Enigma05

Meeting, Falling in Love, Staying Together, Standing Side by Side, & Never Parting.

Enemies to lovers done the first time the right way. This has become my favorite drama of CZY (though not character as that's forever I believe reserved for LZ), I knew he could do a general but the ruthlessness of his character more out of necessity to survive in his surroundings as the first prince was very much brought home here. I'm proud of him; he exceeded any expectations I had. I knew LQ could handle herself in her role as I have seen her in them before and many of the supporting cast. So this series really for me was following the leads mantra of meeting, falling in love, staying together, standing side by side & never parting.

Pros: CZY's character or FSG was my favorite and not because I follow him but I honestly wasn't sure he could pull off a ruthless general or the Killer God of Susha as it was his first try but now I can say he has--for me at least--joined the ranks of ZLH, WL, and LYN of men who could burn the world to the ground as a general but at the same time do so for the woman he loves. And his FL or FYX could be an equal partner for him because she was a general in the enemy country as well and her skills aren't to be trifled with. When they fought together later on, their tacit understanding was seamless, which was beautiful to see. Their chemistry was red hot even when they hated each other. He fell first but she wasn't too far behind and their sparks for each other really flew with that first kiss when she confessed first. FYX was the type of woman who didn't just wait around, she knew how she felt and knew he felt the same. He had some jealous and funny moments before the official confession that made everyone around them get it but not say anything. It was too funny. Even the audience was like "we know, dude!" LOL!

They started out as enemies from kingdoms constantly at war with each other but her losing her memories from being literally shot off a cliff and barely surviving plus being hunted by assassins. An ancient Doctors Without Borders type of place saved both of their lives as she had shot him with an arrow before all that happened to her. It took a lot of physical fighting especially lashing and biting for them to call a truce which thankfully happened early on. Anymore biting each other and I would have called this a vampire flick lol! She lost her memories after being betrayed by her then supposed lover (XJS or Nutsack as I called him because he played an equally obsessed with FL SML in another series) another prince of that kingdom who was in cahoots with some masked man from his kingdom who was for some reason allowed to give them orders. Funnily enough who the masked man turned out to be was spoiled by the show, when they released a poster of the characters one of which was holding the mask and otherwise easy to guess. But the dude couldn't fight himself to save his life and if he went against nutsack, would have gotten his ass demolished.

Betrayal was the name game here first for FYX with her amnesia that cleared pretty quickly and sworn brothers as one betrayed everything and her when he tried to kill her especially when the main reason for it arrived as a marriage alliance so it sped things up for her and a miracle doctor treating the emperor helped her with a very risky surgery. But another thing I liked was that all the negative stuff like amnesia or misunderstandings between our leads was cleared up pretty quickly. Even FSG's own amnesia after he was betrayed by his best friend MRY aka mask man and his father who professed his loyalty to the emperor yet killed innocent people brutally (still waiting for someone to avenge Eunach Ma or say something about it), was essentially ready to throw all of that away to keep his treasonous son alive; planned and nearly executed FSG; it was brutal and violent even burying him alive, his amnesia after they brought him to the Storm Alliance, saving, blindness, and amnesia maybe took 2.5 episodes. It was dealt with accordingly.

The amount of harm and betrayal FSG went through just the series let alone was staggering. This man never did anything to anyone and just wanted his kingdom and the people to prosper but the gunning for the throne and back games just made it nearly impossible. Just about everyone was corrupted included the emperor or his father. For the most, he was a good emperor but as a father, he knew what happened to his mother, was there, covered it it up, and kept the murderer around to hone FSG as a ruthless leader; when that came out, and how everyone who didn't submit should be killed even ordering FSG to kill FYX who read him to rights, was disgusting and I'm glad both told him essentially to go fuck himself. He was a horrible father to FSG and didn't deserve an amazing son like him. Towards the end even FYX asked how a kind man like him could exist in a world where he's faced so much betrayal even from people who were supposed to love and protect him. But I and many others believe he received all of his mother's genes, after all it was she who established the Storm Alliance.

At first I thought the Storm Alliance was nonsensical and should be placed in the cons but than I read what another viewer in the comments wrote and I had to agree, their time with the storm alliance was a time for FSG to obviously recover but also understand the real meaning of the word family. Also there was a decades old misunderstanding thinking his father ordered the raid on Storm Alliance so many of its members wanted revenge on FSG even when they didn't really know who the real culprit was (it was the PM and his private troops; but these folks already hated the emperor for what happened to FSG's mom so just blindly point and shoot; they were stupid but at least when they turned against each other for the strict rules, FSG and FYX brokered the peace and he promised to find out the truth, which he did). His was broken thanks to the murder of his mother by the PM and the cover up by his father just to make him ruthless enough to take the throne. No one in his family was actually "normal" save for his younger half brother who never wanted the throne either but who's mother and grandfather--the same PM--were trying to do everything in their power to him on including killing both the emperor and FSG to do. He also had a younger sister but that's a mess for another paragraph. It was FYX, his brother guards, the Q something battalion that got slaughtered while trying to keep the chasing goons away from the carriage carrying the barely clinging to life FSG after being dug up from his grave, and the entire Feng battalion, some who were killed for not supporting MRY the loser who couldn't fight but the rest of the battalion submitted though under pretense until their general returned. As FSG said himself, FYX was the most important to him along with his brothers in the Feng battalion because though not blood, they were his family. FSG spent most of the show trying to find out the truth behind his mother's death while at the same time warding off attacks of the PM, the Empress, and MRY's faction. So now having FYX and before they fell in love, he was also helping her uncover her memory and then she helped him with his.

There were so many really great nuances in this series the most recent was when FSG regained his and how that click happened. The director showed the imagery in his brain and his face from moment to moment and it was great. Same as when FYX remembered it was nutsack who shot her off the cliff in the first place. It was a pendant he wore when he first arrived for the marriage alliance and randomly met in the street, after a shooting match, she saw the pendant and remembered and signaled to FSG to help her even though they weren't together yet. They already had that seamless tacit understanding even back then.

I just wanted to say about the ending, though they more less closed out the majority of the characters well, I'm actually happy with the ending. FSG never wanted to become emperor regardless just like his brother who went into seclusion after finding out about all of his mother's crimes. He was Regent as he left his sister to govern but put her on probation for 3 years and in those 3 years if she did well, he'd crown her as empress otherwise he'd name a worthy successor. Plus he brokered a 10 year deal with FYX's country not to fight but let the common people settle down. No matter what, he was still in charge and his kingdom was the powerful one. But he and FYX went to live quietly somewhere as they showed them just relaxing on a mountain top, chatting and shooting arrows. He promised her the grandest wedding in 3 years while she said if he didn't behave, she would deal with a feather duster so that was a cute ending.

Plus, I love the fact that usually when kids are gunning for the throne, everyone is cut throat and this is the probably first drama I've seen where siblings genuinely love each other, even though the sister was a lost cause eventually after hearing the death of her father and brother, she thought he was dead, and then learning he was alive, understood how much he meant to her. As for younger brother he never did a bad thing to his older brother, no matter how much crap his mother and grandfather filled his head with. So this is the first drama where all the siblings genuinely love each other in that kingdom. Meanwhile, in lunatic kingdom, you have siblings trying to kill each other from a young age for the throne and other things. In ML's kingdom, the ones that were doing all the cut throat fighting to stick their kids on the throne, were the parents because they never asked the kids what they actually wanted and neither brother wanted the throne so it's quite unusual, but I'm glad to see that kind of sibling love for a change.

There were a plethora of villains in this story but PM, serial killer dad, and nutsack were the best. The first two as veteran actors they made their roles believable especially serial killer dad of MRY who was more believable with the mask and the computerized voice than without it. When it was revealed (though most of us already knew) it was him, it was more like ok no big I can be myself and I'm crazy so I'll join the lunatics. It was a good role for him as he's usually in protagonist roles so though not as top as the three he still did a good job, though his father's switch between loyalist to serial who gets pleasure out of the kill was Ted Bundy all over again. And Nutsack, he's an obsessed with FYX lunatic, who had a hard life (being poisoned not helping) that didn't excuse him from all of the evil he did including to the FL. But he expected to win her back like his delusion was the highest of the story up to the moment FSG and FYX killed him together. Never dawned on him that they were done the moment he shot her off the cliff. Also, emperor lunatic who would kill a person if the air wasn't up to his liking but fell in love with XY because she didn't behave like a dog but would talk back to him and be head strong made him all happy and it made me just want to go bathe. The actor himself did phenomenally well considering he too usually plays protagonists so his first lunatic morally grey antagonist was very convincing and he did a great job.

