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Why Do They Keep Fcking Up a Great Story?

Fished out of the frozen water by Yanxun after the ice lake siege, Chu Qiao found herself confused of her own identity and past, not having remembered any after months of being comatose. As Yanxun fed her more and more of their past accounts, deliberately leaving out those he didnt want her to remember, she realized things had started to come back and that Yanxun had meant a lot to her. But she also realized they were not meant to be together, partly because she knew something was not right as the ice lake nightmares she had at nights keep haunting her, and partly because all the tribes in Yanbei do not approve of their king marrying a slave from a rival kingdom. Determined to escape Yanbei, she staged her death on their wedding day and narrowly escape Yanxun’s pursuit, only to find herself being rescued yet again by the one she used to hate, the one who had given his life for her, the supposedly dead Great Yong’s general and strategist, Zhuge Yue. His return did not mark the end of their journey as he was forced to push her away again due to the predicament he was currently in, and decided to set her free into Li Ce’s arm. Will they find their way back to each other again?

First off, the editting of this show is kind of choppy with scenes jumping from one to another without much backtrack that might leave viewers who are not familiar with Princess Agent or the original novel confused. Like the deep relationship between Da Tong Guild and Yanxun and Chu Qiao. One who have watched Princess Agent or read the novel wouldve known Da Tong played a major role in Yanxun’s escape from Zhenhuang capital city and his rise to power in Yanbei. They went waaaaay back with Zhong Yu. But in Rebirth, Zhong Yu just appeared out of nowhere and Chu Qiao risked her neck and limbs just to rescue her. And how the heck did Zhuge Yue always appear just in time to rescue Chu Qiao regardless her location? Did he teleport or something? The last 10 episodes was a real mess, don’t even let me start on that faceless god cult that came out of nowhere that somehow became the drive to the second half of the plot 🫩🙄

That aside, I totally love Li Yunrui as Zhuge Yue. Although the novel’s Zhuge Yue was so much more arrogant and never lost his cool and pride even when he was around Chu Qiao trying to win her heart, I actually liked the milder Zhuge Yue of the adaptation’s, someone who is not afraid to show his emotion and feelings, especially jealousy. Fighting-wise it has always been no doubt Li Yunrui was good at this based on his performance in Blossom. His action scenes definitely did not disappoint. And the comeback of Zhuge Yue’s ice arrows is an absolute joy for me. I thought they’ve forgotten Zhuge Yue’s iconic weapon. I had always felt sorry for the novel’s Zhuge Yue, he had always been making concessions in favour of Chu Qiao despite his prideful nature, but Chu Qiao always overlooks this until the ice lake arc. And to see it materialize in Rebirth made me feel sorry for this character even more. His journey to secure the survival of the love of his life was too ardous and he literally died for it, TWICE! My complain for this character is why would they mostly clad him in scholar’s robe? Novel Zhuge Yue was supposed to be a feared general, the best leader among the best that the kingdom ever produced, how did he became nothing more than a simple scholarlike strategist here? 🤯🤔

Huangyang Tiantian’s Chu Qiao is rather borderline though. The problem isnt with the actress but the role itself. Characteristically, Chu Qiao is very prideful and rough, willing to go all out with tooth and nails in acomplishing her missions and vision. On the surface, her ideals of the perfect world didnt align with the ancient world because her character in the novel had come from the future. This was not so in the adaptation (she was not a transmigrator/time traveler in the adaptation), so while I find her dream of abolishment of slavery understandable, the equal rights idea is rather out of place. It sounded like it just came out of nowhere, until half of the show where it originated, but even then the explanation seemed half-assed.

I love the fact that Chu Qiao finally fell for for Zhuge Yue here, i was all over the moon for this after all the rumours circulating last year that there wont be any romance between them. Maybe the “romance” they refered to was french-kissing and spicy bed scenes that I see prevalent in most cdrama nowadays? Cuz there is definitely none involving Chu Qiao, which is fine by me. I am more for mature romance where you dont need the couple to be frolicking and feeling each other up whenever they meet. Chu Qiao hugging Zhuge Yue is enough, they look perfect for each other. I do want to complain about this character though. She was written to constantly be damsel in distress despite all those outstanding martial skill she’s supposed to possess. Why screenwriter, why? Novel’s Chu Qiao never needed so much saving, only two occasions did Zhuge Yue come for her, which was during the siege of Longyin Pass when she first fled Yanbei, and the retaking of Tang’s palace from Tang’s rebel princes, and in both times it had been Yanxun who was sieging her leaving an absolute no way out. Other than that she could win any battle on her own. Why oh why did they have to power her down so much? Her feats were so epic in the novel, what she went through really puts forth how she earned the famed title of Xiuli General and revered across the realm, but all I see here is a woman who thought she was all tough but fell short each time. Worst part is they not only watered down her capability, they also did the same with Zhuge Yue! WTH, man?

Actors for Yanxun and Li Ce performed with flying colours, although I still liked Shawn Dou’s Yanxun more as his was closer to the novel’s Yanxun than Rebirth’s. In this one, Yanxun is too lovestruck and obsessed with Chu Qiao, a total contrast to the original novel’s Yanxun who had let go of this fixation and focussed on accumulating power after Chu Qiao fled to Biantang, cutting all ties from him. The novel’s Yanxun had always had his ambition placed before Chu Qiao, which was why he tried to bench her in Princess Agent, so that she wouldnt get in his way and instead sit quietly as his queen in his castle because her ideals would put a stop to his advacement to conquer the Central Plains. When he realized Chu Qiao would not budge, that was when he let her go. This, however, was not the case with Rebirth’s Yanxun. This Yanxun keeps getting hung up over his lost love and blames everyone for it. Pure narcisstic dude.

It took quite a while for me to accept this new Li Ce, because Deng Lun’s Xiao Ce had been so accurate to the novel. Although this Li Ce had not been as ostentatious and flamboyant as Deng Lun’s portrayal in Princess Agent, and not as goofy, this Li Ce kind of grow into you as he appears more and more. I especially liked his banter with the usually cold Zhuge Yue, and without realizing it my lips would curve into a smile at their scenes. The love-hate relationship was evident, and very much amusing.

I used to hate Li Qin’s Chun Er in Princess Agent, she had always been a spoilt brat whom later went rabid, but somehow I loved Xia Meng’s Chun Er. For one, she resembled Li Qin quite a lot hence it was easy to see Chun Er as she used to be in Princess Agent. And Xia Meng’s portrayal of ChunEr is so on point, with her expressions of obsession and vengeance went on full blown. Being a toppled, disgraced princess that she is, she had nothing to drive her life other than the fire of grudge smoldering her heart, and Xia Meng did extremely well in playing the twisted and broken Chun Er.

