Enigma05

Lots of Comedy, Scheming, Lies, Truth, Many Strong Bonds, Untouchable Love; Oh & Some English!

I was watching back to back transmigration stories and I was really curious how this one would pan out. I like both WRC and CL and they really did do a good job here. Seriously, give this awesome series its dues, it really deserves it!

Pros: "How are you? Fine. Thank you and you?" In English no less! There was no way that was going to be how they met after she transmigrated into the historical book from the modern world and yet that's exactly how it happened and it was hysterical. The comedy was fantastic. Because the original concept of the story was cheesy and FL didn't like it, upon meeting the ML aka "tyrant emperor" she decided that she was going to rewrite it the way she saw it especially after she saw how things really were, that it was the SML that was the tyrant while the ML was considered the puppet by the wicked witch of the west (who had been poisoning him ever since he transmigrated into the novel and probably even before then) and the SML who took his vengeance and whatnot for the wicked witch out on ML. Once the audience learned that ML had been stuck in that book not as long as the FL but for over a decade, a lot made sense and your heart went out to him. CL's range of emotions was also impressive; he went all out for this one. Huge props to him for really embodying the character. He had secret guards and a crossing dressing master fighter (Bei Shu) as well as another army general/martial artist (A Bai/ General Lin) who came to protect him but he was still incredibly lonely until the FL popped in.

They went through a lot to make the emperor formidable against the two enemies; wicked witch and the SML. As well as turning the SFL from the bad side to the good side. The majority of the drama had a lot of comedic elements which were all spot on. As the drama progressed however, a more serious tone was introduced but it never took away from the eventual love that blossomed between the leads. Especially when the FL learned the truth about ML being stuck in the book for as long as he had been through the long letter. We the audience learned that he was drugged and SA'd by the wicked witch and some maid so a CP was born. It was horrendous all the stuff he had to go through as a kid. A lot of double crossings from people but FL was also very clever and used her modern day knowledge to outwit the bad guys. There's so much that I can't put it all down, you have to watch it. We did lose some good guys like 3 of the original 6 scholars, the Shu master, and Yong'er which was hard especially Bei Shu. You just wanted to shield ML and go, “stop hurting him!”

I loved how we ultimately learned that the prophecy in the synopsis was real but FL was not going to give up and with her and A Bai working nonstop, they along with the doc, found a cure. Also the ending though they did return to the modern times, right before, her in that red gorgeous dress at their dual coronation and his proposal using their real names to her amidst fireworks was chefs kiss. A lot of great characters that haven't been mentioned, the harem girls that evolved, the Eunuch, secret guards, etc. I have never seen TXT in an antagonist role but he absolutely nailed it as did the Empress Dowager actress, though I think I've seen her before. Both played exceptional villains. Costumes were gorgeous as were sets. And the ending came full circle with them reconnecting in the subway and the "How are you" greeting being used. It was maybe 2 minutes long but it ended just how they met originally. Third transmigration series that had a good HE without some nonsense off screen.

Cons: Last few episodes had a lot of dialogue as if trying to stuff in as much as possible. On top of that, it was more confusing because after ML was cured, you didn't know how much time had passed because there was never any thing written on screen in regards to time skips, and it was quite obvious that there were quite a few of them. But the most annoying thing and that got the .5 ticked off was that the OST's drowned out both the dialogue as well as obscured the faces of the actors speaking. The translations of the music covered the actors faces; even if you didn't understand what they were saying, you were stuck, trying to read the subtitles as they were whizzing by the screen and still be able to somehow focus on the characters. Things were definitely sped up in the last few episodes, especially dialogue wise to the point where you had to actually slow things down or rewatch things because you couldn't keep up with what everyone was saying at the speed they were saying it plus if there was music with words, you couldn't see who was saying what or why as faces were obscured. And when people were speaking and the music was playing, even if you had the subtitles, you couldn't hear what was being said because the music drowned everyone out. The powerful rock ballad in the final fight was important but the lyrics could've been put anywhere else on the page even sideways the way they were done in Mandarin. Same went for the enthronement and proposal scene; turn the damn volume down and move the lyrics.

