LuvYaGutz

Not a Romance!

Excellent casting and superb acting in a deeply allegorical story descriptive of the simmering political upheaval and unrest characteristic of the 1930s, the era in which this drama is set. Contemporary music juxtaposed with stunning sets and costumes make viewing a real treat. The plot and character development give hints of Wuthering Heights for symmetrical storylines, Crime and Punishment for the creation of a mental prison, and… a hint of Mayor Jean Valjean in Vengo’s character. No idea why this only has 7.5 on the MDL site; perhaps people thought it would be a typical trope-y C-drama. But no!!! So glad I watched this.

Read More

Feeling cheerful? Stop it now!

I dropped this show after 3 eps because of the subject material ie child abuse/neglect, made into entertainment because the victim has wit and tenacity.
I picked it up again out of solidarity for Zhao Lusi.
She handles this difficult role with depth & credibility, bringing humour & sensitivity.
Sadly, the show is so full of stereotypical back-biting that I can hardly stand it. Not forgetting the usual tropes of spoilt girls expecting to marry whoever they want, and bullying going unpunished with victim blaming and shaming.
The final straw for me, dropping the show now at #22, is the mother. The actress is good & I have seen her in other shows; of course, not every character can be lovable. But it is too hard to believe that a woman who is 1. a capable and battle-hardened general; 2. a loving wife; and 3. a mother to two older boys, can be so flummoxed by raising her daughter as to resort to verbal cruelty every time. I don’t know why people praise this show so much. I can’t stand watching anymore.

Read More

Entertaining and Enjoyable

Great characters, interesting plot and no lazy filler plot. The music was very cleverly utilised- including rock, blues and yodelling! Fantastic application of music to highlight a diplomatic discussion which degenerates into a free-for-all while one character disassociates. Romantic elements included and managed with sensitivity, warmth and humour. The character development is integral to keeping the story moving and preventing the plot from fizzling out over one character. Wonderful to see the actor from Sunshine By My Side (the horrible husband) turning into a friend worth having despite his greed and slipperiness. A long wait for Xiao Zhan’s appearance but well worth it due tis outstanding performance in a non-romantic, complex role. Good acting all around with a great Dorian Gray- type character in there as a ticking time bomb. The premise for the film is, what if we used contemporary values in a hanfu drama? This makes for compelling watching without the usual cliches. Refreshing indeed with plenty of laughs and a young fire-breathing lead fighting for his integrity. I wish all C-drama was this much fun to watch. Wonderful to see representation of disability in the form of chronic illness, blindness and also wheelchair use. All of these characters think for themselves and do not let their disability define them; one of the drivers for FL is the way she and ML combat the prevailing wisdom to get better health outcomes for her and help her improve her independence. Excellent viewing which can be watched by a whole family if desired. I have already started watching s2.

Read More

Well written

I struggled with this until I realised it was a Jane Austen story in modern clothes! A woman wants to make her own choices for her own reasons and everyone in her circle feels perfectly entitled to share their opinion about it. The opinions and judgments show the insecurities of the different characters, who are beautifully and carefully developed. I found many layers to this drama and found it shone a bright light on the viewer’s own inconsistencies and shortcomings by highlighting the behaviours of the characters. I’m glad now that I didn’t give up and could grow somewhat along with the characters although in the beginning a few of them were maddening. I would suggest watching this in close proximity to “The Rational Life” which has similar themes, or even with a Jane Austen such as “Persuasion” where everyone chips in their opinion and influence whether or not it is welcome or qualified. I found this show quite deep from a feminist perspective. To really understand the heroine, you need to watch to the very end. Your patience will be rewarded.

Read More

Challenging the Spectrum of the Status Quo

Beautiful story about the price we pay for being different, and the price we pay for staying the same. Is it more soul crushing to stand out from the crowd, or to fit in at any price? And if we choose peace at any price, but someone else has to pay the price - can we live with ourselves?
A natural mathematical genius with savant autism makes a surprising discovery, upsetting many apple carts along the way. Many people with vested interests of different kinds seek to discredit him so that they will not be inconvenienced by his discovery. They want to stay the same: Same wealth, same hierarchy, same system, same practice models.
Our protagonist has no choice but to be different and he is punished and blamed for it, yet his motivations are honesty and accuracy. In fact, those motivations are seen as so strange, that they are used to discredit his character and ideas.
There are people in this story that want change: Improved quality of life. Improved access to justice. Better outcomes. Feeling heard. Redressing past wrongs. Inevitably there will be conflict between the two camps.
Zhang Ruo Yun is incredible as Shuai Jia Mo, the awkward young man who represents all of us at some point in our lives - not quite getting the picture and not quite fitting in. When I watch him I feel like I have a trustworthy doctor - based on what I have seen, ZRY always shines in his roles and brings the magic.
The other characters are clearly depicted which makes the story and its themes work.
This is not a glamorous idol drama - the point of the matter is to show us every-day conditions and hand-to-mouth living.
There is some humour which helps bring relief to the patterns.
I have been surprised to see a couple of reviews refer to the story as being "dry" and one said the ending was unhappy. Surely not this show - the ending was excellent. It was not a Disney ending, but this is not a Disney story. I happen to enjoy shows about math and science, e.g. A Beautiful Mind, The Enigma Game, Contact, 3 Body etc; but if that is not your thing, this really is a drama about a society on the cusp of change, family dynamics, justice v mercy, and personal integrity v worldly honour.
Of all the C-dramas I have seen, this one has the most satisfying outcome. I've got a new favourite!

