MyLangyaList

A concussive flurry that leaves you in anticipation of what's next

--Summary--
A provocative, in-your-face kidnapping into the disturbing world of Korean school violence. High quality production with excellent action scenes, visuals, and sound. Gripping and fast-paced story with convincing setup. Reasonable plot progression without major holes, but also some plot convenience and noble idiocy that I was able to overlook. Captivating acting from the impressive young leads and veteran supporting actors added to the realism. Though more a prequel than complete narrative, it's a thrilling prelude hopefully to a well-fleshed out story.

I give it 8 (+0.5), which is very good score reserved for one of the best shows of the year. But it's difficult to rate higher because we've only been given a partial story and the compact S1 doesn't leave room for greater thematic depth or connection to characters. I may bump the rating if future seasons are able to develop this into a high quality, fleshed out story.

**Update after S2**: This originally received an 8 despite being an incomplete story based on the high production value and some promising plot elements. But when the rest of the assignment was turned in for S2, it became clear that S1 never had a complete story to begin with. So marking this down to 7.5

--Detailed Rating--
Update: 7.5 for the lack of continuity in S2.
✅ Plot (8.5) - The core of the plot is logical and moves the story along at the brisk pace. In the second half of the show, previously calculated and pragmatic characters like Ahn Soo and Yeon Shi both indulge in some noble idiocy and create a bigger mess for the very people they were trying to protect. In addition, Oh Beom Seok's descent into malevolence appeared too abrupt and unfounded as he betrayed Ahn Soo over minor slights while allying himself with bullies that have tormented him far more brutally. While these plot issues are not dealbreakers, they do stretch the plausibility and detract from the story.

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A NDBT (哪都不通) storyline

‒Short Review‒

Season 2 returns the main cast in Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao and perhaps even ups the ante in terms of visuals, CGI, action choreography. However, the magic of S1‒seamlessly blending humor, action, and heart into a story with intrigue and great characters‒was missing. Instead, the show often felt like a frustrating, disjointed mess that struggled to blend together multiple stories, angles, and new characters. Only in the beginning and the very last episode did the show feel like S1, where the narrative was able to pull together into a coherent story. Given how this season was somehow higher rated on Douban compared to S1, I suspect much of the narrative issues may be due to a creative team that had to balance the expectations of the manhua and donghua fans, rather than crafting a ground-up adaptation of the story that was shown.

As a TV-only enjoyer, there seems to be several different themes and story lines for this season. There's the Chen Duo storyline of who she is, what happened between her and Liao Shu, and also the the effort to capture her. There's Ma Xianhong's village, his special cauldron, and the effort to bring him under NDT jurisdiction. There's mystery to the other NDT temps. And also, there's the tension with NDT HQ. In addition, there's a small arc about ZGQ. Either the show needed to prune some of the story lines or use a different narrative structure to main the focus and cohesion that's needed. Instead, we got a story that struggled to build tension and focus, much less maintain it. In contrast, S1 worked so well partly due to the core story about ZCL, and later on FBB. I rewatched a bit of S1 again for comparison, and the humor and story difference is just night and day.

What I Liked
- Production value, decent CGI
- Action sequences
- The returning characters from S1, and the new ZGQ
- Vicky Chen's Chen Duo

What I Didn't Like
- The storytelling
- New character casting/acting (I suspect too much emphasis was placed on visual resemblance, rather than acting and behavior that's most organic to the story)
- New character story (the little backstory we got for them was shallow and awkward, difficult to care about them)
- Humor (forced and disrupting to the mood/tensions of the story, and the humor just wasn't as sharp)

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7 (generous 7)
- Plot - 6.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7.5
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 7
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 8
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Not about man or demon, but the character

‒Review‒

The Demon Hunter's Romance is an engaging entry with that blends the lives of demons and humans in depicting a vivid world of supernatural intrigue, brotherhood, romance, and morality. The show deftly weaves together elements of different genres‒Xianxia, supernatural, mystery‒in mini-arcs that leave memorable characters and messages while pulling the viewer along the arc of its grand mystery.

This show was a pleasant surprise as I found the execution to be far more fluid and interesting compared to the well-received Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty and other case-solving shows. One big reason is the show didn't trigger my mini-mystery gag reflex by cobbling together a bunch of gotcha cases. Rather, it focused on making the main characters and the case characters interesting. Thus they were able to unveil the cases organically and use the cases to reveal more about the struggles, motivations, and qualities of the characters. The pacing was fast and even (which are common issues in CDramas), with plenty of comedy and well-choreographed fight scenes sprinkled in. The show also employed supernatural Chinese folk lore very creatively, in creating the lore and depicting it on screen.

As for the actors, the two leads were quite convincing in their performances. And plenty of veteran side characters helped deliver the laughs and emotions along the way. This is my first time watching Song Zuer and it was easy to see why she's considered one of the most capable actresses of the younger generation. To go through the whole show being connected to her character and never taken out of scenes makes for such an easy and enjoyable experience. *[In fact, the only thing that took me out a bit was SZE's looks. She was already considered one of the prettiest young actresses, and would have appeared more natural without doing any cosmetic work.] Allen Ren, who I had plenty of issues with in past shows, was a pleasant surprise. He fit the cool, stoic character really well and was even able to deliver enough of a emotional note for more moving scenes. Same goes for the supporting and case characters as I can't think of a single character that ejected me. While nothing was Oscar-worthy, I'm more delighted with a show free of acting issues.

The ending was sensible if not somewhat poignant. While the love-love-kiss-kiss contingent may not be happy, the ending was hardly some plotline terrorism that detonated characters and HEA for no reason. In fact, this was a pretty happy and positive ending. It even preserved the deep love connection between the leads and left open opportunities to meet again in the future.

