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Princess Seeks Justice Through Messy Plot
This is a nonsense melodrama that is meant to make no sense and doesn't have a single interesting character except for the lovesick antagonist. The ML is boring, the FL is missing a personality, there is a charming scholar guy in there, but he gets rejected. I don't like the actor that plays the main lead. I have seen him in several other dramas, and he always plays the same boring, wealthy nobleman character, and I don't even find him good looking at all! Anyway, the plot is all over the place, the characters are largely boring, except the two I mentioned, which were secondary characters in any case. If melodramas are your thing, you might like this one. Otherwise, skip it.3 knocked over candle stands out of 10
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Pointless Revenge Drama
Could there possibly be a more repetitive or boring drama? It doesn't seem likely. I feel like it wasn't the FL trying to take revenge on the aristocracy so much as it was the writers of this drama, taking out all their malcontent about the industry on us, the viewing public.Could they possibly have dragged the simple revenge premise of this drama out any further than its 49 episodes of non-stop clichès on repeat? I highly doubt it, but I don't want to find out.
If this story formula sounds interesting to you: protagonist attempts to find some information, gets sick, almost dies, gets healthy, repeat ad nauseum, then you'll probably enjoy this non-existent plot drama. Now that I think about it, it only takes place in a handful of rooms inside a palace, so even the setting, and the incredibly dull costumes are like a claustrophobic cry for help.
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I Loved When You Were My Vegetable
If you want to watch yet another kitchen sink clichè Chinese costume drama that goes on forever, then you'll like this one.If you have actual standards for the dramas you will watch, then do yourself a favour and skip this one.
I thought Lovely Swords Girl was sick in the head (no pun intended), here we have the same "I Love My Human Vegetable" trope, where the guy hits his head, turns into a vegetable, and the FL has this deplorable mothering instincts towards him that turns into love. This has to be my least favourite trope of all time. It's beyond ridiculous into the obscene.
The FL is unbearable here. An annoying perpetual victim that we are all supposed to like because we feel bad for her. She pouts EVERY 5 minutes!!! Just to look cute, I guess, but it just makes her look like a petulant child. It's absolutely ridiculous! My god, she is even pouting on the ad poster!
Seriously, don't waste your time on this one. Complete crap. Even the colouration of the footage is doctored to show everything in white pastels, and it's annoying as hell. Who wants to see an entire series in pastels??! Terrible drama.
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The Cost of Changing Your Fortune
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars". -Oscar WildeThis is the story of one woman who came from an underprivileged background and learned that the only way to get ahead in life was to invent a fictional background for herself.
She comes across "counterfeit" upper class people on her way up, which inspires her to remarket herself.
The synopsis for this drama is way off base. Please don't let it deter you from watching this drama.
The FL is the perfect perpetual victim of nearly everyone she encounters in life. People give themselves permission to victimize her because of her poor background, so she decides to take control of her fate by rebranding herself.
It's unfortunate that in K dramas, only the lower classes can be protagonists, and the upper classes are the antagonists and are morally corrupt. This ignores the fact that the upper classes are more often than not, providing the lower classes with jobs which they need.
Of course it is frustrating to watch the protagonist wallow in her, admittedly well deserved self-pity. At first she suffers misfortune not of her making, but gradually, her misfortune comes by way of choices she made. Still, it's hard to watch a character that has the misfortune of everyone taking advantage of her. Any other K drama would have a protagonist who endures much, but at least finds someone that supports her and brings her good luck by the end of the drama.
I feel like the scriptwriters wanted to make a statement against the upper classes of society, and also that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". But that's not what I got out of it. Maybe they wanted to say that if you are both born poor, as well as unlucky, then you shouldn't attempt to dream outside of your relm of possibility. Whatever the message was, it wasn't logical, is what I am getting at.
By all means, give this drama a try. The cinematography is exceptionally beautiful, film quality, really. Suzy Bae, unlike the FL she plays, is lucky that in South Korea, they cast based on marketability, popularity, and looks, rather than who the best person for the job might be regardless of identity. It's an interesting contrast in this drama to have that element to it by way of casting. Because of her good fortune, she has been cast over and over (above much better actresses), until she finally became a good actress herself. Now THAT is the utimate luck in identity.
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1001 Chinese Nights
This drama has to be one of my very favourite dramas ever.It's like a Chinese version of the Tales of 1001 Nights. It feels like someone is narrating the story to us, but that person isn't seen or heard. It's like a Chinese version of "The Saragossa Manuscript", wherein you always feel like you are peeking at the characters from a distance. This has the cinematography of a 1960's dark Eastern European fairytale wherein you always feel a little bit ill at ease. In fact, this IS a retro Eastern European film, shaped into a Chinese tale, which has many tales woven into it.