Read More

"Fractured Fairytale" Fails to Fascinate

Firstly, please allow me to state that I don't like to rate shows poorly, and always look for the positive so that a review can be fair and not a waste of the reader's time.

There are many positives here. FL and ML both employ excellent acting skills with the roles they are given. I would expect a high standard from ML in particular; I do like both of these actors and consider that they did a great job of showing the way it affects a relationship and the individual feelings of the two people involved when someone is considered to be repulsive or monstrous in appearance.

The secondary couples have to carry a heavy load in keeping the story moving along when it is has such a tendency to drag heavily due to very little action in the plot. I particularly enjoyed the Kitten and the Snake. Their acting was good, their characters credible and enjoyable, and they kept me going when I wanted to give up watching.

The plot was paper thin and many characters alarmingly shallow, to the point of being unbelievably stupid or just downright annoying. One had to suspend logic a number of times. I would expect that in a fairy tale, but when it grates, it means it isn't really working.

For example, the princess was, as some reviewers state, "kidnapped" and therefore well within her rights to behave a certain way. OK. Well, if CZY wants to kidnap me and hold me hostage in a palace with a full time servant, deal me in. Many of the obstacles in the story arose from the princess's own selfishness, sense of entitlement, and lack of regard for other people. She caused a problem in the very beginning by rudely barging in on someone's private space, and that caused an ongoing issue for which she continually blamed the other person and insisted on receiving an apology for, even though she herself was the cause of this and many other misunderstandings. She had no problem with being dishonest herself. I was particularly upset by the princess using drugs to manipulate somebody; the first time was potentially excusable, but by the second time she knew she was doing harm. Nevertheless, she continued to fully believe in and throw herself into her "victim" role.
As such, it was very difficult for me to "warm" to the princess character.

The FL's costumes were gorgeous but ML's make up was a bit dodgy. And a criminal over-use of false eyelashes!

All the usual C-drama tropes were there - do they have to be there or a show doesn't get funding?
*girl whirls under falling blossom
*obsessed unwelcome girl turns up out of nowhere (in dire need of a psychiatrist)
*nasty dad uses innocent victim daughter
*cute child
*spoilt didi
*pushy a-yi
*nasty suitor
*spitting up blood
*camera angle from the bottom end of the sword blade
*slashing self with sword for essential blood products
*heroic self-slaughter
and so on...

Some lovely songs which I shall continue to listen to, and a very creative use of durian.

Read More

Move along, nothing to see here

At Ep12 I stopped watching; the character writing was so heavy handed that no amount of last-minute “the family destroying monster is really a decent chap” white wash could redeem it. Also very tired of the way crimes (such as blackmail and extortion!) go unreported; also that strange phenomena in C-drama where little kids get saddled with years of heavy guilt for things that grown adults were too incompetent to deal with rationally. Some nice acting from the leads but not an enjoyable show for me and I understand now why it dropped out of viewing lists so quickly.

Read More

Great show!!!! No sappy romance!

I’m so glad I watched this show. It was a good story with several short mysteries connecting to an over-arching theme, like White Cat Legend for example. A really entertaining and fun watch without all the usual agony of romantic cliches and heavy emotional manipulation/bullying/abusive relationships which is takes all the pleasure and escapism out of watching something which is otherwise good (I’m looking at you, 10 Miles of Peach Blossom…) The music was great too. Not many female characters and no characters with disability that I can think of; but one of the things I liked about this was how direct it was. Smallish cast, straight into the action, each episode left me wanting more. I watched it to see Song Wei Long and discovered Jing Bo Ran while I was there. Not bad eh? I’d be interested to hear what other viewers think xo

Read More

Touching story about tricky personalities

Presumably this is a “love story” but thankfully there is more to it than that. An excellent performance by Leo Wu, demonstrating that a child prodigy from a difficult background is not naturally blessed with good communication or emotional management skills. Zhao Jinmai likewise shows that an over-protected, pampered prodigy princess can be a good person who is also a terrible whiner and painfully immature at the same time; FL and ML are almost polar opposites. By the tail end of the series I had heard enough of her pre-schooler-in-a-shopping-trolley whining voice, even wondering if it was dubbed.(I have noticed in C-drama there are a lot of female characters acting like spoilt children and whining to get their own way or worm their way into someone’s good books; not doing women’s equality any favours with these nonsensical portrayals, but they could be doing exactly what the director told them to do). By the time the episode of the family restaurant scene came about, I didn’t want to watch anymore, even though I knew the character portrayal was faithful to the trajectory of her childhood development. I was too irritated to care anymore. I kept watching to see a secondary relationship develop with Wang Xingyue’s character (among others) and I was sadly disappointed when that did not occur. Good acting, nice music, interesting plot lines, worth watching. I won’t re-watch though.

Read More