Overall, this was a pleasant surprise that can be summarized as 'it's not about idol or not, but the show quality.' This is an idol drama, a mystery, somewhat Xianxiaish, and has a romantic focus. These are not the typical elements of shows I enjoy. But it was done well here and the romantic elements was not gratuitous (perhaps not gratuitous enough for some). In fact, I hope this becomes a show that all costume idol dramas can learn from and aspire to. Like Mysterious Lotus Casebook in 2023, this show did a lot of things well and avoided the typical landmines. And it was able to succeed even if it didn't go for something spectacular. Rating: 8.5 (8 + 0.5 MDL adj)

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 8 + 0.5
- Plot - 8
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 8
- Acting - 8
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 8
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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An endearing adaptation of Red Band Society

‒Overview‒

'Ming Ri You Qing Tian' is the Chinese adaptation of the beloved 'Red Band Society' that has a Chinese title that roughly translates to 'Tomorrow has Sunshine'. It's a Chinese spin on the Spanish Drama 'Polseres Vermelles', which has spawned many adaptations internationally. The show is a found-family and coming-of-age drama that follows the young patients that banded together as they grapple with the vicissitudes of youth, dreams, friendship, family, loss, and overhanging specter of their own mortality. Like the best entries in this genre, the show mixes laughs, emotions, and a dash of romance (though far less than other versions). The 16 episodes go by quickly and the endearing characters will leave you with strong impressions, life lessons, and healing in midst of loss.

‒What I Liked‒

- Excellent theme and concept, courtesy of the OG drama, adapted to Chinese setting and sensibilities
- Exploration of the struggles of medical patients, the attitudes and reactions of parents, and the stigma and social issues in the Chinese context
- The likeable, three dimensional characters delivered by solid acting performances from a young and relatively unknown cast.
- Good execution on the found family concept, plenty of humor, and plenty of heart. There are a lot of 地狱笑话 (Hell Jokes, even worse than Soviet Jokes), but also plenty of inspiring moments.
- The German version is supposedly the best, but I don't speak German so I briefly checked out the American version. Higher budget production notwithstanding, it was a very Walmart store teen comedy, where the characters and jokes were predictability on 2 legs, oops my bad, on 1 leg or wheelchair. If you thought that joke was bad, the jokes in the American version were no better. In contrast, Tomorrow Has Sunshine felt more authentic and contemplative. This might be because China doesn't make many comedies whereas US produces tons of sitcoms, which also means stylistic repetitiveness and fatigue. Regardless, the American version felt like cripples hopped up on an alternating mix of adderall and crying meds. I'm sure the show has some highlight moments, but the amount of derivativeness made me hit the eject button in short order.

‒What I Didn't Like‒

- The social media aspect, courtesy of the producer, Bilibili (China's YouTube). While the show tried to add a social media twist that presumably wasn't part of the original drama, it amounted to more of a half-baked effort and annoyance. While it didn't degrade the core of the story, the social media presence felt tacked on. A better integration would have required a far more thoughtful and intensive modification of the original story and directorial presentation.
- The slight issue with polish in the visuals, music, and editing department. It's not as polished as Link Click, another interesting recent drama from Bilibili. The American show Scrubs comes to mind for the similar vibe. IMO Scrubs is an all-time classic, so there's a significant gap in storytelling and presentation.
- Minor plot logic and continuity issues
- Disclaimer: might be because I've been watching everything on 2X* The finale was solid, but meandered a bit, rather than ending on a decisive, impactful note. Also some of the tonal transitions between funny and sad moments could have been refined. And I thought they could have been braver and lingered longer on sad moments longer to let it hit home.

Overall this was an engaging, fast watch and most people probably wouldn't have my complaints about polish. I rate it a 7.8 ‒> 8.5MDL. The biggest issue might be finding it on international platforms with good subs. If you do, this is well worth the binge.

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.8
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 8.5
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 7.5
- Rewatch - 7.5
- Accessibility - 8.5
- Subtitle quality - ??

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Love-addled trance in the 1st half, exorcism and return to form in the 2nd half

‒Short Review‒
S2 returns the same cast and presumably the same production team as S1. But based on the initial episodes in the first half of the show, you'd be convinced that the crew were collectively replaced with 恋爱脑 (love-addled brain). It's not that I'm against romance and S1 did half romance between the leads, albeit in a more male-centric style. The problem is our leads fell into the most derivative romantic situations complete with misunderstandings, infantile romance that destroys characterization, and noble idiocy galore. It took a lot of anger suppression and fast-forwarding before I survived to the 2nd half (around ep8) where the show mostly returned to form.

This season will start with what happened to the fate of Ji Ruxue, who was punched off a cliff ... hint hint, flailing off a cliff might as well be the most foolproof survival tactic in CDrama. The more complicated background of Li Xinyun, Ji Ruxue, and Zhang Zifan is revealed. And the 2nd half revolves around the different factions searching and fighting for the Long Quan Treasures, and the Hellhound Chief's conspiracy. Pacing was much better in the 2nd half as there was a lot more fighting and a lot less idioting. Not everyone will like the ending as someone dies, though the Hellhound Chief had given plenty of hints and warnings, so it was a mistake to cross him. The good news is that even dead people can be revived, especially in Wuxia animes. The bad news is that there will be no continuation any time soon. Fans can try the anime, it's 3D style typical of Chinese anime, and apparently its one of the most popular Donghuas, lauded for its rich world building, attention to historical and cultural elements, and plot.

Note: There is a 2022 knock-off remake on Youtube. Unless you are desperate, I wouldn't recommend it as it's worse actors, worse looking actors, and cheap short-drama style. But if you did like it, just know you'll enjoy this version a lot more.

Bu Liang Ren S1 Review
https://kisskh.at/profile/MyLangyaList/reviews/391521

--Component Ratings--

- Overall - charitable 7 (1st half 5.0, 2nd half 7.0)
- Plot - 7
- Theme / Message / Impact - 7.5
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 7
- Audio - 7.5
- Rewatch - 6
- Accessibility - 7.5 (if you find decent subs)
- Subtitle quality - ??

