Dreams

A journey of self-discovery.

Since childhood, Su Cheng Cheng (SCC) has been considered as an "ugly" person. Suffering from a low self-esteem, she receives, one day, a "magic" bracelet that allows her to transform into anything she wishes. Without knowing it, this bracelet will turn her life upside down and will bring her closer to her old crush Tang Qi (TQ), for better or worse…


What I like:
- Fast-moving story. 20eps feels like 5eps. Doesn't have a dull moment despite the 32 eps. All the arcs are well developed and don't drag on too long.
- Good acting. The actors did a really good job playing their character. Tan Jian Ci was impressive as the funny, awkward, enamored but also the traumatized, revengeful TQ. Li Lan Di and all the "filter" actors also did a really good job making a believable SCC.
- Not just a funny story. It's about self-esteem, interior and exterior beauty, other people's pov etc.… You can resume this drama as SCC's journey to accept her true self and do the things she wants with confidence.
- Good comedy timing. The comedy was on point. Funny without being repetitive. Special mention to Tan Jian Ci for nailing the comedy scenes.
- Good characters. Apart from some characters, they all have common sense. They can think and don't fall into the classic and cliche troops.
Note for the scriptwriters: It's possible to make a good and engaging story without misunderstandings, love triangles or noble idiocy!


What I didn't like/could be better :
- I only have on criticism for this drama. It lacks some sparks from the leads. They were cute together but apart from that, there isn't much. After they were together, I didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them as lovers. Maybe it's because the development of their relationship as lovers lacks something? I don't know… But the constant need to tell each other they love each other isn't enough to make me feel much. I like them better as individual characters.


Overall:
This drama is a must watch. It has all the elements to make you have a great time. It is funny, touching and engaging with some sci-fi and case solving moments. But despite being a light watch, it also tackles some real issues from our society. In a world where beauty standards are omnipresent, accepting and loving ourselves is not an easy task. Like SCC or TQ, we all are imperfect and it is only by embracing our qualities and flaws that we can be true to ourselves.

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The long awaited sequel. Did it live up to the expectations ?

Directly after the events from season 1, Zhang Chu Lan and Feng Bao Bao continue to work for NDT. One day, NDT's headquarters gathers a group of special agents of which Feng Bao Bao is part of. The mission : Track down a former special agent on the run after the assassinate of her superior.


What I like :
The choice of the cast. I always thought this drama had such an eye to choose the right actor for the right character in season 1. They didn't disappoint me in this season either. I loved all the new added characters. Big up for the temporary workers team. They are such a funny and attaching bunch of lunatics. I really hope to see them together again in the next season.

Chen Duo's heartbreaking story. Her story made me cry so much. I really hoped an another ending for her but I understand why she choose this ending. It's my first time seeing Chen Wen Qi (Vicky Chen) and I can only say I'm impressed by her performance. She's hypnotic in the drama and has such a calming voice.

Great CGI and fights scenes. Very engaging fight scenes especially Chen Duo vs Feng Bao Bao and Zhang Chu Lan. I just wished they were more fight scenes. It wasn't enough !


What I didn't like/could be better :
Zhu Ge Qing is a total miscast. With the sudden change of actor, his relationship with other characters is off especially the one with Wang Ye. They appear like two strangers with some inserted memories. His relationship with Fu Rong is all of the place too. Their relationship is unnecessary and it adds nothing to the story.
His performance is not great either. Maybe it's because Wanyan Luo Rong (ZGQ from season 1) did such an amazing job so I'm harsher to the new one. But I still found his performance boring so it was quite hard to be invested in his story. I would have preferred they had reduced his screentime in favor of other characters like Chen Duo or Zhang Chu Lan and the team.


Overall, I really liked this second season even if it wasn't as action focused as season 1. I think a lot of watchers won't like this season as much as season 1 because of that but I still believe this season is must for a potential next season.
Main focus in this season :
- Deeper understanding of NDT company through the story of special agent Chen Duo.
- Set up for the next season's big villain.

The season 3 is not confirmed but I heard Tencent took the copyrights for season 3 and not Youku. Actually, I don't really care which company is producing the next season but I really hope they won't change the actual producing team and any of the actors 🙏🏻

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Adventures in a world with demons : From a great start to a weird ending.

Since her childhood, Duan Ban Xia has been able to see demons. This ability leads her to meet a demon hunter named Jiu Xuan Ye. Together, they set out to find Ban Xia's presumed dead father, while solving many unusual cases.

What I like:
- Acting : Overall, all the actors did a really good job interpreting their characters. However, I really wanted to point out two actresses who did a marvelous job portraying their characters : Song Zu Er (Duan Ban Xia) & Zhang Zi Xin (Feng Wu Niang).
SZE was amazing as Ban Xia. She can act and made a lovable interpretation of her character. The angsty scenes were superbly done and you can feel it to the core when she's crying.
My favorite arc was definitely the puppet arc and it's mostly thanks to Zhang Zi Xin who did an amazing job interpreting the puppet demon. All the nuance and complexity of the character was really well portrayed. Besides, her mannerisms as puppet were so believable and creepy.

