Enigma05

An Underrated Gem

Personally, I decided to watch this because I'm a fan of Ma Ke or Kyle Ma from his Journey of Flower days. I personally think his character saved that show. But here I wanted to see him in something modern and more of a detective type series. All three of our leads did a fantastic job and the stooge detectives were funny and sincere in their practical adoption of ML. The ending was sad as our ML lost both his brother and father on the same day and just as he met/reconciled with them. I had expected it but the emotions were still very real. ML reminded me of the young version of Gil Grissom from the original CSI (for any Americans that may read this); first super awkward young scientist on bugs but gradually warms up to everyone and they all want to learn from him and protect him. Ma Ke plays SML with a dark secret that he keeps from his youth that he was basically used as a tool to kill someone when he was barely a small child. A lot of interesting twists and turns and feeling bad for SML because both brothers got the short end of the stick with all of the conspiracies swirling around them and people constantly wanting to harm them or blackmail them. This is a psychological show and a serious who-done-it. I really fell in love with all of the characters except that one woman doctor that did end up dying but I didn't feel sorry for her because she just stuck her nose into SML's business way too many times and it led to her undoing. Ultimately though, everyone behind all of the murders were either arrested or killed. I would highly recommend this because it just grabs you by the hooks and keeps you. Only real negative was the 5 versions of the same flashbacks. Very unnecessary. But do give it a go if you're into detective shows, with many winding parts, and secrets getting revealed.

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Wonderland Power Couple

Finally a good series for XK. I've watched two misses he was in and knew if only the story was good enough, he could have a better shot at winning. Though far from perfect, the story did carry itself and our leads had wonderful chemistry hence I dubbed them the Wonderland Power Couple.

Pros: I think XK is one of those actors that can have chemistry with a pet rock. Not to take away from JT as she nailed her character as well. But XK has the ability to go from deadly to smoldering gaze in a heartbeat. Their love story was epic because it began from competitors to confidants to lovers and the transitions were nice. I also loved their sidekicks Taozi, Ear, PY, the brothers in arms, her dad, Consort Xiao, the kid, general Han (another immortal that got sent off a cliff harpooned but reappeared to save the day) and even LYN with his guest magician appearance.

The only real villain was Sun Jiang; once his arc ended it was only dumb villains. The ending was overly dramatic but nicely done. I love all of the fight scenes. Fight scenes for me, make a show extra special and this one had plenty. The ultimate "big bad" was nothing to cry home about. But what was done extremely well were the deaths of ML's brothers in arms; that was prolonged agony on the audience as well as the FL's fake death as both sets took at least two episodes. Those two moments in the drama broke your heart and made you cry but they were done exceptionally well and made for the ending that much sweeter. Sets, costumes, and a few OSTs were memorable.

Cons: The father and brothers were dumb villains as well as Ms. Gu and batshit crazy LCF. I ffw'd them as much as possible. I also didn't like how the FL threw tantrums and blamed ML for shit that wasn't his fault even when he came up with solutions to help matters. It made her seem like a child. She and her father pushed him to be CP; but she still wanted to marry him, keep the Cui army from disbanding, etc, as they were knowing full well what the dumb as nails king was like. Even in the second to last episode before her miraculous revival, the king was willing to believe the corrupt minister over his own son that had been instrumental in every war and strategy success for the kingdom. It hurt my head watching that stupidity.

This series would have been much better if it was only 25 or 30 episodes long, where you didn't have to deal with the stupidity of the useless loser villains that just made a mess of virtually everything. ML could be CP and marry FL and not have the rest of that garbage happen. It's like logic fell apart after the real villain was killed. Even father and son reconciling felt off because father was a hot mess. I spent a lot of time ffwing and just watching for the leads and the good guys.

Would I recommend? Despite the second later half being a mess; the leads and most of their friends pulled off a very watchable series. I hope XK gets even better scripts in the future as do the others.

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Good vs. Bad; Fantastic Fight Scenes, Awesome CGI, Storyline? Eh Not So Much. An OE in Need of S2!

Wow, what can I say? Wanted to watch this for YY and know WD to be a good villain and even a funny one. Sad that 10 episodes were cut from this as that's where I think most of the storyline would have been.

Pros: I loved that we got to see HL's cultivation journey from a poor family in some village without a name to a master cultivator figuring the art of teleportation and getting the heck out of dodge. Many people said the CGI and fighting/flying was poor but I disagree because I'm not a fan of the Xianxia genre to begin with especially when they deploy colors bright enough to scorch your corneas. So having subtle CGI colors in formation array and weaponry was perfect for me. I really liked their flying and way of fighting. The entire series; apparently season 1 was centered around ML or HL and his cultivation plus every friend he made and lesson he learned. He was incredibly lucky in a lot of things including evading death. Loved the little mouse that lived with him and was sad that he had to leave it behind but I think it survived. His road wasn't an easy one and he lost friends and his Master at the end. But he was always not one to be a follower but one that walked his own path to cultivation and helped whom he sensed was a good person after learning the hard way who wasn't. Those who met him and liked him, ended up not ever wanting him to leave or wanted to follow him.

