Minalapinou

The plot is a mix between the "crazy painter in the attic" used in many verticals and the one where the much abused heroïne seduces the rabbid black sheep of the family to serve her revenge plans. This one even throws siscon into the mix as she's his cherished big sister's doppelgänger, because why not, gotta catch the interest of your audience in some way. Honestly it's a mess, it shouldn't work, but it's carried by Ma Xiao Yu's magnetic presence and Zuo Yi's versatility. I was curious to see their Crazy VS. Crazy performance, and they didn't disappoint. Ma Xiao Yu was still very green there, relying too much on screaming his lines and making faces to emote, but the sheer, overwhelming sense of presence he brings to the vertical format elevates and intensifies every cheesy scene he's in, while Zuo Yi does a remarkable job at disappearing behind her role (she's the kind of actress who can make you believe she's royalty dressed in a trashbag, a very convenient skill for verticals where you have to rely a lot on suspension of disbelief to pass your knock-off jewerly for priceless heirlooms). There was something unique and moving about the scenes where this huge man is resting in the lap of his very frail fake sister, no better image to show power reversal. The rest of the cast can't compare and the drama shows its limits when the main duo is missing (use the fast-forward button accordingly). On the siscon baiting, I was into anime when stuff like actual blood incest was A Thing (cue PTSD war flashbacks) so I admit it didn't even faze me here.