I love fight scenes and we had some pretty awesome ones especially when FSG was involved. The final fight scene between him and Nutsack was awesome. You could tell that Nutsack had great sword skills that actually matched FSG's though still on a lower grade but FSG won that battle alongside FYX because he also had more strength and he threw nut sack around the room and basically wipe the floor with him. I thought that was awesome and FL coming in at that last moment really helped a lot as well. I do really wish also there was a better moment with FSG and serial killer dad when he realized that the emperor never intended to kill him nor his son, but they assumed it and did all those horrible things to FSG and the assistant to the emperor who still wasn't avenged well I guess he was when FYX shot the arrow through serial killer dad, but no one mentioned him. Nobody even knew where his body went. Wish we got to see more of the fight scenes we saw BTS not just in flashbacks. Costumes were gorgeous and FSG's home as well as lunatic kingdom interiors were just beautiful. OSTs ok.

Cons: His sister and the entire lunatic kingdom was just no for me. Her growth in survival after the slap and giving herself to the emperor lunatic but she spent all the time breaking her brother's heart because she fell for nutsack at first sight yrs ago without knowing or caring who he really was and no matter how others tried talking her out of it, she just saw life through rose colored glasses, even threatening to kill herself to her brother to help nutsack escape. She lowered herself to such a place where she was willing to give him a one nightstand which was cheap and nasty. It wasn't until he slapped her for being the real bitch for falsely calling FYX a bitch and saying that she was in love with her brother but still toying with him; than & after a few more incidents where she found out about her father and brother being dead did she finally start to think about revenge and survival. Survival I understand but she was in enemy country thinking she was going to get revenge? Girl, sit down. Getting pregnant by the emperor and then when nutsack started his plan, he essentially stabbed her and no more baby or babies ever; honestly though I felt a bit sad for her, she reaped what she sowed. She did have blood on her hands even if just one person. I'm glad she spilled all of that to her brother. So though we saw her survival growth, I couldn't bring myself to bond with her character.

A plot hole that I found was they never explained how Nutsack and MRY met in the first place and why MRY was allowed to give nut sack and Weiran orders like he was their boss. MRY couldn't fight to save his life so if he went head to head with nut sack with a sword, he would've been dead in under 50 seconds. We also saw what happened to him when FSG fought and killed him just with his hands forget swords. So when exactly did they meet and how was never explained. We got great back stories on a lot of characters, but that important one somehow fell through the cracks. Also wish they would've shown whether MRY harmed that short minister that's an opportunist that though he helped the young brother emperor he also led MRY to the secret hideout of FSG. Though he swore he wouldn't tell, I guess he lived because he told MRY where FSG and company was, but I think younger bro should've realized that something was off and I hope he either retired him (off with his head) or took him from his position because the future would not be so bright with someone like him but then again with the sister governing, he probably doesn't have a very long time left as a minister of anything. She could smell a rat a mile away.

Plus, nutsack kingdom was edited weirdly to just randomly show up while we were getting the main story. Sometimes the timing was just off. And the one OST "Don't Cry" was played like the thing just wanted us to vomit it. At the end it played and was cut suddenly as danger BGM had to come. Did the sound editor not know that sometimes silence or just soft instrumental music was enough? Less is more in this case really! The fake woods were obvious but then I don't how much of a budget this had. Otherwise, I had no other issues.

Would I recommend it? 100%! It's an amazing series that I couldn't even write everything I wanted because of the 10K limit (do they seem to have lifted the limit cap); but this is what you want to see in an enemies to lovers series!

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Choppy Editing, Multitude of Inaccuracies, Too Much Propaganda (Even During the Leads Wedding)!

I first added this to my watchlist when it was first announced, 4 or 5 some odd years ago. I had seen both leads in at that point one drama each (PA for him & CQL for her); since then I've seen him in one other (Parallel World) and her in a few others. While he is good as both the protagonist and antagonist roles, it's better if she stuck to the former. While I don't know the SML or most of the support, I have seen SFL in one drama as an antagonist and I've seen the TML in several dramas where he was just very good. Everyone else is come and go. Unfortunately, though this drama had potential, I'm sure it fell prey to choppy editing, multitude of inaccuracies, and too much propaganda even during the leads wedding in the very last episode.

Pros: Favorite characters were ML, SML, CY, little head navy guy, third couple, all parents; thankfully no toxicity; Brigadier and his family. I would have to say that the pros of this drama, other than the music and the overall obvious camaraderie of the soldiers and friendships. It also had a lot of people that were funny like the parents of FL and in small moments, you had a lot of little learning curves and teachable moments for everyone combined. I like the fact that they had these clubs in groups and what not for soldiers families and wives clubs and I'm guessing also husband's clubs if they so chose to join because that was real. I do appreciate the fact that they did show sad moments like toward the end, when two of their trusted captains had to either discharge completely or get reassigned to another unit due to pretty bad injuries. Those were honest. I personally like all the gadgetry like helicopters and ships and drills and all that other stuff. The villains a.k.a. big bad dad and his son and the international guy William or whatever were OK but I really wouldn't call them anything to cry home about in the villain category. However, the majority fell into the cons.

Cons: The first thing I noticed that was completely off kilter, was the choppy editing and the scenes just didn't flow naturally be it the drill, soldier scenes or the civilian scenes. They jumped from one to another without giving the viewer time to adjust. The other thing would be that a lot of the times you could blatantly tell that they were using either news footage or documentary footage from other locations other than what was being actually filmed, also, a lot was edited out and not shown in the actual series that was shown in trailers like the leads going to Disney World or spending time together or vacations together or even that supposedly the SFL became pregnant again. They never showed any time jumps until the very last episode where we found out that the entire show basically took place within a little over two years.

The thing that I complained about the most had to be the complete and utter lack of research be it when it came to things like miscarriages (somehow SFL, who actually had the miscarriage got over it in 10 days or less both emotionally and in every other sense of the word while the SML was the one who looked like he was going to pass out and felt guilty about it. Now everyone grieves differently, but this was just completely off kilter and the fact that absolutely no one except the ML asked him how he was doing just felt wrong because in real life that's not how it works either) to my absolute worst annoyance being their scuba drills. It was like production never researched a single thing about what it meant to be a master diver or in this case since these guys were special ops and they made rookie mistake after rookie mistake or things that were literally impossible if you take into account the laws of physics underwater that just had someone like me who's a certified scuba diver cringing. Now I'm not in the military, but anyone who is a dive master or anyone who's even further advanced in scuba than I am would be cringing at this let alone anybody in special ops or who are military divers regardless of country. Some of the tests that they conducted where scuba was involved were downright illegal internationally. For people who have never gone scuba diving, if you choose to try that, my biggest piece of advice is to go with a dive master and not alone or because of what you saw on TV.

The other thing that was they brought in a 3rd wheel to be kind of a in between of the villains I mentioned up top. His whole worst thing was that he could not take no for an answer from the FL, who herself had a lot of serious lack of judgment calls, but this dude was just ridiculous & on top of that he got physical with her toward the end and that was a big no. Then he felt like he had the need to call out the ML not once but twice, even though the ML and his team saved his life like it was any of his business. 3rd wheels like that I think are completely unnecessary and just make things worse for the storyline. On top of that they never closed him out so we don't know what happened to him. They made the SFL a princess or lazy goat as the FL called her for the majority of it until the miscarriage somehow matured her, but you still didn't quite say anything. Plus, you didn't really feel the chemistry of the second leads at all. As for the chemistry of the main leads, it was kind of felt, but not really until the end either. Meanwhile, the FL sort of lost her EQ a few times and blamed him for basically telling her what she did was wrong in that hostage negotiation and her playing prima donna which just kind of made me feel all iffy about her character until she understood things a little better. It seemed to me that only ML and SML, the third couple notwithstanding and CY were the only mature dudes and when it came to being in a relationship people out of the entire situation. I called ML a lump of clay when it came to romance, but even though he himself admitted that he wasn't great at it he was certainly honest about it.

Lastly, the propaganda factor was way too much. Yes I understand this had to be with soldiers and this also had the romance thing but you do not preach Motherland, flag, military, and all that other junk when your daughter just had a miscarriage. You do not preach that junk at a wedding when it's supposed to be emotional and a romance. It got so out of hand that even the SFL's mother would talk about it in the weirdest of times. I get it when it comes to certain situations and I understood that this was part of the series, but there were many situations when it was completely unnecessary and just reduced a more powerful scene to not so much.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, this is one of those dramas where if you turn your brain off and just watch while you're waiting for something sure. And if you could get past all of the inconsistencies and everything else mentioned in the cons, you'll be just fine. I do hope to see the ML in more series in the future because I think he plays protagonist roles pretty well and we've already seen him and antagonist ones.