Really in love with the hair in this show. Everyone had unique, luscious hair: the wavy one on Zhuge Yue, the long, shiny one on Chu Qiao, the full and curly one on Queen of Lingyue, the frizzy one on Yanxun. I love it that they did not put on elaborate hairstyles like most period drama, and they actually let the hair down when they’re sleeping, which is realistic! You dont sleep with your hair still up complete with dangling ornaments, logically one can barely move the head lying down with those heavy trinkets and hairdo weighing down the head without messing them up, but somehow these characters with elaborate hairdo and hairpieces always wake up with perfect hair despite the whole night sleeping in them. And funnily most productions tend to overlook this, maybe to save time on prep time 🤷🏻‍♀️

And I like that they don’t portray everyone to look flawlessly beautiful too! General Huan of the Snowy Tribe had smudged face with faint scar and patchy skin as a seasoned fighter of war, Cheng Yuan had a big ass scar across his face from battle injury, Yan Xun had tanned skin due to decade-long exposure to hard life from his house arrest and bitter cold of Yanbei, Zhuge Yue had blistered lips from frostbite, Chu Qiao’s face wasnt always smooth and fair, Queen of Lingyue had tanned, uneven skin tone and freckles, and Chun-er and Concubine Hu had the most realistic slap bruise on their cheeks. And did you see Chu Qiao’s burnt feet during her flashbacks? That is the most realistic burn injury I’ve ever seen on cdrama! I am really impressed to see battle-hardened face of the Yanbei people, the skin looked very tanned and rough, seemed like flawless makeup is nonexistent in this show, to which I applaud. Best part is even though Queen of Lingyue looks really rough and tanned, i find that she was the most beautiful among all the female characters, especially with her majestic hair. And to see the flashback of her old self in much fairer skintone and smooth face as the reigning queen of Lingyue before they were conquered by King Ximeng and thrown into a war was even more breathtaking. She is truly a beauty. I truly commend the make up department for making the characters look as real as possible. Most importantly they did not try hard to make the mainleads look flawless and beautiful all throughout the show like most idol drama.

I think my starting on this title with a considerable low expectation contributed to my surprise that it didnt tanked too much and this of course affected my ratings. I actually quite enjoy the show despite it being a full on deviation from my favourite novel. This adaptation is less gloomy than the dark novel, and most importantly my favourite supporting characters had slightly better endings than the novel. I mean, at least Li Ce was not killed by his own mother and Huan Huan was not hunted down and brutally killed by her trusted cousin cum brother, Yanxun! Man i had always felt so sorry for the novel’s Li Ce and Huan Huan’s tragic ending each time i read that part (mind you I read the novel 5 times!). I mean, since both adaptations (princess agent and rebirth) fcked up the plot of the novel, I don’t even know which is worse. I was seriously thinking of rating Rebirth 8.5 until i came upon the last 10 episodes. So I decided it’s a tie with the also fcked up Princess Agent. For me the overall plot is mainly acceptable except for the last 10 episodes that got really fcked up and failed to make sense.

For an avid Princess Agent fan, this might be worthwhile since our main couple had the same ending as the novel. We finally get to have the proper closure. But for somebody who just came to know the show without prior experience of the prequel or the novel, this will most likely become a disaster. Proceed with caution.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE!!!







Honestly i really wanna strangle the screenwriter for the lousy last 10 episode. Wth would they waste screentime with Helian-ChengYuan nonsense? 😒🙄 is it so hard to just follow the novel’s plot which is more sound and logical than this one they cooked up? Not only did they turn the plot to downgrade the ML Zhuge Yue into someone so helpless and weak, they also decided to turn Yanxun into a less power hungry monster and became a crybaby who’s so hung up over his love for Chu Qiao. And how the heck did Zhuge Yue survive his double poison that was supposed to kill him and Chu Qiao’s stab straight into his lungs? Not only did he survive those, he also managed to come to Chu Qiao’s rescue against the Quanrong, with a clean white robe that only got splashed with blood while he was charging towards Chu Qiao in the last 50 meters. I was like, what the haillll is going on here? I actually thought Zhuge Yue was Chu Qiao’s imagination before her death, like the rest of the characters who keep imagining their loved ones coming for them before dying. OMG make it make sense!

Despite all the plot chaos, they did decide to have an ending just like the novel, where our main couple lived happily ever after while Yanxun was left alone to lament in his old age without the love of his life. I think the songs, cast acting and the alternate ending was a real saving grace - of how beautiful the lives of each couple couldve been had they took a different choice. Yanxun never releasing the arrow in ice lake, Zhao Che agreeing to go with General Huan and leave the mess he made behind, and Helian Ling agreeing to elope with Cheng Yuan.

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One of the Few Adaptations that Surpasses the Novels they’re based on!

The FL Chu Yu was determined to get to the bottom of her father’s death and her brother’s serious injury on the battlefield of Fengling, which she suspected to be because of traitors, and won’t stop at nothing even if it means her reputation ruined, scorned and misunderstood by her mom and sister, and marrying a dead general, Wei Jun, who had fallen in battle. This is Chu Yu, a girl who will not stop for no one and nothing until her goal is accomplished. This is how she met with ML, Wei Yun who was the youngest brother of her dead husband. 6 of Wei Yun’s brothers perished in the battle of Baidi Valley including his father the general of Wei army, and he returned home with their bodies in tow, but inadvertantly faced the accusation of crime for valor due to the battle being lost along with the lives of seventy thousand soldiers. Chu Yu, as the eldest mistress of the mansion, received him in the capital and later fought for his release. Although Wei Yun was very wary of her motives of marrying his dead eldest brother and continuoesly opposed her presence in the family, he finally came to an agreement with Chu Yu as he realized both Fengling and Baidi Valley’s battle losses had been connected. With that, both of them started to work hand in hand to investigate, which turned into a blossoming forbidden love.

I love how they changed some parts of the novel which turned out even better on screen:

- the Song brothers to be good with each other, Song Wenchang was very lovable instead of being at odds with Song Shilan,
- The Wei widows to be more involved in the earlier power struggle instead of merely ornaments and actually possess real martial skills instead of only Jiang Chun,
- FL to have more fights and battles,
- Chu Jin is softer and not as jealous as in the novel, repents much earlier too.

I liked how they changed the plot into Zhao Yue becoming North Qi’s emperor instead of usurping Sui’s throne, cuz this version is more believable than the novel’s plot. It always bothered me how ridiculous Zhao Yue’s ascension to the throne in the novel, and the scriptwriter managed to turn this lousy arc into a masterpiece by having Sui internally disrupting North Qi political scene instead.

I liked how ML’s personality stayed true to the novel too, that he would not trade Chuyu for anyone or anything, even if it means defying the emperor. Novel’s ML and FL have always been resolute and firm, and the fact that ML’s loyalty had always been for the land and its people and never for the emperor made it easier for them to look believable instead of the usual blind loyalty to the throne that common generals usually exhibit. In the novel, Wei Yun had no qualm to replace the emperor for another when he saw him not fit for it. So I liked how the adaptation Wei Yun cared nothing about the emperor’s ridiculous expectation of him being a War Saint and would not compromise. And most importantly i adored how the scriptwriter made their relationship pure and sincere, instead of having them sneaking into each other’s room to sleep together and having a child out of wedlock like in the novel. The adaptation’s ending is also much more fulfilling than the novel. A+ for that.