Also felt that during important moments meant for the ML and FL; the scholars scenes could've been less. Otherwise, I had no problems with them. Lastly, though ED was a formidable antagonist they could've stopped her from cackling as that automatically brought down her evilness level in my book; people who have read my reviews before and seen my comments know how I feel about cackling, evil characters, and how that makes them seem like Halloween store witch decorations. That's it; no more cons.

Would I recommend it? 100%. The cons were annoying but minor. This story has a little bit of everything and don't underestimate it because of the comedy, it's quite powerful with the was it's told with all of the twists and turns.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

After All It Was David Who Beat Goliath

Watching a 2019 show in 2023 just hits differently; especially with 55 episodes lol. I haven't watched a series with that many episodes since 2020. Only reason I watched it is because I wanted a series where Allen Ren actually was convincing in acting, because what I've seen of him thus far wasn't all that great. Other than looking constipated while saying his lines, I wanted more substance and a trusted source recommended this.

Pros: In the very beginning, I wasn't at all sure he could pull it off, but once he fell for FL, I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to emote and really give his all to his character. Seven Tan I really like and think she does a great job when it comes to strong feisty characters be they in costume or modern dramas; though here she too annoyed me a lot in the beginning. But I actually have to say that the character that caught my attention the most was the morally gray Zhan Lanye; many a time these kinds of characters are played by men but here though she was basically obsessed with the main antagonist, killed many people, but still had a soft spot for SX and helped her out as well as get one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle to turn on big bad. It was good when all of the characters evolved because in the beginning you wanted to hit a few with bricks like Xie Xiao (I'll talk more about him below). All of the people the leads met along the way that became their friends or extended family were great. The big bad, Goliath aka Yan Shifan though a vicious, obsessed, greedy killer, was a good villain up until he crossed a few lines, then you just wanted to off him immediately. The storyline actually for the most part was decent until in the late 40s and early 50s of episodes; this series could have done much better with just 40 or 45 episodes. LY really was the David that brought down Goliath, I just wish it was more satisfying. Costumes especially for the embroidered guards were quite rich and beautiful.

Cons: The tired trope of "your father killed my family so I have to take revenge on you even though you were like 10" was first introduced in the late 40s and into the 50s and it was a mess then on out. Killing off a good character essentially without rhyme or reason in the last few episodes was just dumb. As mentioned up top the character XX was essentially a 12 year old in an adult's body. Some people called him comic relief, I considered him fast-forwardable. His crush on the FL going onwards past two rejections was pathetic. The love triangle or quad took like 40 episodes to resolve and had really blockheaded men I wanted to smack. It was just unnecessary from the main plot. The emperor was a very peculiar man; didn't trust anyone supposedly but really let himself be led by the nose by the Yan family for decades, killing innocent people just on words and false evidence. Ironically the actor looked older in this series then in The Blood of Youth where he too played the emperor which was filmed over a year after this was released. Maybe it was the wig.

One concern I had was how they threw rape around with the bad guys like it was nothing. Especially with that one who wanted SX and had 9 lives; stabbing didn't kill him, falling off a cliff didn't either, but some poison in some noodles in a jail cell and adios. Very unbelievable. Big bad was also pro rape and torture but his death was a total copout in the last episode. Beheading? Really? Y'all tortured smaller fries but the one who had orchestrated it all....nothing, zilch? Not to mention his nasty foot fetish and obsession with Dr. Ling plus what he did to Jinxia.

That last episode was taken from some LSD playbook and didn't make any sense. Why would LY act so rashly and out of character? I watched it being very confused. Many of the interior sets looked like they belonged in a carnival funhouse or a Bollywood musical. And lastly, why the closeups of the leads' eyes? That reoccurring theme looked ridiculous and had me laughing; the camera would be so close you could tell Allen Ren was wearing contacts and Seven Tan had an occasional pimple. No one needed that.