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Everyone Needs a bit of Sexy in their Lives

How to begin this review? This drama wasn't on my radar at all until I saw the trailer and it stopped me in my tracks. Was this c-ent's version of 50 Shades? How were they going to make this possible? I was extremely curious; I'm totally unfamiliar with the entire cast save for the actor of Mr. Han who I saw last year in The Story of Xing Fu. Everything about this drama from the trailers gave off a totally different vibe than what I've previously seen in c-dramas. And for real, everyone does need a bit of sexy in their lives.

Pros: The Bohemian vibe, the rich color palette of the locations, just gave the series this extra richness and made every scene extremely alive as it awakened the senses to exotic surroundings and vibes. I never cared about the age gap as that's what the story is about and how the characters overcome to develop their own love story. The music was probably my favorite part of the series and that says something as usually OSTs are ok or good but not to the point where you want to hear them on repeat. Jerry Yan obviously has a very long and impressive résumé in both acting and music, here he knew when to be aloof, almost wooden and when to let his walls crumble and be taken over by emotion. The little nuisances that could be missed sometimes but were very important to viewers like the significance of the painting and the fact that he started out with a copy and ended up with the real thing.

I didn't understand the FL at first when she bailed on him twice when she started to relapse. In her mind, though she was sharp as a tack, she didn't want him to see her sick. She wanted him to see her happy and healthy. Though I don't understand the logic in it but I'll speak about it below. In her mind, she wanted to not present as weak for better or for worse. Because they focused so much on flowers, paintings, and animals; I'll use the latter as an example. Both cats and dogs do this, when they know they are in the last stages of their lives, they tend to leave their homes and owners, they just want to go on their own quietly. Of course as humans, we want to be there for them and say a proper goodbye. So in that sense, HR was like a cat running away so her human could remember her in her prime, while not really considering or understanding the human's or XH's need to be with her, nurture, and take care of her even when he had no idea what was going on. That's the best way I could describe how I felt about the two sets of breakups. Also though she broke up with him the second time, she still was ridiculously jealous of him even talking to another woman, which showed her internal tug of war with whether to tell him the truth or just keep pushing him away. Thankfully he solved that one for her.

The last two episodes, I think were very beautifully done. Though he had to put the puzzle pieces together himself and we don't actually know how much time passed between the gorgeous wedding he gave her in his hometown and her passing away in his arms in the snow. I'd like to think they had sometime together to live in between. I love how the mom smartened up and gave her blessing and finally just let go. The extra scene after the ending credits I think was his dream where they always meet in that field of his favorite flowers in front of the building he proposed in; it's forever their very special place. I know many people cried but to me death is just the next step that a soul takes in order to return home. And most importantly, she's now pain free and can come to XH in his dreams in the best of health. She's waiting for him now instead as before it was the opposite.

Their chemistry, for me didn't start right away. Though he claimed he already had feelings for her when they met, I didn't feel anything for real until their first intimate scene in Ep. 9. Even after, all the scenes, cut or not, I have to say that real love and the feeling of it came with the cut scene in 17 when he says the words. They cared for each other and the make out sessions were well placed, but it wasn't until he uttered the words himself that I understood, that he understood it himself. I put this in the pros instead of cons because I felt prior to that, it was more on a physical level of things; nothing wrong with that. And I liked the development of his understanding of his own feelings as it builds his character.

Other characters I liked were Mr. Han, Fatty, the hotel chick that was related to SML, I really liked SML, even HR's roommates. Not one person in the entire series made it an issue of the leads many differences and that was beyond refreshing. C-dramas are known to always point out differences like they're the plague and then create an entire show around how everyone has to learn to grow and accept them instead of just being like "yeah, so what?"

Cons: The secondary couple, they were definitely more of a filler as I never really felt from mom the same passion or longing as from SML. It seemed like he put all the effort into the relationship which even didn't quite feel completed at the end. Were they really necessary? This show didn't need to turn the original into an older woman/younger man thing just because that's a trope very frequently used. Should have left well enough alone.

Even though mom explained she suffered from insomnia and anxiety, her symptoms present as PTSD that induces the other two. I wish they explained that more as to the reason she was essentially the jailer of her own daughter in the beginning of the series. As someone who suffers from all three but for different reasons, if you're going to go with the diagnosis, at least do the proper research on it because what she was actually experiencing was totally different from her explanations. You've already got Leukemia in the picture, which I'm unsure they researched properly either, might as well be as realistic as possible.

I'll be honest, I wasn't a fan of the FL in the beginning at all, though she pursued ML like to the point of almost stalking, she didn't even act 20 but more like a high schooler; the baby voice at times, pouting in others, the way she walked and the things she said, just didn't jive with this very smart woman we saw as the show progressed. I really wish this was one trope they could permanently get rid of in c-dramas.

Why was the character of Han Yu even there? That dude lived in his own world literally until the last episode. It was quite funny that even his uncle was like "I don't like him" because he was this narcissistic, annoying as nails spoiled, delusional brat. I never felt sorry for him, I just wanted him to go away. He added a layer to this series it didn't need. I'd rather have the cut scenes over his entire character.

Personally not a fan of characters hiding health conditions from their loved ones and going as far as breaking up. That second break up, I completely skipped over. Some people may agree and that's fine but I don't because I've got a plethora of health issues, one of which if it would relapse most likely then not lead me to seeing my guardian angels early, I would never keep something like that from someone. While I don't want them to suffer, I would want them to have that choice since I decided to make them a part of my life (this could mean significant other, family, or close friends). The fact that she eradicates that choice for him the second time around given their strong love, is something I do not and cannot agree with.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Despite the sad ending, it's a drama that you would most likely see in the west not in c-drama land. Give it a chance, it deserves it. You're basically watching a work of art so don't just look at the surface details, because inside are where the real flowers bloom.

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Dumpster Fire that Sank Faster than the Titanic

The first absolute flop of 2024. This is what happens when great source material is essentially thrown out the window and absolute garbage is written instead with maybe 3%-5% of the book like the names of the characters and a few of the similarities but that's it. I only wanted to watch it for WRC who played SML and the great story of the female general. Instead what the audience got was a dumpster fire that sank faster than the Titanic.

Pros: Give all of the actors their dues; even with this hot mess of a script, they all did a great job as their respective characters. The costumes, OSTs, scenery, and the 10 minutes of screen time that WRC (CYQ) got in 36 episodes along with the FL (AM); their chemistry was really great as microscopically as it was shown. The fight scenes in the beginning were very well done. More of that was needed. Since the ending was so ambiguous; even though AM turned CYQ down in front of like everyone (which otherwise would have looked like she was "colluding" with the enemy again) at the end and rode off into the sunset supposedly alone, I do believe that this time she rode towards him as the rest of the time he was pursuing her. Who could resist that kind of proposal? A Marquis with an entire army just to ask her again to be his wife. What bolsters this opinion is that for the first time ever she wore pure white, had her hair down just like CYQ did and she crossed the river heading north. So I will take it as her understanding who really had her best interest all this time at heart and would let her be free. Also they shot a second ending where supposedly she meets him in a forest after she leaves and they set off traveling Jianghu together. I would have preferred this ending but according to the leads apparently even they didn't know which one would be used.

Cons: Dear lord, where do I begin? Literally everything that wasn't mentioned above. How can someone take such a fantastic story and turn into a mess of epic proportions? What was wrong with the first female general being the story? Why force the rather ridiculous romance of ML and FL on us when there was literally nothing between them? She and Xiu'er had a greater connection ~insert massive eye roll here~! Why did it turn into ML's story? He was a joke, a fool of a playboy that by the mid-end turned into no less villain than the first emperor. He had no contemplation of taking of human life; only his own mattered, everyone else be damned. This wasn't "Fighting for Love", it was "Fighting Bullshit on Screen."

The crappy palace politics and the twists with Mu Bai or whatever his real name was and the empress who apparently grew a heart and brain overnight. So unnecessary and just dragged this already giant mess into an even bigger abyss. Why kill Tang Ge? And the anticlimactic end to CQ. I can't form sentences on this absolute scale of destruction of a solid story. I hope Beimo returns and conquers Nanxia so their people would live in peace and away from the royal madness as it seems Beimo has it more together and their people aren't subjected to the crap Nanxia does.

