roddib

A very sad and beautiful drama

Everyone's lives are like glutinous rice balls
Made by children's hands
Maybe they didn't even wash their hands
And some dirt got kneaded in
There's no black or white
It's just a grey rice ball

The quotation already tells you that you can expect this drama to be extraordinary in every way. It's how the FL explains herself and her life to the police officers after her husband has gone missing (presumed murdered). I had to write up the line bc it was so striking and describes the essence of the drama. We get a lot of bad and unfortunate things happening to basically ordinary good people. As the male lead says in the police interrogation: "After all all we were just the balls in the football game played by gods."

The drama starts with a discovery of a severed bloody earlobe clogging the toilet in an run down apartment building.
We get a murder investigation, but the essence of the drama is with the deep back stories of the main characters, a found family of 3 friends. A young girl who runs away from an abusive older husband, and makes a new life for herself in the city. The male characters, bonded as brothers since they were kids, are small time criminals who also have to run away from their troubles to the city. The 3 form a strong friendship. Except maybe not. When kids are involved, parents will become tigers.

As in some other Light On dramas, we get a lot of unreliable storytelling. The plot twists are simply awesome. I didn't feel confused with the changing time lines and settings (mixing different timelines is also typical for Light On dramas).

This drama is definitely not for the ones who like their dramas light and fluffy. It's a very sad but a very beautiful drama. I really wanted to have a word with the writer, director and cinematographer: howcome you made something this magnificent?

This drama is a masterpiece in terms of storytelling, characters, acting and cinematography. Even the theme song is very unusual: simple and raw, like punk rock, but painfully sad. But didn't find the drama depressing. There's so much empathy in it for its characters.

The actors are all great in their roles, Teresa Li as the female lead, we really feel her feelings. How she portrays Wu Xi Mei at her bubbliest in her best days, and as the worn down tired mother, is simply awesome. Hung Xuan's acting is impressive to the max, award-worthy. Bai Yu Fan is also very good.

After having finished the drama, it's not easy to let go of it. I keep remembering the song and cinematographic scenes. Deeply impressed.

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Tragic realism

There's a genre in literature called magic realism and there's a genre in chinese dramaland best named as tragic realism. It appeals maybe to a very small slice of watchers in MDL but is quite appreciated by the mainland TV audience for good reasons. The rating is almost never above 8.0 in MDL because of the small number of watchers (amount of raters affect rating) but the drama quality is often very high. This is definitely the case with Persona. Other recent examples are The Hunt, Light Beyond The Reed, and Tender Light.

Persona starts out as a murder investigation. But it turns out the body is nowhere to be found, and may not even be the person whose DNA is found on the murder site. The police officer who has been after the suspected victim in another murder investigation for a whole year starts to unpack the case.

The main plot is not about the police, but the background and destinies of the four people, suspected murderers and victims, involved the case. We go through their lives and events leading to the current situation. As we get to the bottom of their stories, we get to understand them and sympathize with them although not necessarily approving their actions.

What I l particularly love in this drama is how close we get to the characters. The 4 main actors (Gao Ye, Cheng Jing Ke, Cheng Kai and Xue Hao Jing) are brilliant in their roles. It doesn't feel like they're acting, they are the persons they are portraying. The antagonist of the story is a narcissist and does everything that narcissists do. Yet there's nothing stereotypical in Cheng Kai's acting, we see none of the usual psycho mannerisms (which I personally am very tired of). This is so well written that we are don't have to be told "this person is a narcissist" - we understand all about this through his actions. "Don't tell, show" is one of the major laws in tragic realism.

There are some brief bright times in the lives of our main characters. The romance between Qin Hong and Kaifu, albeit a short one, is very sweet. I particularly liked Feng Bin as Kaifu. The proposal scene at the skating rink was quite memorable. Qin Hong and Danshun's girlfriend Zhang Yan meet at the middle of the drama. Zhang Yang has been lacking strength to stand up and protect her disabled daughter. But as the 2 women slowly open up to each other about their pasts, they also gain strength to take hold of their futures.

To sum up: Persona tells the story of 3 people who are basically good decent people and try to survive under difficult circumstances and conditions not of their own making. Fate throws unsurmountable obstacles in their way. Persona is sad, a tragedy, and will definitely make you cry. C-dramas representing tragic realism however avoid overly graphic violence (we understand what is happening but don't have to see it) which I appreciate.

