A pretty decent Wuxia drama
As I watch this drama, I was so impressed with the storyline, the pairing of the ML and FL was surprisingly good as they are very convincing and well matched. I couldn't wait for the next coming episodes and decided to become a VIP member of WeTV... The fighting scene was fast with very very little slow motion shots, in fact hardly, made it that much more exciting than Sword Snow Stride which inundated with slow mo shots which spoilt the momentum of the drama, like many others too. That's pretty good.. Everything was going just fine and edging towards the best drama of 2022, which could have easily won.There are a few points in the quite a good drama that fall short of being a great drama are as follows.
1. It took too long for Hei Fengxi to find out the real identity of Bai Fengxi, that is dragging on a bit, which lead to my suspicion of my final point. If they bring it earlier on there will be so much more great material...
2. The leads fuffing around too long in Yangzhou, and we hardly see anything of Qingzhou, which would have made a great balance in the drama.
3. There are 40 episodes for the drama to pace and pan out the storyline which could have helped with a lot of curiosity of Bai Fengxi background, in stead they pushed all the building up towards the ending in the last couple of episodes, reminds one of a 200 metre dash towards to the finishing line, too quick and too rush, took all the excitement of the ending away.. And the ending was just too soft, like the air finally left and ends with a flat soft ending, anti-climax no less. And visually it also looks a bit rushed too, not as refine as the previous fighting scenes.
I wonder was it because they were pacing it for a 60 episodes instead of 40? That's why they rush towards the end? Oh well...
The rush-ending does remind me of another recent very decent drama, The Autumn Ballad, which was such a let down... in so many ways....
But still Who Rules The World is still an enjoyable drama....
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What has business got to do with it?
Let's talk about the positive side of drama. The male lead is excellent! As usual, he delivers the best and his adaptability to the mood of character is amazing, From slightly cocky, to a touch of humour and cold when they all need to be without overacting or reacting. As for Dilraba, this is the first series I have seen her in a modern drama, and I think she is very suited to play a modern sassy lass than an ancient period drama. Her acting is very convincing. This is a light romantic drama and both are great. The chemistry between them is great. . The costume styling in this drama is the best by far I have seen in any of the modern Chinese dramas and even better than the Koreans, well done!!NOW the bad bit. The business side of the story, but that one is unbelievably bad! The way the story is told and unfold in drama, which half of the drama talks about is completely illogical and unbelievably bad. I shan't go into it as it will be a long list of gapping non-sensical scenarios. You need to tell yourself that this is just a load of bullshit drama, not meant to make any sense. The logic behind the romance does not make sense at all, there is a huge trust issue there. The writer obviously creating a drama based on nothing. To be honest, if Song Lin is really the maverick that he was in the beginning, he would have won the invasion of the wolf, and not even been involved with Zhao Feng in anyway. Basically the storylines on both, romance and business suck big time.
Then the second couple, the boy knows exactly what's the boss is like, and made no effort to clear the misunderstanding? And the meddling Qin Qing? A friend I can do without.... heart in the right places but lack of understanding and logic.
Who wrote the script? She or he should never write again!
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Love and Destiny .. so far
The production quality of Love and Destiny is very high, and the acting from the actors were great too. I wouldn't want to rattle on and on about the series. If you want a good tragic and frustrating love story that plunge you to the depth and then raise you up to the heaven, (Its didn't work for me). then you are watching the right series. But as for originality, this is where the series falls short, it's too similar to Eternal Love, which is from the same universe, and this time the lucky guy who gets to fall in love this time is the God of War. Another reason this series doesn't really gets me is the plot, it is terribly weak, to be honest there isn't one. The script is terribly written, there isn't much you can sink in, not even the romance bit. Its all fluff and aimless. Among the trilogy of the Three World Three Lives, this is the worst. I snarked at Eternal Love when I first watch it, I think I have to retract that, its is the best of the three. What a waste of talents and beautiful set! What a let down by the script.Was this review helpful to you?
Great Drama
Finally, Love Like The Galaxy has released all of its 56 episodes. I was praying that it will give me a good ending and waited with abated breath until I watched the final episodes. I am glad it hasn't disappointed! It has a good ending!!! Technically speaking the drama ended in episode 48, but because they want to play out the romance bit, they dragged the drama on for a reconciliation of ending... It may have worked really well in the novel, but it's not quite effective for a drama it should have just ended with 50 episodes. But like I said before it's still a good ending and has made the drama that much more enjoyable to watch, On the whole, it's one of the best Dramas I have seen this year so far and also in a long time.Was this review helpful to you?
COURT LADY should be renamed 101 Misunderstanding, are you stupid enough to love me?
