Ruyis

Binged this on a plane, sadly drama didn't stick the landing like it did

This drama is like if a master chef followed an old and established recipe exactly, using the prime ingredients and the best kitchen to make a delicious soup....only to decide at the last minute it needs more salt, and accidentally unloads half a shaker's worth of stuff into the stew.

Thus ruining the carefully cultivated flavors with an undeniably acrid end.

I don't even like business stories, but I can understand faceslapping, redo stories, and protagonists with foresight in any genre, so that's why Reborn Rich hit all the right notes for me on a long transpacific plane ride. I watched it flying across the Pacific and again flying back, then made up the last few missing episodes online on my own, it got me so hooked. The atmospheric opening song (no lyrics, just a gallery of photographs from the chaebol family staring at the MC's silhouette as he walks by) was super cool and fit the setting, and I liked the traditional trope of "born in a rich family" but set in the 80s that gave everything a refreshing retro look.

All of the characters were vivid and multilayered—they were bad, but not evil, and everyone had their flaws that ultimately contributed to their fall. I was surprised to find myself liking Grandpa so much (I felt genuinely bad for him in that elevator scene and after he died) and every single member of the family had their pitiful or funny sides that made it hard to absolutely hate them. In other words, they felt like real people, albeit slightly selfish caricatures at the same time.

But then what do you do? You get rid of all that and pick a different ending than the webnovel to forcibly bring us back to reality and make it all a dream?! We don't even get the ML telling FL about his experiences (although admittedly the chemistry between them was like 5 points out of 100 at most) and whatever happened to ML's traumatized driver who took to drink? (Remember, that guy used to work as a spy before going over to ML's side! He deserved better than showing up in court to testify before being discredited and dragged out!!)

The last time I saw a drama with similar redo-vibes that ended in "it was all for nothing" was Scent of Time, but the difference in Scent of Time was that you get a sense the FL can heal and move on, and the people she hurt have come to terms with the deaths she caused. In here we still have so many loose ends and grieving, like:

- What about Do Jin's mother and father and brother? Did they get over their youngest's death? Did mom and dad reconcile after mom called dad out for using Do Jin to gain a foothold in the family?
- Wasn't Do Jin supposed to carry out Grandpa's dream? And he would've done well too as a more principled version of Gramps. Or even if he didn't with the family, then pave his own path with Miracle Investment?
- Is the FL just gonna pine forever? (Actually I'm okay with her staying single in this story too the romance just did not sell it for me, they were too busy with work or slight misunderstandings or her snipping at him the uncute way)
- The driver?????
- ML's original dad and brother?? ??? Post-trial family life moments?
- What is crazy oldest brother doing now? ??

It almost makes me feel like they didn't expect the series to end in 16 episodes and had to hurriedly cram in something half-scripted to end it. Sigh, if you were going to half-bake the ending with no clear message (at least to me), I would've preferred the unrealistic power fantasy we were riding for EP. 2-15. At least that was entertaining and not miserable X^(

Overall, still a solid watch. I can't even say "stop watchiing at Ep. 15" because the bad thing happens at the end of it, but maybe stop when Do Jin's in the car riding to inherit his laurels. Then you can either read the webcomic/webnovel or fanfic the rest! Without the last episode this series is a 8 or 8.5, but the last one just drags it down to a 7.5!

Read More

A roller coast of zany plot twists

So this was the first short-form drama I watched after seeing all the fuss on social media with people praising it. I went in not expecting much, was pleasantly surprised at some points, and satisfied with the ending. I really like how the drama takes one of the popular cnovel tropes (awareness of the meta) and just runs with it. Daisy Li is superb as always as the main role (I heard she went to star exclusively in short dramas now since they give her more chance to shine than playing supporting roles in regular ones) and Ye Shengjia is a familiar face who plays familiar tropes/types as the male lead.

The one thing that tested my suspension of disbelief was the sheer number of plot twists they squeezed into one story. Like, even if you assume the world plot is screwing things up intentionally, it's still a little unbelievable. I think the most contrived one I saw was the female lead (FL) being drugged and sent to a brothel for auction, the ML recognizing her and going to save her before being called away, the FL being carried off by a lecherous guy and apparently assaulted, the ML coming back too late to save her and feeling regret, and then a couple episodes later we realized no, she faked being assaulted! But here's another twist: the ML knew all along she was faking it and played along with it anyways!

There's a lot of last minute reveals that keep you guessing (and I bet it's amazing to keep viewers watching). When you're in the heat of the moment, it's really fun and gripping, but after finishing the series and looking back at it as a whole, it's just a bit slightly ridiculous. Still, I'm not expecting a literary masterpiece from this, just popcorn-worthy drama, and that's exactly what I got. The nice acting, costumes, and coherent but happy ending helped me feel like it was worth watching it all in the end!