Persona is a short drama, so it can easily be binged in a couple of days. The shortness is also why I give 8.5. instead of a higher rating (a higher rating would for me demand bigger proportions). But the lenght is perfect for the story and the pacing is good.

The music is not memorable, so nothing to comment there.

I'd highly recommend watching.

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Lacking in both story and characters

This was more like a parody of a historical drama Queen Woo than the actual drama. Putting this much money in the hands of virtual amateurs was a very bad decision. And giving them the best kdrama actors, to only appear in short and random moments. Queen Woo is the ultimate failure in storytelling. All you get is violence, shock effects and 2 minute characters. A drama that is unique in a very bad way. Queen Woo lacks a fully developed storyline. We don't get to know the characters, which is highly unusual for a k-drama. We don't even get to SEE the characters actually, because it's all in the dark.

We hear that writer rewrote this 90 times. I'm tempted to say that obviously the rewriting involved removing all the dialogues. Because the characters mainly do not speak. If they do, it's max 2 sentences per each character. Except for the soldier arguing about pay - he's not exactly a comedic sidekick but close to one. And the only character getting something of a distinct character,

This content and situation would easily have made a good 20-40 episode sageuk. We would have learned all about why the clans fight with each other, what is at stake. We would know how the situations and strifes evolved, from the very start. We would have started from the childhood of the main characters. We would get to know all the characters, including supporting ones, through and through. We would have deeply cared about happens to them. We would have understood every party's motives and goals, and had the chance to reflect ourselves on where people make mistakes. We would have been shown how the new king or prime minister is just as ruthless as the previous one after all this fighting (as in Empress Ki).

Many who say this is "one of the best historical dramas" or "refreshingly different historical drama" have not actually watched the classic sageuks at all. With classic sageuks I mean (of course) Six Flying Dragons, Tree With Deep Roots, Scarlet Heart Ryeo....I don't think I can ever forget the personalities of the main characters in these dramas. Now we get 2 minute characters. And a lot of meaningless killing and violence which we're supposed to enjoy? (with the 2 minute characters).

There was no build up to the important moments, like putting the swords on the table. Who were the 2 older guys with the swords? Nobody knows, nobody cares. The queen's explanation of why she chose to go into war came like an afterthought, in the last episode. One minute given to that. Which actually needed an extended buildup. And her addressing the army should have been a long speech, with an extended buildup (again). I doubt the armies would have followed a woman if they were just addressed at the door for one minute when the enemy was already there.

Eun Pa Sol was given the most screentime as the key person trying to solve the kings's murder. Plot twist: no, actually a weird traitor who kept his grandpa's skeleton in his closet. So why did he end up supporting the queen? Nobody knows, nobody cares. What was the point of introducing the cult? Just to shoot an impressive scene of some crazies wallowing in the pool. And then a fight afterwards, none of it visible bc the screen was all dark. We got more of the gritty sex scenes which from a mind so dirty no amount of soap will help to clean it. The sex scenes were like a nail which busted the balloon, bc of their out of context and degrading nature.

JWC proved his virtuoso acting and I hope all the k-drama veterans at least had fun sitting together and drinking after each days shooting. JJS as FL: I don't know how people don't see or hear how she is just not good enough in this role. The mistakes and awkward moments (scenes and lines that needed to be reshot) are in plain sight in Queen Woo, imo Just like in Wedding Impossible she's just saying the lines in a completely flat tone, there's no sparkle in her. I guess people just buy the idea of what she's supposed to be and don't see the failure in delivering it.

Although this drama isn't actually boring and the fools will lap it up like dogs on a hot day, I assure you it's not good for your immortal soul. Congrats to those who can edit it their minds to make a fully fleshed out story and characters. That's a talent I don't have, all I saw was a sketch of a drama instead of the actual drama.

