Wow...
When I read the MDL summary for this series, I imagined a plot full of super hero tropes layered with flimsy super hero power action scenes, and some standard sappy Korean-esque backstory with the parents/children. But in addition to the high rating, it came up a few times as a recommendation for other series I've enjoyed, so I gave it a try. And wow... did it far exceed my initial expectations.Plot flow: Each episode was robust with action, excitement, and anticipation and it doesn't rely on ending on obvious cliffhangers or any particular over-dramatization. The care that was given to delve into the background stories of relevant characters is very much appreciated. The lore is believable and they did a great job between blending a slice-of-life feel with action/tragedy/politics.
Action scenes: Has to be one of the best ones I've come across when it comes down to showcasing superpowers. It was done so well, I didn't care to even make any attempts to even think about potentially critiquing whether it made sense or not (and still don't).
Characters: The characters (and their families) were uniquely interesting and with so many familiar faces in the cast, it's inevitable that they did a great job bringing the them to life. You will also sometimes find yourself rooting for both the protagonists and antagonists.
The only minor negatives were the scenes were sometimes slightly prolonged and the lighting could have been a bit clearer. The scenes shot in the dark weren't very easy watch when I was viewing some episodes during the day. And if it weren't for the obvious hint for a much needed season two, the ending would have been a discussion point.
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Very minor spoiler in this review:I came to this series with hopes for some badass supernatural in a historical period but ended up with mainly lighthearted comedy, heavy romance, and just a bit of drama. It had potential but it was cluttered with both hits and misses.
Felt a pang of wanting to drop this within the first two episodes because the initial love story just didn't make much sense for multiple reasons. I needed to fill in justifications many times in the plot to continue watching. Example: For a being that supposedly has lived thousands of years, why would he feel the intense need to save his first human who wasn't really suffering that much comparably or even deserving of it? Love at first sight? Instead of being wise in all his years, he was too foolishly naive.
There was also almost no background story to many of the key characters which was really disappointing. The excess time spent on the romance and interaction of the second couple should have been spent on giving others some more depth. Although their coupled scenes weren't bad, I still fast-forwarded through a good portion of it. Fortunately the female lead was actually likeable, although they did water down her character near the end.
The transformation of our supernatural beings was just sad and really not believable when those around them supposedly became overly fearful of their "monstrous" image. They verbally tried to portray their "powers" as being overwhelming but it really fell flat when none of it really came into play during the fights. But at least it didn't fall into the tacky category.
Although there was little explanation of anything and the plot didn't flow very naturally, what saved the series was the camaraderie of all of our characters. The development of the relationship with our second couple was done much better than the first one. It was still fun to watch and I laughed out loud plenty of times. It's a good one for those looking for romance/comedy but not great for those looking for something with more action.
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Having come off a couple of re-watches with Dong Yi and Jewel in the Palace, wanted to try a historical series I haven't seen before. And unintentionally, I started yet another series with the same director. A few episodes in, and it becomes quite obvious. So in this review, there will be a bit of a rant.Let's start with the positives. Right off the bat within the first two episodes, it had me in tears. What happened in these episodes triggered some tears later even during the flashbacks. This is probably also the first time where a spoiled princess (literally) became one of my favorite characters. The intention of the story was also pretty unique revolving around a horse doctor which is what initially had me intrigued. And as usual with this director, the supporting characters were the most likeable ones and did a great job in their roles.
However, because of the formula the director uses over and over again, it has exactly the same flaws as well. Dare I say his formula may have been great once but became outdated? The main leads in all his series are just over the top and dull, which is odd because the supporting characters are always much more lively. He tries too hard to emphasize this idealistic image and they are always portrayed as the underdog who is forever humble. But to me, they end up feeling arrogant because all you ever see is them being happy when someone offers gratitude. They accept it all and rarely ever passes along credit to those around them who've significantly helped them. Sure, they are the main sob story but they shouldn't always be portrayed as the ONLY capable hero. At some point, it is time to stop pitying them.
