17
50
2
1
1
5
2
1
This review may contain spoilers
20 Episodes of Lying, w/Secrets; A Good Villain Replaced by An Obsessed Creep & Some Comedy & Love.
Wanted to watch this drama for the pairing of the leads and was only familiar with a few other actors. Now while the actors did a good job I can't say the same for the script and the editing. Sadly for me, this just didn't hit the mark. Came very close to being the 3rd dumpster fire I’ve seen this year but those last 4 episodes were the strongest and overall, it had some appeal; though I did skip episodes and whatnot. I will speak my mind and not apologize for it.
Pros: Very small amount of pros; just about all of the actors did a great job. The leads could have taken a page out of the second leads' playbook. Those two had a misunderstanding for decades and solved it in 2.5 episodes and were stronger than ever afterwards; I really liked that. The chemistry between both couples as well as the friendship between cat and dragon was fun. The real antagonist that was killed off way too soon and could have done way better if left at the end, the actor played him well. He is very versatile in both types of roles. When he played Situ Ling, that was the best role for him, otherwise he went into the cons. Many other characters were great both in lead roles and support.
Comedy, OSTs, CGI, sets, and costumes were nicely done. That's where pros come to an end for me.
Cons: One of my biggest problems was the fact that when the FL approached the ML with her ulterior motives, though understandable at first, when it was more or less clear to her that he was not the culprit she still continued to lie to him and the fact that this first arc of lying took up nearly 20 episodes really hurt the series. There was so much noble idiocy, it hurt your head and it was unnecessary because all they really needed was proper communication as mentioned in the pros take a page out of the second leads playbook just talk about it, tell the truth, be honest that's all that was needed. Instead it was just this ring around the Rosie-hamster wheel with very poor editing and one of those one step forward two steps back type of things. My biggest problem with the series was the actual screenwriting and editing. Things weren't flawless; arcs lurched, and things happened and you didn't understand why they were happening or how certain things got to where they went. There was no smooth editing of the rough edges of certain arcs or why certain characters chose to do certain things. So a lot of times that left you scratching your head as to the why and the how. Many claim this series had no problems but that's not true and from a novelist's/screenwriter's perspective, I can see the large flaws.
One of the things that they absolutely did not need is the third wheel, obsessed creep that they left for a final villain. Absolutely nothing about him was evil, and when he opened his red eyes after being consumed by the nether beasts in the red ring he looked like Aro out of Twilight, and it made you start laughing. He was supposed to convey the type of antagonist that you hated, and yet all he did was look arrogant, angry, and obsessed to the point where you thought his head would explode. When he didn't understand why the fox that was his friend loved him and she asked him questions that was somehow totally fine. But when he asked the exact same questions of the FL he was pissed off when he didn't get the answers. Ironic much? That kind of blind obsession is very unnecessary, especially when you are dealing with an ending that needs to be a powerful one. It was powerful, but it had nothing to do with him. They should've let him be that young kid that looked up to the FL like she was his big sister. That was the absolutely perfect role for him I feel that they completely miscast him here (actor has only ever done protagonist roles and is still very wet behind the ears. So to throw him into a massive antagonist role did him great injustice) and instead should've left the other antagonist that they killed off halfway or so through to be what he needed to be toward the end or any of this guy's brothers because they had that ability to be villains.
Would I recommend it? Though it's got a very high score here on MDL and a lot of people are praising it, personally I would not recommend it. If you like the actors awesome but the script and the editing just do not hold up.
Pros: Very small amount of pros; just about all of the actors did a great job. The leads could have taken a page out of the second leads' playbook. Those two had a misunderstanding for decades and solved it in 2.5 episodes and were stronger than ever afterwards; I really liked that. The chemistry between both couples as well as the friendship between cat and dragon was fun. The real antagonist that was killed off way too soon and could have done way better if left at the end, the actor played him well. He is very versatile in both types of roles. When he played Situ Ling, that was the best role for him, otherwise he went into the cons. Many other characters were great both in lead roles and support.
Comedy, OSTs, CGI, sets, and costumes were nicely done. That's where pros come to an end for me.
Cons: One of my biggest problems was the fact that when the FL approached the ML with her ulterior motives, though understandable at first, when it was more or less clear to her that he was not the culprit she still continued to lie to him and the fact that this first arc of lying took up nearly 20 episodes really hurt the series. There was so much noble idiocy, it hurt your head and it was unnecessary because all they really needed was proper communication as mentioned in the pros take a page out of the second leads playbook just talk about it, tell the truth, be honest that's all that was needed. Instead it was just this ring around the Rosie-hamster wheel with very poor editing and one of those one step forward two steps back type of things. My biggest problem with the series was the actual screenwriting and editing. Things weren't flawless; arcs lurched, and things happened and you didn't understand why they were happening or how certain things got to where they went. There was no smooth editing of the rough edges of certain arcs or why certain characters chose to do certain things. So a lot of times that left you scratching your head as to the why and the how. Many claim this series had no problems but that's not true and from a novelist's/screenwriter's perspective, I can see the large flaws.
One of the things that they absolutely did not need is the third wheel, obsessed creep that they left for a final villain. Absolutely nothing about him was evil, and when he opened his red eyes after being consumed by the nether beasts in the red ring he looked like Aro out of Twilight, and it made you start laughing. He was supposed to convey the type of antagonist that you hated, and yet all he did was look arrogant, angry, and obsessed to the point where you thought his head would explode. When he didn't understand why the fox that was his friend loved him and she asked him questions that was somehow totally fine. But when he asked the exact same questions of the FL he was pissed off when he didn't get the answers. Ironic much? That kind of blind obsession is very unnecessary, especially when you are dealing with an ending that needs to be a powerful one. It was powerful, but it had nothing to do with him. They should've let him be that young kid that looked up to the FL like she was his big sister. That was the absolutely perfect role for him I feel that they completely miscast him here (actor has only ever done protagonist roles and is still very wet behind the ears. So to throw him into a massive antagonist role did him great injustice) and instead should've left the other antagonist that they killed off halfway or so through to be what he needed to be toward the end or any of this guy's brothers because they had that ability to be villains.
Would I recommend it? Though it's got a very high score here on MDL and a lot of people are praising it, personally I would not recommend it. If you like the actors awesome but the script and the editing just do not hold up.
Was this review helpful to you?