Will you be able to tell the ML and SML apart? No, no you will not, at least, not on the first viewing, but that somehow becomes part of the charm of it all. Cecelia Liu is a beautiful treasure of an actress that has been in quite a few remarkable dramas, of which this is definitely one. Everyone seems perfectly cast to me. The stylized shots with the massive headroom dwarfing the characters, with dark eerie curtains always off to the side, gives a sense of conspiracy at every turn. There was maybe too much dialogue from the antagonists and other side characters, which I just skipped through, some random characters that didn't even need to be in the story, quite frankly, but every character, good or bad, was filmed in an eerie glow, highlighted by eerie music. It's a drama that makes you feel like you are in a world ill at ease with itself, which, again, is the 60's-70's Eastern European cinema hallmark.
This dark Eastern European drama in Mandarin, will make you feel weird, as Eastern European fairytales always do, but it's a good weird!
At the same time, all the Chinese drama tropes are present here. The impressive variety of poisons. The big, round antidote "energy ball" pills. The blood spitting, the fainting, the Qi damaging and mending. The evil empress, the fighting for the throne, it's all here to proudly exclaim that you are, indeed, watching a Chinese costume drama.
If you like 60's European art films like The Saragossa Manuscript, except with less sexual innuendos and content, or if you like those retro Czech cinema fairytales, but with better costumes and visual effects, then you will love this drama. I do recall some parts had way too much dialogue (especially when it came to exposition that we could have easily figured out for ourselves), but you can just skip those moments. I think this is a weird and eerie masterpiece that evokes the retro dark cinema of an alternative reality.
Hilarious inconsistancies (very 70's Eastern European low budget!) and things to watch for:
I had a bit of a fast rewatch of some sections.
Firstly, when the FL is magically "tied up" with CGI magic, only to wake up with what is obviously just dry straw around her, which she has to get the ML to help release her from.
The opening song and accompanying graphics are quite bad! The very last note of the song is so hilariously off-key, as well as the music not fitting the tone of the drama whatsoever.
The wigs are giving every single actor an automatic face-lift. They are so pulled back that it is quite ridiculous. Characters would have serious headaches 24 hrs a day if they wore these hairstyles in reality.
Zheng Yi Cheng makes a brief and forgettable cameo as a mystic timelord. I'm sure he only lowered his hood to raise the ratings.
FL is linked to the ML in body, and they faint at the same time, which is a very cute/ funny touch. Then, she proceeds to be knocked out just a little bit later, and he doesn't faint as well, for some reason, but does feel when she pokes a message into her hand.
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A Messed-Up Anne Of Green Gables
Updated Review: I was really enjoying this, until the writers betrayed the characters in the worst possible way. Update at the end.Episodes 1-17:
A really crazy, emotionally confusing coming-of-age story featuring a beautiful orphaned outsider and her cousin best friend. This drama series doesn't really know what it wants to be. One minute, we'll see quite realistic depictions of war, and then the next, the characters are serving up broad comedy. As a result, I have no idea what to feel about the storyline. This drama series wants to be a drama just as much as it wants to be a comedy, but it just fails at holding itself as either genre, nor a balanced mixture of both.
The FL, is absolutely beautiful, cheerful, optimistic, intelligent, and everything you would expect from an Asian Anne of Green Gables. Does she act a bit too flighty/ immature at times like just about all the FL in Chinese costume dramas? Yes, she does. However, I found her incredibly charming despite this, mainly on account of her sharp wit and bravery.
The story is both predictable and unpredictable at the same time. I really don't know what to make of it all. But I do know that I'm hooked on this drama, as messy as it is, and won't be dropping it. The character I can't stand in this series is the SFL. She's an educated half-wit Mary Sue who is always getting herself and by default others into trouble. I already know she is going to get the ML, or.... the character that I consider to be the ML. Her whole Mary Sue role is written just so she will end up with the best male character in the drama. I was actually enjoying the fact that romance was taking a back seat to the story of the two women living life on their own terms, but it looks like that might come to an end in future episodes. Both MLs are very interesting characters which I look forward to watching more from.
One very interesting character is Wu Yin, who is a male character, pretending to be a female, played by a very beautiful actress. I'm not saying that this actress does a bad job of pretending to be a man, but I could think of many male actors who could play a young man pretending to be a woman just as well, and I do feel that it's so obvious that the character is being portrait by a woman, that even with her face covered and in all black clothes like a ninja, I could still tell the character was being played by a woman. It just isn't plausible to imagine the character is a man, so it takes away from my enjoyment of the story.