All three of his series I've seen so far all have similar plot lines as well. The royal family coming down with emergencies again and again, and the lead comes to the rescue. The plague-like disease that impacts the country occurs again and again, and the lead comes to the rescue. For this series in particular, there wasn't much chemistry between the main couple.
It was still enjoyable for the most part but I spent a lot of the series fast-forwarding or putting it on at least a 1.25x speed (which was done similarly with his other series). And as usual with his other series, I wish the vibe in the beginning was kept throughout. Nevertheless, still couldn't drop it so there's something to be said there. If you loved his other series, you should definitely check this one out.
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Fun but could have been great
Foremost, the cast with the three main leads were great. The series jumped off strong with a fantastic blend of comedy and very heartfelt and relatable victim stories. But other reviewers were accurate in how they could have been more thorough with wrapping up each event. This can still be overlooked to a certain degree but I think they tried too hard to continually increase the scope of the stories to a point where it just loses that initial momentum. It went from wanting to pay attention to every dialogue to it being the first time I've dropped a series with only two episodes to go.It's honestly still worth watching though even for the stories less the last one, because those were mostly done really well and it provides a great insight on the corruption of corporations who avoid labor laws and safety (with more than one tearjerker moments).
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The concept of the story is great but having gone six episodes in, already found myself fast-forwarding through so many of the scenes. The only parts enjoyed was the brief period prior to the main lead entering the alternate world and his interactions with Kang Dong Cheol and Jo Nam Shik after. Unfortunately, our only female lead here is irritating to watch because she looks and sounds creepy most of the time. Although I understand that they are trying to emphasize how women were (are) treated in a male-dominated career and that she has much value to add to her team, her character just isn't done well at all. This really hurt the series for me as she has a lot of screen time. As for the pacing, it isn't necessarily slow but it isn't intriguing either and the repeated flashbacks that occur too often doesn't help.
A few reviews stated there was comedy to look forward to but unless it occurs after the sixth episode, I found none. Ended up reading a more detailed synopsis of the story and it does seems interesting but perhaps I've watched too many crime series in my time or had too many laughs just coming off of the last series, still can't find it in me to continue.
I will end this by saying there are some positives that this may be worth watching for. The portrayal of the world with the decade(s) difference is done pretty well which includes the emphasis on how different crime-solving is without the technology we have today. There is also a good development between the two detectives where one is old-school and used to getting around constraints by bending the rules a little while the other who is too focused on rules and evidence but not so much on the impacts of letting criminals get away because of them.
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Long-winded
The beginning few episodes were relatively captivating. The CG work was done pretty well (felt like I was watching video game graphics) and the famous chicken scenes were quite funny. The build-up of the main romantic couple was well-paced before it dipped into fast forward mode. There's nothing negative to say about any of the actors or characters but also nothing outstanding.After those first few episodes, I found myself fast-forwarding through the endless and repetitive scenes of the couple's interactions. The typical long stares, constant falling into each other's arms, the incessant ways they find reasons to hold hand, and many other standard romance-heavy tropes. Because my interest was peaked enough to want to know the backstory behind our enigma male protagonist, I made the effort to truck on. The series is mostly a mishmash of lighthearted comedy, romance, and drama but without the best flow. And having gone up to episode 13 with almost zero development in the plot and characters, it was time to drop the series.
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Hate to do this but...
The series started off great with a multitude of intriguing events and interesting characters. The production was done well and there was so much potential that it almost seems wrong to give it the lower score. But unfortunately, the plot and character intrigue just starting melting off into the later episodes.- The FL was very likeable in the beginning but she ended up proving to just be an overly emotional and arrogant woman who expects others to live up to her ideals. If she was supposed to just be an ignorant princess, it wouldn't have been as irritating. But we are supposed to be in awe of her superior tactician skills in war just because she was trained by her uncle verbally? And somehow she becomes a commander because of one good idea? What does that say about all of those who've actually experienced real battles and were more deserving of the title? Who wants an emotional leader who has no battle experience? As of yet, haven't really seen her humbled which leads to no growth. Despite having killed off so many people she treated like chess pieces and constantly needing saving herself, she is still proud of her skills apparently. She also has a heavy tendency to blame everyone else but herself.
