Enigma05

Should be Called "The Coroner & Her Team".

Really was the dark horse drama people are mentioning because like everyone else, I expected a decent watch but this show had a lot more for me. First added this to see ARP in a series ML role that didn't paint him as a goofball. I know LL from other dramas and felt that this couple would be a good team. Both second leads and some of the support were familiar though not all. I felt that this should have been called "the Coroner & her Team".

Pros: The whole point of the story was to solve cases; 7 smaller ones and the last was the reason they were there. Some of the cases tied back to the last one. There was no miscommunication or misunderstandings between our couples at all. I saw some reviews calling the FL a "Mary Sue" that she was perfect but she was far from it. She constantly put herself in dangerous situations sometimes before she even knew she couldn't handle them to help or save someone. As a doctor/coroner, that's what they do even in real life. If they can help, they'll go and do it. The ML was a strategist of the highest order who was a martial arts master who could wield almost any weapon. Growing up in the barracks being taught from a young age helped with that. Both ML and FL had people they wanted to vindicate and get revenge for and very quickly learned they were on the same side. He fell first and hard,she was a bit slower, but once she got there, she was determined to be with him till death did them part. Though I know this was not a romantic series, they did do romance well for the leads; as well as were cute for the other two couples. Though she took on a different name and hid in a house full of vultures, he figured out fairly quickly who she was. He fell for her intelligence and caring first and then everything else. 2nd and 3rd couple were also good and extremely helpful. ARP definitely proved himself in this role. He could go from intense happiness and joy to total shock and heartbreak in seconds.

The pacing was well done; all of the cases though we as the audience knew who the perps were from nearly the get go, were carefully thought out and explained. Loved the fighting scenes, all of them. We started figuring out that the mastermind behind the entire thing of killing FL's parents and hordes of other people was the emperor himself and he wasn't even the real Emperor toward the second half of the series. There were a little hints here and there, but not until the second half, and those cases, did the leads, and we have the audience started putting pieces together. The original two sons of the real emperor was in a way of a smoke screen because the fake emperor wanted to kill them anyways, but not by his own hand. He was the twin of the real emperor that because of one fateful decision made by the Empress Dowager re-shaped everyone's lives and caused many unnecessary deaths. How, you may ask? You'll have to see for yourselves. Comedy was small but natural.

Other great characters both on the protagonist and antagonist sides were the people involved in the cases be they bad or good, and how they played them as well as the two grandmothers, all the cousins even dad of ML and both wives of the fake emperor and the official leader of the flower cult who also had a bone to pick with the fake emperor and finally caused his death. What was very good was that every single character exited out properly. There were no loose ends. there were no well where did he go suddenly? There was no rush to the finish line. That was something I was a bit afraid of, but they solved all eight cases and everyone got what they deserved. Plus the right person was put on the throne at the end. Another huge positive was that it literally ended the way it started just with a lot more hands. If before being a coroner was a nasty profession that only men could handle and women were completely looked down on, and it was never advertised then by the end, she had students of both sexes learning how to perform autopsies, and there was a reform in the law based on all of the cases that they had solved. And now they were again working together to solve yet another case. It wasn't them sailing off into the sunset together with a kiss, but exactly how it started; with a case.

It was obvious that this was a cheaper production because all of the outside and natural forests and woods and things were fake, but you didn't really pay attention to that too much as there were so many things going on at the time. OST's landed, costumes and sets were good. Solid script with solid acting; people stayed for as long as they were needed in the story. I also knew that I was not watching a documentary on anatomy so I did not expect there to be accurate organs or anything of that nature when she performed the autopsy. I was just there to watch a story and see her go from point A to point B. I know there were a bunch of people in the comments that had forensic experience and that's great but in order for them to be that accurate in everything forensics, it would not be able to pass censorship.

Cons: I don't have a lot to add to this section, but one of the things that got me was the fake emperor's over acting toward the end. I wasn't sure whether that was part of the script or whether the actor was just adding his own feel for it, but he was overdoing it way too much, and it kind of threw the balance of his character off. One could argue that his mental state was slipping because of just how many people he had killed that were related to him. But it was just a bit too much. Also as a fan of YSZ I really wish they would've introduced his character sooner then in nearly the last 10 episodes of the series because he was very important and it felt a little bit like his character was rushed though he did have his purpose considering the heavenly society, a.k.a. Cult was one of the major cases and just things in general in the story. The other thing was couple number two and the way they whined a lot, especially the female, though she could totally kick ass with her sword and maybe even a whip, but sometimes she acted like a 12-year-old and that was something I'm not particularly fond of. I do wish that there weren't as many interruptions from just about everyone and for the leads to have had a little bit more kissing in the show; some people couldn't read the room to save their lives! Or even a situation at hand. That's it I don't have anything else.

Would you recommend it? I absolutely would. This drama came out of nowhere and slayed quite a lot of other dramas that have dropped recently. I think it's a great watch, especially if you like the detective crime solving portion of things with great friends and a partner who always has your back.

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Misunderstanding, Misinformation, Misleading, Misinterpretation; Just an Overall Miss

Have never seen the leads before this so was interested to see how they did. All I can say is that I hope their past and future work has better scripts than this absolute mess of one. The novel readers made it sound great and interesting with a new concept but instead it was a misunderstanding, with misinformation, misleading, misinterpretation, basically an overall miss.

Pros: Literally the chemistry of the leads and second leads, working relationships. The business aspects of it as it showed how different firms worked. Some comedy. That was it! The actors did as well as they could with the shredded mess they were given. I under no circumstances fault them.

Cons: Who in the 21st century still writes FL's with zilch EQs? Nearly 30 episodes of 36 revolved around a misunderstanding so absurd I don't know how it was even pulled off. FL took some dumb chick's who broke up her already ridiculous relationship words as gospel instead of finding out the truth as she was supposed to be some brainiac reporter and with that proceeded to act cringey beyond belief trying to get close to ML a CEO at new but major company. The bestie with her dumb as bricks advice that made things worse when she couldn't make her own life work made you want to scream.

When the truth came out finally, the FL still didn't reveal it to ML even though both had genuinely fallen for each other. Their relationship was originally built on a lie and once exposed it naturally crumbled. The FL was a selfish, self-absorbed moron that I wouldn't have forgiven as easily as the ML did. This show could have been made just fine with 24 or 26 episodes. The dragging of the ridiculous lies and misinformation, was unnecessary.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. This is probably one of my shortest reviews but nothing after the leads got back together even redeemed it for me. I am watching BL in a costume drama right now where she's killing it and I hope to see Dylan in the future in a great written drama. Save yourselves the aggravation and just run.

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When the Morning Sun Meets a Forest, The Right Pieces Fall into Place.

This drama was the first modern one of SWL that I had seen as before it was only some costume ones which were hit or miss. Here though, he nailed his character. I know ZJM from several other shows and knew she would do well. I also knew several of the supporting characters like the SML or LWM and others. This was a story of when the morning sun met a very green forest, the right pieces would fall into place.

Pros: Being a work of Gu Man, who had a lot of say in her works, as she was always the screenwriter as well as apparently selecting the leads and others herself which was a great thing as we saw in YAMG as well. All of her work have been successful in one way or another. In this story, you had two people destined to meet each but due to a misunderstanding orchestrated by a wicked person (we had several here), the ML played by SWL or LYS, a one in a million protégé neurosurgeon got into a car accident and lost his ability to be a surgeon so he became a businessman instead in his family's rather massive and successful empire in the PV industry. He was angry because he thought the person who had invited him somewhere and after his accident ghosted him was a young lady he fell for at first sight, herself the daughter of a wealthy businessman in a different field. That young lady our FL or NXG however wasn't obviously responsible and didn't even know he existed. She was a college student elsewhere with a crush of her own on the SML or ZX whom I gave the nickname "hunk of junk/lack of balls" to. Though she confessed to hunk of junk/lack of balls, he rejected her, because even though he himself liked her but because of his inferiority complex of her being rich and him poor along with the fact that he seemed completely oblivious to how their mutual "friends" treated her, her roommates; once right before graduation letting others accuse her of letting an important interview call for one of them be forgotten by her without any proof other than the ring leader aka toxic chick who along with her wing woman both liking him just came at her. It was later discovered and admitted that another girl had been in the room when the call came through and she was the one who forgot plus at the company itself, though the company made the call, they didn't write it down. So a lot of people dropped the ball but only when the girl remembered, told the college committee and NXG investigated as well as hunk of junk's senior sister (who worked at the company) came forward and apologized to him on the phone only but not to the involved parties, was NXG's name cleared; hunk of junk knew the truth but never said a word. Only the two girls NXG was friends with ever truly apologized.