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There are no mysteries here, only writers playing tricks

‒Overview‒

Strange Tales is a mystery detective drama set in Tang Dynasty of ancient China. If you enjoy costume dramas and mysteries, this show certainly punches above its weight in visuals, fight choreography, and acting for the most part. But it's also not for everyone. The mystery elements, while offers some interesting twists and unique setups, are not unfolded in the way that a few exceptional top mystery shows deliver. And viewers must also contend with one of the main characters Lu Lingfeng, whose brash and haughty personality can make for a frustrating watch.

‒Review‒

First a disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of mysteries, especially procedural mysteries. My reason is that they often feel like a sleigh of hand trick rather than a genuine mystery that engages the audience in the case-solving, the characters, and thought process of the detectives. The latter method is often used in long-form mysteries that span the entire show. So I was thoroughly engaged for shows like Interlaced Scenes, The First Shot, and others. But what makes the long-form mysteries great‒the complex characters, prolonged tension and stakes, the worldbuilding‒often take a backseat to the need to quickly build and resolve the cases, while keeping the audience entertained. And too often, it feels like the writer is just employing various tools like sleigh of hand, bait-and-switch, and case-solving by obscure details/knowledge. The problem with this approach is that it erodes the logical consistency and misdirects the focus on the drama to wild-goose-chase that are ultimately inconsequential. I would include legal, cop, and medical case shows in there as well as it often resolves by magical doctor pulling out some obscure medical detail to save the day. Just as ghosts are rare if not non-existent, genuine mysteries are also rare. Most of the time, it's just people, or in this case, the writers pulling tricks 装神弄鬼.

Despite this pervasive problem, I tend to look for other elements that would still make procedural mysteries enjoyable for me. There are 3 major elements: the story of the MCs, the story or message of the case characters, the cases themselves. I rarely find the latter engaging enough by itself and mostly rely on the other two elements to carry me through the show. My problem with Strange Tales is that it never provided an engaging enough backstory for the MCs, whether Lu Lingfeng, Su Wuming, or Pei Xijun. Lu Lingfeng - from proud aristocratic family, wanting to honor the legacy but not sacrifice his integrity. Su Wuming - a disciple of the famed detective/judge Di Renjie, presumably wants to uphold justice. Pei Xijun - likes Lu Lingfeng, has artistic talent, and is an unorthodox girl. And the only other discernible element is a larger conspiracy from the battle of court factions in the capital. The problem is that the character backstories barely scratches the surface, are not that compelling, and doesn't provide a hook into what makes them tick, what are their greater purpose, or what deep tensions are they trying to resolve. And the court conspiracy was only occasionally brought into the spotlight, and doesn't really make sense under scrutiny. To make things worse, Lu Lingfeng's angry and impulsive outbursts makes me want to throw bottles of sedative pills at him. Bro, you are trying to solve mysteries here, not get into bar fights. He is supposed to get better in the second season, so fingers crossed.

So the show doesn't provide me with a strong basis of continuity across the cases. I don't get to care about the struggles of the characters, their growth, or whatever their personal journey. Even the camaraderie between the characters are somewhat lackluster, as Su Wuming and Pei Xijun both come in and out, and Lu Lingfeng's anger issues throws a wrench into the Lu-Su bromance. The case characters themselves are also difficult to engage with. It's partly due to the bait-switch sleigh-of-hand tricks the writers are pulling, which makes it difficult for you to fully trust or root for the characters until the case is already resolved. As I write this, I'm struggling to remember any characters that stood out. Another small complaint I had was with the acting. I can understand Lu Lingfeng is probably written with anger issues so I give Yang Xuwen a pass. His fights were also great. Yang Zhigang as Su Wuming did a very good job, and Gao Siwen as Pei Xijun was fine, the problem is her character is not fully fleshed out. What's more glaring are scenes with the Emperor, Empress, and royals. It's too exaggerated, too on-the-nose, and erodes the polish or whatever credibility of a secretive political intrigue that the writers are trying to convey.

As a comparison, Mysterious Lotus Casebook worked because it leveraged the brotherhood dynamic of its core characters and each of the cases tied into the overarching mission of Li Lianhua to figure out the past and safeguard his loved ones. I didn't care for any of the MLC cases as they also felt sleigh-of-hand to me, but even as I tuned out of the cases, I stayed engaged with the main story. The First Shot is a long-form mystery that has several layers and twists. But it unfolded the story just as it did to the main characters, so as a viewer you saw what they saw and stayed engaged for the ride. The character backstories were also much more engaging and touching. Bureau of Transformers employs procedural format but hit on all 3: interesting MCs, interesting case characters, and interesting cases. Though to be fair, the cases are not exactly detective mysteries, so they could afford to not use writer magic tricks, and the experience was much more enjoyable. Another hidden gem is Link Click from this year, which I'm looking to review soon.

So overall I can only give it a 6 as I force fed myself this so I can check out the highly touted season 2. But by the time I finished, I was no longer in the mood to pick up s2 immediately. If they fix the MC issue for s2 where I can care for them, then it could easily be a 7, and an 8 if the case characters are interesting. I have no expectation for the cases themselves, but 2 out of 3 will do.

‒Category Ratings--

- Overall - 6
- Plot - 6
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 6
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 6
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Focus on the prize ... Sima Yi understands, the director clearly doesn't.

‒Overview‒

For review of part 1 of the series, see review for Advisors Alliance (https://kisskh.at/profile/MyLangyaList/review/406400). Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon picks up where Advisors Alliance left off with a dying Cao Pi who passes the throne to a tormented, vengeful, but also calculated Cao Rui. RTGD focuses on the battle of wits and will between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang, then Sima Yi's and his family's rise to power. The show inherits both the positives and negatives of AA. The iconic plotline, pivotal events, and more action-oriented battles between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang makes for a more exciting watch. At the same time, the incongruency in characterization and tone are at times more pronounced in RTGD. For those not troubled by its issues, this could be an epic watch. But for those who are (like yours truly), it's a viewing experience best cut short lest one wants to submit to an increasingly lackluster experience.