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Psychological thriller from the writer of Just Between Lovers

This is a psychological thriller with hitchcockian undertones. I'm stunned by how original and interesting this is. Capturing. The writer and director have achieved an amazing series. I guess pychological dramas are not everyone's piece of cake (comparing to likewise low ratings of Cheese In the Trap) but this is definitely amongst all time top serious k-dramas for me. It's offering a lot of food for thought. I don't think the descriptions the drama or its themes do any justice to it - jealousy and vengeance are too superficial ideas/drivers and this drama is much more deep and layered to be described in those terms. If something, it tells that some people just don't seem to have the gift for happiness. Looking for another person to deliver all the goods things in life is a doomed mission. Happiness is a choice as much as anything else. The writer would deserve the award this year, that much is already clear. All the actors are great in their roles. There is no overacting . I was always wondering why didn't we hear more of the Leo in "Black". Here he is now, maybe still starting but starting good. Poor Kim Bo Yun always has these roles as the obnoxious mother - she's good but I'd like to see her in the "good mother" role for a change :)

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Excellent drama about archeology fieldwork

This drama is a highly worthwhile watch. Its a deep dive into archeology. And, spanning 36 episodes, it is keeps up its its momentum, entertaining and interesting all the way. The whole drama spans some 10+ years, in which the main characters, 3 archeology students, become professionals and experts in their field. The mystery that launches the narrative involves a murder of sorts, the murder of history, as previously unseen and unresearched historical figurines are auctioned in a foreign country. The police and archeologists manage to salvage and bring back the artefacts, and start delving into the mystery of their origin.

We are following 3 groups of people: archeologists doing their work in the field, tombraiders stealing the treasures and selling them for the highest bidder, and a police special unit hunting the tombraiders. All three groups have their main characters, but surprisingly, the most in-depth and interesting characters are the main villains in the tombraiding group: Mu Jianhui and his companion in crime, Guang. Mu Jianhui is highly intelligent and fights and plots his way from poverty into respectable collector and benefactor status. He is perhaps the least black and white villain I've ever had a chance to see; we see a whole human being with strengts and flaws. We see him being a very good supportive man to Guang, and the people around, whilst involved in criminal activity. Their friendship and the family they build together offer the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes of the drama.

The 3 archeologist friends are less multidimensional characters although their camaderie is also fun and interesting to watch. I didn't much care about the romance plot between Fan Kung and Luo Qing, it was half-hearted at best and childish at worst. The police group's leader is also a less interesting character, we get to know very little about his background or family. He goes around tirelessly but I didn't learn much of his personality, except that he perseveres.

The police are always one step behind the tomb raiders, underresourced and facing dangerous situations. They face competing tombraider groups, infighting and murders, during the duration of the drama. In the end they manage to track down the main robber barons (thus, happy ending).

What to me is the most pleasurable aspect of the drama is that we are always there, in the villages where the archeology fieldwork takes place. We learn about how archeologists study the environment, measuring and observing how densely packed the groud is, in trying to deduce where tombs could be situated. We meet a lot of village people with their own concerns. All portrayed in a sympathetic light, both those aiding the tombraiders and those who engage in hunting them and protecting the tombs. The Lost National Treasure a very rich and colourful drama.

There's a lot to say but: great drama!

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Not for binge watching, maybe a little outdated

I started this when I was sick with flu and watched some 20 episodes in 2 days. The first 10 episodes were really good with constant twists and turns. The middle part from 20-40 felt very repetitive with war after war and neverending palace plots. I skipped all fight scenes and Tanashili scenes. They were just too predictable and devoid of meaning. (=Outdated in terms of current expectations). The last 10 episodes were again a rollercoaster. I think it's best to watch this drama as it originally was meant to be watched, 1-2 episodes per week. Probably only then is it possible to appreciate the big scale of the production and the effort that went into making it visually outstanding.

Regardless of this perhaps being a classic and must-watch, I felt the characters were rather one-dimensional and there could have been more shades to the culprits. Now they are just mainly hatable monsters. I have to say I didn't feel much empathy for the main leads. There were some scenes that stood out for both Ji Chang Wook and Ha Ji Won, but the space they were given to portray character depth was rather limited (in comparison to action scenes). Therefore Tal Tal emerged as one of the most interesting characters, as there was slow progression in his coming to the fore. All in all, with the ending (not an actual victory) and the permanent wars and power struggles and last speeches of the Empress Dowager and Head of Eagle House, I felt the message was one of there being always shadow forces and continuity in power politics regardless of people in charge changing.