The way our young romantic FL lets us into her imagined expectations of romance was a really nice component to the storytelling, and this also informs us of the main message of this drama:
That life isn't fantasy. It's as unpredictable as it is indifferent to our wishes, hopes, and dreams.
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Update with some SPOILERS:..... Where do I even begin?!!! The writers took a beautiful story featuring great actors, and have just thrown everything into the mud.
From ep 21 onwards, the SFL, who has no brain nor beauty of her own, instead of doing the right thing, she profits off of the FL's love for both herself by stealing the SML, not even asking him how he feels about marrying her now that he has survived war. The FL accidently gives away her love to the SFL out of perverse loyalty. The SFL could have gone and been a nun, as the SML suggested, but no, that's not good enough for her.... despite her having no IQ or looks, she is too good for this... somehow.
The FL gets kidnapped and held for ransom by the actual ML (wish he was the SML, unfortunately, he isn't). The ML even attempts to rape her at one point, meanwhile our FL has Stockholm Syndrome, so of course she is developing feelings for the ML, because that's human nature, and I completely understand it, but our ML, no matter his sob story background, is a brute with multiple wives, who threatens his way through life and into our FL's heart, and it is disgusting to watch. This ML is really the worst. And his subordinates are telling the FL how she needs to be nice to the ML after all he's done to her?!! This is the same ML that forced her to get engaged with him, and then forced her to marry him! He literally ruined her life! The FL's love for the SFL also ruined her life, but in a passive way, whereas the ML straight-up took a wrecking-ball to all her hopes and dreams and her future. I can't even.... aughhhh! I don't know if I can keep watching.
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Mythical Creatures in Republican Era
The premise of this drama had so much potential, but somehow fell flat as soon as we were introduced to the consistantly emotionless FL, who the emotionless actress, Gulnazar provided for us. If you watch dramas solely look at beautiful, yet stone cold FLs, then this will be your cup of (cold) tea.I loved the idea of Ancient Chinese Mythical creatures inside a Republican Era China setting. A great idea for a drama! And I didn't mind the many interwoven stories within one story either, if the drama had flowed better than it did. As it was, it felt like there were a bunch of unnecessary starts and stops to the main story, instead of all the stories intersecting in a logical way.
Anyway, this drama was not well executed, and was a very forgettable viewing experience as it was. I did like the stark contrast between morally corrupt military leaders and loving, ethical Chinese creatures. This contrast was also shown through the clothing the characters wore. Ultimately though, an unfortunate wasted opportunity.
4 magical koi fish out of 10.
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Unusual, Offbeat, and Engaging Dark Fantasy World
If you want to see a different, unusual, and dark fantasy drama series, this is the one. Characters were interesting because not so much was given away about them, which can be a plus or a minus depending how you look at it. Acting was good, as far as I remember (watched it a while back).Thinking about it, I wanted to get to know more about the characters, especially the secondary characters which were surprisingly intriguing, but there was an issue with timing. The screenwriters made an error with timing, and it resulted in the last few episodes becoming rushed, to the point of the very last episode being an action-packed blur of an episode, and when the antagonists were beat, there was this awkward pause, as if the characters had absolutely no idea what to do with their lives now that the enemy was vanquished.
The "slight romance" could have definitely been explored further, as there was almost a love triangle hinted at, sort of, kind of, but it wasn't explored more than a few seconds or a comment or two in that direction.
8 is more generous than I would usually give a drama, but I appreciate seeing something different, and I really felt engrossed in this whole other dark fantasy world. I generally liked all the characters too, and the actors did a great job. Definitely, I think this is a good drama if you are looking for something unique and dark.
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Sweet and Watchable Martial Arts Story
I am enjoying this short drama so far. It's super cute and high on charm. The story is the most important aspect, and I am finding it sufficiently engaging. Not anything amazing, but definitely watchable. My main and only complaint here is the FL. She is unusually plain looking. No, I don't mean that she is unattractive physically, but the average young Chinese woman on my street is twice as beautiful as this FL. Within the drama, they kept bringing up her good looks, so it was also a character trait that this actress just doesn't have. It didn't help that her character stuffs her face with food at every available opportunity, without closing her mouth while she chews. I know it was meant as a comedic character quirk to make her more relatable, but I found it incredibly unpleasant. The FL is rude, disgusting, and greedy, but we are meant to look past all that because of her peasant status and her good heart. Well, I personally couldn't look past all of this, or perhaps she didn't possess enough redeeming qualities to offset her faults.It bothers me that wherever there is male friendship, there is talk of BL. Think of what kind of message that sends. Men can't have friendships anymore without being accused of non-platonic relations. It sickens me to think that male friendship can be perverted by mainstream media. Friendship is sacred, regardless of gender, which is also why I am against this genre called BL, because it's exploiting homosexuality. The male friendship in this drama (so far) is its strongest story arch, and it doesn't need any kind of love gimmick to make it more interesting. So far, romance in this drama has taken a back seat to actual story, as it should. I'm a bit worried about where the story is going, but so far, if they hadn't hired a "Zhao Lu Si" type, plain-looking, broad comedy actress, this would have been a really good drama.