‒The Good‒

- Expensive production with gorgeous indoor and outdoor sets and costumes to match.
- Expansive and gripping battle scenes, and a lot more of them
- Solid depiction of Zhuge Liang, and his similarity and rivalry with Sima Yi
- Solid lineup of actors with great performances in various scenes
- Political ploys, intrigues, and dialogues that much cleverer than the average show

‒The Questionable/Bad‒

- The drama tries to straddle the line between a prestige historical and a lighter costume drama. But the injection of a lighthearted moments detracted from the gravity of show and interfered with character building of these serious historical figures. At times this was a mere nuisance. But in other moments, the ridiculous levity in tone completely annihilated the character, worldbuilding, and gravity of the show. You get a bunch of weird cutaway transitions with a slick sound effect in episode 26, to wrangle a few drops of comedy out of the episode. Then in Episode 27, the ridiculousness culminated in a dying Cao Rui summons Sima Yi to either be anointed as a guardian for the new Emperor or be killed. It should be such a tense and precarious moment, yet the director completely bastardized the moment by sending soldiers stumbling into the hall to kill Sima Yi, because they misread the Emperor's signals. And they did this 3 times!!! Even before Cao Rui was dead, all the tension, intrigue, and calculations of a pivotal moment was completely buried.

At times, you can feel the director channeling his inner Ah Dou, trying his best to squander away the massive budget, talented cast, and marvelous source material for some cheap laughs. If this was made today, he'd be randomly dropping Tiktok effects in the episodes. If he was escorting at a brothel, he'd be whoring away for Twizzlers. If he was a chef, he'd first shit on his hands show you all sorts of weird and vomit-inducing acts, before showering and sanitizing himself and make a meal for you with his bare hands. Sure, in theory his hands are just as clean, but who would want to eat out of that? That's what he does to the story and characters constantly, dunking them into off-putting cesspools before trying to sell the audience on stirring and momentous scenes.

Anyways, despite my rant, there were still enough highlight moments in the show to make it a worthwhile, though forgettable watch. But as Three Kingdoms have taught me, know when to quit, 走为上计, I dropped at Ep 27 to avoid the increasingly disappointing episodes that awaited.

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.5
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7
- Acting - 8
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 7.5
- Rewatch - 7
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Grand ambitions, disjointed execution.

‒Overview‒

Advisors Alliance is Three Kingdoms historical drama that does many things well and may be a terrific viewing experience for many. However, its storytelling and treatment of characters may result in significant disconnect for viewers who are already familiar with the story.

‒The Good‒

- Expensive production with gorgeous indoor and outdoor sets and costumes to match.
- Expansive and gripping battle scenes
- Solid lineup of actors with great performances in various scenes
- Political ploys, intrigues, and dialogues that much cleverer than the average show
- Could be confusing, but also really novel and interesting to those who are not familiar with the story of Three Kingdoms

‒The Questionable/Bad‒

- Not true historical - the drama tries to straddle the line between a prestige historical and a lighter costume drama. But the injection of a lighthearted moments detracted from the gravity of show and interfered with character building of these serious historical figures
- The storytelling often felt inconsistent and fragmented. While the show did a decent job in depicting key moments in history, it was less adept at tying them into a powerful cohesive narrative. The setup and transitions between different events felt unpolished‒even if the scenes are well-crafted, you can't just duct-tape them together if you want to make a top-tier historical.
- The same goes for the characters and acting. When broken down by scenes, the characters and acting are decent, even spectacular. But since the overall character building feels inconsistent, the end result is actually disconnect and disbelief, especially for ones like Cao Cao, Sima Yi, and others where there already exists a prevailing conception. Sima Yi was flattened to be someone who's too loyal and innocent, which doesn't fit his historical or presumptive reputation in the show. Moreover, the time jumps are narrated rather than depicted and fails to depict the important changes to characters, further exacerbating the perception of incongruency. Yu Hewei's Cao Cao was meticulously acted. Yet the show fails to first establish the commendable aspects of this complicated figure, making the power and respect he commanded seem unconvincing. I loved Liu Tao in Nirvana in Fire. But she was unfortunately stuck with a female character that mostly just served as a comedic prop and someone to henpeck Sima Yi.

I dropped at ep 19 even though it's a decent show because I already have a good idea of the story and my appreciation will only go down from that point. Unlike the second volume, 'Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon', this covers a lesser known and less iconic portion of the Three Kingdom story.

The end result was something that was at times brilliant in tactics, but messy in strategy to use a Three Kingdoms analogy. Overall it was a 7.0 at ep 19. In comparison, Secret of Three Kingdoms, despite some similar problems and some plot issues in later episodes, actually did a better job in crafting more compelling characters and story for the earlier episodes. Of course, the most iconic Three Kingdoms dramas are the 1994 and 2010 versions, which I highly recommend checking out. 2010 version is best for international and younger viewers even though the 94 version is considered the undisputed king in China.

For review of Part 2, Growing Tiger Roaring Dragon: https://kisskh.at/profile/MyLangyaList/reviews/407886

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.0
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7.0
- Acting - 8
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 6
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7
- Subtitle quality - 8

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As boring as ...

--Positive Disclaimer--

If you are usually not impressed by idol and romance dramas, this one certainly isn't the canary in the coalmine that's going to surprise you‒you are better off checking out Fake It Till You Make It. But if you are the preferred audience, you may find this show to be above average in casting a FL that has a checklist of things such as career, independence, nonbitchiness, professional competence, smarts, a supportive boyfriend, non-toxic breakup, rich dude that's not annoying, blah blah blah. It's similar various other Tan Songyun professional dramas such as A Flight to You, Master of My Own, etc. So if you liked her in those, you'll probably like her here. The MDL viewership numbers and even its decent China viewership numbers clearly indicate that this was interesting for some people. Oh one more thing, the screenwriter managed to continue her creative ascent by topping her previous masterpiece 'Only For Love' ... who would have thought. That's all the good things I can possibly say, if want more positivity, stop reading and head elsewhere.