- The naive and seemingly useless princess who grew up with the FL ended up taking the spotlight instead because she was one who actually shown some real character growth.
- And man, the slave woman to the FL was one of the most irritating characters of all. How does a slave suddenly have the courage to start assaulting the very ones who enslaved her just because she was taken under the wing by the FL? Then quickly becomes an obnoxious and temperamental spoiled brat because she hooked a guy?
- As for the ML, he was also an interesting character in the beginning but stayed relatively flat with his increasing interest in the FL.
Overall, by episode 20, the FLs were all just getting too frustrating to watch with their lack of appreciation and snottiness. The plot is also one of those that makes everything overly coincidental. So much so that the ML and FL claim one is stalking the other multiple times. And if you're looking for good tactical war moves, you're better off watching the anime "Kingdom".
The higher score is because there are some hit moments and I would have continued to watch it just to see how the naive princess evolves along with Hao Du. They are surprisingly the two most interesting characters so far.
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This one was tough to write about actually because it had the ingredients to be pretty decent so it's hard to describe or pinpoint what was missing from it. Despite some heart-warming scenes and bonding moments, it somehow felt shallow at the same time. It didn't help that the main character was also pretty obnoxious and unappreciative.
I would normally stick with a series if at least one or two aspects were done well enough especially because this one has a relatively short number of episodes. But the overall feel of this one just didn't intrigue much, and less so with each episode. Onward to the continuous search of good series that involves the afterlife and/or spirits.
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Typical
The plot flow and feel of the series is similar to those like Dong Yi, with similar strengths and flaws. The FL is overly idealistic and perfect without much character growth. Despite consistently being painted as a poor soul who was orphaned, she was raised with an abundance of love and support. Then continues to develop relationships with those are all always willing to risk life and death for her as she continues to get put into one predicament after another.There are a lot of familiar faces in this series with great acting abilities. The plot started off well with a unique take on a girl being born and raised in prison, and accumulating different skills from a variety of prisoners. She grew to be intelligent, strong, and capable of fighting. However, her character starts to falter with each predicament as it starts to focus more heavily on the various men in her life trying to desperately save her as she is placed again and again in the role of victim. The FL also wasn't the greatest cast for this role as she felt very one-note most of the time. It is also pretty hypocritical of her to want to find the murderer of her mother, when she seems to have no issues with murders of others (especially in the beginning when she just easily obeyed orders to kill when she didn't know the reason).
While the story line stays somewhat interesting and the flow is steady, there's also a significant amount of heightened drama that causes it to feel repetitive. I'm dropping the series mostly because the dramatics are just a tad too much and the FL is becoming less and less interesting. It's too bad because my favorite support character, Jong Geum, is likely to have significant development. She's an underrated actress.
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A Bit of a Drag
Based on reviews as well as being recommended by other reviewers who has somewhat similar opinions of other series, I was super excited to embark on this one. And while I can still force myself to continue watching due to it potentially getting better, there's just nothing intriguing enough to keep going even after 10 episodes in.There's no real major flaw to highlight and there was quite some potential of being a unique undertaking of "royalty" in the beginning. Instead of the usual elegant and noble demeanor of royals , it was quite interesting to see the more "normalized" relationship with leaders that weren't born into it that type of restriction/upbringing. Although they did take it a bit too far and some scenes were just awkward.