Because he and toxic chick knew each other since childhood, she used every opportunity to shove that fact into NXG's face and basically imply that they kind of were together or he would always do things for her most of which were lies. NXG texted him about it apologizing for the confession and that she never meant to steal him away but he never replied basically in her mind confirming those suspicions. Their last two years, he spent either never saying a word, sending her mixed signals with his actions like the thesis help attempt, or plain putting her down with his words. In other words, he expected her to be telepathic to his thoughts and feelings. Once they graduated, and she and her cousin JR, went on a little 2 month vacation to Europe which they called a study tour (I'll talk about cheap faux tour in the cons); which was somehow misconstrued to her studying abroad thanks to the cousin's housekeeper telling hunk of junk that when he came by the house looking for her.

I will say that Z "hunk of junk" X played by LWM whom I've previously seen in a tiny role in Moonlit Reunion but more memorably in FOF, was the most complex character in the entire show. Also, he's probably LWM's most different character from both others that he’s done and himself IRL, though only starting in c-ent 3 years ago. He absolutely nailed the part of a guy, oblivious in college of the girl he liked feelings choosing to stay quiet or “resist; hold back” as he pointed out during his tantrum as opposed to saying something back like "wait for me" or "I'm not ready just yet". ZX always thought she would be there, single waiting for him always taking her for granted (as she pointed out to him during his tantrum and her just spelling everything out for him saying he was lying to himself, that with his IQ and EQ, he didn't understand obvious things she said and did, because he didn't want to understand, that he had many opportunities but failed each one and why LYS got her was because he had openly told her he liked her and when she said she liked someone else, he didn't have a problem with that, but would let her pick. He treated her like an adult and pursued her showing her what real love and open communication going both ways looked like) until it was way too late. All of the push and pull between and inside him was shown in his micro-expressions and how only when he started working and came across a situation where bad rumors were spread about him and a few of his coworkers including one of the women, how he recalled the frame job and toxic chick's constant bashing and belittling of NXG in college and how she must have felt after hearing Chris' words; how he nearly sent NXG an “I'm sorry” but instead decided to sit in the darkness and cry. This was after the tantrum episode. Everything was about him and he didn't seem to understand how others felt until he experienced it for himself or someone he was close with now as an adult spoke about it. Though on the contradictory side, he wasn't a complete narcissist as he was able to make genuine good friends; two of whom he later started a successful business with, he himself got that status he always wanted through hard work, and he was able to express gratitude like he did to LYS for helping his friend/colleague after the latter experienced a medical emergency on the slopes. And that's why I'm proud of LWM because he was able to pull off a rather complex character in a show that didn't require that much, if at all.

Now when ML met FL as he downgraded himself from the main office in Shanghai to Suzhou it was half because of the misunderstanding and also because he still had feelings for her. Their start wasn't smooth as he moved her from her department to his and gave her extra work to do in a way to give her a hard time but also to be close to her and get to know her. He was quite puzzled that she didn't remember him and each time that came out in conversation he grew cold and distant toward her and assigned her more work. It wasn't until she landed in the hospital after falling from the balcony and him catching her and venting his frustration at her in the hospital though not completely saying the entire thing and her saying that he was the reason for her bad luck and crying plus later on one of her coworkers telling him how often she got hurt at the factory where she didn't have to be but he made her work there during his as she called it "bipolar" moments, that he finally called a truce between them though she had no idea why. He confessed to her not long after that after running into the university classmates along with toxic chick (who's fake apology and implication of her and hunk of junk being together; who was standing behind her and was only shocked when the study abroad to study tour misunderstanding was cleared up) and hunk of junk, he rescued her from also giving them the impression that they were together causing hunk of junk to panic, get wasted, say really rude things to her, making her cry for the last time over him.

After that, the show just showed two people getting to know each other properly and spending time together as we also learned of both families dysfunctions, his father died when he was young in a different country after he was set up by an uncle or two for a mistake within the conglomerate and was shipped out to work in some remote location where a war broke out. LYS' mom never got over what her family did and moved to Switzerland while letting ML grow up and go to school while living with his paternal grandparents. Mom met and married a wonderful man. FL's mom divorced her bastard husband and FL's father for cheating and the entire series shows him and his first love and her daughter living in a villa. That daughter pretending to be FL is the wicked person spoken about who liked LYS and was the reason for him being on that highway and then ghosting him in the hospital later. When the truth came out, LYS was stunned and distraught understandably, and took a few days leave to travel around for both himself and work. After receiving the letter with the entire story from his side of how they met or when he first saw her and her remembering that day as well, she called him and told him to stop over in her hometown on the way back to Suzhou. They went to walk around the cherry blossoms which was kind of a full circle from two years before when the fake invited him to do the same, and this was when they--both real people--officially got together.

The rest you'll have to watch, but I'd like to point out that like YAMG both mom's of the leads were amazing people who knew each other from a while back so the ski trip other then both moms, also included FL's uncle, aunt, and semi annoying cousin JR, and ML's stepfather was a very happy one filled with love and fun; LYS with his surprise to NXG made the trip even more memorable. Hunk of junk and coworkers ended up vacationing up there as well; didn’t dampen the spirits too much (though it was his younger bro that set him up). NXG's paternal grandparents were also great people; they could barely stand their asshole son; especially after learning what he essentially allowed gold digger first love and fake daughter to do, after NXG laid it all on the table for him and both mom and grandma found out the despicable actions of all three and how he treated both his only actual daughter and LYS. ML's grandfather was alright, he learned a hard lesson himself finally understanding his wrongdoing with ML's father. Other great people were ML's niece (who was ultimately named successor of the big company) and nephew. Having non-toxic family members is rare in cdrama land. Also NXG's coworkers/friends were night and day from her college roommates. They were always supportive and accepting and fun to be around. ZX's coworkers were also nice people.

OSTs were my favorite especially the one in English called "You Are the Light of my Love." The desert scenes were great and costumes as usual per modern drama; I liked it more when FL started dressing like a young lady and not a kid.

Cons: Whoever thought putting so much propaganda into a romantic drama was a good idea, didn't think things through. At first it wasn't a big deal, here and there in a conversation, one could brush it off but than in a college lecture the leads went to, that started talking about their industry and than proceeded to vilify the West and go into politics before trying to tie things up with a pretty little bow with "all countries in the world under the sun will prosper." It was ridiculous and unnecessary. Afterwards at the end of the series it was all countries bad and China the leading in everything technological especially last year and I'm like y'all blind or something? This is a romantic drama not a lesson in business politics. Or the off the cuff remarks that Mr. Zhang would suffer in America because the food and atmosphere is bad/different. I felt like that was a slap in the face to every Chinese American because there's plenty of Chinese food in every city not to mention places like NYC and San Fran having Chinatowns taking up whole portions of the cities where you literally feel like you went to their country. It's not like Mr. Zhang's son lived in the middle of a cornfield in Ohio, for Pete's sake! Stupid.

This show had plenty of money but apparently not enough to even have CGI of European cities on NXG's and JR's study tour that they had to use a green screen and stickers or posters. Continuing, it felt very disheartening when every single evil doer got a slap on the wrist instead of real consequences; bastard father after NXG read him the riot act and grandma and mom found out the extent of his stupidity and harm, just had the benign tumor removed, but though it had supposedly done some harm to his hearing and facial movement; the actor never acted it out so it was a loophole and his business never suffered like in the book. He was still as arrogant as ever. Gold digger and fake daughter were presumably kicked out of the villa with some money intact but no one went to jail and we never actually saw that. Asshole uncle and his son; were allowed to continue being in the company or one at least and both retained their wealth. Toxic chick quit her job and left the city; that was it. None of them got any real punishment. We were all waiting for karma and she forgot about them; I felt that was lax writing; two screenwriters so whomever wrote it, didn't do it well.

While we got a strange proposal and an equally strange wedding (just them two, no family or friends seen anywhere); the time jumps in the last episode didn't make sense especially the last two. One after 10 years and one after 3. Why wait a whole decade after getting married to have a child? And why jump 3 years into the future, just to show a walking creepy as hell robot and cars that can do everything but fly when everyone knows not one country on earth is that advanced nor will be in 2-3 years. It just didn't jive with the rest of the show. Showing a family of 3 with the cute daughter was great, also exiting out ZX with his coworkers was appropriate but the majority disappeared before the wedding and were never seen again, with no explanation given. Things could have been done better at the end with that especially given how important they were to the rest of the show and the leads.