Really? 55 episodes in all? Should have been told in 10 episodes. The longer you drag the storyline the deeper the grave you are going to bury yourself in. The writers ought to be banned from ever working in the industry again! What a load of crappy storyline and plots! Oh My God talking about the plots? How many misunderstandings can one go through? It seems like to drag the series to 55 episodes to make more money, you squeezed in as many misunderstandings as possible and ruined the entire audience's attention and attachment to the series. Anyone alive have to put up that much angst has got to be damaged and dead of suicide, and believe me no one will survive after that physically or mentally! What are the directors and the writers takes their audience for? The stayed-home housewives with zero life and intelligence are very thin on the ground I am sure. This far into the series from what I read the rant from others, the reconciliation of the two lead character will be the laughing stock of Kingdom. Perhaps may be I am not foolishly romantic enough or that I am not a woman, but being gay certainly entitle me to have some femininity in me, but sorry these kind of scripted storyline just turns me either cold or enrage! Can someone pushed the lead female character under a bus please, no, they don't have buses in those days, a runway horse carriage then.Was this review helpful to you?
Big pleasant surprise that is Imperial Coroner
Came across Imperial Coroner while searching for something meaty to watch, and boy I wasn't disappointed! The production cost is low, the leads are relatively unknown, well at least I haven't seen them in any other series, but what a great period detective drama it is! The plots are tight, and the storyline is great! And if its a book its a page turner, and I can't help myself but binge on! Can't wait for them to translate all the episodes!!! So unexpectedly good! I shall add more comments once I finished the series. I am so glad I came across it amongst some disappointing bigger series. What I like most about this series, there is no weepy girls or stupid girls, everyone is clever and useful! I LIKE IT!Was this review helpful to you?
Venting on the persistently Irritating under the power
If there is a team of writers involved in the scripts for this extremely long series for something that is draggy and painful to watch some of the episodes. The series could have been great if they can condensed it to maybe 30 episodes, keep the story tight, and action fast and irritating scenes short. I am now pretty sure they have one writer dedicated to writing irritating personality and scenes for Xie Xiao another for Jin Xia, not to amuse but really to bug the audience. Many times I feel like borrowing the pistol from Jin Xia and shoot him in the mouth. That character has no important role in the series except for being a childish git, and by the way the actor is too old to play a 16 years old boy by the way, a note to the casting director. Some of the scenes just becomes repetitive, same fight but different places. Its like going to different parties and you see the same faces dancing to the same crappy music, even a hardcore party animal will eventually give up and stop hanging out with the same bunch of losers.I know the production houses wants these long draggy scenes because they can dragged into 55 episodes so that they can sell it for more money.
I have been trying to listen to reviews on Under the Power from my usual source, and guess what? Not one of them talked about this show. Now I know why? A bloody time waster. And I am shocked that the rating in kisskh is as high as 8.4!! I guess there are many bored people in here who will watch anything and enjoy every single crap the Chinese Production houses can ditched out! I heard there are over 500 series per year being released, and there are always idiots out there who will love them.
Lets have something ORIGINAL for once pleaseeeeeee. Why don't they make Heaven Official's Bleissing into a live action TV drama series, the animated version is excellent!!! It has all the original and entertaining elements.
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What happened?
What started out to be really good and clever with the plot and twisted. And then from episode 15 on the writer got twisted by his own twist and couldn't unravel out of it! The relationship/romantic side of the leading couple got so messy it's painful to watch. Not to mention the ongoing between the two side couples, pathetic is the word, why even bother to give them so much air time or a story when can't even handle the lead couple storyline.. It's getting so boring by now, and the FL behave like she never left high SCHOOL left alone University with a degree in Psychiatry from overseas for heaven sake! How did she manage that? So not cool, and so irritating at this point, and bet it's fizzled out in the subsequent episode.I also just read the Writer bio, he is also responsible for Legend of Anle with Gong Jun and Dilraba, I wonder how is it going to work with those two, and with this writer? Can only spell one thing!!! Gosh, I hope I am wrong! Soooooo wrong! Please, prove me wrong!!!!
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Legend of the Dragon Pearl: The Indistinguishable Road
4 people found this review helpful
Insufferable, is more like it
Sometimes I admire people who can tolerate being dragged through the mud pond and still be able to come out on the other side bright happy and clean, or just put on their blinker and ignorant, oops I mean innocence and watch all 90 episodes of this hilariously stupid series. This is how I felt about the epic story of Legend of the dragon pearl after 18 episodes of a stupid girl just get more and more stupid as it progresses, and by then she is still oblivious as who the Emperor was is just the last straw. All arrows point to jump-ship! And I did. But too bad, the FL is actually quite a good actress and so is the ML, but the script is just too cartoony for my taste. Sorry, this is just me and has nothing to do with you. I have been watching too many dramas with great potentials only to be let down by incredibly bad scripts, perhaps that's the reason why lay on thick with this one. A victim of my frustration.Was this review helpful to you?
Could have given it a high 9 but....