- The growth of Ban Xia : She starts from a timid and vulnerable to a fierce and strong character at the end. She sticks to her beliefs and dares to defend them against all. For me, she has one of the most satisfying growth in dramaland. And the portrayal of SZE makes her character even more likeable.

- Chemistry between the leads : It's the type of drama where you'll smile for every little intimate moments they have together. You won't see a lot of kisses - the kisses were bad anyway - but the eye contacts and their little gestures made up for everything. The slow build-up of their relationship was everything for me, as I could understand why they fell for each other.

- CGI : They were good and the addition of a few little details were nicely done (the strand of grey fur for example on the leopard).

What I didn't like/could be better:
- Second leads story : I really like them as individual characters. As a CP, it lacks sparks and the short amount of screentime they had together didn't make it better.

- Some arcs were more interesting than others. There are some inconsistencies in the arcs because they switch between interesting and boring arcs. The owl demon and the snake demon arcs were quite boring and felt more like fillers for the leads story.

- Rushed last arc & weird ending : The last arc felt so over the place. The tone has drastically changed in the last arc compared to the other arcs. At some point, I was questioning myself if I was watching the same drama I had been watching for almost 2 weeks. The arc was so rushed. 6 eps was clearly not enough to develop such a big portion of the story. So everything was underdeveloped to give us "a conclusion". And the ending… it was inconsistent with the rest of the story too. The whole drama revolves around the search for coexistence between humans and demon. And at the end, it concludes with a demon and human can't coexist… It feels like we did a 180° turn and it gave me a bad taste in the mouth.
I heard the screenwriter wrote the ending completely differently but iQiyi decided to use AI and changed the ending… what a crazy choice🤦🏻‍♀️

Overall : I really enjoyed the drama for most of the part. Some cases were really interesting and the acting was good. Unfortunately, the last arc and the ending was not up to the rest of the story.

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Wen Yi Fan's story : Freeing herself from her past and embracing her light.

After leaving for more than 6 years, Wen Yi Fan decides to go back to Nanwu. After some events, she becomes roommates with her first love Sang Yan. This new proximity brings back painful memories, regrets and a loved buried for years…


What I like
- WYF and her growth. This story is about her freeing herself from past trauma. The journey to feel worthy of love again is not easy and WYF learned it. As a viewer, we saw all this growth and can only be proud about it. Big up to Zhang Ruo Nan who did such a good job interpreting WYF!

- Friendship of WYF and ZSQ. Loved their friendship.

- Main leads romance : Chemistry wise, they were cute but also so hot. This second chance romance was well done. Flashbacks and present scenes complements well. So, we can see the difference between the past and present slowly. Learning from their past mistakes and becoming each other's light again. Also loved WYF's declaration to SY about pursuing him. She was so cute!

- The mother and daughter relationship. Sharing the same blood isn't enough to build a family. WYF and her mother is the perfect example. They shared the same blood but it didn't stop WYF's mother to choose a new family without her. And at the end of the drama, it won't stop WYF to choose her new family. I also want to add that it's quite refreshing to see they didn't patch up at the end of the drama. Their relationship has reached the point of no return and it was just not believable for them to reconcile.

- The villains. I loved the actors' performance because I hated their character so much.

- Really good OST.

- Actors' styling. I have to say it their best styling till now.


What I didn't like
- The number of sexual harassment she went through was a bit too much. I saw somewhere she went through two sexual harassments in the novel which is quite a lot already. It didn't need more to make us understand her trauma.

- The lack of characterization for SY. He is WYF's light and the person she loves the most. And vice-versa, WYF is his whole world. All his thoughts, his life is centered on WYF and her happiness. While as a lover, he is the best match for WYF. However as a character, he is uninteresting. Except for his devoted love, the character is blank. He has no life, no hobbies, no dreams and it so unrealistic! This lack of characterization can be seen in his interactions with his friends for example. There isn't a lot but when they are hanging out together, it's awkward and you can see they have nothing to talk about.

- Some irrelevant characters. The intern and Xiang Lang. Their scenes wasn't necessary and didn't bring much for the plot. They could cut out his scenes and everything would still be the same.

- The grandpa story as catalysis for the second leads story. The whole grandpa story was quite cute at first but they dragged it out too long. This plot could have been a good idea to make the second lead closer and see the good in each other. However, it wasn't done right so it impacted the second leads' love line. And when the grandpa story was over I wasn't invested in them anymore. It's quite unfortunate because the start was so promising.


Overall
This drama is a good watch. WYF's story and her growth is really touching. Unfortunately, it didn't need 32 eps. You can see the production team wanted to fill 32 worth of eps by extending some irrelevant stories.

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