Would I recommend it? I absolutely would. Despite the cons and there were enough to definitely pose questions, pros outweighed them by far. This was a great lesson in how to have the right type of relationship and the right type of friends as well as whom to cherish as family and whom to disregard.

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The Long March of an Excellent Drama

The story itself intrigued me but I only knew and was watching for Dilraba and LHK. What I got out of it was so much more. I will begin with outlining the pros then the cons. This costume drama has been moved into my number 2 position and added two more actors to my following pile on Weibo.

Pros: The cast was absolutely superb. Our main leads were completely equal in everything they did. CG was a general in her own right and never played second fiddle to the ML. Everyone knows that Dilraba can and often plays strong characters so, I expected nothing less from her. Leo Wu, amazed me as it was the first time I'd seen him act in anything. For a 21 year old, to be able to play Ah Sun in such a regal and powerful way, was very impressive. Ah Sun was a man who knew his strengths and weaknesses and was able to let CG be the woman she was without belittling her. It's not often that in these costume dramas women FL can be as equal if not more powerful at times (take the rescue scene in episode 48) then the ML. Also showed how CG touched everyone's lives she met and the good ones followed her especially came to aid her in that episode (the assembly of the kitchen sink) when she needed it most.

Our second leads, though they had smaller scenes, did develop very slowly. Leyan's character was very annoying until mid way through when she finally had gone through all of her trials and tribulations; then she had a quiet grace and could formulate a plan or an idea without crying. And ice cube aka Hao Du I wanted hit with a frying Pan for a long time for trying to kill CG but after the slap heard around the world and great speech made by a now totally different Leyan, he started to melt (and his nickname got changed to ice melt). I only knew of Liu Yuning from the variety show "Our Song", so I knew he was a wonderful singer but now I found that he is a great actor as well. He was able to go from a cold-blooded puppet of his father to a hero and loving man to Leyan and a really great ally to CG.

Many of the side characters like the celibate one aka Shuyu who some people didn't think grew much, I felt he matured a lot himself though he was a sad character for not ending up with the woman he loved but maybe he won't be celibate forever and meets someone in Chang'an someday. LHK's Master made me laugh because it was the direct opposite character of the one he played in CQL and it was a great change for him. Every single character belonged in the show, for however long they were supposed to be. I do feel sad for Mimi's sacrifice because her character was truly a tragic one where though what she did was heroic, she would never get to be with the man she loved and her brother plus her friends. To have such a tragedy happen in the second to last episode, was very overwhelming, but I could see it was done to remind characters and audience of how precious life really is.

Khatun or bitch devil from hell, actress did a wonderful job playing the Wolf in sheep's clothing. Turned out that she was actually worse than the Khan himself having killed three out of four. To be able to play such an absolutely calculating, deranged character takes a lot and I command her for that.

The fact that nearly every stereotype and trope that you see in their dramas both costume and modern ones were disregarded was a pleasant surprise. Every misunderstanding was ironed out fairly quickly no matter how complicated and confusing between all leads and even the side characters. Things weren't just piled on and then hurriedly untangled in two episodes at the end but as things went along, things were solved. It was great to see.

I loved the OSTs as they fit each couple and the stories to perfection. Everyone got the song and power of their characters within all. The growth of all characters and their travels to get to their proper places both physically and literally was done well.

Cons: The horrible cartoons that were placed instead of every major battle and even for other shots was very obvious that production didn't have a lot of money. They lost so many nuances because of them and they should have used more CGI instead of that if it was such a problem. The blurry kiss and birds taking over was another negative. I don't know why it happened as some people here claim it's in his contract to not kiss until he's 21 and his parents run his studio while others say netizens were responsible for it; whatever the reason, it could have been done differently, though the forehead kisses, hugs, and all the love aka "like" shown through actions, did make up for it. Finally, the ending in my opinion wasn't satisfying in the least. More cartoons and our main leads in different places as a bird flies over them watching. Yes, I understand they are free and together but I personally felt that if they had them both on horses standing together on a hill overlooking the grasslands would have been more powerful. Like this power couple are looking over their world that they helped save, would have been the perfect ending to this series.

The pros way outweighed the cons. No series is 100% perfect. I will be rewatching my favorite episodes and scenes for a while and this drama is an absolutely recommend from me and many others here. I'm very glad I got a chance to watch this and meet some awesome people in the ever growing comment section. Congratulations to the cast and crew on a very successful airing! Bravo!

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A Decent Watch with Too Many Plot Holes & A Going Nowhere Cliffhanger

As I watched Part 1 and primarily for LYN, part 2 was a must even though I knew there wouldn't be any other continuation in the near future. It was a decent watch with too many plot holes and a cliffhanger that we know isn't going anywhere because future parts haven't been filmed. I'm going to be mixing pros and cons in this one too. It took me a while to figure out what rating I would give this, but after some thought, I decided that this was what it was going to be, and I feel that it is fair.

What I liked the most was that they started exactly where part 1 ended so no one had to guess and they also gave some background on the first season. I loved the relationship of our 3 sworn brothers but as always I wished they had more screen time as they were the essential main leads. If in part 1 we had so much of a ditzy Ning, we were nauseous, here the majority of it was spent on ZX and his band of merry men as he spent the entirety of the series just about uniting the land of Yuanzhou from a bunch of slave colonies into an independent country with their own currency; earning him the prophetic name "King of Light." Not saying that wasn't important, but it was edited to take place in between arcs that were opened but not closed or continued ie the introduction of the other two families and their internal struggles or more of what was going on with the Bei clan.

Ka Dan was returned to Bei which of course hurt many SYL people especially when he learned she was married off to a formidable general, sadly he never learned that she was pregnant with his child nor that it was a boy that she gave birth to at some alter thing (part of that whole random information not making any sense). He himself married a formidable woman just to fit the mold of whomever they wanted him to be. I felt the most depressed for him in the entire thing. He was loyal to a fault and was a living a life not his own. He was a great soldier and warrior but other than that he wasn't as aggressive as DL not afraid to bend rules to get what he saw fit nor was he the "joker" strategist in disguise that ZX was. I wanted to ship him some Wellbutrin because his depression was so obvious though he never told his brothers about it. He even got stabbed for something he didn't do but was plotted by the separate factions within the court and wanted the charges dropped. He told the people they will figure things out but took blame for it and I wanted to shake him; like stop being such a doormat to these people!

Didn't go much into DL's arc other than his wife having a miscarriage which was hard obviously and outplayed by the old fart in that same embezzlement case. The old fart did the same thing in this part as he did in the first one; as DL put it very appropriately, he would throw anyone and everyone into the fire as long as it wasn't him and he stayed loved by the people. Even though Ning grew up a lot in this part and started to sound like a real leader, it made me wonder, if he wouldn't throw her to the wolves too if it meant he could save his own skin.

MW the creep wasn't even worth mentioning because he was placed where he was by the old fart so he had a spy everywhere; he lost out on Ning. And it was immensely satisfying how when SYL was sent as envoy to Yuanzhou by DL to essentially meet his 3rd brother (their reunion was great but short lived as all of their screen time always was; because even though they were more or less together during SYL's wedding, ZX chose not to see him for fear of the righteous one's attitude and just his own fear; because he also carried the secret that it was KD who saved him out of that clan after he assassinated LH and he knew that would only hurt and make SYL second guess the wedding more) even though it was old fart who was salivating to reestablish that part they gave away in peace talks with Bei, seeing the look on old fart's face when he was told that KOL was in fact ZX (the man he labeled a traitor, told to be stripped of his name and put a bounty on for execution), no matter how he laughed, DL had the satisfaction of having delivered that news to make a certain someone lose their appetite. Because DL knew the old fart understood that ZX wouldn't just bow down to him anymore and Yuanzhou wouldn't revert to being a bunch of slave tribes. Old fart was now facing a real adversary and one he never thought he'd have.

Other things that just didn't fit; the inside places of Zichuan, Bei Clan, etc looked futuristic and very sci-fi but as soon as you stepped outside, it was any typical Chinese historical setting and it just didn't make sense. It was like Game of Thrones one minute and wait how did we get into the past from the future the next? I understand that they filmed a lot of the scenes, including the opening sequences in Payi and fighting as well as the inside locations in warehouses that were built to specify the story plus CGI; but then the same should have been done with the outside as there really wasn't that much of it.

The mention of ZX's ninja origins by the Bei clan Ninja and that was left just hanging. So many things were just like mentioned up top. Both new family arcs were opened and left hanging. The general LS of Bei clan came, saw, had some words with ZX and retreated. That was it. By the end of this show, you were used to things just happening without explanation or resolution. There were so many more but I forgot them already.