‒Short Review that ran long‒

As Beautiful As You was a drive-through lobotomy session that materialized when I got the crazy idea to watch airing dramas, even though the only thing airing were the putrid cadaver decompositions in the CDrama wasteland. I also held out the slim hope that Tang Sonyun isn't just going to waste her career making yet another cookie-cutter professional drama, and that this would at least be 'idol-drama good' (aka substandard in all sorts of ways, but with some creativity and redeeming features). Instead I came away as frustrated about her make-believe professional depiction on-screen as her actual career off-screen.

Immediately in the first episode, we are slammed with all sorts of predictable cliches that had my shit-show Geiger Counter going Chernobyl. With every scene, we are given all the telltale elements to predict the next scene, the next plot twist, and pretty much what the ending's going to look like. The plotline is so scandalously see-through that all the viewers should get the 'Angela Baby at a burlesque show' treatment and be permanently deplatformed.

But if you prefer to be selective with your defenestration location, you can take the elevator up to the C-suite penthouse where where a whole boardroom of lazy tropes are stuffed into a Xu Kai you-are-too-skinny-for-that power suit. We have the 8-pack I-can't-believe-he's-virginal uber-rich genius charismatic CEO cum gourmet chef who's socially adept with high EQ, but is completely helpless in expressing his love for his pixie dream girl supersmart competent classmate innocent firstlove interest that slowly realizes they are meant for each other. It's the Chinese-American restaurant menu approach of character writing with the chicken-pork-beef-shrimp-veggie Lo Mein permutations of originality by addition. The only interesting thought that the plot inspired was wondering what glory would follow if the screenwriter instead opened up a school to teach career development and sex ed.

And unlike the value offering from hardworking immigrant restauranteurs, the show delivers little value for its budget or your time investment. The cinematography has all the richness of an Alibaba wholesaler product video. The derivative soundtrack creates the aural experience of being subjected to a discount elevator music playlist while you are trapped and the doors won't open. Even the titles, both English and Chinese, reads like the diary heading of some 12-year-old.

The main leads, being Tan Songyun and Xu Kai are at least serviceable in portraying the ridiculous characters they are given. But this is their comfort zone, where they've done so many similar characters and dramas that they can do it with their eyes closed, or in Xu Kai's case, wearing the same suit from his other CEO drama. We are spared the Wang Hedi CEO stylistic assault, but watching them has all the novelty of watching McDonald's open up another franchise.

And that's the only part that engenders some emotion in me that's not boredom or frustration. I haven't seen Xu Kai enough to care or be disappointed. But I sincerely hope that Tan Songyun showed enough acting chops, unique personality, and potential early on that she can be a stalwart in more interesting CDramas. She garnered pretty positive review from astute observers for her various school and other dramas. In an era where actresses have more surgeries than full-sized meals, she has kept her distinctive look, and not be swayed by the CDrama peanut gallery, whose unmatched ability to call someone ugly has never looked itself in the mirror. And off-screen, from as much one can really guess about a performer's true character, she seems to belong to that precious minority that are still able to prioritize integrity, professionalism, and decency over the trappings of acting fame.

Granted, that hope is born of a selfish desire to see less of Yu Shuxins of the world. But for as much as I mock the parasocial nature of drama fandoms, I can't help but hope for some real kernels of decency, inspiration, and feel-good story for the human beings off-screen. Perhaps she's a one-character wonder. And perhaps she's happy to stay that way. And perhaps success in the entertainment business is even more precarious than in startups where you only strike gold when all the stars align. Whatever the case, I will continue to wish Seven Tan and other similar actors success. If for nothing else than to chirp from the peanut gallery: "see, I always believed she had much greater potential."

--Category Ratings--

- Overall [5] - I give it a 5 for this being a very average show. I typically give popular or slightly different idol dramas that nevertheless inspire seppuku a 5.5. So the 5 rating is more of an indication of how much worse other shows are in dramaland than anything else. Based on subjective reaction or brain cells lost, I'd rate idol dramas even lower.

- Plot - 5
- Theme / Message / Impact - 6
- Acting - 7
- Visuals - 6.5
- Audio - 5
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 8
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Time Travel: where cliche business ideas make a fortune, and cliche drama plot makes a hit show.

I decided to sample this show since it drew one of highest Chinese viewership in recent years, is a comedy, and has actors I'm generally positive about. While I didn't have high hopes given the 6.3 Douban rating, I figured there would be enough comedy to make it a spare-attention multitasking watch. And the show generally met that expectation mostly by avoiding the fatal pitfalls of CDramas. It didn't torture me with a sadistic reportoire of romantic tropes, the pace moved along, even if most of the plot was flat and predictable, and the actors didn't make me think I was watching a cheap commercial. My rating and review concerns the first 14 episodes that I did watch, after which the quality supposedly suffers.

The goal of the show seems to be 下饭爽剧 (easy, gratuitous watch where the Chinese viewer is often doing something else) and this was a mass-market focused premium fast food serving that did just enough to draw in a large audience. It's a thoroughly unambitious drama about an ambitious business couple in a historical setting. And peeling away that surface premise, it's basically just grafting the conventional bumper sticker version of business strategy, success, gender equality, and other issues into a historical cosplay. To complement, the show is shot in the telltale style where the emotions/expressions are obvious, the personalities are blatant, and the intrigue is repeatedly hinted and later exhaustively explained by some side character. Doing so ensures an easy watch for the widest possible audience, with the tradeoff of diluting the tension and refinement that are found in top tier shows. In a modern setting, such derivative effort would be widely panned. But when transported back in time, it has a different enough veneer to get by.