While there were many great actors and characters in the series, the one that I just couldn't bring myself to like was the main protagonist, Xu Feng Nian. Even if his character was supposed to "pretend" to be narcissistic and spoiled (and despite them trying to paint him as some sort of kind soul deep down who refuses to kill anyone), he still comes off strongly as a narcissist and is quite abusive to those closest to him for that matter. His level of intelligence isn't believable enough either for it to balance out. As for the plot flow, while the story does move along with setting changes and introduction of new characters, it also somehow feels circular. There's too much emphasis on Xu Feng Nian and not enough on the supports. There's a lot going on but it really isn't going anywhere. So for these two reasons, I decided to do the drop.
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The Obnoxious Princess
Really looked forward to watching this for the nostalgia of well-written older series and was initially hooked within the first few episodes. Particularly because I've always had a soft spot for series where the emperor hangs outside of the palace in plainclothes as well. Everything about the show was straight-forward (which was a nice breath of fresh air from more modern series) including the plot, the characters, and the relationships + a nice dosage of humorous moments throughout.The main star of the show is the emperor. An emperor who can hold his ground, keep his cool and wit, who can actually fight, and is both reasonable and charming. Unlike many other historical series where the doom and gloom of politics is overly intense at times, his workarounds really highlights his emotional intelligence and thoughtfulness.
As for the "bratty" princess, I was really rooting for her initially even despite her being characterized as being too idealistic. And with a background of privilege, it was also completely acceptable that she would be immature about her wants without understanding consequences. After all, there's a reason for the series to be titled the bratty princess. However after 18 episodes, it was becoming nauseating. Again and again, she took advantage of her privilege to selfishly do what she wanted and continuously getting bailed out. She emotionally manipulates those around her by hanging her hat on "doing what's right" and completely disregards the seriousness of who she was impacting. She whines when she thinks people are using her, yet she uses everyone around her in the worst way. All of this would have been acceptable to a degree if she showed any inkling of character growth after so many incidents and episodes... but there was none. She also didn't show any degree of understanding of the kingdom despite having been raised in such a household and showed zero thoughtfulness or intellect. Truly just a bratty princess.
Even is she were to show any character growth in the latter episodes, it definitely wouldn't make up for all the incidents so far. For someone who portrays herself as caring of the less privileged, she sure takes advantage of everything she can get away with, where others would have been put to death multiple times. It's definitely a shame because if it weren't for this aspect, the series would have been much more enjoyable and the higher scoring is for the rest of the characters.
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I really wish more attention was paid to details with this show. The main detective is an actor I've enjoyed watching in other series. They've focused too much on the depiction of the episodic crimes but not so much on what makes sense.If the voice profiler has supernatural hearing, you would think she would be overwhelmed by noise instead of being able to narrow down certain sounds that just happen to break the cases. When someone is on the phone and she's standing right beside them, yet unable to hear the conversation on the other end? As for the murders, I get that the whole concept of the call center requires victims to have access to their phones in order for her to hear what's going on but the realism of this area should have been written better.
The first case was already off the mark when she knew the woman was hiding. Even if her coworker did reach over and call the victim back, she made no effort to stop him. This doesn't make any common sense and less so when she was knowingly aware of what could happen. It was also extremely irritating when the woman told her the church she was nearby and yet no one seemed to make an effort to do much more other than to sit and listen in apparent shock. With the second case as an example, does it make sense for a serial killer to simply leave an unconscious body in a building without being tied up or taking away her phone? I don't even care much about them putting enormous effort into detailing the crimes but at least the flaws shouldn't be so glaring. The annoying aspect is how brutal or traumatized criminals suddenly feel remorse through her saying a few words. This severely downplays the reality of those suffering in our world.
As much as I want to continue watching, even for those few actors I appreciate, this one will have to be dropped. The higher marks despite dropping this one is due to the other actors less the lead female.
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So if you're expecting to see any serious crime solving, this isn't it. It is almost like an attempt to do a live-action version of the anime Detective Conan by solving each case fairly quickly. However, unlike the anime, the cases here don't stimulate much emotions or empathy toward any of the players.