I enjoyed this show for the interactions, some growth for some characters, the music, the small but cool fight scenes. Good on general YQX to step up to the plate and save KD when it was discovered she was pregnant. He didn't even want to know who the real father was when she was honest with him about her love and that she would probably always love him. The political aspect was ok but it always seemed halfhearted. A lot of times it was gloomy so ZX and his battalions antics lifted it a bit.

Would I recommend it? If you watched part 1, then yes definitely. I strictly believe that had it not been edited so heavily it would've been a much more cohesive story and therefore received better. I still think it's a decent watch regardless. The cast put a lot of work into it and it's obvious.

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Republican Era Smorgasbord with a Macaroni Art Script

Can someone please explain to me what I just watched? Only picked it up because WRC aka SML is one of the people I follow and I've never seen him in this genre. This genre is always beautiful but this series had very few pros. It was literally a Republican era smorgasbord with a macaroni art script.

Pros: Obviously favorite character was the reason for watching in the first place and not dropping after the first 7 or 10 episodes. WRC or ZY can play an arrogant person with a gaze that describes "if looks could kill" to a T. I hope he gets the chance to play a serial killer someday, he'd nail it. Republican era genre actually suits him quite well. Here, I was very glad he challenged himself to actually cry in regret, sadness, and it was quite gut wrenching. Him being killed off in the last episode even though we knew somewhere by episode 18 that they were setting up for a second season, was also powerful. He was a tortured soul, hell bent on revenge and after losing his soulmate, that was the only way out for him. He was truly and finally free. Usually, I'm not a fan of SML's getting killed off but in his case plus how bad the script was, I was actually quite glad. His words that he got to reunite with his beloved just as he passed, was literally the perfect ending for him.

Republican era genre is always stunning in visuals, costumes, sets, and colors and this was no exception. All of the acting/actors were very much on point (save for a glaring issue with the leads that will be discussed below) even when everything else wasn't. OSTs were not memorable. That's it for pros.

Cons: I truly hope I can remember every problem with this Frankenstein script. Since I mentioned the leads, let's start there. They were good at their parts, I have no qualms with the actors themselves but why cast an ML that was nearly 20 years older in real life then the FL plus add aging makeup on him when you're claiming they're close in age. Since they met when they were kids and you're clearly showing two children several years apart and then as adults when they reunite, he's in his 40s while she looks barely 20. Because of this, there was no chemistry whatsoever and even when they kissed, it seemed like two friends who were dared to do it. Furthermore, men and women who were clearly younger than him portrayed themselves as teachers and older friends and it stood out like a sore thumb each and every single time.

The script was a choppy mess with loose ends that were forgotten two scenes later and never explained or finished up. This is what I managed to piece together about this series; the antagonists ultimate goal was to create a new world of slaves via a zombie apocalypse by releasing some mutated virus created 16 years ago off of actual doctors who were fighting the plague; all of those doctors and their families were set up to be the reasons the plague happened and massacred. The children that survived were either mercifully adopted or abducted by the very organization that was behind the massacre and turned into trained--in republican era version of Lord of the Flies--assassins through torture and other means with no memories of their lives or even if they had family in the world.

All of the actors were children from that street who were friends at the time grew up to reunite and try to take the organization down one block at a time. Problem was that you never knew whether you were coming or going. One scene had something about gangs and drugs, next scene forgot about the first one and was now looking at mysterious documents that everyone was looking for but what they were and why someone would have them, never explained. One moment a character appeared drugged next moment she was fine, never explained. How did two of the characters end up in the middle of the woods and where?

It literally looked like this as you were watching: Mysterious documents, random assassins, gangs, drugs, cage fights, equally mysterious and random massacre 16 years ago, revenge, partnerships and 3 couples that can’t figure Jack out. Though someone said it seemed like the script was created out of bullet points, to me it felt like when you fill a bathtub with water and then open the drain. You get that whirlpool tornado effect; well chuck all those plus a half dozen other things in that whirlpool and send it down the drain. 80% of what happened didn't make a lick of sense even with flashbacks of plans made. And they want a 2nd season? No thanks, hard pass!

Would I recommend it? No I wouldn't. If it wasn't for WRC and this being his first Republican era drama, it wouldn't have been on my list nor even get this high of a score. It was entertaining nothing else. It shouldn't be called "Wonderful Hand" because that's some twilight zone title; instead it should be called "Frankenstein's Macaroni Art Attempt." Stay far away from this.

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Hauntingly Beautiful Portrayal

As someone with several friends who are parents with Autistic kids, this short film was an absolutely hauntingly beautiful portrayal of what goes on in the mind of such a child. Their inner world is chaotic and seldom quiet unless they find some sort of calmness. Xiao Yu Liang, absolutely nailed An Ning; from the tremors, to hitting his head against the mirror in a bid of self harm and running into the water to escape both his inner and outer torment. The dance in the water and seeing the bubbles and whale in the clouds of his imagination and ultimately finding peace with someone just like him, honestly brought tears to my eyes. In just under 11 minutes, this short film managed to convey what many 3 plus hour ones couldn't. The poetry was recited solemnly and on pace with everything else that was going on at the time it was. I would recommend this to anyone whether or not they have any form of mental illness.

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Very Fast Paced Adventure—Should Have Been a 3 hr Film Instead

The first official Mystic Nine anything I've watched; prior to that it was only "Ultimate Note" that I saw and loved. ZZJ was the reason I was watching because I wanted to see him in another badass role since his breakout in CQL and he didn't disappoint.

Pros: Loved the characters though the development was really fast. Usually it takes forever to develop a character but here in the hour and fourteen minute movie, they went wham bam boom. The backstory of this Zhang family member was heartbreaking though he got his retribution and justice in the end; his martial arts skills were always on point especially when his tattoo showed through. EYH was the ultimate duality; Beijing Opera performer/kickass martial artist in one jump.

I enjoyed the martial arts in every aspect. The main villain was impressive too because you were able to hate him after the first 10 minutes of watching. Special effects and CGI were where and when they were needed; nothing extra. Suspenseful and the franchise's main gambit of mask removal a la Scooby Doo was also a good way things stayed relevant. It had a lot of sides to it; like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde meets the Incredible Hulk with Kung Fu and fantastical elements.

Cons: Everything felt rushed. This could have easily been a 3 hour film. Then every point would be understood and characters properly flushed out. Though the pair had a great friendship, it seemed to develop out of thin air. How they located the tattoo-face guy was random as was how ZQ found that fire breather in some random bathhouse in his first attempt to get revenge.

I wish there was more explanation on the monster before it showed itself in the literal final 10 minutes of the film. The pace was way too fast. The special effects on it were great but everything else was done at supersonic speed. That's literally the largest lack of cohesion in the movie. More time, slow the pace down, and properly flush out the characters and plot.

Would I recommend it? If you like this franchise, are into great martial arts, are a fan of ZZJ or any of the other actors, and want something supernatural to chew on, then yes. But buckle up because this film moves at breakneck speeds and you may not always understand how you got to a particular point in such a short time.

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True Blue Wuxia; Our 3 Musketeers Triumphed at the End.

This is my favorite genre, so it ended up on my watchlist as soon as I found out that's what it was going to be about. I really wanted to see how the three leads would be able to pull something like this off. No romance at all, so please move on to something else if that's what you're looking for. I didn't know that this whole thing was a franchise and that there were quite a few actors prior to YY that played the same character and that this show was popular back in the early 90s.

Pros: I have to give YY serious props for those fight scenes. They were absolutely incredible and so intricate. When you see the way the director and the choreographer showed him every single one and how he tried to do each scene in one take because some of these scenes required many other actors or goons, and it had to look good. I would have to say that the fight scenes were my absolute favorite. The storyline flowed very well and at first, I also didn't understand why the male lead or ZZ didn't kill and then someone explained who knew the entire franchise and the history of Judge Bao (who sadly didn't make an appearance in this one); I will actually add in here what she wrote about the whole subject to maybe make other people who read this review understand as well. But I will credit her because she explained it so very well.

As written by @JieJie:

It all comes down to Judge Bao’s Philosophy.

