I started watching this series after watching 'Side Story of Fox Volant' & reading the novel by Jin Yong (Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain). I loved the Fox Volant storyline so much, I wanted to immerse myself in the Jin Yong multiverse. It's hard to rate this series because unless the viewer understands the 90's/00's wuxia mindset, I feel most people will watch a few episodes of the series and drop it. That being said, this drama will not be for everyone. When I make reviews, I ask myself would, "would my sister watch this?", "would x/y/z friend watch this?", etc. because we all enjoy different things but in rare cases. There will be those shows/movies where most people will enjoy it, regardless if it's wuxia themed or not. If you do not enjoy wuxia, I don't think you will enjoy this series. However, if you enjoy romance/forbidden love stories then that might trump the wuxia aspect and you will enjoy it. This series has a 'daytime' feel to it, almost a soap opera feeling. While I enjoy watching the ML become stronger and wiser throughout the series. It was rough at times watching a grown adult behave like a child (think of Wukong lore). As much as I am not a fan of the FL, she does a great job in making the show come together. I haven't seen any of the other Condor series to give any input if this one is better than the others but I am curious to see if the adaptations are better. I would probably rate this as a 6.3/10 overall but a possible 7.9/10 as a wuxia drama.
I've been randomly searching single words and picking random dramas to watch. I put in the word 'dice' because I was thinking of a gambling series to watch. This series appeared in the search results and I was hesitant to watch it because it looked 'older' and the main character (based on looks) didn't appeal to me. Oh boy was I wrong, this show is really good. Besides the first episode being a bit confusing since they cram so much into a single episode without knowing any characters yet. It really picks up from there. This series has a bit of everything which makes it so great. I personally feel like this is a hidden gem due to the lack of comments and reviews. I also noticed that one of the female leads was also in 'A Step Into the Past' which is one of my all time favorite time travel dramas. Hong Kong dramas don't get enough credit when credit is due. What also fascinates me about this drama is how good the actors are when the filming/sets are low budget. It's not cheesy or cringeworthy but perfect for what the show is.
Started watching this a few days ago and so far it's excellent. They use the same set(s) as 'Lost in 1949' which would basically be a great series to watch after this show, in terms of chronological Chinese historical order. This show starts in 1928 and slowly progresses to the late 1940's.
It's a show about a group of friends from the northern mountain area within the Canton region of China. Which is an area known for 'badass' people living in harsh conditions, dealing with bandits on a daily basis. After searching for gold in the northern parts. They decide to settle down in a more modern and populated village down from the mountain regions and open a tavern. The show does an excellent job of bringing in all sorts of characters that either come & go or stay in the village. There is some romance in this series but it's nothing serious. Ultimatley it's about a group of tough friends that become friendly tavern owners. You really get to love the tavern owner, knowing everything he's been through and how much he helps others. I'd say this show is more related to a really really good series about 'slice of life' during the 1930's of Southern China.
I found this series on the CBC Gem app with English subs. It's a Canadian network that is leasing the show from Fuji TV. I had to use a free VPN to download the app while on a Canadian IP. Once installed and still on the Canadian IP/VPN, just search for 'suits' and this show will pop up. It says season 2 will be leaving the app/site soon, so unsure if this is the entire series or just season 2.
Watching Witch's Game and this actor reminds me of Oguri Shun. Hopefully he will star in more kdrama's in the future as a main or supporting role. He definitely has the talent to do so.
Currently (7.5 ★★★✮☆) put this series onhold at episode 55. Not because I don't enjoy the series, only because I've been binge watching it non-stop for a week now and need to 'refresh' my brain.
Around episode 40 is when the 'tides turn' so to speak and I feel like the show did a great job on timing this out. It was starting to become a bit repetitive and annoying seeing how the FL wasn't sticking up for herself. If the show didn't change something around that episode time frame I would have dropped it. This is also my first soap opera, daily kdrama, 100+ episode show. A few times I tried to start this show but the first episode always confused and decided to find something else. I eventually was bored and had nothing else to do. So I forced myself to pay attention. The first few episodes might be confusing but after that the ball starts to roll and the show takes off.
I see a lot of people complaining about certain things regarding this show but (IMO) everything about this series is what you would expect in a 'soap opera' genre so unsure what those people were expecting. You have people back stabbing people, cheating on people, stealing from people, swapping confidential documents, plotting on top of plotting on top of plotting, etc. With your last minute cliffhangers all to be turned around by another last second flip flop.