Would I recommend it? If you like the leads and good mysteries, then yes. But the fast forward button may be required especially with certain characters and when the plot took a downward turn in the late 40s.

Read More

There Are Way Too Many Wheels on this Car

Only watched this for Yin Anan Wong and I have to say from last summer to this miniseries, his acting has improved a lot. I do however in the future wish he would get a role of the protagonist for a change. Not saying Rico Suave here wasn't a delight to see but I don't want him to be typecast as an antagonist before he really had any experience in mainstream entertainment. Because this miniseries is an anthology, my manner of review will be different than usual. Based on a true story usually means that while dramatization exists, the basis is real and therefore I will discuss each character as I saw them psychologically.

Mei - The original 3rd person, played the victim a lot and though I understand different cultures have their roles, she blamed way too much on karma instead of taking responsibility for her own actions. While the start of her relationship with Thiu was anything but consensual, pretty much every other thing she did on her own, had very little to do with bad karma and a lot to do with very poor decision making. She could have taken herself out of both equations at any time instead, she just dug herself a deeper hole. I was very glad that it took the car accident and her dear friend to finally make her wake up to the truth.

Thiu - Master manipulator and I have no idea how he wasn't in jail for sexual assault. If it really happened the way it was portrayed, then he got Mei drunk and forced himself on her when she essentially said no and tried to leave a few times. After that, he kept forcing himself on her even at the office, I had no idea how she felt love towards this man. Was it desperation, a weird version of Stockholm syndrome, you start to sympathize and love your attacker? His actions towards his wife were nothing short of verbal abuse. The man had zero concept of being in the wrong. I would classify him as a sociopath.

Atom - For someone who loved one night stands with random women, this walking STD still had some pride and wherewithal to take care of his own girlfriend though he was jobless. His relationship was salvageable because he and his girlfriend were both equal train wrecks. They both had vices that used other people for their own gain. He and Mei got the most out of whatever they had; they used each other and then it imploded. One could see it coming from a mile away. Would he really change? Who knows?

Khim: One loud mouth diva who made some kind of nasty masks that harmed others and considered herself an online influencer dishing out advice she had essentially no right to give. While Atom cheating on her left, right, and center wasn't a good thing, she could have just broken up with him and called it a day. Instead she turned herself and Thiu's wife into APEX predators by hounding the woman both men were seeing. One bad decision led to many others. Who really needed the confrontations, hair pulling, attacks and whatnot? It was really trashy and could have gotten her in trouble with the law had Mei decided to press charges. One of the reasons I think her and Atom would work out because they were both low class people.

Oil - While in the beginning I saw her and the baby as the only real victims in this story, her introduction to Khim, brought out a very nasty side in her. Who brings personal life to work? Even if it's an affair, get HR involved, don't show up unannounced and start a ruckus. She ended up being no less toxic then Khim. I hope for her sake, she divorces that hot mess of a husband and takes him for everything he owns, then it'll be revenge. She needs to think about her baby not threatening to throw acid on someone. That's a very harmful and unstable threat and makes Mei look like she was the only problem in that situation; when her husband started it all. Three sides to every story; his, hers, and the truth.

The miniseries was obviously very low budgeted because it seemed like actors either wore their own clothing or at least paid for it. Production used cheap locations and surroundings for places like the office or hotels. None of the places looked like real lived in homes. The car "chase" was laughable honestly, they were going no more then 20 mph while Khim swears she's flooring it. While the story itself makes sense as a cautionary tale, it's still very obvious that the Thai entertainment industry is new in comparison to others in the region. I hope for future works, they get more investors and better ones. Wish there was less screaming and yelling in each episode, definitely don't binge this unless you want a headache. This is an interesting miniseries for people studying psychology or psychopathy; you learn a lot about human nature.

Read More

6 Piece X-Men

Was watching SOTM and the actor (Wang You Shou) who played He Na grabbed my attention, and though I ended up dropping that show, this one with him was recommended to me and I decided to give it a go. I loved the 6 piece version of X-Men just without the fantastical elements. This drama didn't disappoint me at all.

