This show is like an ad campaign for Yunnan. And it's working.
I love "seachange" dramas and this one is just absolutely wonderful. Lots of heart. It's got a lovely quirky small town everybody-knows-everybody vibe. I wish C dramas did more of this type of slice-of-life shows with this type of storytelling.
Wow. They've made the Three Body Problem into drama! Cool. Have to put this on my watch list. Read the book a few years ago and found it very stimulating. I don't usually read C novels but this one was a Hugo-award winning work.
Edit: The trailers look amazing. Seems like they've covered all the main elements.
I don't really like what the writer has done with Chief Jiang in Episodes 31-33. It's utter stupidity for a man with his experience and in his position to stoop so low. Surely there are better ways of "eliminating the competition"? It could have been a great learning experience for everyone about making decisions in the heat of the moment but no... they had to turn it into a crime arc. It's almost as ridiculous as the time when the team heads off to the mountains to do relief work and almost gets themselves killed so that the love triangle can get its start.
For better or for worse, it's the only way they can get to 16 episodes.
I agree. In reality rom coms shouldn't be any more than 10 episodes. I don't know why 16 is the magic number in the industry but I've been watching the quality of scripts go downhill in the last few years. I'm not even sure how some scripts get greenlit.
A story in search of a script and director. The show has its moments but does nothing particularly interesting with the genre that hasn't been done before. My overall thoughts on the show. Go to the link if you're interested. https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/island-season-1-2022-23-the-glory
I am surprised that that the romance plays so heavily in this show that is supposedly mainly about the logistical side of air travel. It's a far bigger part than I had previously been led to believe -- it's definitely by-the-numbers. Maybe because it's Wang Kai at the helm but the similarities with When A Snail Falls in Love do stand out. Like When A Snail, it's a Pygmalion story too with all of the same beats with a nod to Jane Austen.
What's different here is that the obstacles to love here are internal not external. Gu Nanting is his own worst enemy. Certainly not Ni Zhan or their status -- when she's no longer his apprentice. The integration of his "healing" arc with the romance would undoubtedly be the cause of some frustration. Of course the heart wants what it wants despite what the mouth says. Whether he thinks he's unworthy or whether he's afraid to take the plunge or whether he's just being disingenuous, the meaning is the same, he's not committed to taking that next step and accepting the ramifications of taking that step. It's not surprising for a control freak like him to calculate every detail to the nth degree. The unpredictability of relationships undoubtedly scares the heck out of him that's why he values the known (Ni Zhan) rather than the unknown (Cheng Xiao).
Normally the stuff put out by Studio Dragon is good but this one took over three episodes to actually get half decent with some proper development for Mi-ho. The actors are definitely doing all the heavy lifting here with a weak script. I'm persevering for Kim Nam-gil. Cha Eun-woo is not bad. Their showdown was definitely a highlight in Episode 4. Not the best thing I've seen this month but still watchable.
I swear this thread is so anti-SQL sometimes. Feel bad for the female actress here cause she's a newbie and not…
I'm not sure why people are so hot and bothered about her either. She's barely in it. If I blink I would almost miss her. She doesn't get in anyone's way. She's not offensive. It's not as if their romance is a big part of the show to warrant all the angst.
For the most part, I did like this show and thought it had some interesting things to say about male-female relationships in the local context. The ending was okay although I'm still not convinced that the leads needed to go their separate ways to resolve whatever underlying issues might be holding Qin Shi back. Not that I really thought she was holding back until the script called for it. It was a plot contrivance -- an unnecessary one at that. The leads could have worked together rather more directly than going through intermediaries with Yang Hua working behind the scenes. The reality is that everybody goes into marriages with baggage and unspoken expectations so the need to reset the relationship comes off disingenuous.
The problem is that C dramas do this all the time now that there's nothing edgy or subversive about it. It's becoming something of an overused cliche. It's a cheap trick -- a joke that's been told too many times.
This is the quintessential crack drama. Binge-watched all available episodes in two days. I wish I had waited until it finished. It's a show with genuine stakes that are escalating with each new episode. Multiple heroes' journeys with a myriad of characters that keep coming out of the woodwork that would bamboozle even the most observant. Apart from Nirvana in Fire, I am constantly reminded of long-running manga/anime series like One Piece and Dragonball. Thankfully it moves a lot more quickly.
And of course, the guy with no martial arts ability is the most intriguing... and my favourite. Wuxin is a lot of fun too -- a terrific sense of humour.
4 
I love "seachange" dramas and this one is just absolutely wonderful. Lots of heart. It's got a lovely quirky small town everybody-knows-everybody vibe.
I wish C dramas did more of this type of slice-of-life shows with this type of storytelling.
Edit: The trailers look amazing. Seems like they've covered all the main elements.
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/crash-course-in-romance-2023-first
It's almost as ridiculous as the time when the team heads off to the mountains to do relief work and almost gets themselves killed so that the love triangle can get its start.
My overall thoughts on the show. Go to the link if you're interested.
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/island-season-1-2022-23-the-glory
What's different here is that the obstacles to love here are internal not external. Gu Nanting is his own worst enemy. Certainly not Ni Zhan or their status -- when she's no longer his apprentice. The integration of his "healing" arc with the romance would undoubtedly be the cause of some frustration. Of course the heart wants what it wants despite what the mouth says. Whether he thinks he's unworthy or whether he's afraid to take the plunge or whether he's just being disingenuous, the meaning is the same, he's not committed to taking that next step and accepting the ramifications of taking that step. It's not surprising for a control freak like him to calculate every detail to the nth degree. The unpredictability of relationships undoubtedly scares the heck out of him that's why he values the known (Ni Zhan) rather than the unknown (Cheng Xiao).
Not the best thing I've seen this month but still watchable.
The problem is that C dramas do this all the time now that there's nothing edgy or subversive about it. It's becoming something of an overused cliche. It's a cheap trick -- a joke that's been told too many times.
And of course, the guy with no martial arts ability is the most intriguing... and my favourite. Wuxin is a lot of fun too -- a terrific sense of humour.