I never enjoyed American soap operas because of the eerie quietness in the shows and even when they do have some music, it puts me to sleep. At least in kdrama soap operas, you don't steer away from the 'kdrama' style in term of production quality. Then you're getting pure soap opera storyline and acting. I feel like anyone who enjoys soap opera style shows will enjoy this one. I've really come to enjoy the 'Yoo In Ha' character as he reminds me of myself.
I love anything that has to do with time manipulation, so might be a bit biased with the review. I really enjoyed the concept of how time was utilized in this drama. Almost reminds me of 'Frequency' in terms of when the time manipulation occurs. The beginning of the drama starts off really well, while a few scenes confused me in regards to how the past/present were interacting with each other. As the show started to feel like it was slowing down around the 10 episode mark, it hits you with a plot twist. I enjoyed the male lead actor, felt like he played his past and present self fairly accurately however I find it hard to believe that there would be such a drastic 'visual' change to his four month personality gap. The female lead actress was okay but I don't think she was able to act on the same level as the male lead which made me cringe in some scenes. Unless the director of the drama intended those scenes to be that way. Usually the more emotional or romantic scenes. I enjoyed all of the supporting roles, especially the main leads cousin and the female leads mother in the series. Overall the show is a great watch but not something mind blowing. I would say it's a bingeable series to watch over a weekend if you're relaxing. Putting my biase aside, I would rate this show around a 7.4/10.
So many people are complaining about the "quality" regarding the filming of Japanese dramas. This style of production/filming is preferred in Japan. Japan is slowly changing the style but it will take awhile before every show created will look and feel like KDRAMA's today. If you look at any KDRAMA during the early 2000's, you will notice they are the same as Japanese drama's. Maybe around 2010+ is when South Korea started to film TV series where they feel like movies. We also should respect what other countries decide to do when creating entertainment and not judge them but yet understand why they are creating it a certain way. Gokusen & GTO will always be my favorite JDRAMA's of all time and I don't care how they were filmed. People complain way too much these days.
After watching the first episode, I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only person who thought this KDRAMA was terrible. I only gave it a chance because of the 7.5 rating but the story is terrible along with the acting.
Started watching this a few days ago and so far it's excellent. They use the same set(s) as 'Lost in 1949' which would basically be a great series to watch after this show, in terms of chronological Chinese historical order. This show starts in 1928 and slowly progresses to the late 1940's.
It's a show about a group of friends from the northern mountain area within the Canton region of China. Which is an area known for 'badass' people living in harsh conditions, dealing with bandits on a daily basis. After searching for gold in the northern parts. They decide to settle down in a more modern and populated village down from the mountain regions and open a tavern. The show does an excellent job of bringing in all sorts of characters that either come & go or stay in the village. There is some romance in this series but it's nothing serious. Ultimatley it's about a group of tough friends that become friendly tavern owners. You really get to love the tavern owner, knowing everything he's been through and how much he helps others. I'd say this show is more related to a really really good series about 'slice of life' during the 1930's of Southern China.
Around episode 40 is when the 'tides turn' so to speak and I feel like the show did a great job on timing this out. It was starting to become a bit repetitive and annoying seeing how the FL wasn't sticking up for herself. If the show didn't change something around that episode time frame I would have dropped it. This is also my first soap opera, daily kdrama, 100+ episode show. A few times I tried to start this show but the first episode always confused and decided to find something else. I eventually was bored and had nothing else to do. So I forced myself to pay attention. The first few episodes might be confusing but after that the ball starts to roll and the show takes off.
I see a lot of people complaining about certain things regarding this show but (IMO) everything about this series is what you would expect in a 'soap opera' genre so unsure what those people were expecting. You have people back stabbing people, cheating on people, stealing from people, swapping confidential documents, plotting on top of plotting on top of plotting, etc. With your last minute cliffhangers all to be turned around by another last second flip flop.
I never enjoyed American soap operas because of the eerie quietness in the shows and even when they do have some music, it puts me to sleep. At least in kdrama soap operas, you don't steer away from the 'kdrama' style in term of production quality. Then you're getting pure soap opera storyline and acting. I feel like anyone who enjoys soap opera style shows will enjoy this one. I've really come to enjoy the 'Yoo In Ha' character as he reminds me of myself.