I dont get the blatant accusation about victoria song abusing power by reducing Ding Yuxi’s scenes, cuz in the novel, Wei Yun is always secondary to Chu Yu. The novel is about Chu Yu and Wei Yun’s mentions are even much lesser than what’s shown on the adaptation. I like Ding Yuxi as an actor, I watched this adaptation partly because of the novel and him being the main lead, and even then i felt the production had expanded wei yun’s character much more than what the novel had of him. Not that I am complaining of course, i totally love DYX as Wei Yun, but i dont mind his scenes being lesser than Victoria Song’s Chu Yu because I know that the original novel is a female-centric piece.

By the way, IMPO this is definitely Ding Yuxi’s best show that I have seen so far. And I am glad that he finally met the perfect co-star. I had been extremely disappointed of the FL’s opposite him before this, their characters are always lacking one after another, so I am glad Victoria Song lived up to my expectation. Her action scenes were finely executed and she spared no effort to make it look grand whenever she needs to display Chu Yu’s martial prowess. Other than her being great with action scenes, the credits must also go to the action choreographer. All the fights here are amazing.

The subtle romance here is also perfect for my taste. Theyre not cheesy or cutesy, but more to mature romance that doesnt need the couple to be all too handsy and kissy with each other everytime they meet. I can’t stand the romance when DYX was with younger female actors in the shows that i’ve seen him in, cuz their characters tend to be the whiny-clingy kinds, which I completely abbhor (i have dropped his shows due to clingy cutesy FL which had gotten on my nerves more than my love for DYX). So his pairing with Victoria Song is perfect in my eyes.

Again, hat’s off to the screenwriter and actors who managed to make Zhao Yue-Grand Princess’s love into something worth to sympathize. I felt nothing for this couple in the novel, and I didnt think Grand Princess was that much in love with Zhao Yue too, but somehow in this adaptation, i could feel how deeply they love each other but torn due to loyalty. I actually felt sad for their ending here.

Anyway, honestly my rating couldve gone higher had not for the lack of memorable songs here. None manage to catch my attention and most are slow ballads. Can’t really rate any higher for that section. Too bad. But this is a good piece, i don’t understand how the rating turned out to be so low.

SO PLEASE DONT GET FOOLED BY THE GENERAL RATING ON MDL.

I am betting those are done by Song’s haters. I don’t get from where the hate was coming, i mean i have seen Luoyang and she was great there too. So I dont get it really, was it because she wasnt young, pretty or whiny-cutesy enough like how DYX’s FLs before this were? 🙄 how dense.

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Great story but they botched it with an annoying ending

For a spy wuxia show, I had to commend that this is definitely one of the best I’ve seen so far. When i first started out, i thought it was going to be the usual ‘spy assassin goes in for a target, assasssin and target fall in love with each other, assassin tries to kill target but failed and then target would go against his own men to protect the assassin’ trope. However as i watched on, they actually have more in store.

Basically FL is an assassin trained by an evil organization Wu Feng, whose aim is to control and dominate the martial world. One of the sects still left standing against Wufeng threat is the Gong family, who resides on a hill. This is where FL was supposed to go. She takes on the identity of a bride candidate, Yun Weishan, to enter the hill. The brides were supposed to be for the eldest and heir of the family, Young Lord Gong Huanyu, and the next line after him Gong Shangjue. Upon FL’s entry into the hill, she discovered that she might not be the only one that Wufeng sent in. Sometime later, a Wufeng assassin was discovered among the bride candidates, and later the Leader of Gong family - The Sword Wielder - and his heir Gong Huanyu were both killed while interrogating the assassin. As Gong Shangjue was not on the hill at that moment, the least talented, playboy, useless second son of the Sword Wielder - Gong Ziyu, the ML - was forced to take the helm as the Sword Wielder as the family’s rule stated that the Sword Wielder’s position can never be vacant. This was met with strong objection by both Gong Shangjue upon his return, with his brother Gong Yuanzhi strongly standing by his side, so they keep trying to make things difficult for ML to investigate his father’s and brother’s deaths while questioning ML’s ability to lead and protect the Gong family. FL also discovered that there was another Wufeng assassin among the brides, Shangguan Qian. As FL was chosen by ML as his bride, and Shangguan Qian chosen by Gong Shangjue, more sinister and mysterious events began to unfold, more deaths occurred, and the pressure rose upon ML to prove his worth, hence he was forced to go through the trial of the three realms while at the same time investigating Wufeng’s activity that is threatening his family.

At first, I didnt put much high hopes on this show. But as I watched on, the story began to get very interesting as there is extensive character background and building along the first 10 episodes, where we can see from various perspectives of the other roles. There are a lot of flashbacks for this character building, but instead of getting annoyed of so many flashbacks, i got more curious and empathatic towards the other roles, even as they go against ML. I especially liked Gong Yuanzhi’s character, he was supposed to be this arrogant teenager who always thought his brother Gong Shangjue is the rightful owner of the Sword Wielder position. His sinister smirks, although makes me cringe, they have a certain charm. When I looked at Gong Yuanzhi, his character seemed so similar to a character in Robin William’s Hook movie, Rufio.

I especially loved how they portray the multi-faceted types of love - Love between biological siblings, love between step/foster siblings, love between father and son, love between leader and subordinates, and of course love between lovers of opposing sides. It’s really beautiful and intricately written that I was left very impressed.

Love the costumes in this show. They match the dark setting of the Gong residence, with dark monotonous colours instead of bright and over the top that is usually the case in wuxia shows, especially in female wardrobe department.

The songs are slow and melancholic, although it grows on me as I watched on, they failed to put a print in my head.

One thing that i find weird is that everyone seem to talk like theyre whispering to each other, other than the squabbling scenes between ML and 2nd ML. All the whispers and talking in low tones gives a more darkish mystery vibe to the already dark setting of the show. The only cheery thing around the compound comes from the goofy characters which i will mention next.

Fighting sequences didnt look too CGIed, it has more earthly real life feel to it. Although they still use the usual wuxia theme of getting poisoned over and over again and recover like it has no aftermath at all (other than the fortnight flies which affected their inner strength fortnightly).

Usually with other shows, I wouldnt pay much attention to side characters and their love story, most of the time I would just fast forward them, but in this story, i kept watching and got amazed at how they play everything out. Even the goofy side characters that acts as a comic relief to a serious piece like this, such as the Eldest Young Lady Gong Zishang and Xiaohei - Young Lord Hua - kept me hooked. At first i was disgusted with Gong Zishang as she was portrayed as a flirtitious woman who likes to watch undressed men, with goofy over the top hand gestures and body movement, but as i watched more, she is really fun to watch especially when she keeps chasing Jin Fan - ML’s primary guard - while being clueless that the one who was always hanging out with her in the lab - Xiaohei - likes her. The fun part of this show is really fun, the mysterious part really mysterious and the sad part turned out super sad. Really love the plot twist towards the end.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE!!!
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The fact that the brother that ML had always looked up to and love turned out to be the villain and the brother that he thought was always against him and hate him turned out to be the one who really love him is honestly so brilliantly executed.