WD played who I called sarcastic evil or the bad guy and had more like one or two lines when facing HL (who used his old friend's name when he ran into trouble), but he himself was trying to get a foothold in his own kingdom as even the good sects betrayed their friends to join team evil for the strength and power. Greed was always a factor. But WD though bad, he was comic relief as he and his two monkey assistants were always cracking me up. He acted like a jilted lover as HL had become his inner demon when HL at the end used some ancient teleportation artifact to bail off the continent and who promised one day to return and reduce the evil sects to dust.

The costumes, rock and other OSTs, and certain outdoor locations were quite nice.

Cons: Other than for the ML, no real storyline or plot. No character really had a backstory other than Ms. Mo and the puppet dude. But everyone appeared and disappeared without rhyme or reason. This series had more holes than a planet dusted with craters be they characters or the plot itself. Once ML joined Yellow Maple Valley, many of the Masters spoke of "that person" like who? Uncle Bob? You couldn't say Demon Grandmaster Yunle as we wouldn't know who that was as we don't meet him until the second to last episode anyways? And that he and Master Hongfu used to be together and had a daughter but he hid his identity from her and she was already in love and pregnant by the time she found out. So he decided to start this war to get her back? Yeah great idea for an all powerful creep with a superiority complex; still lost even when he killed ML's master and her real love.

The ML didn't know what love was nor understood it but every woman he met fell for him automatically and you literally had to beat them off with a stick. He wasn't interested; though he treated them all with respect, only Miss Mo he treated like a sister giving her things to protect herself and whatnot but she would find every opportunity to be close to him even when she knew they couldn't be together and he made it obvious he wasn't interested. It was eye roll worthy as this was repeated about 3 or 4 times. The time could have been spent on something important. It was like when they cut those 10 episodes, things were just thrown into chaos and not properly edited so things would make sense. Even the FL felt like a supporting character. This show needs a season 2 and maybe even 3 with the same actors and I hope we don't have to wait for 10 years for it.

Would I recommend it? I would for the pure entertainment of it and HL's cultivation journey. Everyday was fun because there was a fight scene and cool things. Plot wise, obviously not one to look forward to unless you know the donghua. Just relax and enjoy the show.

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Section 8 Overshadowed Section 7

I originally watched part 1 this year so it wasn't a 4 year wait for me like many others. Going from 40 episodes and mostly comedy with intelligence to 27 and a much darker tone, set part 2 apart greatly from part 1. That and the fact that we met 3 members of section 8 that were destined to die and to me at least, they completely took over the series in terms of both action and caring about them from our beloved 6 heroes.

Pros: I really liked section 8's 3 members and felt that when they were on screen, they were much more important to this part than our main leads. Though they still managed to grow and mature while away plus the really random three year time leap that was stuck in there for whatever reason. I'm very glad that Pei Jing grew up as her character was the deer in the headlights always, hiding behind Wang Kuan. The drama made me feel the saddest when section 8's members were killed because even in their small amount of screen time, they made us really care about them and their martial arts skills were pretty awesome; on par if not better then Xue Ying's. Also when WK lost his arm, he being my favorite character, was really a sad and hurtful time but at the same time, it was good to see that even the best and brightest were only human. We got one smooch finally from our second couple but both couples had a few sweet moments here and there. Wasn't sure how I'd feel about the new actor replacing Bruce He to play Ya Nei but he fit the part really well. I'd seen the actor before in a modern, so he impressed me with going from doofus with the facial expressions to serious and realistic.

Big man YH was a great antagonist; he was ruthless, a great strategist, and just freaking huge. It took a lot to put him down but I'm glad they finally did. Was really the only real antagonist that made sense, the others were just dumb ants between his feet. Other good characters were PJ's brother, the dude who thought PJ was a dragon God but was there for comic relief more then anything else, YN's dad, the girl leading the military who had a thing for XY but she disappeared from the scene without an explanation. Costumes were great as were some of the sets, though not all. OSTs were nice too.

Cons: More plot holes than you knew what to do with. What started out as a rescue mission for ZJ's father ended up being an assassination plot just to help NL? In reality, they just wanted to prevent a war. But to understand all that took many episodes then necessary. Why so many stupid characters; Ding'er or Ning Ling, his mom, the son of sections' Chief; that character was bipolar....he's evil but he's also there for comic relief? It didn't make sense and threw the scenes off. Glad when he was off'd, just a waste of time and space.

What was up with all of these fathers? Obviously there was a time jump in the beginning but the way it was shown and expressed made zero sense. One faked treason but we never saw what information he delivered, the other appeared out of nowhere to cripple his own son for 3 years that he didn't even consider a son? That guy was a bastard. He didn't even go after YH in the end but let S7 do it and then just left. Like what was his point? You have insane martial arts skills that you prance around for a few episodes here and there but when it really counted, you just took on a few guards? Useless!