Zhan Zhao isn't just another lawless rogue wandering the jianghu. He is a 4th-rank imperial guard who serves under Bao Zheng—the most famously incorruptible, legally strict judge in Chinese lore.
* The Rule of Law vs. Vigilante Justice: Judge Bao’s entire mission is built on the belief that no one is above the law, and justice must be absolute and decided by a court, not the blade of a sword.
* Upholding the Code: If Zhan Zhao plays executioner in the middle of a forest or a rain-slicked alley, he becomes no better than the criminals he's trying to stop. He strips away the chance for a fair trial, which is exactly how you uncover the larger, deeper conspiracies.
* True Chivalry (Xia): His restraint isn't a sign of weakness; it's the ultimate show of control and discipline. He possesses peerless martial arts skills, but he chooses to apprehend or disarm rather than slaughter because he answers to a higher moral standard.

Once I understood all that, it became even more interesting to me like the storyline made more sense; why he would just break arms and legs, and what not and leave the person alive because he ultimately wanted to bring the big wolf to testify against who was the largest villain or Prince XY as I called him. There were four underlings or 3 1/2 really including his own illegitimate son and we had to strip away, who each one was and their code names. Not once did the storyline drag for me. He killed one time and one time only and that was to trigger the mechanism at the very end to kill Prince XY. The prince basically mocked ZZ about him getting caught and being jailed for just a little while because no one can kill a royal uncle. His exact words were "no blade in the world could kill a royal uncle" and ZZ agreed that no blade in the world could, but that he was willing to be that blade because of all the innocent lives that were taken, and there were just so many during the show and even before the 15-20 years he was an operation for his rebellion how many people he killed or had killed. And the prince was all like well, you have to respect me this, that, the next thing and ZZ before he swiped the candle said "I respect justice." That explained literally his mindset during the entire show. The idiot Prince had his entire fortress booby-trapped, that even the slightest wave in front of a candle and a leaf set off an arrow straight into his heart. That was instant karma for him if I ever saw anything. Also, DJ's karma how ZZ told him that he had sacrificed so many innocent lives for his own ambitions but how would he feel if he was told or asked to do the same? Cut to a few episodes later and Prince XY does exactly that with him just before his old guard really does kill him. I love how we slowly got the backstory of all the characters that were important even ML had his existential crisis moments before he saved MZE. I'm guessing he met JB after that and really honed his skills in justice. Losing that kid was very sad. I think it broke something in him a little bit; he was willing to do anything, including take the blame for setting fire to the kids families's house, killing everyone just to save the kid from regaining his repressed memory that he himself accidentally did that, but in the end, the memory still came back.

Another thing that made me very happy was that the show had no romance. It might've reflected on the ratings here not that I cared, but this genre when it's just the genre is perfect. It should be focused on a storyline and the incredible fight scenes, which is exactly what it was focused on. Some people were not happy because there weren't instant results but that wasn't the point. The point was to really get into the storyline, the point was to see the characters as all having flaws and things never being what they seem or that simple. I love the friendship between as I called them; the three amigos or the Three Musketeers; they always fought together, they always had each other's backs, they never let the other just hang, and they would do anything for each other. They were their own version of the iron triangle. Even though ZZ did spend most of the series either injured or poisoned as BYT pointed out in the post credit scene; neither BYT or the kid from the Tang clan ever gave up, trying to find a cure for him and finally they did. That post credit scene was just hysterical. I first watched it with Janky subs than good ones, but you could still tell BYT with his leg all bandaged up, looking really screwed up but the rest of him he either was wearing bandages under his clothes to show that he was really tough and he could handle all those arrows that hit him and then you have ZZ who's only wearing an arm sling but in reality has cuts and gashes all over his body also acting so tough and the two of them talking about just having dinner with the emperor and ZZ agreeing to another job and obviously BYT is going to be dragged along and possibly HLL as well, even though he's all bitching and complaining that he's not going and then them to pretending to do another fight, even though BYT passes out after the third glass of alcohol. And it ends with ZZ holding the badge from the emperor saying I want to, but I can't. I'm too tired. And I agree with him. He's just spent all of this time running around hunting this case, being poisoned and injured and he needs to rest before he takes the next case and I hope he really does that. And it really makes me hope for a season two; them going to Western Xia for the emperor. Costumes, sets, OST use all of that was great and it fit every single portion.

Cons: I think the only real issue started to happen at the very end, but I attribute that due to the three cut episodes during review. Editing was choppy especially in episode 37. I really wish that post credit scene was shown pre-credits. I know they were at least I'm assuming setting up possibly for a season two but it still would've made a lot more sense. There were other things like I wish we had seen how MZE was fatally injured before he managed to gallop off to his young master. I wish that SJZ's death was less of a cop out and that HLL had killed him instead of some random dude from the other country that showed up in episode 36 and 37. I wish we had seen how BYT was rescued or whatever happened how he got because obviously he got out and I thought they should've had a reunion scene when the two of them using the original fake names that when they had met HLL to tell her at her manner in a way to bring back it all full circle instead of just doing that. They were running short of time and then it's like cut to next scene when you see ZZ walking up the steps in full uniform with the special sword all gilded out. Like show that the particular information was intercepted, cases is overturned make the ending more rounded. It's just these small editing scenes that would've made a big difference, even though I still believe that the show was an HE despite all the choppiness. Those three episodes would've made a huge difference and it's a shame that they had to cut them.

Would I recommend it? 150% this was one of those shows that I anticipated each day, because I loved every second of it other than the choppy parts of course. This is my favorite genre; the fight scenes were impeccable even the very last one which was you would think so imbalanced because ZZ just had a sword and the bad guy goon had this massive sword weapon thing that was the size of his own body, but still ZZ won and he ended up getting cured from his poison and all of his friends were all right. This is a true blue wuxia, for fans of the genre so I definitely recommend it. I really hope all of you enjoy as much as I did.

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Team Cop vs. Team Darth Vader

Chose this for CZY as a completely different genre from anything he'd previously done. Though not a fan of propaganda of any country, I liked the case solving/cop aspect of this. I knew various other actors from other series. We really got to witness team cop vs. team Darth Vader duke it out.

Pros: As I've mentioned in the comments, I'm very proud of CZY for taking this really complicated character on that's completely out of his usual comfort zone and to be able to hold his own with such veteran actors was quite impressive. LSB was the naughty one that was incredibly intelligent and whose ability to adapt to all situations no matter what, was remarkable. As the city and country around him was essentially going through a civil war after the Second World War, his sole determination was to be the best cop he could be and protect who he loved and the city he loved so dearly. While his best friend and brother in arms (XW) turned to the dark side and essentially became a serial killer and an assassin for Team Darth Vader, his newfound police family from the new government consisted of a very rigid cop/military director LZY who he butted heads with but ultimately they developed a tacit understanding and strong bond that went just as far as the one he had with XW. Not to mention the FL JY played by Xing Fei, impressed me a lot. Another young actress that did very well in her very serious role; she always played by the rules but never let LSB down even when he stumbled and made mistakes as he grew and changed.

What impressed me about this show was the ever flowing storyline; there were never any filler episodes, it never dragged or got boring. You were always wondering how Team Cop would finally get ahead of Team Darth Vader who were a step ahead until almost the very end; finding and breaking the mole was incredibly important. Even though the story was serious, the comedic placement was very well inserted and really toned down things in just the right way. Other great characters were Huzi, the rest of Team Cop especially the new addition Yaohang who was just as smart as LSB and LZY and the three of them got a lot done. Loved how it was a brotherhood with Xiaoman as the only female but how they took care of each other. The child actress who played Feihang did a fantastic job.

Darth Vader himself or ZLT was a great main antagonist; incredibly cunning and always had a plan B in foiling Team Cop's plans until nearly the end. Most of the antagonists though shown as being able to eat their own young to climb to power played their parts for as long as needed. XW was the one who was given the redemption arc death but that really was the only way for him to go out. He had to return to LSB and save him finally after everything that LSB had done for him. At first I wasn't sure I wanted that for him because he became essentially a demon, but the way it was done, I was satisfied with.

The Gang boss lady did a superb job as prior I had only seen her in antagonist or morally gray roles in costume dramas, so this was a such a refreshing take and role for her. The 3rd faction consisting of Mr. Jin, his assistant and the two assassins with two little boys that ended up without their father or uncle. I think Mr. Jin made a lot of mistakes; had he given himself up to Team cop and he had several opportunities to do so, maybe Darth Vader wouldn't have gotten as far as he did as he relied on Mr. Jin's funding. And JY as well as those two boys would have still had their dads.

OSTs, costumes, fight scenes (my favorite always), and sets were as usual Republican era beautiful.

Cons: Huzi's death was so unnecessary. We were coming down to the wire so they figured they had to kill someone from team cop and the reasoning was nonexistent. XW was going to return to the good side by dying; why kill Huzi? Makes zero sense. How is it that a hospital is virtually deserted in a gun fight but even so afterwards? Doctors usually hide but when the bullets stop flying they immediately rush to help or sometimes even during; in this series, people got shot, the threat is gone but people die because um where are the doctors?