The amount of loose ends is staggering. I stopped trying to figure them out halfway through because they legitimately gave me a headache. Very few were actually tied. This macaroni art Frankenstein project wrapped filming in December of 2021 and people were waiting only to be sorely disappointed a little over 3 years later. I truly hope WRC gets better scripts and projects in the future; he deserves it. This was a great injustice to him and his character because essentially everyone but the ML were relegated to support cast even the FL and it was her story!

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. It'll piss you off especially if you read the book or know anything about the original IP or if you're watching for some semblance of integrity or intelligence, none of which exists here. The entire production team screwed up on a stratospheric level. Just run!

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20 Episodes 10 Minutes Each w/1 Smart & 1 Dumb Lead Each

First time watching this type of drama where the episodes are 10 minutes each. Wanted to check it out because the ML I've previously seen in antagonist roles, so to see him play a protagonist was too good to resist. If you're a TBOY fan, you'll understand. I love Republican Era dramas as they're beautiful when it comes to costumes and sets. This review will be short. Again thank you @Lian for providing subtitles on Kisskh; couldn't have watched without your phenomenal work!

Pros: ML or FGY is very good at being a hard ass and a stubborn one at that and here it played to his advantage very well. You got to see the character's vulnerability, trying to save his childhood friend at all costs even when said childhood friend was a total moron. If I hadn't seen him play ruthless asshats in TBOY and Destined, I would have thought he was just really good at being deceitful while trying to save everyone that mattered to him. Though SML or HWJ finally grew a brain cell in the last episode and I really liked the church shootout sequence plus the actor played him well, I can't really find much else in the pros with him. LTT was a good addition for as long as she needed to be. Costumes (when they weren't oversized), sets, OSTs were beautiful. The comedy was good for the most part.

Cons: The storyline though understandable was edited very roughly. It went from as serious as a heart attack to comedy club funny in 2.5 seconds and it just made things very shaky. I wish we knew who the other characters were played by like the antagonist, the traitor, the girl who helped them out. Plot hole of HWJ being basically brainless to all of a sudden possessing extraordinary martial art skills and being able to fire a gun in the last few episodes was very questionable. For a good portion of it, you wanted to hit him with a desk for just being so stupid, it hurt your own head.

Would I recommend it? This series is really one of those in between ones that you watch when you're bored; it's short and sweet. But I am glad though short and small, I was able to see DK in a protagonist role for a change. He needs more of those and I hope he gets them in normal length series in the future.

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"I Will Always Be With You"

I first saw LXY in the role of Wu Xin in TBOY and this actor intrigued me. I added this show to my watchlist and waited. Since then I had seen the actor in a few other productions and though not the best of scripts and I don't like Xianxias, was still looking forward to it because though completely unfamiliar with the FL, the rest of the cast was pretty solid. This review will combine both pros and cons because you really couldn't pull them apart.

The show in itself for most of it was just chugging along steadily, no real meat and potatoes until conspiracies started to come to light and fall apart. ML or YZ was played so well by LXY; he handled every emotion including PTSD, outrage, love, jealousy, joy, and ass kicking with a simplistic approach. YZ's original misguided plan was to rid the world of the five sins or basically destroy the world was swatted by the FL or JTY because though she didn't say it, she came into his life to protect him as well as teach him and herself love. What started as a divine mandate from the elder Gods to stay with YZ until he died of natural causes, protect him and then take his divine hand back to the Gods where it supposedly belonged. Except what no one knew at the time that the divine hand really did belong to YZ as the God who cut it off himself was trying to save the world from what two villains had unleashed.

YZ endured hell of being stuck in some lock by the supposed leaders of his clan especially a middle villain who then kept him captive in a cave for 40 years even though he won the war. Which is when he came up with those 5 sins to keep from going insane. After he was released he and his 5 spirit weapons whom he sealed in random locations not to fall into the hands of Leader of the clan. Meanwhile until TY arrived, he was being tortured for his divine hand's blood and power. And they wondered how he was able to manage being treated as a prisoner. But he figured it all out and was biding his time to leave and begin his plan.

With TY's arrival as just a handmaiden but in fact the goddess of craftsmanship, creator of the city of Yandu, having made 3 vows that she would never tell him who she really was, why she was there, or fall for him. All of which by episode 35, she courageously spoke into words. Because prior to that she could only say "I will always be with you"; had she broken that oath, she would dissipate. The beginning episodes were very funny because she died quite a few times and then would come back to life a bit later to the bewilderment of YZ and his guard-spirit weapon 1. YZ was the embodiment of Oscar the Grouch and it took him a while to thaw.

It was pretty cool that regardless of how frail or injured her mortal body was, she would give her life a thousand times over to save him. There were side storylines like that of the third wheel aka QL who before he became enlightened, spent more time knocked out than conscious, which was funny in itself. But though he supposedly liked TY, he didn't make a move on her and I feel like it was more unrequited love than anything else. As he grew and smartened up, he came to admire YZ as he's the one helped QL become the perfect War Demon; super powerful that he was able to ultimately kill his side's evil chief in the end after giving her a verbal bitch slap for using their people (his brother and mother included) as sacrifices for her own greed, he was team good all the way pretty much since TY kept saving him.

The second couple's story was a sad one, but one that was quite lovely from a storyteller's perspective. ZD was human and met TH in her prime but sadly after she rescued him and he recovered, he left her and she spent the rest of her youth searching for him but by the time she found him, she was old and grey and he had forgotten all about her. So at a supposedly random temple she prayed to the Goddess of Embroidery (the dumbest name for a goddess ever especially since she was the main antagonist); who gave her youth back on the condition that if she ever needed anything, ZD would do it. Back then ZD was all too willing to accept because she had no idea of the dire consequences that simple agreement would bring in the future. Ultimately her youth card ended and she grew into an old woman and couldn't spend her days with TH as he was essentially immortal and still youthful.

TH meanwhile had spent 100 years seeking forgiveness from YZ for not telling him his family was killed by the clans people while he was in the middle of the God/Demon war. They started as best friends but they were at odds. It wasn't until the leads left the mountain in search of the spirit weapons, that they finally came to a truce. TY taught YZ a lot in those times like understanding that his spirit weapons were human too and had emotions and feelings; they weren't just objects. Especially after the whole Pei Jiu/Lu Chen arc. Lu Chen didn't forget his lady love even though by the rules he was supposed to. Love is stronger than any oath. As A Xiu told him very smartly "we're connected to you by the oath we gave you. But we are a part of you so we feel what you feel. If you feel sad, we feel sad. If you are happy, we are happy. If you are tired, we are tired. If you hate, we hate. If you let go, we let go." Such an important and powerful speech.

Small characters that ended up helping a lot like TY's Master who secretly hit YZ with a Lotus skill that helped him wake up at the end when the Demon Lord took over. Or the 4th wheel who was a spirit weapon lamp that TY created, he was part of the spirit weapon group that was holding onto YZ's consciousness as the Demon Lord was trying to assimilate with him. Even though they gave up their bodies/lives to help wake YZ up, ultimately he did live and we could deduce that they also returned as we saw A Xiu as a little kid run around YZ at the end of the series. Going back to that speech; "if you live, we live." So he's got the divine hand and all of them. I'd like to think Lu Chen went back to his lady love. Poor MS spent 40 years enduring lightning tribulations to ascend to Godhood but the day he did, he died protecting YZ and TY against HN aka Goddess of Embroidery and the final/main antagonist of the piece. But at least he got a chance to spend time with YZ and others and I do hope that in the aftermath he still got immortality. Plot hole was where did ZD's right hand man go after he delivered a message to her and then we didn't see him again until Master Yan ordered ZD's brother's arrest? A solid 10 episodes he wasn't around while before he was always by her side.

