Aya

I enjoyed this movie more than I expected. There are always pitfalls when adapting a manga/anime into a movie, but this is by far not among the bad adaptations.

It's visually beautiful.

With regards to styling, they seemed to want to stick to the visual of the characters in the anime as much as possible, which resulted in some unfortunate wig choices for some of the characters. Other than that, I think it was a good idea to stick as close to the anime as they could, because it was in line with a lot of the other choices they made.

One of the other choices I'm talking about is the acting. They clearly went with the theatrical/exaggerated type of acting you often see in anime especially the shounen/shoujo anime, but that doesn't always translate as well in live action. On top of that, some actors can handle it well without going overboard and other can't. An example of someone going too far and too exaggerated was Honda Tsubasa who played Winry. There were more scenes with her over the top expressions and movements being out of place even within this anime universe than of her actually fitting in. Yamada Ryosuke on the other hand was better at this. Despite there being some cringey moments, for the most part he fit the style they were going for pretty well. The older cast did a good job with the limited time they were given on screen. The limited time did mean that most of the side characters ended up being caricatures, but that's a given when you try to squeeze the story into a movie.

I really liked the relationship between Ed and Al and how different their personalities are. They balance each other out. Ed is the passionate, impulsive, dramatic older brother while Al is the grounded and calm younger brother. It's incredibly obvious how much they care about each other in every interaction they have.

The story itself is a bit rushed. They tried to add too much and I'm wondering if that's because they initially weren't sure there would be any sequels? It seems like they might have done it differently if they knew they would get to make 2 more movies. There's a clear pacing disparity between the first half of the movie and the second half. In the first half, they took their time to explain the world that we were getting to see, but in the second half things just started happening one after the other and it felt like they were running out of time and trying to cram as much of the story as they could into that last hour. Despite the pacing issue, I must admit that I never really got lost in the story. It was still easy to follow. However, there were some moments that needed time to breathe. Emotional scenes that needed time. Time for the characters to feel what they needed to feel. Time for the audience to feel what they needed to feel.

All in all, this movie wasn't bad, but based on the choices that were made by the production team, it will not be to everyone's liking. Personally, I found it entertaining and that's what these types of movies should be.

That would indeed be a less controversial take. A look at the beauty of the region and the culture. It might not be the case though, as the government is implementing a "one country, one culture" policy so anything promoting diversity would not be acceptable. Obviously, if they do end up showcasing the culture of the region, I would prefer Dilraba as a representative of our culture rather than it being told from the Chinese POV alone.

If that's really the theme, I doubt it's going to be truthful. The Chinese government would never allow that to air. So most likely it's going to be even more propaganda than usual. A flowery take to make themselves look like the good guys. I hope Dilraba doesn't get involved in this as they're just going to try to use her to give it credibility.

It would be really nice to see Li Yi Tong portray the role again, so hopefully this is real and final casting. Seeing as LBFAD was nothing like the novel, I'm wondering which direction this drama will take.

I really hope it will be as good as LBFAD.

This drama was on my list since it was announced, because the story sounded interesting. I was going to wait until it aired and binge watch the whole thing, but I gave in and watched the first two episodes. I'm loving it so far. I like the leads and their characterisation. The drama is very beautiful and it's funny and entertaining. Now I'm torn between waiting and just watching whatever is available.

Whatever else this drama may be, I can't deny it's entertaining and I only watched one episode so far. The beginning seems to be deliberately cringey and very much like a computer game. Once he crosses over though, it was very funny. Obviously the type of humour the drama is going for requires some overacting and I did appreciate that the actors all went for it. With a lot of restraint, I will wait for all episodes to air and binge watch. I'm in the mood for a cute, fluffy and silly comedy.

I enjoyed this one more than the first one, even though I didn't expect to. It's a sweet and cute movie, but that's about it. It's a very typical story, which a younger audience (teens) might appreciate more. There were a few things that I didn't't like and the most prevalent of them is the fact that the attachment between Shusei and Aoi is pretty unhealthy. Since their relationship is the centre of the story, it's very noticeable. Hopefully, their relationship will become healthier when they mature, but based on what they showed in the movie, it doesn't seem likely without professional help.

I'm definitely watching this. This is one of my all time favourite animes

I first watched this movie about 15 years or so ago without really knowing the premise. It was very interesting to see the story develop as you're first led to believe one thing, but in the end everything is revealed and you're left in tears. It made such an impact on me and lingered in my mind for a while after I watched it and that was most likely one of the goals of this movie. I rewatched 5 years ago and even though I saw it coming, the end still made me cry, because the message was still so relevant. It's honestly depressing how far humanity can fall and still not learn a single lesson. I watched it once again recently and came to the same depressing conclusion. It's sad, but fortunately there's still beauty in this world and kindness in humanity and hope that acceptance and mercy will win over hate.