The editing throughout the series had some issues, they randomly inserted real footage from that time period but got other facts completely wrong in basic conversations. What was the point? This is a drama not a documentary. Plus the translation of the anthrax pathogen to "anthrax germs" made me laugh. Another thing that just got me was yet another series fell symptom to the "Superman trope"; in the end LSB got shot in the gut but ran to stop ZLT from escaping. Also JY got ambushed and stabbed with a scalpel by that weird anthrax doctor dude (he died soon after because well never bring a scalpel to a gun fight; our girl immediately afterwards put 3 slugs into him and that was that), but with that severe injury plus exposure to the anthrax she somehow managed to locate the anthrax canisters and switch the lethal stuff with some harmless powder. Lastly, the actual ending could have been done better; instead of those words on a black screen, we could have ended both JY and LSB way better and we don't even know how much time passed because while confronting ZLT on the rooftop, LSB gets shot again and then repeatedly kicked by ZLT, LZY is then seen racing him to the hospital. Next scene is LSB obviously getting a haircut and joining the new government after which he visits a still unconscious JY in the hospital. He's sound as a pound but she's still unconscious and even Feihang had heart surgery and recovered. So how much time has passed? Literally last scene is LSB leaving the hospital and that's it before the black screen with propaganda information rolls out. But what about our characters? It felt very unfinished in that sense and totally different from the rest of the series. We've invested so much into these people that they deserve better endings than just being dropped by the wayside. That is where the series lost some of its score from me.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Despite the wonky editing, ending, and the propaganda undertones that could be ignored; this was a very strong series with a great storyline and characters that you were invested in. Where you laughed with them and cried with them too. Definitely give it a go.

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Great Adventure, Chemistry, both Roosters were the MVPs!

What first drew me to the drama was its tomb-raidery vibe and MZY. I knew two other actors from previous series, granted it had been nearly 4 years since seeing Jin Han in my first ever cdrama, so it was good to have him on screen again. This had great adventure, awesome chemistry between the leads (normal, adult kissing! Rare find in a cdrama nowadays), and those roosters were the real MVPs!

Pros: This will probably be the first drama ever where the livestock comes in line one of the pros if anywhere at all; but those roosters were great for both comedic purposes as well as being ridiculously smart and helpful. Loved how the first several episodes were built around creating the characters and building their world. The chemistry between the two leads was from the moment they met and it felt real as you'd expect between two adults regardless if this had supernatural or other elements. Their conversation in the closet about cooking one of the roosters when it spied on them and then ran was hysterical.

Ni Ni is absolutely gorgeous and you obviously have to get over that but it quickly becomes apparent that she's also one hell of an actress. BY is also quite good as the traumatized yet exceptionally intelligent desert guide. When they combine, this power couple of brains and brawn in reverse, they can outsmart just about everyone. Their 3 sidekicks who go with them into the desert and then later the two that they meet in the pass all do their part and are quite convincing; my least favorite was Fei Tang in the beginning but I liked his maturity evolution. I'm glad they all lived at the end though Gao Shen's life was forever changed and our FL was the bionic woman scorpion queen.

I have to talk about the gorgeous scenery inside the pass especially the many moons in the sky. This is a particularly favorite aesthetic of mine so I was always pleased when they spent time outside in the desert there. But everything from the CGI to the OSTs were on point in this drama. The stories told within the pass were so great too.

Even though I had originally wanted to watch this drama for MZY, not knowing what her role would be, her character falls in both the pros and cons for me. She started off as being what an antagonist should be; ruthless, though her motive was yet unclear, the beginning was good. She was a good spy and her initial start was good. Also liked how she had several plans going at once to win (the Chang Dong heartstring thing, the fake Gao Shen plant). The rest I'll talk about in the cons.

The real tragic character here was Jiang Zhan played by Jin Han. At first he was thought to be an antagonist because he was on Long Zhi's side trying to kill FL. But when it was revealed that she had cast a spell on him and the pain he had to go through when the memories came flooding back, he chose to take his own life, but the witch didn't allow that, then he was forced to live like a dog as her hostage. Finally with YLX's win, when he was finally free, he realized the cost of that freedom and he went out on his own terms because as he said, they couldn't go back to the past. He always felt he was weak and now he'd (though not by choice) betrayed the only woman he'd ever loved, there was no real way out for him. It was acted really well and you felt for him.

Cons: Quite a few things bugged me here; for starters the randomness of the old man storyteller and painter characters. The way they were flung into the series broke the already unsteady pace of the show due to its bizarre schedule. Yes, it was done supposedly due to censorship but it was unnecessary because no one in their right mind would go running to the desert to try to open a dimension. Even if people were to believe in that, at the beginning of each episode it specifically says the show is pure fiction.

Where the character of Long Zhi went downhill was her actual motive which though was about power and jealousy, it seemed quite childish and unbelievable. The character after the initial peak constantly sported a 15 year old 'tude. During the stand off between her and YLX with Scorpion Eye and the giant scorpion, it seemed like LZ herself lost all of her ruthlessness and kept clutching at her clothing as she was trying to order the gang to kill YLX. If you looked at the differences between her and YLX, you could almost switch their characters. YLX was unyielding and her stare could grind one into bits. I feel that maybe this role was a bit too hard for MZY. Personally, first time seeing her in an antagonist role. She lost all of LZ's ruthlessness in the second part of the end.

Also what played against her was the fact that the ending was super anticlimactic. Great build up to a fight or war that never happened. All the big fights were either in flashbacks or somewhere in the middle. It was basically send all of the exotic creatures away with the big snake giving the orders, and then have Scorpion Eye just blow some Feathered Guards up and capture them without much muss or fuss. Then they all sit at the negotiation table to save Chang Dong and go for a life of peace and prosperity for the next 3 years. Everyone lives and reunites but we get the couples in the painter's mind's eye with Gao Shen actually becoming a puppet to save his life and DL as cartoon forms together being the new transporters in and out of the pass. They couldn't even get a normal ending. These are the reasons this otherwise great drama got an 8.5/10.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if only for the leads chemistry, the smart as hell roosters, and the story itself. This is a very different kind of drama than what I've seen and despite the cons, I enjoyed it a lot.

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Double Trouble Power Couple: Pawn & Wife

Initially wasn't going to watch this but decided to pick it up for WXY as I've seen him in one costume and one modern and he did great jobs with both though they were support roles. I'd never seen WJY or much of the supporting cast sans a few. It turned out to be a wonderful choice. Though the last 1.5 episodes were a poorly edited jigsaw puzzle (with things that didn't happen in the book and shouldn't have happened); the rest of the show was wonderful and the extra episode was great too. We had a double trouble power couple, AL/XFF being both pawn and wife.

Pros: This series was lit. All of the actors did a phenomenal job in their roles and the plot carried through each episode. It was all about vengeance and clearing several people's names. The romance aspect was incredibly subtle though our leads chemistry was there from nearly the beginning. And with all of their word play, reading between the lines was even better when you had to constantly be on your toes outsmarting the villains. Favorite character was XH or our man with the fan as I dubbed him. His persona and entrances and exits were awesome. Loved his fans and wardrobe; he was always ahead in his chess game and if something didn't work, he would adjust it to fit his next plan of action. Meeting our FL or AL/XFF was the literal match made in heaven; they were evenly matched in smarts and plans ahead. She was stunning and logical not a damsel in distress. They essentially grew a brain cell and would work off of each other. They were completely a cohesive and organic couple. Each of their plans played into the other’s plans so it moved very very smoothly even with bumps they always managed to work around them. After being buried alive by her sadistic husband and being saved by the original JL and Tong'er, she grew her spirit to go back and not only get revenge for herself but for JL as poor JL died and she took JL's name and identity to seek her justice.

The tit for tat with our leads was the best. I honestly am not sure who caught feelings first, I think it was him but she was not too far behind. Loved all of our side characters especially those that didn't have to die like Tong'er (though with her I understood because the actress had to return to school; so that was top priority) and the JiJi guards. Also loved cousin turtle, grandma Jiang, Liu Xue, our third wheel YSJ, the emperor, general Biao, XZ, dad Xue, and in the end Grandpa Xiao. Let's talk about our antagonists. Ji Shuran took too long for all her failed plans but I'm glad justice was finally served on her, though going insane and living in a nice house was rather soft with just how many people died because of her or were framed by her. It was sad that she wasn't locked away in some prison left to rot. The Li family that didn't own a house until the end but always met in a cave like a bunch of dwarves was funny. They chose the wrong side and spent too long being arrogant and doing illegal things, so when their demise came at the end, it was like ok, good. Out with all of the trash. Jiang dad, I didn't feel sorry for him at all. He was spineless and never cared for his daughter so I felt it was a gracious thing on XFF's part to tell him some of the truth of his daughter's actual death. Now he can live his life out in regret for being a dumb as nails person; always trusting the wrong people or just standing by never stepping in.