If you've never watched short-form dramas before, this is a nice one to start with. The stakes aren't too high and the frustration never lasts too long; even the angsty bits have enough beauty in them for you to savor as you suffer, hahaha~

Read More

Pretty packaging but plot misses the point

Technically, this movie visually was a feast—all pretty, bright colors and CGI throughout. Chen Kun as Qing Ming was also very pretty and of course Wang Likun as the Peach Blossom Fairy was absolutely gorgeous. But honestly while I was really looking forward to seeing it when it released, having just come off the high of Mark Chao/Deng Lun's Yin Yang Master, I just couldn't "get" the film once I started watching.

The two characters that were supposed to be relatable to the audience, Shen Le (Shen Yue) and Yuan Boya (Qu Chuxiao) ended up feeling irrelevant and annoying; it felt like they were just there to conveniently push the plot along at certain moments and be clueless/weak/helpless the rest so Qing Ming and co. could save them and be cool. I had trouble connecting emotionally with the cast—that is, I couldn't buy their sudden camaraderie. One minute they didn't get along and the next there's an impromptu drinking session where everyone gets drunk around a table and smiles and are friends? So when the "final battle" happens over that bridge above a cliff, they can all rally together and be angsty at the male lead (Qing Ming) as he angsts about his past? And then the whole thing just ends on a cliffhanger with a blatant open ending that leaves me unsatisfied and plot elements unresolved? Look, the other yin yang master movie did this too but they at least wrapped up the main story in the first movie first! It can stand alone just fine! This one makes me think of a movie missing a limb or something—or maybe a heart, because I couldn't get the emotional cues (and I cry really easy at stuff!) and no matter how sad or awful some characters' past were I just felt bored seeing it and wish they'd move on to clarify what was going on with the main storyline first!

Granted, my memory of this film is a bit fuzzy now but my impression of it remains (I even watched it twice when it first came out to make sure I didn't miss anything, the plot was just so fast and zippy). It just gives an impression of "let's bring all the cast together to highlight how cool and tragic Chen Kun's Qing Ming is and set it up for a sequel later." The overall impression of the movie is a lot of style (like the other Yin Yang Master) but not so much substance, and if you dig too deep into the plot you find that it is generally kinda empty. You can't just look hot and broody and expect the audience to sympathize with you based on your looks! That's just superficial stuff, it won't resonate!

Also, I can't remember a single song or track from this movie while I still remember the main insert song + leitmotifs from the other one. Nothing resonated enough with me to stick! All I remember is that one colorful fight scene with all the sliding doors...but you can't use a fight scene to prop up an entire story, you know.

Don't take my word for it though—watch it yourself. I can't help but think that others feel the same way, since YYM:DOE (Dream of Eternity) inspired so much from it and this one...just doesn't. Look, you can always check fanworks to gauge audience reaction to a work. Both yin yang master movie fandoms are tiny overseas, but there are currently 17 fanfics for this movie on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/tags/%E4%BE%8D%E7%A5%9E%E4%BB%A4%20%7C%20Sh%C3%AC%20Sh%C3%A9n%20L%C3%ACng%20%7C%20The%20Yin-yang%20Master%20(2021)/works) compared to the 748 for the other one (https://archiveofourown.org/tags/%E9%98%B4%E9%98%B3%E5%B8%88%20%7C%20Y%C4%ABn%20Y%C3%A1ng%20Sh%C4%AB%20%7C%20The%20Yin-yang%20Master%20(Movies%20-%20Guo%20Jingming)/works).

I think the numbers speak for themselves.

Read More

A straightforward mystery + romance with a teaser ending

So I have a habit of watching cdrama reviews before watching any of them (I don't care if there's spoilers haha), and so many people were harping on about JJY's mid-tier acting here, but I found it fine. Then again, I'm biased as a JJY fan and love her regardless, because she's so pretty that I don't mind her acting. She's an idol first and foremost so I'm fine as long as she's doing the basics.

Anyways, long story short I liked this fine! And I enjoyed watching JJY's acting and all her beautiful costumes and hair ahhhh. I also think her ship with Pan Yue was finnnneeee and I'm so relieved that their ending was happily ever after.

Some parts of the drama were obviously played for dramatic effect and unintentionally hilarious, like the second male lead not having enough time to run into that burning building in That One Episode. Like realistically he could've done everything during that dramatic slow-mo montage but plot said NO so he couldn't, hahahaha~

It's been a while since I watched it so my memory of it is fuzzy, but I can still remember some key scenes in my mind:

- The wedding night with the tragic death
- The moment Pan Yue realized her identity and ran back to see Yang Caiwei in Shangguan Zhi's body while she was twirling the umbrellas
- Rain scenes in general hahaha

And the mystery! It was legit a mystery and the last episode drove me nuts with the open clue they left for a potential sequel. It probably will never happen but I still had to look up what Chinese netizens said about it and summarized their views here, which was super cool: https://sonderwrit.tumblr.com/post/774970037168652288/i-finished-in-blossom

Too bad this drama didn't seem popular enough to get more theorycrafting overseas but I watched it and liked it and even though I can't remember exact details now I will always enjoy the experience. A worthwhile use of my time!

Read More