Lord, those horse scenes. I have no words. Them faux horseback riding and it going on and on and on was like watching a 1940s Western with color. Yes, this had a larger budget than season 1 but where did it go? Because that's like sticking a human on a mechanical prop that you don't even show but they're making riding motions et voila!

The ending was so underwhelming plus the misplaced ending credits. The only way S7 brought down mountain man was because they had help from a solar eclipse and a sandstorm which was apparently calculated by the ML and told to us in the second to last scene but it was truly a 🤦🏻‍♀️ finale fight sequence, can't even call it a battle. I only gave it an 8 because of the acting and music and the fact that it finished out a cliffhanger storyline, so watchable.

Would I recommend it? To finish out part one yes. But I definitely liked part one more because it made sense and was better written.

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A Slow-Burn Love Sci-Fi Drama Where the Antagonists were more Modernized than the Protagonists.

I can say this was in my more anticipated dramas this year as I wanted to see the pairing of Reba with CXX as well as ZL as the awesome villain she can play and the sci-fi aspect as that's rare in cdramas. Now while the acting by literally everyone was spot on, the storyline had a lot of issues after the halfway mark. Let's discuss.

Pros: The chemistry of the leads and everyone's relationships be they team evil or good was the top contender. We had an ancient enemy known as the fiends that in their non-human forms looked like aliens that wanted to take over earth and a group of hunters appointed by an ancient king called the Nanshan or South Mountain Hunters and this duty was passed down from generation to generation. What the hunters didn't realize until the ML or YT met the FL or NJL was that the fiends had found a way to take on human forms and only those that still lived underground looked alien-eske. They were living amongst humans and the one in charge or LRX played by ZL had a whole farm where she used generations of actual kidnapped humans as "blood bags" or basically every inch of their body is consumed by a fiend who than looks like that person and is stronger than humans. But they are careful in their selection as they don't want to attract too much attention.

YT's parents and sister (about her we learned only briefly at the very end but not how) were murdered because his father owned a mine which could be used by LXR--or fake Lin as I called her because she took on YT's mom's name after the fact--for when the fiends went through their transformation to human. So Fake Lin and her posse of fiends plus the humans she employed—lord only knew why they were so loyal to her—raised YT and an unrelated sister that was born, to later be used as a blood bag herself. YT didn't know the truth until he grew up and found his mother's diary and from then on both he and LL (the sister) who also knew the truth lived in constant fear and had to conduct themselves appropriately but he was definitely trying to learn the truth and find ways to free them both.

It wasn't until he met NJL that everything changed. NJL was a sculptor by day and a Nanshan Hunter, one of the strongest because she wielded the Mad Blade as it was known. Her mother was one as well but was presumably killed 20 years ago and not seen again until the end. NJL was trying to quit the hunters but it kept coming back to her. She too lost her family to the fiends; first her mother and then her father took his own life from depression. She was raised by uncle Jiang who was the leader of the hunters and he and another woman trained her when she was a child and gave her, her blade which she had to accept by giving her blood as she was a direct descendant.

Through a series of encounters with YT, NJL learns to her horror that the fiends are now walking around in human form and this is why the last 20 years when they patrol the mountain it's been relatively quiet. Her relationship with YT starts off as combative but as he proves with information that he is trustworthy, they slowly become friends, than partners who help each other when wounded and other times and than it turns romantic. It's a slow burn which is expected given that romance isn't the primary storyline. To YT, NJL is the hope he's been looking for in him seeking the truth.

Meanwhile, fake Lin starts to suspect her "son" is finding out more than he needs to. We never really learned what plans she had for him other than helping her run her huge company filled with unsuspecting scientists and other people who do research on different DNA and other things meanwhile all of that is used in her quest to turn more and more of her kind into human form. She does charity work and other things on the side like investment and marketing that are legitimate to hide her side business. We start seeing clashes between fiends, their human sidekicks and hunters when one is kidnapped briefly and while he is released, Jiang-Shu and 4 others are taken and this is the start of everything that culminates in the battle at the end.

There's a second couple of LL and the doc friend and sponsored by fake Lin named Lv Xian who are pushed together because the only way LL can become a blood bag is if she gets married and has kids. Fake Lin feeds her raw meat and drugs her with milk. But the two become friends and later more than that. He helps YT and even NJL later rescue LL from the house; he also knows the truth but only reveals it to YT at the end. But YT gets caught, first with his mother's diary for which he is imprisoned at home for at least 15 days and than because a jealous hunter XS who has a thing for NJL, says his name in the exchange of prisoners with fake Lin which is when she realizes that YT "betrayed" her when he and his whole family "should be grateful to her for everything she's done." Delusional doesn't begin to cover it. So he's imprisoned in the mine for over a month and when NJL and another hunter rescue him, it's obvious he's gotten severe trauma. It takes a long time for him to come out of it; but he does with the help of NJL's now blended family; her caretaker, LL, and a dumplings guy who was also saved from the fiends when he harbored LL for a bit.