The two male leads do have a pretty fun dynamic (particularly Leon Zhang). Unfortunately, the female lead is just the standard irritating type and instead of adding any value, she pulls it down. The series had the potential to really be pretty good if they managed to do a better job at switching up that underlying comedic tone during what should have been more somber moments. The three leads are pretty monotone no matter what situation they are in and because of this, it ends up emphasizing the fact that they are just a bunch of wealthy kids with zero empathy who are playing detective. The attempted hint at a sob story for the lead female to explain her bratty personality really does nothing for me either. But if you're one who likes these type of characters, you'll find her adorable.
I do appreciate the respect of the multiple languages, where it isn't spoken in one of those nonsensical ways. It's also always nice to hear the Shanghainese language in more mainstream media. The heavy incorporation of foreigners in the plots, however, just doesn't work well here.
This is a series where you don't really need to pay much attention to and the cliffhangers are easy to walk away from. Since I don't hate it, I've been going back and forth on whether to drop it. There is the curiosity on seeing more of the background of the male leads but not much else.
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Almost but not quite...
The series started off with a bang and jumps right into action, which may cause some confusion as to who is who and what's going on with the different factions. It does come together more with each episode and it kept me engage until around episode 10 (less the FL/ML flirtatious scenes). I've been debating on whether to sit through more episodes for the positives, but the negative are starting to outweigh.Positives
- An interesting underlying plot and somewhat unique relationship with the three main princes. There is quite a complex relationship between the three which is intriguing.
- The overall actors are great and the action scenes are done well.
- The gradual unfolding of various character histories would be a reason why I'd want to continue watching.
- The ML has been the most interesting character so far with his multiple roles (though his skills and charm are starting to falter slightly).
- The politics (so far) are actually not as boring and long-winded as with other palace dramas, though I can see its potential in becoming repetitive with 40 episodes.
Negatives
- The FL is supposed to be on par with the ML per the synopsis. But other than having high martial arts skills, she's been quite useless. I've been waiting episode after episode for her to step up to the plate to no avail. She's yet another one of those FLs who constantly states she doesn't want anyone's help, but then requires help from the ML over and over again. You'll get scenes such as her twisting an ankle and the ML is then carrying her on his back. But we are supposed to accept that she is jianghu tough and independent.
- The romance between the FL and ML feels overwhelmingly forced. And the corny of their scenes together has been so bad that I've been skipping through most of it to get to the other parts of the plot. One scene in particular that was so off, I would have fired whoever wrote it in. In the middle of a conversation between the FL and ML, two birds just suddenly falls from out of nowhere giving her the opportunity to just randomly ask him to take care of the white bird while she takes the black bird for obvious symbolic reasons. What??
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Not for me but might be great for others
There's nothing excessively bad about the series but eight episodes in, and it's still quite bland for me personally. This sort of reminds me of CSI Miami where everything is overly exaggerated and everyone is too cool for the show. This type of show may have worked better a decade ago before an overabundance of true crime shows surfaced.-- The crimes beneath the overarching main conspiracy crime are somewhat decent but they also spoon-feed you the clues from the overacting, music, etc.
-- The few actions scenes so far were done well on its own but it doesn't fit the characters. The two mains are supposed to be a standard seasoned cop and a wealthy kid but their fighting skills are apparently on the level of 007.
-- The main MLs also really don't have much chemistry with one another and their relationship feels forced and awkward (even when you don't take into account how they met when one was just a kid).
Overall, it's one of those shows that I wouldn't have a problem with continuing but there's really nothing intriguing enough. My taste in crime series also lean heavy toward more realism. I think if they actually made this more futuristic/sci-fi (almost nothing is " sci-fi-esque" per the description other than the existence of apaths) and significantly picked up the pacing, it would have been a much easier watch.
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