I wish the story moved faster and we didn't have a lot of just step at a time. You knew who the villains were pretty early on though how far the plan went and why was pathetic. Chief War demon, a bunch of the older chiefs of the YH clan especially the old fart, ZD's own brother, Master Yan, demon lord and HN were the antagonists. I'll list them out as what they did, why, and their deaths if they happened:

-Chief War Demon: Nearly brought her clan to extinction, Greed, taken out by QL.
-Chiefs of YH Clan: Would follow anyone as long as they were allowed immortality, Greed, killed by Demon Lord or Team TY rushing up the mountain.
-Old Fart Dingxu: Tortured YZ for his blood and divine hand power, killed his and everyone's families; Greed and self preservation, killed by TH, ZD, and QL.
-ZD's Brother: Created Wushang Society in the name of the goddess but in reality were helping the demons thrive and kill. Also killed his own father (father and daughter never got a chance to reunite; just despicable) and was planning to do the same to his sister to take over city lord position to rule the human race. Superiority complex and greed. Was jailed awaiting execution.
-Master Yan: Trapped YZ even though he worshipped her as a goddess but he believed the words of ZD's brother because he was his disciple. So in order to escape she was forced to take out her own divinity bone making herself even more human as the old bastard understood who he trapped and she told him some choice words after breaking his statue of her. But he didn't break a sweat, just rebuilt the statue and went about his day even when her friends came to seek him for advice, he never told him the unprecedented evil he did. Power hungry and greedy just like his disciple. He should have been struck by lightening at least. I felt this was getting away with a heinous crime.
-Demon Lord: Laughable for an antagonist. He was the dominant soul of the primordial God Taihe who TY originally created the Devine hand for. He possessed YZ for a bit and with the help of TY, the spirit weapons, and YZ himself upon waking up, fizzled out of existence. He spent most of the series as smoke or a talking map. Just ridiculous really. He wanted the world to live in fear and resentment as that's what he fed off of. Ultimately killed by TY and YZ.
-Goddess of Embroidery or HN: Everything was her plan from the beginning. When she was a human 3,000 years before, she was betrayed by her sister for loving a playboy so they set her up as a witch and burned her at the stake. Because of her flawless embroidery, upon her death she ascended to heaven. Her heart filled with hate, after trying to turn good and failing, she found out Lord Taihe who was cultivating forgiveness and peace also had a very dark side. So she unleashed it which led to the 1st God/Demon war (when TY was hurt for the first time and YZ as a little Fox woke her up from a deep slumber and took half her pendant) and Taihe in a desperate attempt to kill the evil, cut the divine hand off which floated to the mortal realm and to the YH clan where YZ was the only child that was able to appropriate it. TY met YZ as a kid a second time where he prayed to her. In the meantime, while trying to find the right host, kids and families were killed. Another war broke out, this time YZ as an adult used the hand to end it and TY took a blow meant for him. Both wars were instigated by HN to get the divine hand to the demon lord. She wanted to kill YZ ASAP but it didn't quite work that way. Eventually she used ZD's promise and a downhill snowball, the demon lord was reborn in YZ's body for a bit. The reason for her doing everything was for revenge on her long dead sister and to end the world for her bullshit grievances. Obsessed and blind she then took a stupid and cowardly way out by turning YH's mountain into a piece of embroidery along with herself. It was very anticlimactic.

I love ZL who played HN because she can pull off a flawless antagonist. But her ending here didn't do her justice at all. The ambiguous OE ending was very blah. YZ and TY traveled for several years and then eventually after telling him everything else, she disappeared. But there's hope because there's her lingering spirit in the world. Plus the bit she gave him in episode 6 and the lotus her master gave him. Unfortunately, though an extra episode was filmed with her returning in human form and it being an obvious HE according to the screenwriter, production decided not to use it. I find that very dumb. People will talk about the show regardless of the ending but depriving us of that isn't fair at all.

Would I recommend it? I would; though not an obvious HE and lots of plot holes and confusion, ultimately this was a good watch and you got all of the emotions out of it you needed.

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1001 Reincarnations

This was put on my list because of Hani Kezi as I had seen her in Ultimate Note and she impressed me. I wanted to see what she'd be like in other genres. I was unfamiliar with the rest of the cast. This was a different type of reincarnation story than what I have seen and it didn't have a "Final Destination" vibe which I don't like. It was 1001 Reincarnations and in each episode to boot.

Pros: I enjoyed HK's appearance here as Ashina Yueling or YL. The ML or SY who is quite new as he just graduated from the Beijing Drama Academy a few days ago, but he was able to handle both the soft and hard aspects of his character. The martial arts were on point and that was probably my favorite portion. How many times one died or they both did started from episode one but it evolved with not just them returning to life thwarting any assassination attempts but also gave them the ability to see the future. In the end though YL I think sacrificed her life unnecessarily when the emperor was in danger as there were a zillion soldiers standing around essentially forgetting there was still an enemy in the room, the no longer supposedly working jade pendant that had brought them to life with their life blood, now needed a tear from SY for its last act that brought her back to life. I really liked the tacit understanding between the two main brothers (SY and the emperor); stupid second brother finally understood family was more important than pride in the very end. The story developed nicely; he caught feelings first but she wasn't far behind. I also like how they incorporated HK's actual national heritage into the show. HE for 3 possibly 4 couples; one with kids and one pregnant. Though I liked YL's brother and SN; I felt he was too stupid for too long and she was the brains and pants in that relationship. The costumes and the few sets were nice as was the music.

Cons: Ultimately there were really two antagonists but they weren't really giving me the vibe of pure evil. The uncle cackled and of course you know how I feel about that. I rolled my eyes and waited for his death. The general who "killed" YL was an afterthought loser and I wish they hadn't brought him in. There of course had to be a gorilla glue character (whom I ffw'd as much as possible) that was obsessed over ML but ultimately because she was poisoned, when she recovered, she forgot who he was altogether. This script had a lot of cringey aspects and the ending felt kinda rushed and all over the place. They really didn't share much about the close relationship between the emperor and SY which would have been great but I understand they had to focus on the leads and their 1001 reincarnations thanks to fate bringing them together and their pendants that were always meant to be together. I do wish YL didn't misunderstand and pout as much, that's my only gripe with her.

Would I recommend it? This is a low budget, new faces drama but it's good for when you have nothing to watch. I'm perfectly ok with it; give it a chance.

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Where Does the Ultimate Good Really Lie?

I had been looking forward to seeing this one as it promised to be something intriguing. While by far not my favorite costume drama of the year, it kept me coming back for each episode. It had its pluses and minuses; I do however want to say that nothing I write below is to reflect poorly on any actor. Actors work with what they are given both good and bad.

Pros: My two favorite characters of the entire series were Gao Bingzhu and 16th Night. Both actors did a superb job in their characters. Huang Xuan was brilliant in his portrayal of this rogue badass who was hellbent on avenging the deaths of his friends and taking care of all of the people in the Unwelcome Well. His evolution into a more refined badass, didn't take away from his almost psychic notion of who the bad guys were even when they counted in the double digits and could be your closest friends if not family. When meeting Wu Siye and Baili Erlang, these two characters only expanded his already unbelievable ability to digest information that seemed like something in passing to someone else. He also seemed to be extremely lucky in survival no matter how many times he was practically pin-cushioned by 16th Night and others. GBZ was in the thick of it from the moment we met him in the first episode to his absolute last second on screen in the very last episode. This man is absolutely a class act and I would look forward to seeing him in other dramas particularly gritty ones.

Then comes probably the greatest antagonist I've seen in a very long time; 16th Night was absolutely a soulless, brutal killer, who took out adults or kids alike with her creepy three-sided weapon of design, using alleyways and rooftops to showcase almost immortal martial art skills. What made her character particularly amazing was that it wasn't until the episode of her reveal that we even knew she was a woman! Furthermore, she was totally hiding in plain sight and a friend of GBZ, who saved his life on numerous occasions while putting both herself and her "regular" business at risk. Her complete and total double life immersion was very impressive. Sadly, when she killed herself once she was exposed to GBZ, no other antagonist in the show, even the higher ups of the Four Seasons cult were able to replace her brilliance and brutality. Zhang Li who played her was a pleasure to watch.

The two other leads held their own. Victoria Song as Wu Siye had really great martial arts skills and her unfailing loyalty to those who she cared about most was what made her a solid character and leading lady to GBZ. I watched this for Wang Yibo originally as he's the only one I knew in the cast and though Baili Hongyi/Erlang was in a way the brain of the 3 musketeers because he could decode things and figure out maps and plans, his character took a while to thaw out and was reminiscent of his break out role of Lan Zhan in CQL because of his tiny facial expressions even though he had a lot more lines here. However, I appreciated his smarts and solving puzzles and when working together with GBZ and WSY, he was an integral part of the team. Though he couldn't fight and would constantly need rescuing (as the other two would often say to each other "Baili Hongyi is in danger"), he figured ways out eventually to save himself for the short term if nothing else. His and GBZ's hinting towards each other to solve a problem or get someone out of danger was a nice added touch. Showed that they had developed a very good relationship of trust with each other.

Other characters that were notable in good ways were Master Chu, Shen Fei who sadly perished saving BH's life and the sacrificial lamb or scapegoat Li Beiqi. The last was murdered sadly and only at the very end did people find out that he was innocent of all of the crimes against him. And the first always had the best interests of the Empress and people at heart so was reinstated; I actually hope that GBZ returns working for him again.