And lucky for the international viewer, this show will probably be even more interesting as the different cultural items, strategy, and issues may be more novel. Most of you will probably enjoy it quite a bit, especially the first half. But personally I have difficulty rating it higher as it's far from greatness. Moreover, I typically rate similar and better shows in the 7-8 range.
'To Get Her' is a low budget show with a similar time travel concept but delivers a lot more zany comedy. 'Legend of Undercover Chef' is an absolute riot while serving up plenty of incisive social commentary beneath the jokes. And even 'Egg and Stone' delivers the laughs and perhaps accidentally constructs a more nuanced commentary on gender equality. If this show replicated the 'Joy of LIfe' level of crisp humor, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. But sadly, even Joy of Life lost its comedic mojo in the second season. As for the actors, Guo Qiling and Song Yi did a solid job in their roles. But these typical idol drama roles are not exactly challenging. And after a few dramas, you start to see their characters in different shows overlapping with each other. Hopefully they can continue to improve on their range, subtlety, and realism of performance.

‒Category Ratings‒
- Overall - 7 (to ep14)
- Plot - 7
- Theme / Message / Impact - 6
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 7.5
- Audio - 7
- Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Duel on Mount Hua: ASMR vs. Eye Stare

--Review--

As disappointing as the first volume of the Legend of Condor Heroes reboot was, it's LoCH, so I had to check out the rest on the slim chance they would surprise me. Lol nope. Meng Ziyi fans, look away, you've been warned.

ASMR Huang Yaoshi is back, paired off with ASMR Chen Duling. The good news is that she doesn't feel out of place next to Zhou Yiwei. The bad news is that the 'Wicked East' Huang Yaoshi talks with the same energy as his terminally enfeebled wife. So if you pretend that all prior adaptations of the menacing, arrogant HYS doesn't exist, you can probably justify Zhou Yiwei's modern art character interpretation as merely a 'Questionable' element of the show.

Then there's the straight up bad. So apparently some of the rare plaudits for the show's first volume went to Meng Ziyi', as 'the prettiest' Mei Chaofeng. Perhaps a more apt framing is that any role she plays now looks like the 'Mei Chaofengist' XXX. Because at this point her visuals and expressions doesn't match any normal person in Classical China, unless they are wicked or a Yao demon. Cosmetic surgeons should be kinder to actresses in the future and offer renders of them post-op in classical attire, to dissuade them from maxing out the tech-tree on their face. As for acting, MZY goes from stare hard to stare harder. If you combined Chen Duling's perpetually tranquilized look and MZY's perpetually stare-eyed look, you could get 2 full expressions and make something of a believable side character.

The other actors do a pretty decent job, which makes MZY stand out even more. It's like they AI edited MZY from a staring contest into a normal film‒it's that jarring. So quite a few acting reality TV shows have become stalwarts of Chinese television in recent years. They feature a judging panel of renowned actors and mostly inexperienced or idol actors trying to elevate their acting game. You can find episodes of many idol actors who have participated, including some of your popular geges and jiejies. If you can find a subbed version, they are actually quite illuminating into what veterans and directors look for in actors. Watching MZY is exactly like watching one of the clueless mentees doing a botched rendition. I keep expecting Francis Ng or Zhang Ziyi to yell out CUTTT!!, jump out from backstage, and shit on her performance for the next 5 minutes. In fact MZY had been a contestant in several seasons. Her performances were mediocre then, and they haven't improved since.

But don't brand me a MZY hater, I actually think she's quite funny. In fact, she's become a queen of variety shows, known for being outspoken and good-natured, all the while trolling everyone for shits and giggles. While it may sound like an insult to say that MZY's peak acting level is variety show star, it's actually a misuse of her talents to not have her on. So producers, please keep MZY's variety show schedule fully booked, you'll be doing heroic service for two TV genres.

While the acting is bad only for the Fl, the script is atrocious everywhere. Nothing makes sense‒character motivations, backstories, the Wuxia lore, character relationships are all a jumbled mess. The pacing is also ridiculous. They will summarize important plot points in 2 sentences while panning around some jack shit minutiae scene for 5 minutes straight. I can't fathom how in the era of Chatgpt, one can prompt out such a bad script. I know China is testing out AI scriptwriting, but for god's sake, at least use the SOTA reasoning models. I feel like this show originally had a $8000 budget for 2 scriptwriters, then decided to cut out $7000 to use on Zhou Yiwei and Chen Duling's ASMR cough syrup. So they replace the scriptwriters with $1000 of Deepseek tokens, then halfway through MZY comes knocking to take out $850 because she ran out of eyedrops. And now they only have a 4 page outline with no more tokens, and just moved the prompting to the shittiest free trial tier LLM that Temu has to offer. Wait what, Temu has an LLM? I didn't know either, but you heard it here first.

So where do we go from here? I will still pray to the ghost of Jin Yong that despite effing up 2 volumes, the other volumes can squeeze out something adequate. It's just bizarre to assemble that many decent actors and directors to reboot the biggest IP only to churn out such a cesspit. Or at the very least, I hope this time enough people in China will watch this to shit on it. If we are going to be robbed of a good show, at least don't rob us of hilarious mock review videos.

--Category Ratings--

- Overall - 4 (5 - 1 it's LoCH)
- Plot - 4
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7
- Acting - 7 (8 - 1 MZY)
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 2
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7
- Subtitle quality - 8?

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A Violent Delinquent Repeating a Grade

--Review--

Like the main character, season 1 was like a promising student that had abruptly suspended his studies. There was obvious potential‒high production value, slick action choreography, and excellent acting‒but the student had to drop out before completing the year (or story). So I gave it a high score. But in reality, it was an incomplete grade with the hope that there was a good reason S1 ended without a proper resolution and that S2 would complete the story.

But noooo, it turns out that the student simply abandoned his studies and is now at a new school. And he's now doing the exact same shit as the previous year and reusing the same essays and slick-looking incomplete assignments. Except this year, he's not even putting as much effort into the 'promising student schtick'‒with worse plot logic and character development. As it turns out, there wasn't even a legit reason for him to drop out last year‒he bullied and beat up some kid.