YT and NJL's romance picks up more at the end after her selective amnesia goes away and they have their "reunion" kiss and another intimate moment though not shown, it's understood. It's an HE for all intents and purposes; creepy ending notwithstanding. The entire story I won't tell but it's pretty cool in the first half. The second is as well but the storyline takes a dip at YT's mine time and never really recovers; but that'll be in the cons. Usually I list the characters that I liked the best, but honestly every single one did a great job. The leads and ZL were the best but I can't point to my favorite character because they all pulled their weight. The fights were great except the last one; my favorite was the one at the farm between NJL and fake Lin.

The amazing CGI especially of the non-human fiends, and that red cave thing where the earth demons dwelled plus the membrane NJL's mom put her in where YT rescued her from. I think that's why this show got an S+. The entire soundtrack fits perfectly as did costumes, sets, etc.

Now let's head to the cons. Sadly, there were a lot of those.

Cons: They started cutting scenes around the time YT was in the mine and the rest was spliced together; things you'd see in previews or official photos, you never saw on screen. There were so many plot holes, you could fall into one. Some of the examples are: They hadn't trained in 20 years; everything was outdated and they were at a severe disadvantage which is why the final battle was a hot mess. They weren't even physically strong to take on the human fiends let alone their non human counterparts. When was the last time any of them went to a gym? It's like YT knew how strong fake Lin was because she lifted him off the ground with one hand when he was locked in the house but he used the tranq gun like a bat? I mean really? He couldn't shoot her? She disarmed him in under 3 seconds and shot him instead. Make it make sense, plz. Uncle Jiang knew about the earth demons (NJL's mom being the only one who retained her consciousness) but never told the hunters and XS only read half of it from a book but never studied further to know they would take out their own brethren. Everyone was waiting for a serious battle because of the build up and we got that?!? The writers did put the hunters at a serious disadvantage by making them not modernized like their enemy was. They could have used Mad Blade's blood to make real bullets with real guns, so much could have been adapted.

The fiends had adapted with resources, modern tools, even drones at one point, while the hunters looked almost embarrassing in comparison, stuck in outdated methods. Viewed from an outside perspective, the hunters seemed like a poorly maintained car garage, while the fiends operated like the Italian mob when they had real power. In that final battle, the hunters were pretty much slaughtered and that’s because they spent 20 years sitting on their asses eating, joking, and not training and their equipment was 20 years behind schedule, AT LEAST. Then there was the fact that they could not watch each other‘s backs and that’s why SQ was ambushed, which by the way was so out of the blue; like he barely got a chance to fight. But all the strong hunters had to sacrifice themselves one way or another or get badly hurt to kill essentially 2 human fiends because NJL with her "Mad Blade Medicine", took out the two huge non-human ones. But at least Jiang-Shu got some revenge and killed the dude with the blade who killed him, but I think he was glad that he did that. Fake Lin just stood by the side waiting for YT (who by the way basically shot maybe three times the entire time; otherwise he just ran around and pointed that rather useless tranq gun) and NJL. And the anticlimactic non-fight between fake Lin and NJL. We were really building up to it and literally nothing happened; other than talking but then they stabbed each other and it was over as NJL fell and then mom came flying in and decapitated fake Lin. 32 episode built up to that; what a waste!

Also when YT was rescuing FL from the membrane, his hands were red and blistered but next scene, they're fine. And probably the most ridiculous part was the selective amnesia. She remembered everybody except him. Every single time something was brought up she remembered the fight, she remembered the people. He was there alongside her, by her side every step of the way and yet nope, she didn’t remember him. Thankfully that lasted only 1. 25 eps. There were more but I already forgot them.

Would I recommend it? Despite the absolutely insane amount of plot holes in the cons and cut scenes, the series itself is still quite good. Hence it got the score it did. The acting was phenomenal and the overall story is good. Watch and judge for yourselves.

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The Female General's Story or What the Title Should Have Been.

This was an entertaining story of a strong, resilient, hardworking military woman and how after going through life made to disguise as her "brother" to bring the family fame she was ultimately betrayed and thought to have been killed. While quite a lot to deal with, none of it was Legendary. I added this story to my watchlist because though I knew CL could handle his own, ZY was a wild card. I knew several of the supporting characters as well. But this series should have been called the female general's story because anything else was plain overhype.