The last pros were the OSTs, some of the costumes, badass fighting scenes, and the set designs, plus CGI which were simply gorgeous. It was quite obvious where the large budget went.

Cons: In the very first episode, you felt like you already landed into the middle of the series and had to run to catch up. Now some people might like that but to me that's a rather messy start to a series. Furthermore, the amount of characters that were introduced was done at the speed of light and many died before you even had time to blink. You didn't know who was good or bad or why certain ones were killed until maybe the 6th episode in. It was all too hasty and had little cohesion.

The amount of bad guys was ridiculous, most didn't matter and who they actually were more often then not wasn't even properly explained but because there were so many bad guys, you eventually lost track of who the dead ones were. There simply shouldn't be that many completely useless characters running around.

Probably one of the most upsetting things for me was the killer who "replaced" 16th Night was probably the polar opposite of anything I would expect a savage killer to look/act like. Robot Barbie that didn't blink was beyond a cop out. They would have been better off not having another one, because even without the original 16th Night, this chick didn't scare anyone. Nothing about her said scary or killer; Robocop walked with more fluidity.

And how can anyone forget.....EERRRRRRLLLLAAAANNNNNGGG! Dear lord, hold the wheel! 30 out of 39 episodes of this ear bleeding, shriek that happened 76 times per episode. Liu Ran was the clingiest, most cringeworthy, annoying, and dumb as a brick character I've seen in a long time. She was like a pet chihuahua that wouldn't leave her husband alone and wouldn't stop nagging. I was actually amazed they evolved her in 9 episodes into a mature and emotionally stable woman who stood by her husband and trusted him as opposed to running after him and calling his name as she messed up his plans nearly getting them both killed a few times; because those first 30, I wasn't alone in wanting to send her character along with her brother, and maid out of town on the bro's camel!

Romance was the one genre that was not needed at all in this drama. When these kinds of scenes came, it was like throwing a well-oiled machine off kilter. It was unnecessary and extra. The mopey, clingy scenes just poured cold water on a hot detective drama where they just didn't belong. Not every drama needs to have romance because it just doesn't fit; it's like trying to jam a square peg through a circle.

The entire Liu family were either major jinxes or just plain evil. Her brother was another totally unnecessary character and his puppy love for someone who turned out to be also part of the cult, led him down the path of delusion and the even more inconsistent ending to the one character who shouldn't have died as it made zilch sense and made the ending of this series very confusing. Like how did he know where Lord Rodent w/rug would be exactly (a character that was so obviously the big bad since he first appeared on screen, that that revelation in the last episode was beyond underwhelming)? The 3 musketeers work together that one last time was impressive but they lost one. How does one get away with killing a leading inner guard of the Empress and not even get sentenced to prison but to go up a mountain and repent as a monk? That makes as much sense as only 10 days after her death, there was no real feeling of mourning amongst those people who cared about her the most. Again very inconsistent; because GBZ spent 5 years tracking down the murderer of his friends but he won't go up the mountain and take out the moron who killed the only woman he ever loved who actually loved him back w/out strings attached?

And lastly, what was the "greater good" that the cult was constantly yakking about? The massacre of an entire capital? Sounds very Jonestown to me, but it was never explained to the audience.

Would I recommend this drama? Yes, I would. It's a good detective costume drama, but it comes with many errors. So just be aware of that and decide for yourselves.

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An honest review (100% recommend to watch)

I was recommended this drama by a credible source on YouTube; I don't follow the actors but the plot fascinated me since there was a natural disaster in it and I'm personally a nerd in that area. Was actually watching something at the time but dropped it to watch this and was blown away. I have seen a lot of their dramas and I have to say this is my new number 1 favorite modern drama of all time. It almost had no cons for me which is beyond rare.

All three couples were great. I would have loved to see couple number two develop faster then episode 33 out of 40 but considering the SML was such a "blockhead" it was a bit understandable. The only other minus was the OST's are very forgettable but that's not a major thing for me. Usually, I wish for there to be less episodes because you're running into one annoying cliche or another, but this story had none of that; I actually wished it and the drama I dropped traded places in episode count as that one had 45. No love triangles, minimal jealousy, no toxicity, no stalkers, or other tropes ridiculously prevalent in most of these dramas.

Every episode you're laughing your head off and every conflict gets resolved very quickly. The FL is a powerful woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind. ML is a hero in his job and a bit of a dork in the story. But he doesn't waste anytime in pursuing his lady love once he figures out he's got feelings for her and he does it in a way that will win her heart. There are tiny misunderstandings that are resolved with proper communication in their relationship. Their conversations are very cute and everyone related has a strong bond which is also so awesome and refreshing to see.

Also love the third couple and how since ML and TFL are brother and sister, they really care about each other. There's none of that toxic family environment where family hates son's/daughter's choice in significant other and want to choose for him or her. Sister is 100% on board with FL even before she and bro start dating and has her back when they do. It is realistic life events and relationships; it is common for doctors to be in relationships with police officers because both share the same goals professionally, to save lives. This is literally the definition of a modern drama.

The screenwriter and directors did a fantastic job adapting this and creating a fun, loving, heart pounding series that I will absolutely rewatch and will go into my permanent collection of rewatching where really 3 dramas exist, two of which are costume. Thank you to the entire cast and crew for a phenomenal job! I will miss all of these characters very much and I truly hope that the actors can do something together again in the future. A+!

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Life Imitating Art In Amazingly Realistic Detail

Tissues, tissues, and more tissues. This show absolutely blew my mind. I knew the premise but still the acting and accuracy were unforgettable. I wasn't familiar with the leads, just a few of the support but they took this show to a whole other level. For me it was life imitating art in amazingly realistic detail.

Pros: I know ALS well as one of my great aunt's had it and ironically I diagnosed her a day before her doctor did at the nursing home. But she was in her early 80s and it was her leg for 4 out of the 5 years. We lived in different countries so by the time she was diagnosed, she only lived several more months. But here was different; you had a young guy and taking on something so devastating just absolutely broke my heart. I love how they handled it with professionalism and grace. Both lead actors did a superb job as did most of their loved ones and coworkers. Plus bringing in an actual ALS specialist as opposed to just an actor to play the part was very smart.

Where I said life imitated art was because I've got a chronic illness though without an expiration date; when LT's disease was getting bad I felt like he was living my life. I was bedridden for 2 years, it nearly killed me, I know wheelchairs, ambulance trips to the ER 6 times a month, crawling on your hands and knees to the bathroom, falling, tremors, all of that. Even now when I've had a setback and when he had given up all hope and rolled into the river and AZQ stopped him, it was like my mom and me. Her yelling at me not to give up and me saying I want to meet my grandfather in heaven because like LT, I lost my grandfather over 3 years ago but to a tragic accident that every first responder in my city still remembers; it was the catalyst for this setback. Like LT, my grandfather raised me so he was a father and grandfather though I have a great mom unlike LT who's mom needed tweaking. So many similarities, you can imagine how hard watching this was but at the same time, it was too beautiful not to. When the setback occurred I had just finished all of my classes in my PhD program, was/am an honor student and was set to start my dissertation; now I've spent 4 years nearly trying to get back to school to finish my degree without success...yet. Just like LT having to see his dreams go down the drain; it's too much. In case people are interested, the illness I have is called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME for short; I've got a slew of others but this one is the life/death sentence without treatment or a cure and affects 20 million people worldwide (for further information please visit www.MEadvocacy.org). Enough about me.

It was refreshing to see how LT's company and boss stood behind him and with him every step of the way. The OSTs were wonderful and LY's perfect portrayal of LT especially towards the end as I saw a lot of Stephen Hawking's mannerisms in his performance. I would absolutely give him some best actor award. LLY (AZQ) was super woman; her quiet grace was so poignant even when she was constantly quietly crying; she would be the voice of reason even towards adults. Wise beyond her years. I'm so glad how parents evolved and understood their negligence or their children's strength. Also CGP, I mean my lord, this man had to shoulder his best friend's secret for so long, I was afraid he was going to have a mental breakdown. He shouldn't have ever been given this burden, which I'll talk about in the cons.