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Doesn't Live Up To The First
Some positive things:- The fantastic OST used in the original is back.
- Zhang Ye Cheng gets to really show us his skills in this one. Not just his "dark Tang Qing Feng" with the brilliant laugh, but also with body swapping with our Ah Bu Cha Cha.
- Yi, the Dark Tang Qing Feng is awesome!!!
- Tang Qing Feng in the body of Ah Bu Cha Cha is epic.
- Ah Bu Cha Cha in the body of Tang Qing Feng is epic.
- No bad acting at all.
- Yan Wang's unbeatable cinematography is back.
- Most of our favourite characters from the first drama make a small cameo, and it's nice to see them again.
- Ah Bu Cha Cha and Teng Qing Feng being affectionate. This is the sweetest couple of any drama.
I honestly wanted to love this, as I love the original, but here are
Some less positive things:
- Story was even more all over the place than the original! It is a mess.
- Duo Miao Miao has become overly naive and I had a hard time connecting to his character. Also, his naivety became annoying.
- Duo Miao Miao's mom is just way too annoying.
- Villain character, I don't think he was even necessary to the plot.
- Xiao Ba, also unnecessary charcter. Didn't really bring anything to the story or character dynamics. The actress playing her was fantastic though!!
- This is basically a bunch of unrelated stories, being forced into a plot that doesn't work, unfortunately.
I can't recommend this to anyone but those who loved the first one. I'm pretty sure this was made just for the fans of the original. If you are a fan, you will find things to love about this, but it's not a "stand alone" sequel, and it's not a masterpiece like the first one. Zheng Ye Cheng though really stuck out here, and I felt he was overshadowed by An Yue Xi's character in the original.
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50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
"There must be 50 ways to leave your lover".- Paul Simon
Indeed, every way to leave your lover is explored here in "Lost You Forever".
What a pleasant surprise this is. I could never stand Yang Zi and her saccharine cuteness, but nonetheless, I gave this a try, and it did not disappoint! The strongest aspect this series has going for it is the dialogue, which is intelligent above any Chinese fantasy drama I have seen to date.
Yang Zi, in opposition to her usual on-screen persona, played an intelligent woman who becomes extremely skilled at life in general as she progresses through the story. It was nice to see a female main character change with time and learning, instead of staying the same.
She gets callouses on her hands in the same way she developes callouses around her heart. Would I have prefered if another actress had played the role? Yes, if I'm being honest. However, Yang Zi killed it (in a good way).
I've talked about Tan Jian Ci before when he stole the show in, "Court Lady". This guy is so, so good, and yes, I am going to mention his sexy voice one last time here. What a sexy baritone! Mmmmm
Anyway, Zhang Wang Yi was the show stealer of this drama. He is phenomenally good here. What his character embodied for me was the impending sense of loss a sibling feels during adolescence, when their sister or brother abandons them for marriage to form their own family. At least, that's the sense I got about it.
This drama explores different types of loss, including how every brother/ sister will one day lose their sibling/s one way or another. We all come into this world alone, and that's the way we leave it.
This series does have its draggy episodes, which has to do with the usual pitfall of too many episodes to fill with content. I can't lie and say I didn't skip over large chunks of it, which I didn't even need to see, as there is a whole lot of recap talked about by the characters within each episode. This could have easily been a great 16 episode drama, but I understand that writers are pretty much forced by contract to stretch ideas out to breaking point, and I can't blame them for something they have no control over.
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Belongs in an Abandoned Volt
If there was an abandoned volt we could put dramas in that are so forgettable, so utterly without purpose or art, this would be one of those dramas.Let's look at the positives:
- TFL gave a decent performance (LOL, not FFL or SFL).
-SML was quite good with the little he was given to work with.
- Costumes were fantastic!
- Sets were pretty good too.