Pros: Again my favorite part of this series were the battles. The choreography, the synchronization, just fantastic! Honestly, if this show just had them and the leads romance plus the comradeship of the soldiers in their garrison, I would have been happy. Probably would have gotten a higher score too. But that's not possible. ML or XJ was a powerhouse, whether as a commander in his army or pleading for his soul at the end; the man showed and acted every emotion suited for his character. He had to clear his father's name along with those 30k troops that were killed and framed when a corrupt chancellor and several lackeys made deals with an enemy state. So that was when his path crossed our FL's or HY who had to start from scratch after surviving everything her disgusting and pathetic brother threw at her. Just as a lowly soldier in XJ's camp she quickly caught his eye, first as possibly a spy and than as that was disproven, she became the most dedicated soldier in his garrison, slowly climbing that ladder step by step. Also turned out the two of them were in school together when they were younger but she always wore a mask since she was young and couldn't even see her own mother. She, however, no matter what was thrown at her obstacle or even a royal decree if she didn't want to live that way, she didn't care if the person telling her what to do was a general, an emperor, or a God. She was going to live her life only the way she wanted everyone else be damned and I really appreciated that about her, giving other women the same message of empowerment. Others saw her frame, small stature, and voice not commanding enough, and I thought that was the whole point; because of these limitations, she had to prove herself more than a larger woman would have with the same qualifications. I would have to disagree with some points that I read that HY was too much of a clown or too cutesy in the barracks to be believable; but that's actually what happens in the barracks if she was a dude, ppl would not be complaining about it. When it was time for serious training, she was spot on, number one serious but when it was time off why couldn't she have some fun? Even in the current military, you see military women doing TikTok dances, and all sorts of things people are allowed to let off steam when they are not on active duty.

Once all of the fog is cleared away and they realize they're on the same team, they start working together, closer and closer until ice cold ML melts and love built on trust sets it. The second couple, originally annoying and foolhardy, became great sources of help as well as his guard, her 4 friends from the garrison, YH, the remaining general after the other 7 were ambushed and killed by the real NRF, her disgusting brother that never did a thing in his life and yet wanted all the glory and accolades for himself. He's relegated to the cons, don't worry. They had quite a group of great friends and ML's brother and his wife as support. If the series had ended in episode 33 or beginning of 34 by just marrying off both sets of couples (really wanted a spicy wedding night for the leads); I think it would have been great but we would have missed that great battle sequence in 36. The rest of it was better to be left in the trash because those people were all trash, emperor included. Also FL finally getting her General's name back and ML's father's name and those warriors cleared, was also a great I believe episodes 32 and some of 33; other than the bipolar emperor (in the cons). The only believable antagonist was the chancellor and that's because this particular actor has played an antagonist before, so there was no mistaking his treachery. And he played him well; a little too well because at the end, when all of his crimes were exposed, he still didn't get he did anything wrong. I think that's whatever is in the water in that city that caused people to have delusion. Costumes, sets, battle scenes, and OSTs, were all on point.

Cons: Oh boy; where to start? I will start with the FL because of the whole legendary thing. I think it was just a title to slap on in English for the production company. When you think of someone who is legendary it is someone who has had to have a career in any industry or in anything else for decades and help hundreds of thousands of not millions of people. On another note, it's like saying a movie or a TV series is a cult classic; this means this particular work of film has captured the hearts and minds of many generations. Examples would be Gone With The Wind, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Titanic, The Crow, or actors like Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Chen, Kara Wei, Clint Eastwood, etc. So calling her a legendary General just did not fit. Someone who had only been doing it for a few decades at best and not even as herself, but someone constantly covered by a mask like the man behind the mask, played by Leonardo DiCaprio because he was forced in there. It was also very unrealistic that even from the get-go when she was in school in the mask that it was completely obvious that she was really a woman. Forget the fact that she had a chest that she bound; she was short, she was slim, and she had curves. Common sense doesn't apply here. I also have to agree with a few other people that wrote in their reviews saying that HY did have hardship, but it wasn't shown so we as viewers couldn't experience that hardship with her. It was like all this happened to her; she was poisoned, blinded, stabbed, and thrown into the river off a cliff, but we all know cliff diving people always survive; her master saved her which of course we don't see, but that's OK and gave her medicine to help her see again as well as clear the poison, and recover at his place so though she went through all this hardship that was spoken about, it was never actually shown to the audience and I think that would've made us feel the depth of HY's character more.

Moving on to prune face aka NRF. Lord help me, I never thought I'd see the day, I'd put Bai Shu in the cons! But it had happened and all because he took on his first antagonist role and that scrunched up face made me laugh like why lord almighty? Dude wasn't cut out to play an antagonist and one that lived off of others awards never having done a single thing himself but the arrogance was sky high. They couldn't have killed him fast enough but I'm glad it all happened as they exposed his and the chancellor's treason. I just hope he never plays an antagonist again. He too came down with bouts of delusion in prison later on though for the rest of the series he harbored full belief in his own grandeur, which literally amounted to nothing.

