost and elevate it to a higher level.
Unlike other Korean series, this one showcases some secondary characters who can actually hold the viewers’ interest.
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Bonkers
I very much like the two leads in this drama, but in places the plot got so bizarre it took me right out of the story. At times, the over-the-top silliness just broke my brain. Of course not everything has to be high art, but at some point I could no longer suspend my disbelief.There’s one scene in particular on a plane where our whack–a--doodle FL passes herself off as a doctor and volunteers to heal a rando patient who turns out to be... sorry, not going to spill the beans here. Let’s just say, it’s quite a coincidence.
And that’s just the tip of the bonkers berg. I couldn’t really get what the ML, a rich, spoiled dude, saw in someone who was obviously cuckoo for cocoa puffs–pretty enough, but spouting the language and folkways of Joseon Korea. Wouldn’t your average bro be turned off just a little? And, for that matter, what did the FL see in a guy who alternated between concern, contempt, and even bullying to get his way. I guess I’m not sure the writers did the work of making the attraction between these two believable.
This drama makes me think that we women are trading the exercise of our intelligence for romantic fantasies and mindless baloney. But maybe that’s not always such a bad thing--if you keep part of your brain in the real world.
So in spite of the foregoing, if you’re not opposed to a (sometimes unbelievable) series where an arrogant, supercilious chaebol gets kicked around by a feisty female--you’ll probably enjoy MY ROYAL NEMESIS.
And, by the way, the actress who plays Grandma is amazing and lovable. Who wouldn't want to have a grandma like her.
In my case, ngl (not gonna lie), I kinda liked it.
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Schizophrenic
I watched this drama to the end. Many viewers will probably like it, but for me it was too contrived – with a unpalatable mixture of silly hijinks, gratuitous violence, sadism, ridiculous wishes, and bogus profundity. It had a convoluted plot with too many secondary characters, and a lot of elements that just didn’t come together in a cohesive whole.In the beginning, the ML is a a big goof ball of a genie who can do anything with a snap of his fingers. Somehow he’s also Satan. He can put out a raging fire or catch someone who’s fallen off a tall building, He can appear and disappear and travel through time. He can fly, burst through the walls of buildings, and deflect bullets. No problemo.
As for the FL, she just doesn’t give two figs about anything because she’s a psychopath (or maybe not). She’s trying to be decent, but she has the soul of a killer. Why should the viewers care about either of these absurd characters? There’s nothing at stake. Neither of them want anything–-or anything substantive–-either from the world or from each other.
As the story progresses, wishes are granted, wishes are postponed, unforeseen circumstances arise. When a romance develops, it seems completely unmotivated.
When are the good people at Netflix going to hire writers who can actually construct a story with heart and nuance–one that doesn’t rely on gimmicks?
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Slow to start...
People have told me that LOVE LIKE THE GALAXY is a fantastic drama. I believe those people. I read the reviews, and they all said the same thing.In Episode 1, we meet the cast of characters, a large, unpleasant, bickering family. A war’s raging on the border, and Mom and Dad are just back from the frontlines. They haven’t seen their daughter Cheng Shao Shang for ten years--nor have they made any real attempt to contact her. Why?
It’s not clear. We’re told that Chen Shao Shang has been cared for by neglectful relatives. She’s been starved, mistreated, and deprived of an education. The poor girl’s health is supposedly precarious.
But with a couple of winks, the girl lets the audience know that she’s faking it. Also, the actress in question looks particularly well-fed–so, not to worry.
We hear over and over about the travails of Old Madame Cheng–the blubbering, melodramatic grandma. I counted twelve(!) different speeches made by this woman in the first two episodes. She whines and complains incessantly. There’s also a thoroughly wretched uncle who’s been embezzling armaments–and a stone-faced general who comes to investigate the crime. Everyone argues about who’s filial and who isn’t.
There’s no hook, nothing to convince me to keep watching this series.
In addition, this entire series is 56 episodes long! Judging by the first two episodes the pacing is going to be sloooowww. I'm sorry. I can only go by what I’ve seen so far. Your mileage may differ.
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I fell asleep three times
I tried to like this series–but I just didn’t–mostly because of the FL. During the first few episodes, she had a never-ending bored smirk on her face, as if she could hardly take this production seriously. If you want to see a top-notch Arthur Chen drama, I suggest you watch LOVE STORY IN THE 1970s–one of the best of the year.Was this review helpful to you?
Life's too short...
This one's not for me. Let me give you the low-lights. In episode one, the ML, who's a doctor, keeps sneaking furtive glances at the FL. She wonders what he looks like without his surgical mask. Other people comment on her beauty and his good looks. She brings a friend to her next appointment, so the friend can evaluate Dr. McDreamy. But he isn't there. Instead there's an older doctor substituting for the younger guy. Horrors! A betrayal. She sees McDreamy on the street and lashes out at him for "standing her up!" As if the whole medical thing is some kind of a dating service. He seems to buy into it. (Oh, and why does she care anyway? She already has a boyfriend--supposedly.)It's true that a lot of series don't catch fire until the second or third episodes. But I'm just not curious about either of these people. I need something more substantial to keep me watching-the hint of a mystery, some depth of character, an intriguing plot device.
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