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Serious drama about early onset Alzheimer's

I liked the topic of this drama. The drama is for someone who prefers more serious topics. It also portrays individuals' ethical struggles, which is also interesting. The drama portrays very well the experiences and behavior of someone getting Alzheimer's in their 40s. The subplot about the mystery around the male lead son's death and the changes in his attitudes toward his law cases are also interesting.

ML is a great actor, and it's good to see him even in a bigger role than in Misaeng. The problem in this drama is that there are just too many flashbacks and scenes centered around the painful moments of confusion and distress caused by the disease. We would have got it with much less time spent in those moments and the endless repetition of them. Also the family theme gets too much space. It's more central even than the law cases, understandable, but not something that could well carry a drama and keep it interesting. Yes, discovering the importance of family is basically a nice theme but I just ended up skipping almost half of the scenes in the latter half of the drama.

Junho in the role of the junior lawyer doesn't get much screen time and slowly advancing relationship between the secretary and Junho also gets very little screen time. Junho is just in a balancing support role as the ML's wingman, he brings some fun and relief into the drama within its overall darker theme. There's not much there for him to show his talents (although he's very good in the drama nevertheless), since we get no background story about Junho or the secretary. That's an opportunity lost, as they were basically the most interesting characters and knowing more about them would have been nice. The two female leads, the ML's current and ex-wife, get a lot of individual time, but also nothing much to work on, so the time spent on them is too much compared to the law cases.

Overall, I'm still glad I watched the drama. Because of the poignancy of the topic I give it an 8, although the drama obviously has severe flaws - the worst is that there is too much empty time, just background music playing and nothing happening or advancing plotwise.

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Junho in a double role

This is a small and lighthearted indie (?) film. It's an easy and nice watch. I've always preferred this type of smaller films to big productions.

Junho is great in the double role as the world weary disillusioned artist Nero and the boyish naive student. There's criticism, even satire, of the artworld. The characters all face major challenges which makes this work well as a drama but luckily the way the stories are told is not too depressing and the ending is optimistic. The female characters are left rather shallow but since this is not primarily about romance, that's fitting.

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"The dark side of human nature. Everyone has it."

As the quote above reveals, this is on the darker side or noir crime dramas. There's a closed room murder mystery with only 3 possible suspects. Police officer Chen who has kept himself busy guarding sheep from sandstorms and robbers is called in to reinvestigate, as not everything seems right with the previous investigation. This sets off a chain of events which ends with the same murder scenario repeating itself.

Chen Jiang He is delightfully temperamental but also a broken humbled man, due to an accident involving his senior police officer. He believes that patiently finding out about the lives and motives of the people surrounding the murder mystery will eventually lead to a breakthrough. We gradually get to know the families of the 3 suspects and their histories. One thing I particularly liked about the drama is how there were no boring psycho killers. The sad incidents resulted from partly accidents, partly deceptions and selfishness.

The plot tightens toward the end, and the last 3 episodes are particularly heartbreaking.

The mountaineous half-desert location is very beautiful and also very harsh. We see and almost feel the dust and sand in the air. Watching Sandstorm felt like being there. Highly recommended for friends of c-noir.

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Don't watch if you don't like police being useless and corrupt

If you come to watch this because of Johnny Huang, it's fair to warn you that his screentime is actually quite limited. Eric Wang, the antagonist, has much more screentime (70 percent more than Johnny). And Eric Wang really sucks in this role. If I were to count how many hours we get to watch nothing but Eric Wang sitting in his chair and contemplating and munching his mouth (give the man some lip moisturizer ffs) I'd say 10 mins per episode. In a 30 episode drama, well, you can count how much that amounts to.

The beginning episodes are interesting and the first arc is watchable. We get a cop desperately committing suicide as a wake up call that the police aren't doing their job investigating murders and corruption occurring in the city of Hangzhou. (And to spoil: we don't really get any results from the police and they keep being corrupt and hampering investigation until the very last episode of the whole 30 episode run).

The Punishment was supposed to build on the tragedy of brothers turning on each other and becoming enemies. But actually we get only few immersive or touching moments. The most memorable moment is when Tianye makes the decision to not turn evidence to his brother Qin Feng (JH) but instead to use it to build a criminal enterprise of his own.