Because boys and girls, that's where we are. Your taciturn hero who confronts bullies is actually a violent bully asshole himself, and one who is scamming you for sympathy. I gave it 3 episodes before this became painfully evident. First we fuckall'ed the characters and unfinished story from S1. Then we get the same nasty bullies, the braindead miscommunication leading to the fight between ML and the basketball guy, and then another superfighter-protector-cooldude creating another wholesome friend group, and my gosh a new Big Bad from outside the school. Even the Taekwando guy from S1 can tell you he's seen this movie before, and he's in a coma.

Beneath the slick production and acting, the story is just a psychotic mess to provide repeated excuse for brutal fight scenes, which the show does very well. And in between those head crackers are flimsy ploys and backstories to scam you for sympathy‒you know, the same pity-me story used last year with a few names changed here and there. But in the end, it's just a shallow disguise on top of the same story, same fights, same character dynamics, and I suspect, yet another excuse to repeat the scam another year.

So really, this show is just the personification of a violent delinquent thug repeating a grade. Oh, he's also running around with sob stories scamming people for money. Because he's just another derivative henchman working for the newest TV crime syndicate called Netflix that's plundered its way into hundred billion dollar valuation while sucking dry what little creativity remains in TV and film. I look forward to this being renewed for 5 more seasons.

--Category Ratings--

- Overall - 5.5 (6 - 0.5 for insulting the viewer with these lazy Netflix money grabs)
- Plot - 5
- Theme / Message / Impact - 6
- Acting - 8.5
- Audio/Music - 8.5
- Visuals - 9
- Rewatch - 5
- Topic Accessibility - 8
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Frivolities at Qingming Festival

--Summary--
If you like costume CDramas, this may be a unique gem worth checking out, especially since it will deliver much better production and acting compared to idol costume dramas. If you are pretty frustrated with costume dramas already, this may not be the canary in the coalmine, but still worth checking out for at least a few episodes to make your mind.

‒Review‒
After so many highly anticipated costume drama disappointments and derivative offerings, I was really looking forward to this one to save the costume dramas in 2024. Alas, it's not the case. Maybe with the exception of Strange Tales 2, which I'm not that confident about since Strange Tales 1 was a drudgery, 2024 costume drama lineup may end up suffering total annihilation, 全军覆没. The Great Nobody is great, but that's really a modern workplace comedy. Heroes would be the other one, but that's late Qing, I mean, they have guns.

To be fair, this show is serviceable, hence the 7.0 rating. The sets, costumes, and production is gorgeous and meticulously shot. The veteran cast are so much better than the typical idols you see, even if some of the dialogs and lines can feel a little too modern. I'm liking it a bit more than Strange Tales, which produced more frustrations. Maybe I would have watched this to the end at the beginning of the year, when other terrific shows are not beckoning. But after 9 episodes, it's giving a clear signal on what level it's aiming for, and its target is just not ambitious, original, or engaging enough. There's no clearer indication than sprinkling some frivolities into the show for cheap laughs and entertainment. I'm sure quite a lot of people enjoy this, and that's why the writers keep doing it. But so much of the chore-like 家长里短 humor deliver neither insightful observations nor laughs. Had the setting been changed to modern day, I'm sure such boring and antiquated plots would be fervently lambasted. This is the Chinese version of Marvel movies humor / heart, that after seeing a few, you've basically seen it all. No matter what kind of new coloring, flavoring, or molding they use to sell it to you, it's still the same regurgitation that's been puked out many times over.

There's been too many dramas this year taking this route (furiously glaring at you Joy of Life 2) and this hasn't been a recent phenomenon (Advisors Alliance and GTRD). This race to the common denominator may get viewership, but is never going to produce outstanding, memorable works. Who knew CDramas would get me quoting Coco Chanel: elegance is refusal. Unless you refuse to serve slop, you are just telling me your max target is just above average quality, regardless of how good the production looks and how strong the cast lineup is. And as bad as I feel about giving it a 7 despite the expensive production, I'm still left wondering if 7 is too generous.

Most people should still check this out though, as a lot of the criticisms will not be relevant for international audiences. And I'm quite a harsh rater by MDL standards.

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7
- Plot - 7
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7
- Acting - 8.5
- Visuals - 8.8
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 6
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8

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Too Buggy to Swallow

‒Overview‒

Lost in the Shadows is a crime/suspense drama featuring quality production and acting that one has come to love about the iQiyi's 'Light On' series and similar lineups of crime thrillers from Youku and Tencent. However, despite featuring one of the best actors in Zhang Songwen and an interesting setup about missing children, the buggy script became increasingly untenable, just like the lies told by criminals.

On the positive side, the aforementioned production, acting, and pacing from short episode count is a major upgrade from idol dramas. The show also features a reunion of The Bad Kids stars in Zhang Songwen and Rong Zishan. There's also enough twists and turns to create interest, so long as it's not examined closely. And unfortunately for Zhang Songwen, this is probably his best drama since his career-defining performance in The Knockout, besting other mediocrities like 'A Lonely Hero's Journey' and 'The Hunter'. Let's stop wasting this man's career.

‒Critical Review (spoilers)‒

LITS became increasingly frustrating because of the increasing amount of bugs and lack of nourishment to sustain interest. Bugs is a popular and catchy Chinglish term commonly used in China to refer to plot holes. The expression was likely born out of wordplay related to software programmers, as they often have to wrangle with buggy scripts. LITS suffered from bugs ranging from small to huge, and most critically, it didn't deliver enough sustenance to make the bugs more palatable. It's like walking into a restaurant where each dish contains increasingly bigger bugs, then some artificial tasting dish that you suspect is just to cover up the bug flavor, but never the delicious course that will mollify your insect encounters (yes if the food is delicious enough, Chinese people will delulu themselves over the questionable sanitation, and even not fret too much about a bug or two).