When i started to watch this series, i am ready for a tragic ending cuz spy stories usually have that. After going through the trauma of character massacre in A Journey to Love, i don’t really think any other death can hit me that much anymore. So yeah. I was ready for ML or FL plus Jinfan or Gong Yuanzhi to die. I thought the careless act of letting FL go back to her hometown without any bodyguards is purposely to get the character killed, so am ready for that already. So imagine how dumbfounded I am to see the ending just ML with a surprised look to see whoever it is at the door of the compound? Dammit why end it like this. Honestly I was ready to see somebody handing over a box or a rug containing FL’s head. But they decided to put up an open ending instead! Are they trying to hint for S2 or what? Why just that? Gosh I dont know whether to get angry or excited. Duhhh. Just be done with it already. I am okay with ML and 2nd ML losing their lovers. Why the cliffhanger? Grrrr. I am also dissatisfied that the evil Shangguan Qian had a happy ending, free of shackles of Wufeng and Gong family. Why did she get to live a quiet life? I wouldve given 10/10 for story if they hadnt put up such a lousy ending.

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Crazy Prosecutor on the Roll for Chaebol Downfall

Jo Yeonju has always been known among her peers as a morally corrupt prosecutor who likes to shamelessly suck up to her bosses in order to secure a smooth climb across the ranks. Making cases go away for businessmen, covering for local gangs, create settlements for law violators, everything goes in her book with the right price. While other prosecutors see her as just another corrupt civil servant, her best friend known for high integrity and righteous heart, Ahn Yujun remains loyal to her. One day she went for a reconnaisance mission to nail a suspect that her boss had lost in one of the cases he handled, only to be run over by a car. She wakes up with no memory of her past, but everyone around her calls her Kang Mina, the second daughter-in-law to one of the biggest chaebol family in the country, the Hans of the Hanju Group. Although confused and bewildered by the blank memory of her identity, she could not mask the joy and astonishment upon her return from the hospital to a huge mansion, handsome husband and luxurious life. However, her happiness is cut short when she realizes Kang Mina is actually at the bottom of the hierarchy, being constantly physically abused by her mother in law, despised by her husband and looked down upon by her sister and father-in-laws. Being the hard-headed and hot-tempered prosecutor that she is, Jo Yeonju could not stop herself from fighting back against the mental,verbal and physical abuse by her in-laws while she carefully navigates the life of Kang Mina, the sole survivor of another chaebol family who died in a plane crash while enroute to a party where she was not invited as the estranged daughter of a mistress, the event that inadvertantly makes her the unexpected heiress of the Yumin Group that the Hans have been coveting for.

I think Lee Ha Nee actually nailed the hot tempered airhead of a prosecutor, Jo Yeonju. Being the daughter of a gangster had equipped her with above average fighting skills that helped her handle the bad guys, but you cant really expect action sequences by the episodes like the usual action series. This show is largely comedy and drama, that includes overreactions and excessive expressions of emotions of the FL which i think is deliberately written for this role. If you see an elder/boss screaming at her, you can guarantee that she would scream back like it’s a vocal competition. Despite being a comedic character, she also nails it when tears and grief is required of her. Such scenes are brief, but you can really feel her displayed emotions. I dont know Korean, but i cant help feeling that Jo Yeonju was speaking in a dialect that is quite different than the rest of the cast. Reminds me a lot of the way Mudeok speaks in Alchemy of Soul. Le Hanee’s unique speech and acting made me look up her other works for future viewing.

Another shoutout is for Jin Seoyun who played the villain Han Seonghye. Shown to be modestly sympathetic towards Kang Mina’s predicament at being her mother’s punching bag, she vaguely defends her against the rest of her family members. But it turned out she is actually more shrewd than her abrasive mother and sister, and more cunning than her chaebol father. Carrying a grudge against her father after getting constantly sidelined as he favors his sons, Seonghye meticulously laid out her plans to take over the group with her first target being the Kang Mina whose personality and social status had drastically changed following the car crash. A brilliant character with unpredictable moves that posed quite a hurdle for Jo Yeonju and her team.

The pacing is great at the beginning of the show, slowly faltering in the middle as romance is slipped into the plot, and ending with a rather draggy arc. Honestly this could have ended by ep 12. I fastforwarded most of the romance scenes cuz the original revenge plot is way more intriguing. One thing i liked about this show is they don’t try to distract the audience with excessive supporting character’s arcs. At least that’s a plus. I am also impressed at the use of comprehensible languages being used here other than Korean, in this case characters speak English, French and Vietnamese, which i constantly see most kdramas fail at. The effort is commendable.

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Peak of Industrial Espionage

A botched operation 3 years prior came with a new lead of the escaped wanted criminal Micheal, forcing the Korean National Intelligence Services to bring up the legendary spy Baek Chanmi back into the spotlight. She lost an agent that she cared very dearly in that botched operation and carried huge grudge against Michael, that the top echelon is counting for her to go all out for this mission. Going undercover at Il Kyung Technology with 2 other teammates, Baek found herself in a pickle as the secretary position she interviewed for is of a CEO who turned out to the student she tutored 15years ago, Yoon, who had a crush on her. Forced to avoid recognition by Yoon and the targets they are after, Baek and her team discovered that the mission they are on might have already been compromised by an insider, a traitor in the NIS that keeps the villains one step ahead of them every single time.

I totally love the Industrial Security Team 3 lineup despite their ridiculus misadventures. Out of the team of 5, only 1 is a competent spy, the most crazily unhinged of all NIS, Baek Chanmi. The other 4 are either semi or total doofus - The middle-aged ahjumma negotiator/interrogator Hwang Misung, the supposedly tech whiz but totally clumsy-never-been-in-the-field Im Yeeun, the wimpy backup tech Bae Mohyuk and last but not least, the team leader constantly being intimidated by Baek Chanmi who happened to be the girlfriend he dumped years ago, Dong Gwansoo. I really liked how they manage fit in the clumsiness and comedy without trying too hard or looking slapstick or downgrading the kickass FL character.

I am totally for older actresses in the main leads, and Baek Chanmi’s character is an absolute badass that doesnt give other people chances to do her dirty. She stands up for herself, and others, and she doesnt care of the consequences so long as her objectives are achieved. Basically a total contrast of Im Yeeun’s character.

The scene where Baek took a shot at the villain’s car tyre while propping on one knee on a sliding motorcycle much like the superhero pose was so damn james bondy-mission impossible-like and she looked really good doing it. Her action sequences are all on point and doesnt look awkward or rehearsed at all. Although, this show still suffer from the usual action trope of having a professional spy/assassin/mercenary almost always turn their backs on the enemy without a confirmed kill/subdue, which becomes the opportunity for the other party to gain an upper hand. The moment the good guy turn their backs on the fallen villain, i absolutely know the villain is going to get up and either kill or severely injure the good guy which will eventually become the emotional burden for the mainlead. 🙄 yep happens here too.