SYR and psycho princess were our main antagonists and he turned out to be the last one standing until he didn't. They were both great well rounded psychopaths and lunatics and we hated them both so much which is a sign of great acting. At first thinking about it, I wanted them to both be executed like the book readers had said but their deaths here were actually more symbolic. She was poisoned by SYR and then she used his hand to kill her with the hairpin he gave her. The only person she ever loved, stole from his wife, arranged for the deaths or captures of the three Xue family members; turned around and with borrowed time killed her. His obsession with his first wife upon first seeing her return from the dead grew and grew until he became as bad if not worse than psycho princess. His death by suicide after being shot with two arrows by XFF was his own cowardly way out. The entire time he never took accountability for any choice he made and pushed the blame on others. He was a victim and it was so disgusting. So him diving off the platform as XFF walked away only briefly pausing, was his only way. He was a coward from start to finish. But both were remarkably convincing and did such a great job at their roles. It was psycho princess actress's first costume drama and she nailed it.

Costumes were awesome especially XH's; just embodied his character to a T as were sets and OSTs. This was the first drama I bought PPV for and couldn't wait to watch with my fellow MDL-ers at midnight my time every night and discuss in the comments. One episode took 4 hours just to get past a certain scene because of how awesome it was and satisfying so I kept rewinding. Comedy was great especially when our man with the fan would get jealous or do something else. Just so much goodness in this show. Sadly, it did have cons that I couldn't get past.

Cons: Lots of loopholes; like how did Jiang dad finally figure out it was XFF and not JL at the end. He had clues but seemed rather wishy washy about it? What was the real story with Ji Shuran and the baby? Did she miscarry it, abort it, and then blame it on JL? I'm sure there were others I just don't remember.

Those last 1.5 episodes were so poorly edited and cut. The war where the two guards died that never did in the book, should have been put into the middle after the capital battle and let them live; that was painful and so unnecessary, it made my stomach churn. Then have everyone get their retribution, our leads get married, close out characters and end with the daughter and 8 years having passed. Not the choppy mess we were left with and the Xianxia type ending, where the extra episode was required to give more context from the actual book. No idea what the directors were thinking since there were three of them. Also wish the actors complained more to have them follow the actual book. There's creativity and then there's creating an unnecessary mess. Maybe it would have been more understandable if this was an original IP but it wasn't; there was a book they were working from. Should have followed the source material. Despite it all, I still think it was a happy ending given all we have and worth the watch.

Would I recommend it? 100% would. Despite that ridiculous last portion, this drama made you want to howl with laughter, shout with satisfaction, and sometimes wipe away many tears. It's definitely a sleeper hit of June 2024.

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What's Love Got to do with Business?

Had been waiting for this because I've never seen XK in a modern and also to see how he and Seven would work out chemistry wise. Overall, the story in particular didn't disappoint. I had seen a few of the supporting cast before but was unfamiliar with many others. The story had a few couples but the main theme was separating business from emotions, what love really meant, and not regretting the choices you made; giving those that deserved it a second chance. A play on the famous late Tina Turner song, what's love got to do with business?

Pros: The chemistry between the leads HT and JX was off the charts. They were just too stinkin' cute and you were laughing at the silliness and being giddy with all of the sweetness. Plus the comedy from the others, was great or when you had a sad/tense moment, a little comedy made the scene so much better. XK nailed the part of the domineering, ruthless CEO HT with a heart of gold to a T. Man could undress a woman or in this case JX with just his eyes any day of the week. It was sugar and spice and everything very meow. For the most part, the story was incredibly realistic and refreshing when it came to real life world things and people. Both leads had great friends and wing people. JX was a person who started at the bottom of the business ladder and slowly rose to the top, though of course with HT's help. My other favorite characters were XM, LL, LLJ, SZZ, TS, XYX (though he sucked in relationships, he was a great friend to HT and others), and unlike many others, I had no problems with QZZ and SYC getting together, though I really didn't know why, after her wedding, QZZ basically disappeared from the show. Also LLJ's mom, JX's parents, and grandpa Han were awesome as they weren't toxic but just genuinely worried about their kids and did the best they could to help/advise them.

The other couples ended up being QZZ and SYC but they seemed to get together quickly, like the show was trying to rush along their stories as well as XM and LLJ; though both liked the other, they didn't really get together until the end and the love triangle of LL, XYX, and SZZ. Honestly, felt like LL and XYX were the most compatible but it was also understandable that he had serious insecurities that he hadn't worked through and SZZ finally grew up enough to deserve her as she slowed down to understand that she really needed stability and not just money and power. So in this case had they shown XYX working through his issues for her, they would have worked out too. But at least he became a good friend to her as well admitting where his faults lay and that he lost her because of them but to not regret letting SZZ go. So that was very intelligently done.

HT and JX got together really quickly and the phrase "I love you" popped out way too soon. Their biggest issue lay in their very horrid lack of communication. He kept business secrets from her that she should have known about and important as well and she basically ran her business with her emotions, even listening to ZD (a villain) over her own boyfriend; here's an intelligent woman doing really dumb things. She treated all of her employees like they were supposed to be friends; which when they backstabbed her, she was shocked about but it was her own fault. Furthermore, she couldn't separate love from business (hence the title of this review) and her view of love was a little too grandiose to reality while his was subtle and in the way of "actions speak louder than words" manner which is more realistic. Their breakup was needed and mandatory to grow into evolving themselves. That said, I will speak more about that in the cons.

The antagonists (4 in total); cousin (who finally towards the end figured out that blood was thicker than water and to leave HT alone or he would ruin her), Zhu asswipe (a criminal that kidnapped JX and really hurt HT; hopefully got life in prison), Chang He (HT's competition but also did plenty of illegal things himself like enable Zhu and other business dealings, got arrested), ZD. I will talk about her in the cons because out of the 4, she was the worst and probably the most annoying antagonist. She started morally grey and then they turned her into a stalker and I was done.

All of the settings, especially faux Germany was really nice, glad they taught the leads some basic German. The OSTs and most of the costumes fit too. Also the fact that not only had he loved her since college but that they had actually met somewhat as kids was a nice touch of how truly destined they were. I like the extra episode as it shows what his version of love for life meant.

Cons: I have to speak about the break up because even the book readers said it was off. I was able to fast forward most of it and not miss much because while HT was poisoning himself with alcohol, crying, lighting sparklers, just pining in pain; other than their initial argument, JX didn't shed a single tear. Sure she was sad but she cried more over her breakup with SYC than HT. She just went home, moped a bit, and then quit her job, leaving her company to merge on its own and flew to Germany to study more. Like what even? She opened his safe without permission to find documents; that was so weird to me, a total invasion of privacy. I don't know why he didn't call her out on it. If it wasn't for HT she wouldn't even have had her company let alone what it became. There were some things he couldn't have told her due to confidentiality agreements, yet she threw a tantrum at him. As soon as things she didn't like in her personal life happened she bailed out on her company and left. Yet returned to a VP position. She was upset when some other company had thousands of employees go jobless overnight but her own team; she was ok to dump on LL and SZZ like it was no problem. In the real business world, that's a career killer right there. Like damn girl; emotions and business aren't the same thing! They should never be combined. He apologized 7 (no pun intended) ways to Sunday including during their public forum and even after the kidnapping thing when he was already very injured; meanwhile she never uttered the phrase “I’m sorry.” He was always her buffer and it wasn't fair to him especially in business at all. Yet she was as much part of the problem as he was, if not more so. In her mind, he had to conform to her standards but she didn’t have to reciprocate. I hate it when they gloss over women's accountability like that. According to readers, a lot of important conversations weren't included and that would have helped bring more gravitas to that part of the drama.

Also her lightning quick transformation into understanding business and finally pulling emotions out of it was way too fast. It was like a flip of a switch. Wish there was more cohesion and a smoother transition of that. Furthermore, how he just randomly came upon her in Germany though he was looking for that same guy she met, also could have been done smoother. Another contention I had was what I call the "Superman effect." When characters charge into a dangerous situation alone without backup or with backup far away. She was kidnapped and held on a high floor of an abandoned factory at knife point and you don't call the police until you're literally nearly there? Why bother? Because you're Superman and you can take a beating with a lead pipe to the back and fall 4 flights into a very conveniently placed air mattress set up by first responders because they somehow telepathically know exactly where you might fall. For a realistic modern drama, that was a huge issue.