For appetizers, let's start with the small bugs, which are more prevalent than usual. These consist of convenient occurrences and puzzling oversight that nonetheless are not the core of the story. Most shows have some of those, and I can easily overlook them if the story is engaging and the major plot lines does not revolve around it. Some examples include: people bumping into people or overhearing conversation at the most opportune time, people out and about doing things undetected especially if they are under surveillance, people divulging way too much info at convenient times, and the good guys showing up just in time to save people. There are too many to list the specific examples. *No problem, all restaurants have some bugs, some just hide it better than others.

Now for the main course‒big glaring bugs that really arouses your gag reflex, the types of bugs that significantly degrade the viewing experience. First are the big bugs of characterization. Bian Jie (Xiao Qi) is the most important character in the story, yet often times he's as hollow as a plot tool (工具人). Other than a few flashbacks, XQ's first 18 years is essentially empty. And it's difficult to construct a coherent character for XQ that satisfies his life experiences and his actions and emotions as the fake son of the Bian family. If he's so sweet and innocent as portrayed, how does he survive all those years under human trafficker Uncle Qing. Moreover, he should have exhibited much greater and different emotional reaction once taken in. Other characters, including other members of the Bian family, exhibit similar incongruencies.

The second major bug is the bug of nonsensical decision making on key plot points. It makes no sense for XQ to stay to protect his fake Mom from JMF, when he already thinks JMF might try to kill him, when he should go to the police. Neither is making it a priority to take down Uncle Qing, when he just escaped as a fugitive, and only for it to go nowhere. Or the numerous other similar plot sins committed by him and other characters. The police not directly tracking down Uncle Qing's gang to prove XQ's innocence, but having it occur incidentally. Yanzi thinking her younger bro could be alive even though he 'ran away' from Dad despite collapsing in a pool of blood of a hole to the back of his head, and returning without remembering any details. The boys going murderous over shower pics. The ridiculous ways Jin Manfu went about the murder, coverups, kidnapping, blackmail, and trying to rescue Yanzi. The story was already a hazmat level roach infestation even before the bug-out finale that was a fetid corpse of cop-out, fake-out, and proper-ganda. *Seems like you vomited quite a bit, did you at least have something nutritious to puke out?

Unfortunately no. While the acting, production, and faint hint of something promising kept me engaged for half of the show, the later episodes became an increasingly frustrating 3X watch as it became apparent the script was beyond saving. But even before the show turned rancid, I was experiencing a glaring disconnect with the characters. The problem was the show didn't give you anyone fully fleshed out, didn't show you why their relationships were so important, and didn't give you anyone to fully care about. All the main characters were hollow shells barely held together by scarce flashbacks, and summarizing instead of showing. At the same time, you are fed plenty of clues to potentially doubt the story and sincerity of all the characters, ensuring full-on social distancing. When some more flashbacks are shown in the later parts of the story, it was way too little, and way too late. The way you are supposed to do it is to build up the characters first, make the protagonists/villains sympathetic, and then create compelling twists by subverting or overturning expectations. 'Interlaced Scenes' and 'The First Shot' are dramas where it's much better executed Since LITS never established the characters before playing around with them, all their motivations felt hollow and perfunctory, making all the aforementioned bugs even more intolerable.

So the good parts amounted to a cryptic restaurant advertisement for alternative organic delicacies, that turned out to be plates of bugs. At least it was a quick meal 🙂. Overall I rate it a 6, because at least it has good acting and production unlike idol drama triple threats. It started out an 8 before I figured out the mystery dish had bugs, then held at 7 for about half the show. Then the later episodes were a 6. That's not taking into account the ending, as I was already fully passed out from all the puking.

--Category Ratings--

- Overall - 6
- Plot - 5.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 7.5
- Acting - 8.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 7.5 (mostly live recording)
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 7.5
- Subtitle quality - 8.5

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Never Give Laugh

‒Exec Summary‒
Couldn't muster more than 3 seconds of cumulative laughter for the 6 episodes I tried. But the episodes are short, and you don't need to pay attention to plot for sitcom, so if you find the humor, more power to you.

--Short Review--
This is an office sitcom modeled after the hit kdrama Gauss Electronics. The story revolves around the various employees at a Chinese conglomerate Gaofa and reflects some of common complaints and peculiarities of the urban Chinese office. I haven't watched the kdrama so I couldn't make a comparison between the two. Unfortunately, by failing to deliver even a charitable chuckle, I suspect that this drama failed the only comparison that matters.

Other than the comedy part of the sitcom, the drama provided your standard idol web drama quality in cinematography and production value. The acting was adequate, with Dylan Wang and Yukee Chen as the main leads. Perhaps I'm being too harsh or too divorced from the Chinese workplace culture since the drama did receive an perplexingly high 8.1 score on Douban. But it's not like the show was layering the dialog with frequent word plays or internet memes. Rather, it was just an endless assembly line of haphazard setups, milquetoast punchlines, and tepid characters. While the show misfires with its jokes about workplace drudgery, it nevertheless achieves mastery for atmospheric immersion‒by creating a viewing experience that feels like a marathon day of pointless meetings. Perhaps the experience is especially underwhelming for me as sitcoms are what American TV excels at and for whatever reasons, China produces very few. But my goodness, this show feels like a hatchet script from the dysfunctional Planning Department of Gaofa.

‒Why Watch‒
1) You want to cure your unhealthy obsession with Dylan Wang and Yukee Chen (assuming she has fans)‒this show might just do the trick.
2) You want something quick and easy. Only 25m episodes of concentrated boredom in sitcom format.
3) You need some guinea pigs to hone your review writing, so you end up writing a mediocre review for a mediocre show.

--Rating Subscores--
- Overall - 5
- Plot - 5
- Theme / Message / Impact - 5
- Acting - 6
- Visual & Production - 6.5
- Audio - 6
- Rewatch - 5
- Accessibility - 8 (yay at least crappy shows generally are more accessible)
- Subtitle quality - 7

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