geechoo

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. Yes, it's about zombies but the human stories are very realistic and touching. There are definitely plot holes but I kind of take those for granted in this genre. The characters make poor choices but since they're teenagers I can forgive them.

Some highlights:
- I love LOVE the main cast. I know people have complained about the acting of some (like Onjo) but I thought their awkwardness was very realistic. You can genuinely feel the friendship between them (esp the boys) which is why even with little backstory, I still felt bad when certain characters met their demise.
- Action scenes are well down. The library scene looked amazing and I don't even know how they filmed that without stunt doubles (I'm assuming it was done by the actors themselves since you can see their faces). I wish the girls also got to do more in this regard.
- The humor is underrated. There are some very funny laugh out loud parts without being slapstick-y which served as a nice juxtaposition to the grime setting. I think some people mistook the show to be completely serious when it's not. It's almost a dark comedy at parts.

There are definitely things that could've been done better, such as the message about bullying which felt half baked, but overall I would give this a solid 8/10. Yes there are inconsistencies but those will always exist in zombie genres. I choose to suspend my belief when I watch these.

Yes, GJ does not get enough flack for being one of the causes of XF's traumas. LCY did use XF to get close to her grandfather's camp but at that point they were strangers and he had no attachment to her. GJ however grew up with her and his was a much bigger betrayal imo. One of the plotholes is when XF regains her memories and doesn't hate GJ anymore when before she jumped into the spring, she wanted LCY to kill GJ..

I think LCY is a very morally grey character. His actions make sense within the context of his position as someone vying for the throne in war time China. I think he's the most fleshed out character in the drama particularly because he's the protagonist and antagonist all in one. A lot of male leads in these romance dramas are very "恋爱脑" (someone who only has love on their brain) and it makes no sense. For LCY, power >>> love, and I found that very realistic.

Gu Jian was seriously annoying. He was wishy washy and always made the wrong choice at the wrong time. One of the things that happens to him at the end was supposed a big emotional moment but I felt nothing because of how inconsistent his character was. LCY is hateful but you're not supposed to like him. He's almost a villain of sorts.

I wouldn't even consider it a love story. The original novel was but it was much shorter and told from the female lead perspective. The drama was more about the male lead's life and rise.

The male lead makes this drama imo it's a role that's rarely seen in these types of historical romances and requires a ton of emotional range from the actor. The political intrigue plot completely elevates this from another boring romance drama to something with more substance. The female lead in comparison is so disappointing and one dimensional. She’s the stereotypical “傻白甜” innocent and sweet female protagonist that is abundant in cdramas. This might be why the romance plot was not as interesting for me because I couldn’t wait to get to the political scenes where the male lead maneuvers his way to the throne. I also must give major props to the costumes and cinematography. This drama was filmed on location for many of the earlier episodes and it looked gorgeous and grand in scale. Much better than the green screen mess that plagues cdramas.