the self righteousness wore me out
I liked he yan and her saga, even though I do not think her plight was treated with the gravity it deserved. For someone that suffered so much, there should have been just... more there. but at least the story was almost fully centered on her legend. I liked her cheerfulness and how she was just so happy to finally exist as herself poor girl🥹. and the small smile playing at the corner of her mouth the entire time? it didn't really look right, but it makes sense that she can't control her expressions bc she's worn a mask her entire life.i also liked cheng lei, even though I think his character was underutilized compared to the 2ml who had a more developed character arc and was more fleshed out, I didn't care though I was just so happy to see him. and he ended up being adequate.
another call out were the fight scenes, esp he yan's, they were forceful and violent, really befitting a general. I like that they took it as seriously as the men's fight scenes, it really added to the character's prestige.
there were few romantic moments between the leads, so its hard to judge their romantic chemistry overall, but in the bits they gave us, they were sweet. and I kinda liked that they eschewed romance to focus on the story, even though all that focus still didn't produce an interesting story lol
let me ignore the main villain and all the loopholes/lol/wtf/deus ex machina moments around the mask, her identity, the switch, her multiple brushes with death and her brother bc i'm just too bored to go there and focus on my main problem, the self righteousness.
cdrama writers, esp when writing female characters often confuse being inspirational for self righteousness. you can distinctly see that he yan was supposed to be the former but oh boy! they missed that mark by at least a mile. I really cannot get with self righteous/morally perfect characters who run around spieling vaguely self involved self righteous rhetoric. after the half way mark in the drama, its like they handed her a mic and a soapbox which she never quite managed to get off, her inspirational speeches to random groups of people just went on and on in every other ep and made what was already an underwhelming story even duller. I'd rather a character someone can empathize with than one who can 'do no wrong' and is just the best of the best in all the rooms at all times.
they tried to make it a 'risen from the ashes' story too but they don't really focus on her suffering or the impact it had on her so her 'rise' doesn't play out properly.
and because they made such light work of her plight in favour of her being this upright figure constantly spouting bluntly crafted motivational messages while perched on her dubious soapbox, her tale wasn't that engaging, like do I really care if she gets her revenge? no. but she also seems to be more pre-occupied with more 'honorable' goals so.
this is the second story of a fml general drama i've seen, and I dislike them equally lol but for separate reasons, I hope to never watch another one.
will I finish this? idc
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short and cute
I couldn't get into this at first so I was just skipping through until ep 9 when things finally clicked, then I awww'd alll the way to the end. what a cute little drama! the cp had buckets of chemistry and sparkly tension and the fl's performance especially was lovely. the ml was so sincere it was impossible not to root for him, also I loved all of his clothes, great wardrobe! its nice to finally see that actor in a ml role, hope his success continues, and the actress too.ps: she should not have been anywhere near his set after the docu was completed. she's his girlfriend not his assistant, and it caused so many problems
pss: totally random that her and her bestie just lived alone in that mansion, but it worked for *aesthetic reasons*
the scenarios are a little silly hence the low score but yea, its good for a one time watch.
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maybe it could have worked if it only had 24 episodes
it had too many episodes and not enough story to tell, so the poor fl who according to the story's logic should be smarter than everyone else got saddled with the role of vapid village idiot to stretch out what little story they had, and yea it was a disaster.they definitely should have put the masked persona on the poster as well so we know before going in, bc that incredibly stupid plot went on for too long.
waste of good actors, concept and costuming. smh.
what a giant eyeroll of a drama, do not recommend
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the ml's beautiful costumes were more interesting than the story
visually wise this is very pretty to look at, i liked all the costumes, each character's styling, the locations, and all the other details they put into production. lyx is also fun to watch, when his character is being edgybut omg
this was sooo boring and sooo slow with zero emotional stakes, and the boring fight sequences where we got to see the ml show off his impressive dance skills just went on and on and on and onnnnn, it felt like punishment.
the story, told at a glacial pace was pretty dry too: mysterious and misunderstood guy falsely accused of killing big bro is continuously set up by insane and aggrieved former bestie bro aka thanos lite and his cohorts while he (ml) makes a bunch of friends and finds love (probably?) - that was it, until i dropped it anyway. there was nothing to look forward to in each ep apart from the pretty outfits. also this has a large cast, but they are somehow mostly unmemorable.
the main actor does what he does best - he coughs up blood, he's tragic, he's beautiful, he's frail, he knows something you don't, heh.
i'm adding this to the class of dramas i'm temporarily calling the lookables - dramas that look good but are just narratively dry. think fof, love in pavilion, etc.
this drama gave me cherry blossoms ptsd
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note to self: try and avoid this writer's work in the future
they also wrote immortal samsara and ashes of love which featured some of the most insufferable fls in cdrama land. but i had to at least check this one out bc once again its my girl yang zi and just deep sigh.i've watched 5 eps and tbh it is hard to empathize with mudan's plight. if she wasn't firmly established as such a sharp character then yes i could feel bad for her situation but girl even an idiot could see those people were animals and finna kill her at any point. she should have been long gone immediately her maid died (smart as she was she could have come up with an excuse) but she never saw them as a threat (the same people that blackmailed her into marriage, killed her mother without blinking, then robbed her and her family blind) or treated her situation as the grave emergency it was, and for someone so smart that is just unbelievable and makes her story unconvincing.
i think i'm just not a fan of this writer in general, its like they always have this idea that the fl should be complicated but don't quite know how to execute it while maintaining their story's integrity ( a la zhao paner in a dream of splendour) so one ends up giving way, in this case so far its the story's integrity bc what was she still doing in that house after the third episode?? why was she leisurely and casually packing up her stuff like her in-laws weren't unrepentant greedy murderers?
a few positives:
miles wei's chararacter - that boy got his head shoved all the way up his own ass it is hilarious! but the actor plays him with such a gravity that does not make him immediately despicable.
the lighting - warm, natural and gorgeous!
yang zi - she looked so beautiful i could not take my eyes off her!
the ml - he brings a certain liveliness that the drama needs
idk if i'm gonna continue this, just those first five eps took me days to complete. and the slow pacing isn't the issue here either, the story is just really boring and dissatisfying, and its best to call it early now bc i have yet to see one yang zi costume drama or any drama by this writer that had the appropriate amount of emotional payoff at the end.
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