I wish they had shown CH and ZD being led away in handcuffs for their actions in everything they had done against the leads both personally and professionally. As mentioned up top, ZD started as a morally grey gorilla glue character to HT, who never gave her the time of day in that way, but then she just didn't stop; no matter how many times HT told her to back off and even sold her shares and after he got hurt in the end she was still there like a bad dream asking him whether he regretted it and trying to get into JX's head a second time about how he'll cheat and lie in business to her again but thankfully this time JX didn't let her get the upper hand and stood her ground. This crazy idiot grew up with him and thought she owned him; she followed him to Germany, started a company in the same industry as him, and so forth just so she could somehow be with him. It's scary and quite pathetic that a person couldn't or wouldn't have their own identity just because they were so obsessed with someone. By the end of the show, I wanted her gone. Out of all of the antagonists she was the most ridiculous and annoying one and hardly realistic; no idea why HT never got a restraining order against her.

Only real point of contention with JX's clothing was why she had to look so matronly in the beginning? ZD and LL working in the same industry looked like professional businesswomen; only after her return from Germany that second time did she finally look and dress her age and like the VP she was.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Despite the cons, the pros definitely outweighed them. Though I do wish they had stuck some things from the novel as it would have made it better, it was still a very good show. I really hope XK does more of these types of modern romance dramas; he's very good at them. If you like great comedy, romance, and an overall good story that's very realistic, this is the show for you.

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60% Business to 40% Romance

This was good but it didn't rock my world. Elvis Han can handle being sexy for sure. I had dropped MMC for lack of chemistry and too much propaganda but this seemed like something easier. I lived for the leads interactions; flirting was actually a lot more subtle than what I'm used to or was expecting. And it was really 60% Business to 40% Romance. Will review this a bit differently than usual.

This was short; only 14 episodes but over an hour each. Really showed the lives of Asian cube monkeys working hard and overtime. Though many have said that it's only in Asia or China that this happens, it is often seen here in the states too. A lot of it reminded me of my time in the corporate world. The long hours, little to no positive reinforcement from your superiors, nasty coworkers, etc., one of the many reasons I left that world. I ffw'd a lot in the beginning because I didn't want to remember what that was like, plus there was very little actual interaction of the leads. And I didn't really pay much attention to the sister and her weird way of finding love getting stuck with a possessive stalker. Why didn't they go to the police after the spy camera was found? That's breaking a serious legal boundary. The regular Joe she ended up with was great but because of how little time they actually shared on screen and I think he was only introduced 3 episodes before the end, though they had chemistry, it did feel rushed.

I loved the FL's second supervisor! Now that's the type of manager you want to have; great mentor too. The 3 or 4 people in both of the leads lives that tried to harm them before and then apologized afterwards or thanked them, just seemed unrealistic because rarely if ever would that happen in the real world; those redemption arcs were unnecessary. The leads times together once they became an official couple in episode 8, was a time to treasure but I still felt like they were just not given enough screen time together to really work out their relationship properly. A lot was said or spoken of but not expressed. Could have been the time crunch of episodes and you never knew how much time passed as obviously there were time lapses. I'm glad the FL and ML finally decided to slow down work wise when something serious happened like her multiple health scares and him realizing he wasn't essentially a robot.

Their sexy times were great and so was the marriage proposal; it was different and fit who they both were. The OSTs were cute and fit them.

Would I recommend it? If you are looking for a business drama with romance as the secondary factor, then give it a go.

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What in the Dafeng?

(Last review of a 2024 show) A man transmigrates from the modern world into a fantasy game where using modern techniques he unravels mysteries and solves cases. He goes from a bumbling, arrogant hot blooded doofus though with smarts to a powerful, super intelligent man with the love of/and for family, amazing friends, boss, sidekicks, and even a tactless princess. Though he appeared lucky, the dark side was always lurking around him and at the end of what we hope to be season one the dark evil took all that away from him in a very well written cliffhanger (there's a scene after the ending credits folks, don't miss it!), leaving everyone going what in the Dafeng?

Pros: I have only ever seen Dylan in a very poorly written modern drama, so wanted to see him in something with a good storyline and characterization. Glad I stuck around even when the beginning was driving me batty. This was one of the those few dramas where it actually got better as the episodes progressed. Dylan as XQA knew just how how to blend emotions and thoughts (albeit I still wished he didn't have to do the over dramatic ones), like comedy, intelligence, being one or two steps ahead of just about everyone but Lord Wei and of course the Supervisor. His love for his super extra family was evident. His best acting was in the final arc of Chuzhu city and the atrocities done there and then what happened with Mr. Zheng. The emotions of sadness, rage, injustice that he felt, just melted from the screen and you became him. You wanted revenge in the worst possible way and he got it. Very impressive.

My other favorite characters were LW as he did such a great job as a protagonist this time. I was used to him playing antagonists all the time so this was quite refreshing and he did a wonderful job as the surrogate father and boss to XQA. His death saddened me at the end but I hope he can come back to life in season 2 (again please let there be a season 2, with the same cast and not in 5 years)! The entire Xu family though could be very extra in the over dramatic sense, loved XQA very much and had his back as much as possible. The Scooby gang as I called his friends/sidekicks at the bureau, realm, and guardian places were the best. Those 4 guys especially were indispensable to him and they were a part of him as much as the realm sect folks were. I liked the supervisor as well. He saved people, didn't murder them and he was quite upset by what happened in the last arc and Mr. Zheng's torture and death. Even the monk in XQA was of great help.

I don't believe for one moment anything that came out of dark robe dude's aka XQA's biological father's (Luke, I am your father moment) mouth about the supervisor being the one who wanted the destiny inside XQA because if that was the case, he would have taken it for himself 12 years ago instead of the dark robe dude stealing it and implanting it into his own child while he himself killed hundreds of thousands and aligned with smaller villains (like the asswipe emperor, his brother, having a corrupt court) to play a constant game of chess with the supervisor. If he was such a good guy, he wouldn't have erased everyone's memories of XQA leaving him truly alone in the world (though apparently the supervisor knew since he was also the creator of the game in the real world). XQA figured it out and I don't think he will side with the evil monster just because of that and the secret of the destiny. For all that, he is a good antagonist and I hope he loses miserably in season 2.

Originally, I had thought that I was going to be very depressed when everyone forgot about XQA, but when looking from a writer's standpoint, it actually wasn't that bad. Sad yes, but it was part of what a cliffhanger ending is about. You leave parts unfinished to make sure people don't forget what they watched and want more. Just like the scene after the credits; it's to leave us wanting more and fast. But most loose ends were tied which is also rare in dramas unless they are to be continued.

Costumes, OSTs (especially the opening hip hop one, I never missed), sets, and fight scenes with magic were all great. My sincere hope for season 2 is that, XQA upon knowing the whole truth still doesn't team up with his bastard father, but sticks with the supervisor, everyone gets their memories back, bring back LW, and are able to fight the forces or force of evil together. That would be ideal. I guess we'll see if and when it happens.

Cons: I'm sure many are wondering why I didn't put FL in the pros and that's because I didn't like her very much (the character not the actress); I felt romance here was quite unnecessary. Thankfully, that genre wasn't all that important and we saw only bits and pieces of it. She did grow on me towards the end a bit but I think that part could have been just left alone. There were just too many moving pieces and things going on that didn't require her at all. Though I will say that the two kisses the characters had were well done.

Initially, I was thinking that my rating was going to be in the 8s somewhere because of how lackluster and slapstick it started and that's just not for me. Also many plot points were talked through instead of shown and it would have been better if we understood that through seeing it or not having it sped through like the whole duchess abduction thing and rescue; I literally had to rewatch it twice before I understood what happened. Also XQA becoming a silver gong was just explained and several missions were just thrown around through speech. Show us, don't just tell us! We're not reading the book, we're viewers. How the 4 Scooby gang guys were stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere and only reunited with XQA for a short time at the end. At least their experience was shown in form of a puppet play.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. What brought the score up to a 9 was when things turned serious and comedy landed properly and that entire ending arc with Dylan's wonderful portrayal. This is a show no one knew how it would do but boy did they show everyone. Season 2 is an absolute must with the same cast. Definitely one I'm glad I kept watching.

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