Delusion seemed to be the name of the game because the one who had it the most was CZ. This dude was like an undetectable mosquito throughout the series though that chancellor was his master and he was a very dutiful disciple. That said, he always had flashbacks of his dying mother which obviously shaped his unhealthy psyche. XJ pegged him as someone not to be trusted immediately but because HY was friends with him he was quietly cautious but none of them could have to go full throttle delusional psycho Warren Bates because he saw them kiss when they got engaged. So after he officially goes bananas and lets his brains run out of his ear, he runs to the emperor and tells him that even though ML and FL are in love they are generals of two armies, which, of course makes the paranoid, bipolar emperor scared for his throne (when both have shown him they were always loyal to him) make a decree that they cannot marry, but the FL has to marry CZ. Another thing about this character and the series that just didn't make sense was the fact that this guy other than maybe doing a good job on the imperial exam, had no real qualifications or experience, but kept getting promoted to higher positions. At first, perhaps it had to do with the fact that the chancellor was a corrupt official, but after the fact, it still didn't make any sense and why the emperor made him the director of the secretary of war when this POS had no knowledge of war, warfare, or what any of that entailed. And that when the war broke out and in fact invaded the most powerful two armies had to be split because CZ the complete and unqualified idiot made the advice to the emperor, but remember the emperor has to make the final decision which he did based on his new little buddy's advice. It was literally a time bomb, which ended up killing a lot of people including the unnecessary death of YH. I really wish HY had slapped him when she gave him that reality check. Because he deserved to be decked so hard that it knocked all the delusion out of his head. CZ's little voiceover after he realized his mistakes were crocodile tears, and when it was all said and done, I wish both he and the emperor were stripped of their positions and exiled to the borderlands for making such a asinine and stupid decision that cost so many lives and it was completely unnecessary. Let the Empress govern, she has more brains than her bipolar, nasty husband.

Would I recommend it? It's a good watch in the sense of, don't spend too much time nitpicking. Just enjoy the show.

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The Korean Version of an Asylum Production

This was horrendous. I wouldn't even call it a natural disasters movie. I would just call it people's random lives that somehow intertwine with no logic with some disaster on the side. This was a typical asylum production that we have here in the states type of film. You can't get into the science of underwater earthquakes and tsunamis adequately because it's done in under two minute scenes. Furthermore, the obnoxious comedy that is unnecessary in the middle of the disaster just makes you roll your eyes.

Only reason it got a 4 and not anything lower is because the CGI was actually pretty decent. Otherwise, absolutely avoid at all costs.

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Psychological Thriller with Incorrect Diagnoses

Picked this randomly as it looked like a different role for Joseph to take on and though it does need a second season, I understand why it didn't do well over there back in 2020. Not sure why it has the horror tag as other then a few jump scares, there was nothing scary about it. It's a psychological thriller but with a very wrong diagnostic for the lead.

Premise is that the lead may hereditarily inherit schizophrenia at age 24 like his mother and brother did but they never really explored what the disease actually is or what the symptoms are. ML did have a mental disorder but it wasn't schizophrenia, it was multiple personality disorder or MPD which has completely different symptoms then schizophrenia and isn't known to be a hereditary disease but one that is caused due to childhood trauma. Instead of focusing on this main topic and really probing it deeply, the series focused on the ML, his idiotic love interest, and best friend who also was acted out way too over dramatically solving mysteries like a bunch of detectives all over Hong Kong. The HK scene was nice to see.

I have to give Joseph or LJ a hand for turning into essentially Eric Draven in the last episode when he finally learned the truth about the professor he thought was there to help him was actually trying to get him to have a psychotic break. The second professor finally telling him the truth and that switch to the alternative personality which was foreshadowed since episode 1 with the half eaten green apple, either at the end or somewhere in each episode.

Other than the ML, the doctor assistant, and a character nicknamed Sharp were done well. I'll give some credit to the professor villain and best friend for at least always being there. I can't say any of the other regular characters were necessary. Ramming romance in there was awkward and extremely unnecessary. Not to mention the love interest character was very cringey and childish; she matured only briefly when going through her own crisis. Lots of plot holes like how did LJ learn to understand Cantonese in just 2 months?

Reason I gave this a higher score is essentially because of how much I loved Dark LJ wailing on the professor and his office and how they dedicated an entire episode to Sharp's passing. I was very angry with FL for running to change the stupid lightbulb leaving Sharp to essentially die alone in that hospital bed. Was that light bulb more important than his final moments? Maybe it was her denial but it was poorly executed. Wish they had given an entire episode to Dark LJ instead of the last 15 minutes.

Would I recommend it? As an in between series maybe and Joseph really did well in acting here as well as the actor who played Sharp. They were my favorites.

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Multifaceted Mind of a Sketch Artist

Had watched "Are You Safe?" with TJC and was very impressed with his acting so wanted to see more of him and this was recommended by some trusted sources. He didn't disappoint and this 20 episode drama really was a breath of fresh air in terms of sticking to a flowing storyline. Seeing his character use his strengths in the face of some pretty hard blows, was awesome. We really see inside the multifaceted mind of a sketch artist.

Pros: Favorite character was, of course, the lead SY played by TJC. Even in his hardest moments of dealing with a repressed memory and PTSD, he was this calming force. His iron willpower and acknowledgment that he was able to do amazing things was one of the many things that helped his character be as plausible as he was. I'm very much hoping there will be a season 2 given the open-ending with the same cast especially him.