The most irritating characters had to go to Im Yeeun the clumsy tech whiz and her supposedly paired character the celebrity Kang Wowon. The former being a total clutzy pushover while the latter a total bully with an ugly attitude who spares neither respect nor consideration for other people around him. Their side couple story took up so much of screentime that it made me cringe whenever they come on. This show doesnt need a romance side story, and by making the supporting characters as the focal romance just disrupts the plot’s pacing. And as a tech whiz spy, i am disappointed that this character gets flustered so easily at being targetted, either by the villain or even the snobbishly narcisstic Kang Wowon. Like, how can an NIS agent be this gullible and wimpy to be easily gaslighted and threatened with legal action for executing a sanctioned intelligence operation that eventually led to her being ordered around by a civilian? I was like, really? Reaaaalllly? 🫩😒 just to slip in a love story, the screenwriter would butcher this character so badly. I just cant stand both of them I keep pressing the FF button until the next scene comes on.

As for Kang Wowon, my god i can’t stand this crybaby spoiled manchild. He screams and yells all the time, gets frustrated easily and is constantly mean towards everyone around him, including the one he supposedly fall for. This show could really do wothout this character, he’s a total plot hijacker that gets on people’s nerves so constantly. I can’t understand why they had to create such an ugly character to pair up with the gentle Im. He’s the kind of guy that would gaslight people when things doesnt go his way, absolute narcisstic that would ruin a woman’s life should something happen to the relationship. Especially one who doesnt fight back like Im. I just hate this character so much he totally doesnt deserve a good love story. This character actually fits to be ML’s ex wife’s partner instead. Both are narcs, the only kind of partner that they should have.

And despite being action-comedy, each character has their chance at displaying different kinds of intense emotion and they did them all really well. i love it how these characters could display contrasting reactions in different situations. Like the no nonsense ahjumma Hwang Misoon, she is generally very loud and outspoken while packkng good punches, but when faced with her daughter’s school bullying problem, she turned timid and lost all that confidence she usually displays as an agent, all because of guilt and fear for her daughter’s safety at school. The expressions are genuinely conveyed and convincing.

Fortunately, this show is also one of those rare korean productions that does a spectacular job at using other languages other than the native tongue in their dialogue. There is no incomprehensible english, in fact other than English, the characters speak fluently in russian, japanese, chinese and other language that i dont remember FL used to pass her interview when she was going undercover. And the japanese that Im Yeeun and Hwang Misun spoke sound so authentic as if they had ripped it off right from anime.

I enjoyed this show very much, it’s a shame that they didnt do a sequel. 🙁

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The Search for the Lost Children

The story opens up to a young woman being abducted after getting lured by a child. Taken to a transit location where she met with other abducted women ready for transfer, they were about to be transported to another location when the police raided the place. Being the last girl in the shed, a kidnapper took her hostage at knife point, demanding for a getaway car only to be subdued by the girl in the end. The girl is Deng Yan, a police officer recently being transfered to Linshan City Police Department. Much to the surprise of the team that arranged the police stakeout at the kidnapper’s transit station, the Anti-Abduction Unit, Deng Yan has been appointed as their Director. Carrying a lifelong mission of searching for her childhood best friend Lin Ran who had been abducted while shopping for birthday gift with her 20years ago, Deng Yan gradually overcomes the scrutiny and scepticism of her team towards her by leading them to crack down recent and cold abduction cases in the city.

In my personal opinion, this story had a really high potential to become exciting and thrilling, but somehow the production managed to tone down every case to be just another usual day of the Anti-Abduction Unit. The dialogues are boring and predictable, especially Deng Yan’s “lets continue investigating” that she utters in every case, the editing is extremely annoying as they almost always skips to another completely different scene when the current one is on its climax, the sense of urgency is lacking despite the team running against time in every single case, and my god they really dragged the plot with excessive Tuanyuan Restaurant situations. I appreciate the scenes in the family’s POV, but i felt that theyre dominating the plot more than the police dept’s which should have been the focal point of the show.

Also you can forget action sequences despite this being a police story, there’s almost none other than Deng Yan’s moves in Episode 1. 🤣 what a total downer. Basically this is more of a sentimental type of story instead of action thriller kind. One thing for sure, there are a lot of crying and lamenting before, during and after each family reunion.

The show also focusses too much on Deng Yan and Aunt Zhang, Lin Ran’s mother, that the screenwriter totally leave out the rest of the characters. There isnt any character development whatsoever, even Deng Yan and Detective Chang Rui who shouldve gotten some of the limelight failed to show any progress whatsoever. They are all flat, it’s like theyre there just to say their lines and get the plot to move forward. I don’t feel much connection with the main characters, much less the other supporting ones.

The screenwriter is very good at downplaying every single climax scenes, the part where the police retrieves abducted children/women, the family reunions, even the final arc where Deng Yan fullfills her lifelong mission which should have been fire, they manage to douse it with ice cold water. Everything felt so flat even the part where it should have been the most exciting chapter of the plot.

I liked Dilraba, i liked the concept of this story, but the execution just made this show to be too forgettable. It could have been more. They missed it.

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One of the most satisfying rebirth revenge drama!

Kang Jiwon’s life had always been bleak ever since her mom left the family for another man. She gets bullied a lot by kids at school, colleagues at work and finally at home by her husband and in laws. The last straw is when she is diagnosed with cancer, with her husband forcing her to work until she could no longer do so due to cancer treatments, only to return home from hospital to the sight of her husband and her BFF whom she had known since middle school in bed together while talking about how they would reap insurance benefits after
her death. Funnily enough, cancer did not take her life, but her husband definitely did. Waking up 10 years in the past, Kang Jiwon is determined to change her fate and find happiness she truly deserved.

It has been quite a while since I got so invested in a romance drama. The first had been Love Ambition and this is the second that managed to keep me hooked. It was the revenge theme that reeled me in, although I was not quite fond of the FL’s weakness in the earlier episodes, i gradually root for her as she grew strong, resourceful and cunning as the drama progresses.

The ML caught my eyes the moment he came on screen, the actor has an uncanny resemblance to Chinese actor Ren Jialun and Malaysian actor Hun Haqeem. I liked that the character is ever so soft-spoken, meticulous in every of his actions, never expecting more than he could anticipate, and importantly, he could really throw a punch and flip his opponents - literally. Although this isnt an action drama, i liked that the ML isnt some weak chaebol heir who only rely on hired bodyguards for everything he does. Cuz Yu Jihyuk isnt. There is no assistant tailing him around to do his bidding, he does everything himself, or by relying on friends. I think what i like the most about this character is despite having all the power and money he could offer, Jihyuk always remained supportive of FL wanting to do things with her own capabilities. He won’t lift a finger, but he would never let his eyes off of her. He is like the greenest of green flagged MLs I ever seen.

The villains being FL’s BFF, Jeong Sumin and boyfriend, Park Minhwan looked rather straightforwardly predictable for 3 quarter of the story, but they upped their game when ML’s ex fiance entered the picture. A chaebol heiress, Oh Yura definitely spiced things up with her “nobody gets my man” motto.