Cons: This story would have gotten a rare 10 from me though I wouldn't be able to rewatch it, but a few things I feel just could have been changed. For starters, I understand not wanting to be a burden to your loved ones probably better than many but when you're living on borrowed time and you can see things getting worse, those loved ones like your girlfriend deserve the choice of staying with you or not. That breakup was so unnecessary and than the best friend has to shoulder it all, isn't fair to people. LT wasn't given a choice with ALS but then he turns around and shuts out the one he loves the most? Is there a difference? Everyone in his life was devastated when they found out and angry and they deserved to be. He should have said something. Because they could have mitigated things 6 months earlier. He wouldn't have worsened so fast as the doctor said, mental stability is everything in these kinds of situations. I don't agree with his choices then. If it was an illness like mine, ok sure, time is all we have even when our bodies spiral out of control but ALS is a ticking clock, no luxury of time.

Secondly, I'm sorry but I couldn't take XHD. She never spoke normally, not once. She was either whining, yelling, or acting like a self righteous know it all; that time she blamed LT for cheating and CGP threw her out of the restaurant and told her to get lost was the best thing he did. She was out of line and just a mess. Than throwing them together romantically was unnecessary and zilch chemistry between the two to boot. They made her character way too over the top and it was jarring. Couldn't our FL have a sane friend?

Lastly, this was small but it would have been less confusing if they posted the time jumps on the screen. No need to make a big deal out of it but just subtly noted because it was confusing where we were especially once LT was diagnosed.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely; just with a whole stock of tissues. It's like one of those artistic films that just takes a place in your heart forever. I know it did in mine.

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Great Acting But w/a Too Busy Script & Unnecessary Characters

Watched this for XZ and yet a new storyline that was in the slice of life section. I've only seen two other actors before in different series and genres as support; otherwise I'm new to most of these people. I strongly feel that after reading the article the screenwriter wrote about the characters, she meant well, but it just didn't translate on screen as it was way too busy though the acting was for the most part appropriate and the situations were somewhat realistic.

Pros: I like slice of life stories and favorite characters included the ML or SY and FL or JB. I liked his stubbornness and bright attitude. I also liked how XZ could use his previous life experiences in design as well as film in his hometown. JB was mature but she was able to evolve out of her divorce to accept SY into her heart. The only thing I would change about her is that, I would have loved to see her actually take a stand for herself and not just listen while people spoke condescendingly to her and about her. Other awesome characters were dad and mom (though there was a moment there where I thought mom was a bit harsh, but she came around), SC and PR, who made the right kind of sense together and apart and I liked that they got together at the end. LSS was great but where the heck did she go for most of the second half of the series? The OSTs were nice and the fact that they essentially filmed in a city made sense too.

Cons: Busy script, way too busy. Three plus unnecessary characters were the hockey twins aka JB's sister and her crush/later boyfriend and his obnoxious uncle. I fast-forwarded them for most of the show. What was their purpose? JB's sister; I couldn't take at all. She was a college student but couldn't speak normally to save her life. She was either irritated or yelling or just acting like a 12 year old constantly. Then throw in their father in the last like 5 episodes just to show why they're so dysfunctional when it could have been explained in maybe a 10 minute scene and it still didn't explain why the sister was so ridiculous. JB's ex hubby deserved to be hit with a brick for his possessive, condescending attitude but though I can understand he was in there, his then disappearance and reappearance much like LSS was disjointed and jarring.

While I understand there were life lessons in there, if you got rid of at least three of those characters, this show would have had been better flushed out and given the main characters a more realistic portrayal and screen time.

Would I recommend it? If you like slice of life dramas, then yes I would. Overall it was a good watch, just make sure you know how to use the ffw button.

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Great until the Last 2 hours of the Live

This season was exceptional because of the addition of the international dancers. Each episode made you laugh and cry. However, as expected by many, the very obvious scripting and rigging of the finale sent the weakest (though still talented) member of Team Boom to win. The scores for the battle section were ridiculous in range and they didn't focus at all on the stronger/better dancers. With so many highly talented international dancers with decades of experience; China still couldn't let one of them win. Because of this, though I watched the live the majority of it and woke up at 4:45am for it, I couldn't watch the last 2 hours. It just wasn't fair. And therefore, it doesn't get a solid 10 from me.

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20 Episodes of Lying, w/Secrets; A Good Villain Replaced by An Obsessed Creep & Some Comedy & Love.

Wanted to watch this drama for the pairing of the leads and was only familiar with a few other actors. Now while the actors did a good job I can't say the same for the script and the editing. Sadly for me, this just didn't hit the mark. Came very close to being the 3rd dumpster fire I’ve seen this year but those last 4 episodes were the strongest and overall, it had some appeal; though I did skip episodes and whatnot. I will speak my mind and not apologize for it.

Pros: Very small amount of pros; just about all of the actors did a great job. The leads could have taken a page out of the second leads' playbook. Those two had a misunderstanding for decades and solved it in 2.5 episodes and were stronger than ever afterwards; I really liked that. The chemistry between both couples as well as the friendship between cat and dragon was fun. The real antagonist that was killed off way too soon and could have done way better if left at the end, the actor played him well. He is very versatile in both types of roles. When he played Situ Ling, that was the best role for him, otherwise he went into the cons. Many other characters were great both in lead roles and support.

Comedy, OSTs, CGI, sets, and costumes were nicely done. That's where pros come to an end for me.

Cons: One of my biggest problems was the fact that when the FL approached the ML with her ulterior motives, though understandable at first, when it was more or less clear to her that he was not the culprit she still continued to lie to him and the fact that this first arc of lying took up nearly 20 episodes really hurt the series. There was so much noble idiocy, it hurt your head and it was unnecessary because all they really needed was proper communication as mentioned in the pros take a page out of the second leads playbook just talk about it, tell the truth, be honest that's all that was needed. Instead it was just this ring around the Rosie-hamster wheel with very poor editing and one of those one step forward two steps back type of things. My biggest problem with the series was the actual screenwriting and editing. Things weren't flawless; arcs lurched, and things happened and you didn't understand why they were happening or how certain things got to where they went. There was no smooth editing of the rough edges of certain arcs or why certain characters chose to do certain things. So a lot of times that left you scratching your head as to the why and the how. Many claim this series had no problems but that's not true and from a novelist's/screenwriter's perspective, I can see the large flaws.

One of the things that they absolutely did not need is the third wheel, obsessed creep that they left for a final villain. Absolutely nothing about him was evil, and when he opened his red eyes after being consumed by the nether beasts in the red ring he looked like Aro out of Twilight, and it made you start laughing. He was supposed to convey the type of antagonist that you hated, and yet all he did was look arrogant, angry, and obsessed to the point where you thought his head would explode. When he didn't understand why the fox that was his friend loved him and she asked him questions that was somehow totally fine. But when he asked the exact same questions of the FL he was pissed off when he didn't get the answers. Ironic much? That kind of blind obsession is very unnecessary, especially when you are dealing with an ending that needs to be a powerful one. It was powerful, but it had nothing to do with him. They should've let him be that young kid that looked up to the FL like she was his big sister. That was the absolutely perfect role for him I feel that they completely miscast him here (actor has only ever done protagonist roles and is still very wet behind the ears. So to throw him into a massive antagonist role did him great injustice) and instead should've left the other antagonist that they killed off halfway or so through to be what he needed to be toward the end or any of this guy's brothers because they had that ability to be villains.

Would I recommend it? Though it's got a very high score here on MDL and a lot of people are praising it, personally I would not recommend it. If you like the actors awesome but the script and the editing just do not hold up.

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Love Food & My Voice

Had previously seen TJC in two detective type dramas so wanted a totally different genre for him. This fit the bill. This drama I always saved until the end of my drama watching days because it was all fluff and easy on the brain. It was sugar and a bit of spice in the dishes and just about everything nice. You've got to love food and my voice here.

Pros: I liked the overall progression of the show and it had a cute premise. The chemistry between the ML and FL was there as were the other two couples. All of the side characters were great support systems for our leads. Your mouth watered when there was a recipe created in front of you like you were at a restaurant. Also a view into the dubbing actors circle was nice. How they had real well paying jobs they loved and then this hidden hobby where they were known by millions through their voices alone but many never disclosed who they were like the leads. ML was a doctor but they never delved much into his real job not to overwhelm the audience but he really was the Jack of all Trades; doctor, voice actor, singer, musician, chef, etc. out of the two he was the nurturer and the one taking on basically most of the responsibilities of the relationship.

The series didn't really have a plot going; it was just the daily lives of voice dubbers and college students who meet and live their lives as romance blossoms. The OSTs and surroundings especially when they took trips were quite beautiful. Also funny that for two "virgins" the leads could kiss quite well; huge plus for the audience!