The storyline never dragged, each character was there for as long as they needed to be. SY's partner or DC at the bureau definitely started off being a cynical grouch for all the right reasons but it was great that he thawed fairly quickly and their friendship was built on trust, respect, and even their rough history. All those hardships helped build them to be what they became by the midpoint.

Loved how interwoven the main plot was with the sub plots that were very well and handled properly; the antagonists were also placed very well and even the big bad behind the original murder that brought everyone together, was expertly placed and executed. All OST's, CGI, explanations behind how a sketch artist worked, and other procedural techniques were very understandable. It even had a few bits of comedy where SY would always fall asleep in the car as DC would be explaining a case to him or when he would bolt out of a room without telling anyone and people would just be left staring like "what just happened?" This was a great crime drama.

Cons: This drama was on its way to get a rare perfect score from me but it had just one problem I couldn't get beyond. SY was a sketch artist, a fantastic one at that, probably a prodigy in art and in his field but when they gave him a gun, strapped a vest on him, put him in the field, or had him interrogate suspects, get evidence for them, basically made him a Jack of all trades, it was very unrealistic. There's no way a sketch artist in any police department of any country would ever be a detective, interrogator, etc. Everything else was wonderful but that one portion just took a bump down; they should have just kept him in his element; even teaching makes sense but not that. Like when did he get training? He never went to a police academy.

Would I recommend it? 100%! That one negative doesn't negate an excellent story, characters that make sense, no forced anything. If you like good acting, great writing, and crime dramas, this show is definitely for you. Very glad I watched it.

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An honest Review

This series had its pros and cons for me but I was happy to watch it and the ending was quite satisfying for our leads and other couples. So let's get into this review, shall we? I never read the novel but knew from fans who had that production deviated heavily from it but am not surprised as many series and films do on an international scale. Let's get the bad news out of the way first.

Cons: As a writer and published author myself, plot and character development are essential especially when creating a character or making a written one into a 3D version of itself. There were so many useless or underdeveloped characters that it was honestly confusing to follow the storyline sometimes. For starters, why so many villains? A proper series needs maybe maximum 4 antagonists but they need a base and development where you could see them progress with the series, not just laugh evilly, narrow beady eyes during conversations, and disappear without a trace somewhere towards the end with a soft explanation (ex. Yu WenZhi). I legit lost track of the bad guys and had to ask someone. Some were turned into bad guys but the attempts were lackluster at best. The two real proponents of evil in this series were Shen TianShu and Pathetic Clam. The two of them would have been enough. And of course Yin Pei's transformation but his entire storyline was very short lived and wishy-washy. Perhaps add the Eunuch but for more then a few episodes that killed Xie Yun's father as an extra.

So many great or interesting characters were never really explored or were given fast deaths like Phoenix, the lady in red as I called her who fell for ZF's grandfather or Old man Chonquio while useless characters like the 3rd prince and I don't recall his name weak kid who had a crush on Ah Fei but his family was massacred and he joined Yin Pei's cult of crazy were created to confuse. There are probably other characters too but they were so underdeveloped that I forgot all about them.

It was also sad that even though Xie Yun was the ML his backstory was barely explained in tiny flashbacks. I wanted to know; how did he get poisoned? Where was he? Why? Who gave that order? Why the worst poison on earth? He was just a kid. This was a fascinating arc which was never properly explored. Where did he learn his footwork from? How did Yu WenZhi know him and vice versa? Not to mention the whole mystery of The Color of Ocean and Heaven; no one knew what it was, but ppl got killed for it and I felt like I was in a game of "Clue".

Continuing on to costumes and scenery. This was probably one of the saddest parts; this production had such a huge budget and I wonder what it was used on? The forest surrounding the fortress and every other location was so fake it was cringeworthy. They were filming in Hengdian where there's great terrain all over the place; why not use that? There are trees and bamboo and forests that were perfect for every outdoor scene. Rocks and hills could always be built in. The leads ever changing costumes made me dizzy. Why so many? Pick a few really well made ones and stay in them. The fake facial hair was atrocious at best. I can now understand Zhao Liying's post on Weibo last year after filming wrapped showing two hamburgers; one was the real deal and one was half the size of the original with discoloration. The first was of the expectation for the series and the second was the reality.

Ok, now that I have everyone depressed, let's get onto the good news.

Pros: The primary reason I watched this in the first place was because I'm a fan of Zhao Liying and Wang Yibo. She was the first actor I saw in c-ent that I really liked in Princess Agents and she pulled me into this rabbit hole. Wang Yibo I first saw as many did in CQL a month later and so started following him as well. Knowing that this was ZLY's first wuxia drama since PA and since her pregnancy, I was very excited and she didn't disappoint. I wanted to see Yibo in a totally different character to the ones I've seen him play, now as a chatterbox with martial arts and sweet talk; he too pulled it off.