We get 3 arcs of different enemies and antagonists who Tianye outwits and removes from the chess board. A lot of what happens is the antagonists talking and fighting each other. As the police make zero progress in their investigations despite their huge sad sacrifices, the rich and corrupt money and power hungry criminals keep taking down each other. Tianye turns his village's livelihood and enterprise into a crime syndicate. But somehow Qin Feng seems pretty blind all of this (something that didn't go down well with me at all).

The Punishment is like a poor man's watered down version of the Knockout. There are many similarities (too many to mention) put pls watch The Knockout instead because it really is a masterpiece. The criminals in The Knockout are interesting characters, whereas in The Punishment they are just one dimensionally disgusting mostly (and we get to spend a lot of time with them).

What I liked most in the drama was Zhang Tong as Mai. An unwavering ex-cop who never really let's go of investigating the crimes that went unpunishned, without even being on the payroll. If you want to watch a better role from Johnny, I'd recommend Lost Identity. It's so much more suspense filled and serious. 6.5

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A journey from darkness to light

The psychological depth in Light Beyond the Reed is outstanding. FL and ML couldn't be better in their roles. This is a very touching, and worthwhile drama. The character growth is FL's mother and brother and father is immensely well portrayed. There's also the police who are quietly supportive and persist in the investigation. This is definitely not for those who want light and fluffy but it is truly meaningful deep drama. The way this drama handles a difficult topic is amazingly well thought out and intelligent.

In the beginning FL really irritated me because she was so unconnected from everything in her life. She was like air, almost non existent. We slowly learn why her husband wanted to divorce her. She never stands up for herself or fights back against her dominating mother. But she finds herself and the strength she had in her youth when faced with a sink or swim situation.

ML is similarly lost to himself. But we don't initially see that as he seems to be the pillar of strength in holding everything together. We see the couple gradually becoming more honest and real with each other. Their initially fragile connection becomes deeper and proves to be a lasting one.

There's such empathy and understanding in a drama towards all of its characters, the tragic events are not depressing. Watching is more a purifying experience. As in classic tragedies. But this one is essentially a journey from darkness to light. First and foremost an emotionally intelligent drama.

What I didn't like: the background music with the violin screeching and torturous piano. Was like from a horror movie. Too old skool. I had to constantly mute the sound and then put it up again to hear the dialogues.

9/10

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Noir crime drama with arthouse-cinematic qualities

A sad story of wrongfully accused two brothers. A police officer working in a contention center instinctively knows they are innocent and tries to get to the bottom of what really happened. We see Du Xiang Dong courageously pedalling on his bicycle for hours on the misty mountain roads. The case strecthes for decades and Du Xiang Dong's life is always shadowed by it.

As is typical for c-noir dramas, we have a cast of characters with intertwining lives. The acting of all of the cast is nothing less than perfect. None of the characters are stereotypically good or bad, even the police. They're human and make human choices and human errors. Shi Peng Yuan is in a main role a second time together with Qin Hao after the Bad Kids, they're both so good in this too.

The cinematography in A Life For a Life is simply breathtaking. The location and the feels it provides always have a big role in the Light On series and for the viewing experience. This one's in a lush mountaineous region and the main settings are the prison and a steel factory. The order in which they portray the story is unusually well thought out. A dark and heartbreaking story yet I enjoyed every minute of it. Some melodramatic touches and music further underline to the arthouse-cinematic qualities of this drama.

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Unlike any other crime drama

Under the Skin (1-2) is a unique and fascinating police and crime drama. The heavy focus on aethetics and ambiance makes it different from the conventional police procedural dramas. It doesn't try to be realistic and isn't, in the way the crimes are solved.

Producer Zhang Yiyun explained:
“Traditional crime dramas often focus on realistic styles, hardcore reasoning, and strong plots to tell stories. But we’ve been exploring how to create a non-traditional crime drama in terms of narrative style, visual aesthetics, and thematic expression. For example, we avoid overly complicated cases, gruesome criminal methods, or overly brain-twisting reasoning processes. Instead, we focus on the dramatic changes in character fates and relationships, using them as the core suspense and plot twists. The show emphasizes the emotions and humanity behind the cases.”

Much of the drama revolves around forensic artist and psychological profiler Shen Yi's thought processes and observations, which he expresses in visual form in his drawings. Captain Du Cheng is the more solid bread and butter police. Their teamwork and differences are enjoyable and the essence carrying the drama which consists of episodic cases.
The pacing is excellent. When the most interesting aspects of a criminal or a case are revealed, the plot moves very quickly on to a new case.