Pros: Loved the mystery and intrigue and how with the ML you never knew exactly what he was thinking and how many steps ahead he actually was. Also how even if he didn't have a plan, he could weasel himself or others out of nearly impossible situations under near death circumstances. There was a constant question of what was really going on but it never dragged until the end and nothing was what it seemed. My second favorite character was of course the reason I started watching or Wang Kuan played by WYS; man was like a walking Siri, encyclopedia Brittanica, and fortune teller wrapped up into one dude. He never told a lie, was loyal to a fault, and a wonderful friend and later on partner. Zhang Jian and Xue Ying were also great and I loved their strengths and weaknesses. Each character had flaws and that was very important.

I'd have to say my least favorite out of the 6 were Ya Nei because he was too flashy and though he did mature a bit as time went on, his arrogance just couldn't be tapered down. Also Ah Jing, she was the least qualified and though I felt that she did grow in strength as the series progressed, her outfits and the baby voice with which she talked made you constantly think you were leading a kid along on dangerous missions. It didn't make much sense. I wish they had evolved her more to fit a grown woman as the series continued. Even with WK by her side as protector and love interest, she still never came into her own. Hopefully that'll happen in part 2.

Other favorite characters from both the protagonists and antagonists side were Dean Lu, big bro of our Jack of all trades, old thief, instructor Liu, Old man minister of war, and even the creep Ding Er (I can't spell his other name). He really was the perfect antagonist and repulsively creepy at the same time. But it made him believable and therefore, he shall stay.

Loved the scenery, martial arts were awesome, OSTs, costumes, etc. just a nice round off of a lot of things.

Cons: With so much going on, many little variables were just left alone. Though the plot didn't drag until the end, it seemed many questions were left unanswered after each mission was completed. Like move on to the next one and the audience will forget. The last arc was an absolute mess. What was the point of any of it? To return Ding Er to annoy everyone and Dean Lu to have his final showdown, only to show YJX propose to ZJ and all be awesome and literally two scenes later in the same outfit and in the same location find out from the gang that the creep escaped from prison, kidnapped her, her father and sent a note to the team saying "he'll take good care of his wife and father" opening up the official season 2 approach. It was way too messy and could have been done way better.

All things considered a lot of the plots and subplots could have been executed tighter. That said, this is still pretty good for a lower budget 2019 drama.

Would I recommend it? If you like mystery, intrigue, light comedy, and great friendships, then yes I totally would. I'm very much looking forward to part 2 myself since they literally wrapped filming it a few days ago.

Read More

CSI in Costume Drama

I watched this on the recommendation of two credible sources and am glad I did. It was witty, intelligent, and was a very serious whodunnit. What I liked about it was that all characters including the leads were very strong and equal to one another. I do wish there was at least one real kiss between the leads. Everyone had each other's backs and there was no jealousy or backstabbing amongst them. I enjoyed another drama without the cliche or tropes that these dramas are famous for. Very obvious the drama was lower budget but it really didn't need a large budget as it didn't have anything save martial arts which were done really well. Also obvious the main cast was compiled by new actors but they all held their own and were very convincing.

What I wished there was more or less of was more of our leads and their friends and less of the palace politics. The old evil eunuch guy looks like Grima Wormtongue and sounds like Gollum (for anyone who knows LOTR). I wish he was done away with sooner and the way he went was a total cop out considering this was a CSI crime solving story, not very convincing. The ending itself could have been done better and smoother for our two leads, especially since the literal last scene was of their marriage. Definitely some bumps and holes along the way but other then that, it was something that I'd recommend especially for crime drama loving people.

Read More

An Honest Review

I watched this series for Dilraba and Ma Ke respectively as I'm a fan of both. I had read a lot of different reviews but I always like to watch and make up my mind myself. This drama is first and foremost about action, competition, and learning about teamwork. Romance is dead last. But I was expecting that. Ironically the most satisfying relationship was between the two instructors of LHSD. There was a romance triangle or quad. Two guys liked the same girl, and a 2nd girl all but stalked the main lead.