- CGI was Okay. Not terrible at all.
Well, that's really all I've got. If I hadn't seen the ML and FL in "Ugly Beauty", I'd say neither of them could act. I'd also say that they had no chemistry. This is the responsibility of the director, mainly. The story, other than just to say that it's a reincarnated lovers story, there isn't much to it! The SML had more character depth than the ML or FL. There is the usual Mary Sue, brainless FL character that doesn't have the ability to love (when in reality, she is missing the ability to use her brain instead). There is the stoic, cold male lead, and there is the SML who sacrifices everything for the FL, but she chooses the ML for no logical reason except that is the one and only motivating factor of the story.
I can't honestly suggest that anybody should watch this drama, unless you like the ridiculous plot point that the FL will have some sort of heart attack if she has sex, because her ability to love is blocked. Who the hell came up with this crap?
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Princess Confused-A-Lot
Princess Confused-A-Lot was confused..... a lot.I'm writting this review because this web drama is not so very bad that it deserves a 6.2 rating, even by my high standards.
The story is a cute fantasy drama tale about an incompetent female assasin, and her misadventures as she gets close to a prince in order to assassinate him, and finds herself starting to fall for him instead. It's cute, it's short, nothing terribly new and innovative, but if you are looking for a light-hearted fluffy drama, this will do just fine.
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Why Did I Watch This?
I honestly don't know what I was expecting, as.... it sounds like a very annoying story idea with the usual vampire cliches, which is exactly what it was.I guess I just needed some background noise. I think the part I liked most was the theme song "This vampire is on fire, this vampire is a liar".
Basically, whatever they could get to rhyme with vampire was thrown in, exactly in the same way as every vampire cliche was thrown into the story.
The FL is a beautiful swan-necked woman who has become a harsh, closed sort of individual. She's cold, and the vampire ML is warm in comparison, even without a pulse.
I have seen the second female in several dramas before, and they did an excellent job of making her insufferable in every way from the very first episode. Not only that, but they filmed her in the most unflattering way they could, as she is a stunning beauty normally, but they had to make sure the FL outshone her in this. The SFL was written as the archetypal wealthy "enemy of the people". In Korea's socialist brainwashing, attaining wealth is the biggest sin one can commit, so the wealthy are always portrayed in the most unflattering and undeservingly bad light. Think of Squid Game and Parasite. It's awful to think people cannot be judged by the content of their character, as neither wealth nor lack of wealth should be the deciding factor of a person's worth or output.
The SML was really good and heartfelt in his role. Yes, I was rooting for the good-hearted SML, who ironically needed a heart transplant. Not that our ML was lacking as an actor, but I felt his character wasn't developed as well. It made sense for the FL to be a closed person, but I found her to be lacking in charisma. I mean, I've enjoyed cold FL characters before, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about her, and I'm not sure why. There was a secondary female character named Rose that had hardly any lines, and yet I liked her more than the FL, because she had personality.
This drama is a waste of your time.
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Gong Jun's Doppelganger and Tigger Too!
The ML is Gong Jun's doppelganger. I mean, if they wore the same wig, they could double for each other on set. Especially the way this ML moves his jaw. I know that's a weird thing to notice, but I thought they were for sure the same person when I first saw this.The ML can act! Yes, his character is super annoying, arrogant, unlikeable at first, but it grows on you like mold. Not sure why his character was made to be so unpleasant, but this didn't take away from the fact that this actor is really quite good.
The FL, however, is the human form of Tigger, from Winnie the Pooh. Watching her is as pleasant as nails down a chalkboard. Yes, bouncy, bouncy, fun fun fun fun fun......not! I cannot stand this FL. She is everything I can't stand in a FL, from her clingy, needy personality, to her bubbly, cutesy immaturity.
The SFL and SML are, by contrast, the best characters in the drama, along with the ML's dad. Unfortunately, I can't be bothered with caring about a secondary couple. I know that's my own failing. I just can't divide up my attention between two couples for some reason. This happens in every drama for me, I can only care about one coupling.
The actual production is well done. They wrote a smart, capable FL, but then gave the part to an actress who is the antithesis of smart, capable, unusual, or interesting in any way. I'm guessing because of her agent. What was the point of writing a smart FL, if you are going to give it to the most Mary Sue actress you can possibly find?
So, overall, I'm giving this production a relatively high rating, because it at least aspired to being different, fun, and better quality than 80% of costume dramas, but was let down when it came to casting of the FL, and to the usual pitfall of too many episodes, which had to be filled with whatever clichè costume drama tropes they could come up with to fill in the time alloted.
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