I truly commend the actress who played Jeong Sumin - Song Hayun - she has really made that unhinged character very convincing and hateful along with Lee Yikyung who played Park. I took quite some time to hate Park, cuz Li Yikyung’s character in Partners for Justice and Waikiki really made a big impression on me so it is hard to see him as a villain here. He is honestly too cute to be a villain, but damn he still manage to nail it here. He can actually be a good villain!

I totally totally love Choi Gyuri’s Yu Huiyeon. This character is very colourful and her excitement in every scene is too cute and funny. I love the upbeat vibe that she contributes to the moody revenge theme here.

Love the revenge plot. It is satisfying and just. I like the theme that this story brought forward that i havent seen in most rebirth drama that ive watched, the fact that Fate cannot be changed. Things that should happen will eventually happen no matter how hard you try to stop or avoid it, it is just a matter of who it happen to - Who ends up with that Fate? While FL is busy escaping the Fate she had foreseen to befall her in the future, she also need to be cautious of who it falls to when she manages to curb it. Tricky when she has a whole bunch of people she cares in this second life that she had compared to the first life where she had none other than the traitors BFF and husband.

Overall, i am impressed with this drama. A very well thought, well written and very well executed story.

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Just a Bunch of Cute Youngins Running all Over the Place Throwing Punches and Flying Kicks

I started watching expecting something along Highschool Gangster or Study Group of sorts, but was met with a complete nothingness instead. The FL was supposed to be some kickass grumpy loner who only strikes when she’s being badgered first, but fell easily to the bullies’ trap in the final arc, just so her sidekicks the two male students could come for her rescue just to be thrashed all over. The ML was supposed to be some big ass name in the school, revered and feared by even the school bullies (well he’s in the bully group so yeah) so much that even the local gangster wants him joining the gang, but yet again he’s so easily beaten up to a pulp after executing just a few flashy moves. The only one who gets to use what he learnt from the karate dojo was the SML, before he too gets beaten to a pulp. So I guess the whole point here is to turn the badass FL into damsel-in-distress, get her rescued then have her beat the crap out of the bullies. At least she’s the only one who came out without so much of a scratch. Bruises under the shirt maybe, but no visible scratch.

There’s no storyline at all. It’s just a bunch of kids playing school hooligans trying to beat some money out of the weak kids so they can pay the entrance fee to the local gangster while all the adults are nonexistent whatsoever. Lousy script, lousy plot. But at least their acting is better than that of The Mayhem.

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The enemy of my enemy is my friend…

A botched black operation brought 3 unsuspecting individuals to Yeonseong Island to live the next 10 years of their lives looking for leads of a package that went missing during the operation. Jung Homyeong, an ex-NIS black op agent who was framed by his superior to collude with North Korea in the operation now works in a restaurant owned by his wife. Bong “Bulgae”Jesun, a North Korean super secret agent fell off the ferry during the operation and swept off to Jeoseong island, lost his memory of his past life and identity, eventually end up living with the family that saved him, secured a decent job in a construction company. Kang Bomryeong was the no 2 person of the Hwasan Gang, but when his boss Hwang Hwasan was framed by Jung Homyeong’s superior for murder and end up imprisoned, the no3 guy betrayed him to take over the group, forcing him to drop under the radar and open up a convenience store on the island with his assistant Ma Gongbok while surveilling Jung Homyeong’s moves. A twist of fate brought them all together when the local gang starts seizing the island residents’ homes and land, working in collusion with the upcoming mayor candidate, Han Gyunguk who is also the one who framed Jung Homyeong and Kang Bomryeong’s boss. Seeking revenge and closure, all three end up working together hand in hand despite being mortal enemies 10 years prior.

I like it when productions give veteran actors a chance at dominating the lead positions and not plaster pretty idol boys all over the screen. This show is one of those. We got scrunchy (Bomryeong), grumpy (Homyeong) and clueless (Jesun) ajussis just going through their days like any normal middle-aged ajussis when thunder struck and theyre thrown to relive their old lives but now dealing with fatigue, cranky joints and lethargic muscles that come with old age. Realizing that theyre in no condition to go off solo fighting multiple younger and more robust opponents, all three resigned to the idea of teaming up instead of feeding their ego. My favourite fighting style of all three is the North Korean agent Bulgae’s, while in terms of negotiation and leadership skills it had to be Homyeong’s. He even looks more mature and objective-driven than the others.

The plot was really simple. They were trying to secure a package that contains information of Han Gyunguk’s collusion with the North Korea and a bunch of slush fund in the form of diamonds that was brought in by a sleeper agent. The package had been in Bulgae’s posession when he fell off the ferry but then he lost his memories hence he is also looking for it. It is a race against time as the villain is running for mayor and they needed to secure the evidence before he wins the election.

The plot is very straightforward, but the journey towards them banding together as a team to bring down the villain was not. Each character was at each other’s throats 10years ago on the ferry, hence the decision to team up had not come easy. Somebody who doesnt have enough patience for some family drama and misunderstandings might not find this drama appealing. But i can say the action is very satisfying and the ending serves justice on a silver platter.

It was a fun watch indeed, something different and fresh compared to the current overload of pretty boys and girls lining up the main cast.

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When Things Go Wrong at Every Turn

The story is really simple. Hwang Sukmi reigns in the women prison with her bulky built and fighting skills, but a rich girl who had just got incarcerated there decides to take over the helm by bribing the whole prison officers up to the warden and prosecutors using her dad’s money and influence. The rich girl had her goons plant poppy in the prison garden and plans to ship them off to China when the gender equality program ends. Hwang Sukmi then decides to investigate and foil her plan.

All I can say is the writer and director totally wasted Jung Youngju’s talent with this piece of crap. I mean I have seen her in lots of kdramas and she always catches my eye even as supporting character. Clicking this to expect another phenomenal performance led me to utmost disappointment instead. It’s not about the actors really, yeah well, some of them are really bad, but the writing, directing, editing and the technical dept did most of the work of beating this movie into a soggy blob of mess.

The finale where Hwang Sukmi and another inmate was fighting off rich girl and the bribed prison director was ridiculously done with other prison guards and some top brass from dept of justice just standing around watching. The sound effects, especially of the gunshot, and the makeup of the fight injuries were so comical it felt like I was watching 80-90’s HK movie. The fight choreograph is one of the worst I’ve seen so far, they looked too rehearsed, awkward and stiff. Like seriously. Everything about this movie felt so wrong at every turn, leaving me in a total “what-did-i-just-watch” moment in the end.