I loved their playful banter, their bond before love set in. Though he was the flirt, there was a difference between that and when he really started to have serious feelings for her. The same thing happened with Ah Fei, she was stiff at first always smacking him or pulling her sword on him which made for very comedic scenes, but it was obvious with her too when just liking him as a friend or traveling companion turned into love. There wasn't a hot and heavy romance but it was still obvious and most importantly they formed the bond of trust and friendship before love. Both actors gave their all and it showed. Does this mean they stop growing in their profession? No. Yibo still has a long way to go but with time and different roles, I believe he will be a wonderful actor; at 23 he's already accomplished so much that he's really a prodigy in many ways. Liying has done many different roles and I appreciate all the hard work she puts in, I look forward to more things from her and already added both of their upcoming works to my watchlist here amongst others. The other actors that impressed me were named above but sadly weren't given enough screen time to have their stories flushed out. The second leads held their own but Ah Fei's female cousin I wanted to strangle. She acted 12 and her voice was like nails on chalkboard; if it wasn't for Bonehead and the doctor dude with the snakes for some comedic relief, I probably would have skipped more if not all of her scenes.

To tally it up;
The winners were Ah Fei, Xie Yun, Shen TianShu, Pathetic Clam, Yin Pei, Madam Nichang, and Xie Yun's masters on Penglai Island.
Ok characters: Li Sheng, ChuChu, Bonehead, Poisoner snake dude, Grandpa Li, parents of Ah Fei, Mr. Bai, General Wen.
Sadly not developed: Phoenix, Lady in Red, Old Man from Qi School, Eunuch killer.
Everyone else had massive character flaws, were unimportant so didn't need to speak about them or they didn't belong and should have been cut. Not the best series I have seen but certainly not the worst and there were very cute scenes between our leads to rewatch.

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Bless and honor all of frontline personnel fighting the pandemic!

Though not watching on CCTV and without subs, most of it is pretty common sense, I'll rewatch on the 23rd once the subs go up. The 8th episode with the doctor who got ill and the entire co-op was yelling "Jiayou" brought tears to my eyes. Not going to lie that I came to watch for Zhan and though he only had 5 minutes of the entire two episodes, his interaction with others were very cute. This mini-series is to honor all those on the frontlines fighting this pandemic. G-d bless them all. May all of their courage be a blessing to everyone because we have to remember we are one world, one people under one sky.

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Amazingly Better Than the First

After watching the first one; I didn't want to watch this one because that one was a mess. I like Jason Statham so decided why not; I'm bored. I'll give a whirl. Other reason I didn't want to watch it was because though I'm a scuba diver, I have a phobia of octopi and knowing essentially I'd be looking at the kraken with huge tentacles gave me the jeebs. Thankfully, that part of the show was towards the end and minimal. But though things were messy and far from perfect (antagonists were subpar at best but thankfully most were eaten fairly quickly); the comedy and bantering between the characters was amusing even in dire strait situations. It's not a film for everyone but if you want to just relax with some popcorn and have a chill evening, go for it. It is actually amazingly better than the first. That said, I hope they don't make a 3rd lol.

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Rushed Chinese Jurassic Park with a Volcano Instead

I'm a natural disasters nerd and have been for nearly 30 years; I've read and watched everything I could get my hands on when it came to tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, rogue waves, meteors, comets, asteroids, and occasionally hurricanes. Was just cruising Prime Video for any not so great natural disaster flicks and came across this one. Was very surprised that it was a Chinese film and found it here on MDL. It came out on prime two years after its initial release in China, so all of the actors voices were completely dubbed over but done well. I was familiar with only a handful of the actors; though the science wasn't there, this was like a rushed Chinese Jurassic Park with a volcano instead.

Pros: What I liked the most was the CGI which was top notch and all of the actors really played their parts well. Very typical of a state of the art hotel built on an active volcano; so greed over safety. It was entertaining to watch and I gave it the score I did for these pluses. The story needed to be longer and it would have been better if done so.

Cons: The total lack of science. First of all, an explosive eruption doesn't happen in just 20 minutes. This was a typical cone shaped volcano but both of its eruptions resembled those of Krakatoa, Tambora, and Vesuvius though on a much smaller scale. The fact that no one took the time to explain that those ash clouds racing down the mountain were pyroclastic flows that could reach up to 500 mph in speed and 1,000 degrees F, was ridiculous. ML aka dad survived not once but twice even though he was in the open where the flow reached him even if he hid in the hole in the ground; just look at the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum for that explanation. It's literally impossible to survive at all with just minor burns; each person would be incinerated alive. The ejections out of the volcano are called lava bombs and not only do they explode but they create their own lava flows.

I wasn't looking for a whole lot of accuracy it being only 1.5 hours long but just some basic volcanology would have sufficed; something they teach you in elementary and middle school science class.

Would I recommend it? Yes; as just a natural disaster flick with special effects and good acting. Grab some popcorn and relax.

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