I enjoyed S2 even more than S1, bc they really went head on to unchartered waters. There was an even heavier focus on psychology, aesthetics and cinematography. Some scenes are utterly poetic, like the garbage magic garden (case 2), the streamer girls' doll room, and the wedding-that-was-cancelled decorations.

We learned more about how Shen Yi did his psychological analyses. The scenes with Shen Yi getting face to face with suspects in their own environments, encouraging suspects to open up and tell their stories, telling allegorical stories to them, explaining the meaning of artifacts in their homes, are my favorite ones. Priceless, really.

Shen Yi was the key character this season. The police chiefs were hoping that Shen Yi's insights into the human psyche and way of interpreting traces could be turned into a manual that helps also other police in psychological profiling. Shen Yi's writing of is the "Human Atlas" that is talked about in the last episodes. In the end Shen Yi's art, his "portraits of the heart" as the second level of portrait drawing, constitute this atlas.

The cases I enjoyd most are the AI chatbot case, the opera case and gene editing case.

The last case about gene editing was again very realistic, as was the AI chatbot case. The means for tampering genes with the CRISPR scissors already exist and gene therapies are introduced without much or any long-term testing. Although I absolutely hated it when Shen Yi didn't seem to dispute the Fenk Kai Yi the Mad Scientist's claim that all humans are by nature evil. But he was actually just listening and making his own observations and conclusions, as always. In the last episodes Du Cheng also finally had the opportunity to shine, something I had been wanting to see more. In the last episodes he emerges the strong pillar that he was in S1. The moment when he takes SY off the case bc derailment in wrong direction, was very satisfactory. The friendship between the Mad Scientist and SY on the other hand was difficult to swallow, as it made SY look weaker. As if he had actually been choosing and believing the freak. I wanted to yell "go back to your teammates" at the screen.

But the season ended beautifully with SY and DC honestly talking things out and summing up how they complement each other. Those last dialogues were exceptionally fine writing. I'm ready for S3 and even more experimentation from the writer and producers. The team made a fantastic drama. As for the the last scene (SY stabbing DC), I think the meaning was again to say that within every human being is both good and evil and that they'll explore this further in S3.

Zhang Lai said: "Writing about crime is not to showcase evil, but more importantly, to explore the multifaceted nature of humanity. Good and evil stand side by side, but love is the antidote to redemption, and the law is the thunderbolt that punishes evil. This is our ultimate message."

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Cold and unemotional drama

I bitterly regret having watched till the end. In the first episode I thought the vibes would be black humour as I loved the scene with Kim Bong Nam running through town near naked with the drug bag, stoned out of his mind. It was hysterically funny.

But as is the case with most k-dramas currently, this went seriously downhill from ep 2 and never recovered. I'm a fan of dramas where we really get close to the characters. We were supposed to feel empathy for hopeless mother Eun Su. But all that dropped away along the line, with too many shots of her crying face. And all the filler scenes with the torturous OST playing. And the constant back and forth of her being a badass and being a weak sobbing mess.

Overall the drama was very cold and unemotional. I couldn't relate to any of the characters. James was kind of cool until he wasn't. The revenge plot of his made zero sense as he could have just lived a good life as a teacher. The only redeeming factor in the ending of the drama was that James really understood how wrong he was in dedicating his life to revenge.

And don't even get me started on the last episode. I was so frustrated. That Eun So had to go yapping in the face of the antagonist just when the police where about to successfully arrest him. And got taken as a hostage just as the others anticipated. That was the stupidest worst scene even written in a crime drama and I've seen a few.

I particularly dislike dramas where the police are corrupt. It gives me a hopeless sinking feeling. It's a k-drama trope that might reflect reality, but still.

And: if the drama wanted to show how harmful drug trafficking is, the 1 year prison sentence for Eun Su is laughable. I can't believe that's even realistic. I never could discern what the makers of Walking on Thin Ice really wanted to say with this drama. It's morals are very unclear and puzzling. Obviously the writer and director don't know what they wanted to say either. Such sloppiness is to me is always a huge let down.

I watched this drama bc I really love Kim Young Kwang's acting, usually. But avoid this drama at all cost. 5/10.

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