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Foolish Superheroes to the Rescue

Three notoriously infamous residents of Haesong, Sappy Sap Kang Robin, Royal Nightmare Son Gyeongu and Lady Trainwreck Eun Chaeni found themselves afflicted with strange abilities after getting embroiled in Lady Trainwreck’s plan of fake kidnapping to extort her grandma for some travel money that turned into her accidental murder. Discovered by municipal officer Lee Eunjeong as Kang Robin and Son Gyeongu were trying to dispose of Eun Chaeni’s body in a landfill, they entered into a scuffle in a puddle of dark liquid that eventually brought a couple of police officers to their location. Just as the officers were taking statement from Lee, Eun Chaeni suddenly appeared very much alive and well. They parted ways but were drawn together again when they found themselves having superpowers. As the three were trying to figure out their powers, they decided to get under Lee’s wings, calling him master and asking him to teach them how to use their powers, when they found out that Lee has telekinesis ability. Little to their knowledge, Lee has a different priority that involves a cultish church that has been attracting considerable followers with their December 31 1999 apocalypse preach.

It took me quite several days to finish this cuz I was not able to keep up with the utter foolishness of the haphazard trio Kang, Son and Eun. Although each characters are unique and have quite distinct personalities of their own, i mean they’re very simple minded, monotonous, and somewhat innocent especially Kang and Eun, but they’re also extremely irritating as they keep tripping on their own feet as they try to figure out and control their abilities. Although I liked the innocently comical Kang Robin, I can’t say the same for the selfish Son and the shameless Eun. Their characters are extremely irritating and constantly get on my nerves, so much that I had to pause in between episodes to take a breather as I didnt want to drop the series. Although I did not quite like the two main characters Son and Eun, i had to commend the actors for making the characters look very much alive and convincing. Especially for Son’s actor Choi Daehoon whom I just saw in Agent Kim Reactivated, a total contrast from a badass no-nonsense ex agent to notoriously naggy, selfish and hopeless father and husband.

As for the villains, i had high hopes for Dr Ha cuz he looked quite unhingedly crazy, but honestly his unceremonious exit was too abrupt and somewhat anticlimax for me. As for the rest of his “children”, I failed to feel sorry for them despite their brains being totally haywired after the childhood trauma they endured, which made them ultimately fall victim to the classic Stockholm Syndrome. Worst part is none of them got to get proper closure, they became merely pawns right till the end.

I feel that the plot is totally messy and the characters’ foolishness too irritating for me to really enjoy the show. Hence why it took me 3 days to finish. Although I liked Park Eunbin, and very satisfied with the rest of the actors’ performance, I don’t really want to watch season 2 if they ever come up with it (i guess they might since the main villain survived albeit very much defeated). The characters are just too annoying for me to keep watching their antics all over again.

I really liked that little scene where FL teleported with ML and the gust of wind she left behind startled the cat though. That one was cute.

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The League of Refunded Kids

Kim Ahyeon lives in hiding with 3 other young adults who are seemingly happy and enjoying each other’s company. Refered as “Big Sister” by the other 3, Kim Ahyeon is like a leader of their small team of misfits. Unable to go to school or work, they rely a lot on “Uncle”, the one who pulled them out from the brink of death. They are the refunded adopted kids, abandoned and discarded when their adoptive parents got tired of them or their performance fall short from the parent’s expectation - termed as defective. “Uncle” is the one who handles the refund, by chucking them into a barrel filled with cement, although he did this without knowing the content of the bags he’s given to handle. He saves another refunded child of 11years old, but a phonecall from the kid to his mom turned their world upside down, turning the little hidden group into fugitives from the law and the secret organization who sells babies. Realizing they would not be able to lead a normal life if they keep running, especially after Uncle goes missing and presumebly dead, Ahyeon decided to track the mastermind of the secret organization and expose them to the public.

I like that the little group isnt portrayed to be some superpowered or super genius kids despite them being genetically-engineered. They can fight, they can handle guns, all thanks to Uncle’s training, but theyre still prone to injuries, emotional outbursts and reckless actions that most young adults do. When injured, they don’t just get up and goes on running or fighting as if those injuries are just a scratch like in most action dramas, they actually stayed down and rendered immobile for a period of time.

All the actors performed really well, even the little guy Siwon. Well almost all, I find the guy who played Kim Sihee’s chief bodyguard to be very wooden despite granted with extra screentime of his character’s background, which i felt unnecessary. His background did not add anything to the whole plot, i still failed to see why he came to be so attached to Kim Sihee despite knowing he is expendable in her eyes. This guy tried so hard to look cool and tough, and still fail to look his part.

Overall the fightings are great, the plot is engaging and they don’t waste too much time on flashbacks. Managed to finish this under 24 hours so I guess it’s pretty okay.

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When the Cunning Meets the Shrewd

Lets meet Shen Hexi the resurrected shrewd and ruthless woman, and Xiao Huayong the forever frail and cunning crown prince. Both needed to tread the jagged path of the court and palace and learnt to dabble between what they intend people to see of them, and what they really are. Both are very calculative and strategically crafty. Shen Hexi is a commandery princess summoned by the emperor to the capital from the Northwest frontier to marry a prince. She sets her objective in stone right from the start, to marry a prince who would guarantee the safety of herself and her clan, one who would never have their power hungry interests clash with the survival of her family. Although she found the delicate crown prince counting days to his end to fit this role, the crown prince found himself drowned in the love for Shen Hexi, and contemplate whether to satisfy his greed by marrying her to spend the remaining short years he has on his life with, or avoid her from becoming a widow and face palace intrigue all alone altogether, all while he is investigating about the real culprit behind his poisoning when he was a child.

I am always a sucker at harem power struggle and this show has one of the most satisfying inner palace face-off ever. The FL being an extremely shrewd and ruthless right from the start makes sure no one could trample her after being resurrected into She Hexi’s body. She does not need a hero to swoop her off her feet and fend dangers for her, because she strategically lays her groundwork before going into any fight at all. She doesn’t need to wield a spear or a sword, all she needed is to grasp the will of the people around her, a true political heroine. Meng Ziyi excelled in this, since she’s had a share on playing similar role in Blossom, though Shen Hexi is, in my opinion, waaay better than Dou Zhao when it comes to ruthlessness. She set clear objectives and boundaries, lets people know and understand this, and she never gets swayed by smooth-talking, pleading or threatening.

This is the second time that i saw He Yu and he carried the ML character really well. I am actually surprised to realize he was actually Furong Jun from Legend of Shenli. I definitely did not recognize him until I checked out his MDL page after i finished the show. Anyway, the Crown Prince is written to be extremely meticulous, crafty and intelligent, but what I like the most is how he manoeuvred around his siblings to eliminate their chances at FL’s hand. And i totally love the fact that he’d act coquetishly with Fifth Prince Xiao Changqing at some point of the show despite being at odds with each other, acting like a real baby brother with that little cheeky voice,”Help me bandage the wound, it’s painful, brother,” 😆 or “brother, i am hungry,” and then provoke him the next minute. He’s like the youngest brother who is showered with most love by the parents and goes off playing pranks with his lesser-favoured brothers and shout victim to get away. This character is very shameless, be it using his illness to curry favour or get away with anything, or gaslighting people to get them go with his plans. It’s honestly a fun amid grey flag character. I can’t particularly stand possessive ML so I am glad he snapped out of it quickly after or else i might have dropped this. It’s amazing how in sync the Crown Prince is with Shen Hexi once theyre together. And how he carefully wove his intricate net of people all over the place so she would never run out of help to maneouvre around the court is exceedingly brilliant and sweet at the same time.