I would've been fine with Yui ending up with either of them as both seemed to be a good fit for her for different reasons.

The problem I had from the beginning, is that I didn't really believe that she was in love with Takumi. They seemed more like friends or siblings who are very close and comfortable with each other. Right from the start it felt like she chose him, because he fit the "ideal" that she decided on. I did think that she was genuinely happy with him and should they have married, they would have had a happy life. However, I don't think that she was really, really in love with him and more with the idea of how her future husband should be. It's also telling that in the last episode he confessed that he deliberately tried to behave that way because he loved her from the start. I did not like the way they handled their break up in the drama though. First of all, it did seem out of character for him to cheat (if he actually did cheat). Secondly, it was abrupt. We did see his jealousy and they way he was influences by the opinions of others throughout the drama, but it was still quite sudden. I wish they handled it differently. Found a different reason that fit more.

That being said, I do agree that even though it was subtle, it was clear that Yui and Kotaro still cared for each other. Kotaro was clearly still in love with Yui, but was trying to hide it. Her feelings are less clear, especially since she's telling herself that she's over him and is in a committed relationship. It did seem that by the end of the drama they both learned to understand each other more and this time would be able to make it work better.

I enjoyed watching this drama. It did a great job presenting a very important issue. It managed to make me angry when needed and laugh when it intended. I must admit that there were quite a few characters that were annoying and frustrating to watch, which I think is what this drama intended for the most part.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

While the story is interesting, this movie suffers from bad editing. The story could've been conveyed so much better with decent editing. Unfortunately, most Xianxia and Wuxia movies I have watched suffer from the same problem.

Another obvious issue that Xianxia movies usually suffer from is the short duration of the movies as a format. There's usually a lot to tell, but because of the limited time, you have to pick and choose what to show in the movie and a few bad choices can lead to a good story being ruined. I actually liked what they decided to show in this movie, but because there was so much more to tell and because it was edited sloppily, a lot of the potential of the story was lost and the performances of the actors didn't really get through as much. I feel like the actors did a decent job, but some of it ended up being lost. Most of it can be blamed on not enough time to develop the characters, so they all ended up being shallow versions of themselves.

All in all, it's not too bad. I still enjoyed the movie. Just sad that it could've been so much better.

Unfortunately that's true for many dramas. The leads are sometimes really horrible to each other in the beginning. I suppose it's to emphasize how they change later. BTW, I had no issue with you dropping the drama. That's obviously your choice and you can drop it for whatever reason and it would be nobody's business. Just don't want people to get the wrong idea and think it has a horrible ML, while both the ML and the FL did some questionable things.

I see you had no problem with her drugging him, stripping him and drawing a naked portrait of him. The things he did may not be proper, but she wasn't exactly blameless. If you point out the improper behaviour, might as well point out everything to be fair. You can't skip the things she did wrong just because it's a woman doing it to man. Imagine if he did the same thing. I'm sure everyone would be up in arms.

FYI, before you mention it, I'm not defending the ML and the things he did in the beginning. Just trying to be fair.

That was definitely my reaction too. She was stabbed (kind of) and they already said the baby was lost, but then she went ahead and continued the lie by saying the baby was fine!!!!??? And they believed her? No one questioned anything?

Continuing the lie just because her father-in-law was sad and blamed himself was just next level stupidity. The FL just never thought ahead and simply tried to solve the current problem without thinking of the consequences.

Thanks. Even though I made it, I got stuck many times myself 😊

Agreed, the comments were too harsh. As I mentioned in my comment above, I enjoyed his performance. They all indeed did well portraying their characters, which contributed to making this relatively simple story enjoyable to watch.

I think that the reason why his emotional scenes worked so well was because they matched his personality. They weren't over the top, but you could feel how sad and broken he was. And even in those moments he seemed to want to hold back. The SML on the other hand is much 'louder' with his emotions. His anger is undeniable and his sadness is there for everyone to see. Both were interesting in their own way.

Not really that bad. Neither Lim Joo Gyung nor Lee Su Ho waver in their feelings for each other in the slightest throughout the whole drama. I think it's the audience that really liked the SML and wanted them together, but they were never really anything more than friends.

I hope you like the drama.