I love the story line, and the production is fairly good. I don't even mind the bleached out look. The Jiang Ni character is quirky and provide a fairly good comedy relief to the funny side of the drama. The one thing that bring my rating for the drama down to 8 is the sword fighting scene, there are too many of them shot in slow motion and that breaks the momentum of what could be an excellent sword fighting scene. The director and cinematographer is trying to show something that is done to death by other Wuxia.. its nothing new and why shot in slow motion? And also some of the fighting scene takes too long in setting up the scene, and only leaves one frustrated instead of feeling the excitement and anticipation. Why can't they do a perfect drama, they have all the right script, story, actors, and instead it let us down with the fighting scene, which is the second most important element of the drama! I hope the second season they will do something different with the fighting scene, as long as don't over do the slow mo.Was this review helpful to you?
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre
0 people found this review helpful
The Fallen
This series has the end of the Condor Trilogy. I really can't recall the first two, which I watched when I was in my early teens and thought they were just the greatest Wuxia story ever told in our modern times. Jin Yong's finale of the trilogy was a great ending and rather a sad one too and frustrating as he told us how the young hero rose to prominence too early and how his strength began to ebb gradually into an emotional mess, be it being a leader or his love lives. I must admit I have skipped quite a few episodes as they were mere long dialogues, which doesn't work in series, a ploy perhaps to prolong the series to 50 episodes. Some scenes were totally unnecessary. If they had kept it down to perhaps 35 episodes it would have been bearable. The ending is neither a happy one nor a sad one, it's just the way it is. We can't have everything and we have to choose, in the end, whatever is left, you have to accept it. I feel sorry for Wuji, such a promising lad but too soft inside, to be a leader you have to be harsh and decisive to a point of being merciless, he didn't possess any of those qualities. Still overall a good story.Was this review helpful to you?
A Commentary
It's a little early to make any partial comments, but I feel an early impression is called for. The story started out a little iffy, but it gets going in some interesting manner. The lead actress acting isn't the best and a bit stiff, but it's bearable, while the lead actor is slightly better, I put it down to both of them are still young and need more experience. The script could improve a bit by coming up with cleverer lines when she demures the lead actor's advances and flirtations. Though we may think 18 yo is young, in those days they are pretty mature by then, probably equal to women in mid or late 20s. Well I just hope the character will mature further down the series.Was this review helpful to you?
There are very little redeeming values....
I haven't started a rant review in ages, and this one I thought I will flex my fingers today. Just a quarter of a way through the series. I am curious why the ratings are so low. I can ignore the unrealistic scenarios, how a surgeon can have so much time on her hands, and a military captain can have so much free time off base and on furlough. Once again the female lead character is, boy, irritating (that firing rounds of staccato words from her mouth) and stupidly immature, and dumb. With that blonde IQ how did she made it into medical school I wonder? She comes up with 1+1= 4 maybe 5. I have seen Li Qin in other series and she was quite good, so it has to the scriptwriters' fault. The script for the female has once again failed to do the female justice. Did they hire a silly girl off the street to write the character of an irritating 26-year-old doctor, who is stupid beyond belief, she wasn't funny!!! She actually helped a kid to send a false message to mum? For F-sake she is a doctor!! And this is only episode 8!! I can see more mudslides further down ... The only reason I will stay on and watch the series is because of Johnny Huang JIngYu, whose humour is so dry you can hear it crack and the delivery is excellent! NOT to mention he is a hunky eye candy! He has a bright future ahead. The production value is very high and a lot of potential but shame about the script.. China, if you want to compete, you really need to polish up your script, which is the most important thing and something intelligent for the director to work with. OH they should renamed the hospital Ningjing Beverly Hills Hotel, patients checked in and they rarely checked out! or Maybe call Hospital Death.Was this review helpful to you?
I want my time back!!!
I just came off watching Love and Redemption feeling irritated by the lead characters and especially the lead actress' irritating voice. I came across Legend of Jinyan, and guess what? Its that bloody voice again!!!! It's like voiceover hell!!! I think they should rename the title as The Misadventure of Retarded JIn Yan.... Just because the male lead is quite good and quite handsome that I decided to carry on....I pushed myself to watch it but by episode 7, I realised it will only get messier and crappier... Zero character development and I bet she will still be as stupid as the first episode. Don't know who is to blame, bad scriptwriting and adaptation, or is it just a bad story from the original story...
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What am I watching?
A modern day drama about a girl bickering and her uncouth antics in a period drama costume and settings. How wrong can the script writers get? Why bother with the period costume and setting when you don't even know what the customs and cultures of historical period? The writer really need to work harder and researched more on behaviour and culture of the period. I watch 5 episodes of it and still wish I hadn't gone that far! The actors on the other hand are quite decent, I might watch them in other drama, but this drama is beyond salvation or any redeeming quality left. It's bad from the start. I could think of a few dramas in the same category from last year...Writer must remember China in the old days are not China it is today.
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