Though I must say the star couple is actually the side couple Captain Bu Shulin and Vice Minister Cui Jinbai. To see the reverse-courting by Captain Bu on Cui is totally hilarious, especially when she did it only to use him as a shield against the courting from the noble ladies. The fact that she’s only after him for something non romance-related is fun to watch, especially when her male disguise is very convincing and she looks nothing feminine at all. Her height and sharp, chiselled facial feature contributed a lot to this, which most actresses who have played cross dressing roles lack of. The voice didnt sound deep enough for a man but she really did better than most cross-dressing actress i’ve seen so far, though i am not too sure if she dubbed her own voice or not. She also maintained a masculine mannerism throughout the disguise and never faltered even once. I am very impressed with the actress Fan Shuiqi, and I think she really stole the show from the mainleads with her outstanding male impersonation performance. And how this character tries to get away when Cui finally reciprocated afterwards was even more hilarious. They’re really fun to watch.

There are a lot of familiar faces here, i spotted those who played Xia Jingshi from Fated Hearts, Yu Qianqian from Pursuit of Jade, Gu Yu from Vendetta of An, Shen Muyue from Legend of Shenli. I am ecstatic to see Jeremy Xu who played Gu Mudan from Whispers of Fate and most recently Peter Ho who also played FL’s father in Key to the Phoenix Heart which I dropped right before starting on this show. They all gave an exceptional performance and I adore them very much.

There were more romance scenes than action/physical fights here, and there wasn’t as much palace intrigue as I anticipated, too bad for that. Not sure how the novel went, but I felt that there was so much more potential for this show to expand of the court power struggles and physical fights by the seemingly-delicate-but-actually-skillfully-strong crown prince. I just feel that it could have been a more engaging plot than it really is, instead of focusing on the main couple courtship which was really boring to me. But on a side note, i liked both characters enough not to use the FF button too much. 😆

Regardless, I enjoyed this show.

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Too Much of a Downer

Won Miho forced herself to train so she could awaken Wonjeong’s powers and stop people around her from dropping dead, but her progress is interrupted when Guntang used a demon to make her feel guilty for the deaths of people she cherished, up to the point of being suicidal. Van managed to come to the rescue just in time but sustained severe injuries. As they bide their time to recuperate by hiding from Guntang and his demon army, more people are getting hurt as Guntang becomes out of control.

Honestly, the vibe as i watched this is similar to Alice in Borderland sequels. The plot doesnt make sense due to considerable plotholes, the pacing is too damn slow and the storyline became more boring with each episode. The FL character also went downhill so passionately. 😒 i get that she’s griefstricken that the people she loves got hurt because of her, and that she’s distraught aboit the possibility of losing her current identity once Wonjeong fully awakens. But come on, all the crying is just too excessive and over the top. I took such a long time to finish each episode, I had to keep pausing it and distract myself with something else just to keep myself from dropping it altogether due to lost of interest. It was truly a pain for me to finish this one despite being only 6 episodes. With other shows I normally finish within 8-10hours 🙊 while this one took 2 days 😵‍💫

The SML maintained his streak of uselessness throughout the show up until the final episode. Only in the final one did he eventually became a teenie wee bit helpful for the showdown between humans and demons, after somehow being bestowed with divine power. Ironically it was the short clip of this Father Johan wielding the jedi-like sword that led me to the series, only to find this character a mere feast to eye and nothing more. I get that he cant be compared to ML the half demon, of course theyre not in the same league since he’s just a human, but come on, he’s so useless that even when he just needed keep an eye on FL so she doesnt fall for Gungtan’s tricks again, he still fails the task. Tsk tsk. Cant even keep an eye on 1 most important person of the whole story when that’s the sole reason why he travelled thousands of miles from Italy.

They maintain their impressive performance on the makeup and CGI though.

Anyway, i just realized I may not be fond of Korean ghost-busting demon-hunting fantasy stories. Almost all received low rating from me. The only show that got above 9 rating had been Alchemy of Souls, the rest falls below 7. 🤷🏻‍♀️ maybe this genre for kdrama is just not my cup of tea.

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Weird Storyline but Great Action

So demons from all over the world (or maybe only in korean peninsula?) are all being squared up and confined in a place called Tamra in Jeju Island, and Wonjeong is supposed to be the saviour of all mankind who creates the seal and barrier that keeps them in a hole, all chained up underground. But before she trained herself up to build the barrier, monks of that time made it a practice to create demon slayers from small boys by pouring the lust demon’s blood into their spine. Of all boys, only two survived the grueling and cruel process to became half demons, Van and Gungtan. Theyre supposed to kill lust demons to keep humans safe with the demon superpower that they possess, problem is it was not a choice they made. Apparently, Van eventually killed Wonjeong but she managed to seal all demons underground, all but Van. Hundreds (or thousands?) years later, the barrier starts to crack and some lust demons escape. Van made it a mission to hunt every one of them until Wonjeong’s reincarnation awakens her memory and powers to reseal the demons again. Won Mi Ho is the reincarnated Wonjeong, the only daughter of a business moghul in Korea. As she is becoming a target for lust demons upon her arrival in Jeju, Van inadvertently came to be hired as her bodyguard, awaiting for her to fulfill the promise she made to him and atoning himself for accidentally killing her back then.

Well the story is pretty straightforward but not without considerable plotholes. Like how did all demons gets sealed except for Van, and the fact that how the heck would Wonjeong really make her promise to free Van and Gungtan come true while doing her job, when the seal itself would also seal them off? She has no knowledge let alone strategy to accomplish this, so it is basically an empty promise. What’s even more confusing, why would the barrier breaking up also weaken Van when Gungtan gets all powerful instead? It just doesnt add up. That little side story of Priest Johan the SML also doesnt add anything to the original plot but mere embellishment of the pretty boy cast since the ML isnt one. I just don’t get his function in the story other than adding more sob childhood as if Van’s and Gungtan’s aren’t enough already. SML is also not powerful at all to keep any of the demons at bay so I really don’t get why his role existed.

The ML is a broody, gloomy character, i mean who isnt with that kind of background and bleak future he has? But I like him anyway, and I like it when he doesnt react to Won Miho’s and Johan’s provocations. Won Miho is okay, she came off like a tough girl in the first 10 minutes of episode 1, but turned into just another damsel-in-distress awaiting for rescue for the rest of the show. I mean yeah her role isnt supposed to be fighting off anything, she’s only responsible for the sealing job so that explains all the screaming and shrieking and panicking whenever the demons tracked her down.

They try to make Gungtan’s role all that mysterious with the group of cultish followers behind him, i guess that will only be explained in season 2. But honestly it just created another “huh” moment for me, exactly like Priest Johan’s role that came from a monastery so far away in Italy to supposedly protect Won Miho (but he failed miserably at it).

I like the action here, all that superpowers being handed out in a platter for me to savour. The demon CGI and makeup is also seamless, especially that transformation on Van and Gungtan. Well done.

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