Cons: While everything was cute and whatnot, after a while I had a bit of a problem with the FL; for a 22 year old young woman (and I get she was an introvert), she acted maybe 10. She barely spoke two words to him or others even when they were very serious with each other. Even he questioned her on why her response to him was just "mhmm". She grew up sheltered and kind of expected people to do things for her because of that. Also, did the actress's stylist hate her? What was up with all of that granny wear? Even the for photos wedding dress; it boggled my mind how anyone would dress a 22 year old--by that time 24 as this happened after the time jump--that old and matronly like she was a ghost from the 1960s. It took me a solid week to realize that her wedding photo shoes were identical to my primary care physician’s and the woman is in her 70s! Plus she’s worn them for at least 3 decades! No young 20 something year old should be seen in that! Yes, she liked old and traditional but that was her "Sheng Sheng Man" persona or was supposed to be. Even after a time jump of 2 years it was like she was light years behind virtually everyone else. There was no evolution of her character at all. All she did was smile and eat. I understand that's how she was in the book too but they could have made her come out of her shell a bit (not asking for a massive change here) and act like a grown up as well as dress her age.

I also wish couple number two was less awkward for so damn long and we didn't even officially see them get together because that happened in the 2 year time jump at the end. Couple number 3 should have gotten together sooner; felt rushed. Also, though I'm personally an extrovert, I felt the friends of the ML were a bit too nosy and loud about the leads especially knowing how shy and awkward the FL was. They could have toned that down a bit; while I enjoy a great crowd, laughs, dirty jokes, and harmless ball busting, when there's an extremely shy person at the center of said jokes, it would make me feel slightly uncomfortable too and I'd probably shove the loud people into another room or out the door altogether lol.

Would I recommend it? Despite the negatives, this is a sweet and fluffy drama to watch when you don't need anything heavy, so yes I would.

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"One is not Born to Kill"

Originally I wasn't sure I was going to watch this one though I loved TBOY and had watched DY. I just wasn't sure GJ could pull off a complex character as SMY, as he's commonly known to have a one note face. But in this case it worked plus the addition of CHS as SCH was right on point. It can be watched as a standalone or as I enjoyed comparing with TBOY.

Pros: Here we really delved into An He or Blood River and the pasts of many of its characters which was the best part; especially the main 2. Everyone starts somewhere, with different lives and names. As SMY said on numerous occasions "no one is born to kill." The show really reminded me of peeling back an onion. Reason being is because just as in episode one it seemed that the guys were going to be able to get out on their own and create a new An He, they were met with a new host of challenges. They would clear those challenges away and then something else would pop up. They always knew that they were as I like to call them the three ghouls sitting in some platform, a dungeon that they thought were the ones that dealt out the missions as in who to go kill, but it turns out that there was as mentioned above a whole onion to be unraveled(ie Shadow Sect who's figure head was none other than father of consort Xuan aka Prince Xi and Wu Xin's mom from TBOY and above him a shadowy Eunuch responsible for his share of massacres). SMY at first was not on board with the change and turning An He into something new as well as walking in the light and swimming or going to another shore so they were just like any other sect. He he grew to that idea even when SCH did tell him that he could leave if he wanted to, but because of how close they were to each other to the point where there were times during the series, you could swear they shared a brain cell. Originally SMY was supposed to be the patriarch and SCH head of the Su family once all the other three families older heads were gotten rid of, but for whatever reason the opposite happened and for those of us who watched and enjoyed TBOY; this fateful decision proved to be the unfortunate demise of many innocent souls later on.

I'm not going to go too much into the other series, but with this one, what was great was that even though it was a darker drama, it had a lot of comedic standpoints, as well as gave a lot of history and backstory on both of its main leads, as well as some side stories of other leads . It gave you a much more deeper understanding of who SMY really was and never changed even in the later series, however, something changed in SCH though in this one, he was comic gold and the actor that played him did a phenomenal job. I will say that every person for, however, long or short they were on screen did a great job. I was very worried to be honest because SMY and SCH coming from the other series are very complex characters so for these two actors to pull them off so well was a wonderful thing to see.

Even though we ended up losing two important characters, though they played minor roles, and it was sad they did essentially help their family members, even though not by blood escape. I did feel a slight bit of déjà vu for those who did not watch TBOY, prince number one because I don't remember his name and his actions nearly perfectly match those of as I called him the asswipe prince or number seven in the other series. Absolutely everything he did the underhanded tricks, trying to kill off his brothers and uncles and everyone else humanly possible just to get that throne, the only difference was that prince asswipe also had the help of the now older SCH who was a completely different person then who we saw here, though we did see the beginning of this person, and it was mentioned by another character how he can go from laughing to talking normally to deadly serious to lethal in a flip of a switch.

Again, because I am a huge fan of the other series I really liked how a lot of that series sons played their fathers or even themselves if they were old enough. The one that took me a little bit to understand was SMY's father because his hair was different and he smiled a lot, and his clothes were different. It took me a few flashbacks to realize that this actor actually played SMY himself in TBOY. The sad part was that they all ended up in An He (trained to be brutal assassins) because someone decided to take it upon themselves to slaughter a town or a clan, and then these boys and girls as children would end up in An He. No one was born to kill.

I loved how they had both the CGI fighting scenes and the regular fighting scenes on wires or even without wires and it was just spectacular. This series was very rich in the storytelling and I'm not going to go into every single bit of it because then what will be your point in watching it. In the timeline of the universe DY goes first, then this one, and then, TBOY; though I do not remember exactly how many years in between each. I'm sure that there are much more knowledgeable viewers in the comment section. Every single character except maybe the two goals had a purpose, and my favorite were the younger family. Once all the trash was gotten rid of subtract of course the original patriarch even though he was a stone cold killer he understood loyalty, which are two things that usually would contradict each other, but in a way he sort of reminded me of the Italian mob. There was even a father-daughter duo. He was part of the organization and she was a miracle physician (they only reunited by accident in the beginning of the episodes,) who fell in love with SMY and vice versa, thankfully romance was not even on the radar, but there were a little glimpse between them and two other side couples, one of which unfortunately perished. The sets, the costumes (all were beautiful), music everything landed as it should've.

Cons: I'd have to say I don't have too many of these things that bugged me. One would be the age difference of certain characters, especially when talking about both DY and TBOY; it seemed like some actors between DY and this one did not change in age at all or this one and TBOY and then you had young prince number two who will eventually become the real emperor already blind, and his sword deity is the same exact age as when he saved him in the third film as an adult so that already does not make sense. I think what they should've done was cast appropriately so you could go with a timeline if that's what you were going with. Also, where did Prince Langya's Frost poison go? For people watching this as a standalone, it may not pop out much but for those that then we'll go on to watch the third series, these age discrepancies will become glaring and confusing. Another glaring issue was I guess you can call them couple number two she was MYM and he was basically the future leader of the Tang clan and they fell in love. Now, in the third series when she recounted their meetings to the Wushuang in the bar, she says every single time we met, which was a total of three times it was because she was going to kill him, which in this series we see is completely false. She came onto him first she was flirting with him until she got him to reciprocate her feelings. She even saved his life a few times as he did hers, so that false narrative is very much unnecessary, especially since in this series, they promised that once all of their obligations were done, they would reunite and be together. I wish this type of writing was more consistent, standalone, or not.

Also, where did ghoul number three go after he was done helping our guys with getting rid of the other two? He literally vanished without a trace and we never saw him for the remainder of the series. It's these types of things that I'm not a fan of. If you're going to have someone who's even remotely important to some kind of cause then you need to exit him out properly.

The other thing I didn't understand was the master of SMY and SCH when she saved SMY she also knew that fire palm thing which was supposedly taboo in their organization and then when she saved BHH a.k.a. SMY's lady, she made her father swear that he could not tell SMY that she was alive. He had to lie and say that she was dead, and that basically went on for 12 years until they reunited and that happened after the ending credits of the last episode for three minutes they did not speak, they stood 10 feet apart like you would see in a Xianxia; which this wasn't. By this time, the third series had ended and An He was disbanded but because for 12 years, he thought she was dead, he had become a shell of his former self and I think it also in a way contributed to SCH getting away with a lot that he did. So that one woman set in motion, a domino effect just because of her studies (or lord knows what) in the medicine valley that harmed so many people. I think it was a good thing that they closed them out with the proper reunion, not just the voiceover before the credits, but they should have at least hugged.

Would I recommend it? I 100% absolutely would. Whether you watch this is a standalone or is in conjunction to the other two or however, you want to watch it. It is wonderful storytelling with rich backgrounds and you really get to know the characters that in series three which happened first were very much on the sidelines because other folks were important. Definitely give it a shot.

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