Cons: The title should have been LHSD not Hot Girl; didn't fit. The constant repetitive flashbacks weren't needed and were very annoying. Almost like the screenwriter thought the audience would forget who said what and when and to whom. What's the point of watching then? Least favorite character by far was Pink Panther aka Tianqi. She fell for the lead and literally stalked him; she had photos of him in her apartment everywhere. And in a secret box where she recorded every conversation they ever had. Yet when a celebrity entrusted their agency for the exact same purposes; she had a stalker, that person was considered psychologically unwell. He too had photos of her everywhere, followed her everywhere, and made constant phone calls. Yet Pink Panther's actions were considered normal even encouraged! It was mind boggling.

I felt bad for the male lead because his feelings towards the female lead were constantly trampled on by "but you can't hurt Pink Panther" or "you must be with her." Why should he be with a woman he doesn't care for in that way and a creeper to boot? It was a huge issue for many episodes. What compounded matters was the whole real probability of FL and ML actually being siblings after they fell in love. But even when that was cleared up, the FL was still pushing ML away towards the creepy Pink Panther; like girl are you really that dense or just dumb as nails? When first finding out that ML may be her brother, she turned cold and heartless towards him without any explanation. He was as much of a victim as she was. He meanwhile saved her life countless times and never gave up on her. What made it even more pathetic was that their "reunion" in the second to last episode was about as emotional as two old ladies playing cards. Very poorly written. She owed him an apology at the very least and a kiss would have been nice. As mentioned above the instructors relationship had more fireworks.

Sorry but Pink Panther is getting the punching bag here and it's because on top of being a creepy stalker that literally no one realized, she also spied on all of the people she supposedly cared for and worked for in order to help a competitor/misguided antagonist who hated the founder of LHSD. The SML was a dumb jock who couldn't take no for an answer, in love with FL and had the whole "if I can't have her, I'll just (try and) beat up everyone around me to show my manliness and endanger everyone's lives by joining the antagonist to show my jealousy." Very passive aggressive and just proved his uselessness.

Some scenes had me questioning the validity of anything they ever learned. In the second to last episode when SML holds FL hostage with first a gun, then a knife goading the ML to kill himself, the FL couldn't even subdue him? This entire time she was showing her almost gravity defying superiority in fighting and yet she can't get out of a hold? Probably the fakest scene out of the entire thing save for the paragliding experience which was obvious the production had a very low budget.

Next question, in 2015 or whenever this thing was filmed, was cancer the most popular thing people could come up with? Just about every other character had it. No variety or ingenuity whatsoever. Lastly the slow walking to music really brought back that Baywatch vibe and not in a good way.

After so many cons, how can this show possibly have any pros? But it does in fact.

Pros: I loved the idea of the show and the thing that made it more interesting is that they weren't just a group of bodyguards but also private investigators it seemed. Just about every client they had was shady or had additional problems that required further investigation. Nothing was ever cut and dry. I enjoyed the fact that they all started out as snotty, arrogant know it all's but learned how to work together and even appreciate the "she-monster" instructor who in fact just wanted them to succeed through hard work. FL and ML went from largest rivals, to friends, to falling in love though with a lot of hiccups. But in the entire time they each grew and matured.

Many side characters helped like the old man cafe owner; he was sort of like their shrink when they were stumped. The bullies got weeded out fairly quickly and were eliminated. For a good chunk of the episodes, it was all about their training which was more like boot camp for the military then bodyguards. Life and death situations brought people closer and helped them learn to rely on one another both at and outside of work. The synopsis talks about the FL becoming this legendary bodyguard. I wouldn't go that far because she wasn't alone. The final group all became great bodyguards, she just became a more responsible leader. So over all, I give this series a 7/10 because I knew I wasn't going to find a romance but more of an action drama and in that aspect, it didn't disappoint in the slightest. So watch for action, character growth, teamwork, friendships. If you're looking for romance, this isn't the drama for you.

Read More