Abysmal plot; Good cast
Writer chew more than she could handle.There were two distinct parts of the story: fantasy romance of 2 realms and palace drama. From the moment she decides to mix the two that's where disaster starts to brew. The transition from fantasy part to just historical palace defies a lot of logic. There were gigantic plotholes in how ML goes to present, how they seesaw between they can and cannot touch each other, how someone else could hear ML, how if he sleeps he can choose not to dream of her of which he would enter her realm. And then how wishing on a special lunar phenomena transports her to the past in time to see another female of the same face passing away. And she conveniently assumes her identity. The amnesia bit was ( ༎ຶ ༎ຶ ).. All this gave me a headache in digesting and then choosing to suspend the logic thinking part of my brain to continue watching.
My biggest issue was how it then became a solidly palace drama full of scheming females and inciting unrest in the backpalace and discord among the princes. Worst of the lot is Ming Hui who has a huge grudge against Ming Wei of which Xiao Wei of present shares the same face. This palace bit starts from about 1/3 in to the drama and lasted til ep 39. So I'm telling you if you dislike palace politics like me it means a lot of skipping of scenes.
As to why i still gave a solid 7.0 scoring despite my huge grievances with the drama. Its because of the cast. Both Li Lan Di and Wang An Yu are super young but sparkling in this drama. They deliver depth where possible and their banter were pleasantly cute and sweet. There's that good push pull, action reaction when you get a CP with chemistry. Its only the plot problems that cause IQ cells of Xiao Wei to dwindle when she went back into history. The last 20minutes also gave the show some bonus points.
I wouldnt recommend this drama. I started it when going through Li Lan di's pastwork and decided to give it a go. It doesnt sticks with you like Scarlet Heart does and i dont think its fair to compare.
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Charming & Condensed
The writing is the bane and the boon.On one hand its so fast paced theres no room for dillydally. On the other skipping scenes to scenes i wish for better continuity. You can say the writer is on steroids.
If you like time travel this may be your cup of tea. Despite being a budget drama, costumes and actors were on point. And despite the story being rushed the first and second third, it manage to be cohesive and deliver an emotional rollercoaster of a drama.
Lastly theres no hanging ending..much to be my delight.
Bonus theres a sequel with the same leads.
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Action-packed but fail to resonate
Action with disaster of different settings, satisfactory cgi and stunts. But storyline, characther building, camaderie and emotional payoffs lacking.I havnt reviewed a movie in a long while. Watched this on a weekend with my kids. They were entertained in the rescue scenes. The ooohs and ahhs over helicopters, blast, sinking rig, aeroplane disaster etc etc.
There is also a need for suspension of belief. Personally I dont thk in real life situation rescue missions are carried out when it is deemed too risky, jeopardising rescue mission and endangering the entire team. So in 2 of the missions i did not agree with their call and that they would be given the greenlight to go ahead realistically.
The intro of one of the rescue member (played by Wang yan lin) and his fiance/wife and also male lead (eddie peng)'s son was part of the character building and part and parcel of setting up emotional scenes in second half and the climax. However the flow as well as the lack of depth in writing fails to give the audience enough time to form emotional attachment to them. The storyline is busy from the get go, original pilot leaves, new female pilot enters with her assistant co pilot, then assistant co pilot wants to leave too... blah blah. They com and go and failed to be important to me. The cutting and editing between mission scenes to dailylife scenes were also jarring. At times it felt like two different movies with similar actors trying to mesh together. The poor execution felt like you are forced to buy in with a promise of emotional payout that never comes. Even the ending mission also felt anti climatic. I do appreciate the peptalk and highlight on courage. But that's about it.
You can watch if you are an Eddie Peng fan or if you're in for an action flick on a rainy weekend. Just dont expect too much.
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Entertaining and also irritating at times
Acting: Eleanor as a FL was very natural and easy on the eye. She could emote. Shes also a great singer and i love the ost she sang. Connor was the weakest link. He was horrible in Meteor Garden that i was so shock hes headlining a new drama as the main lead but the MDL ratings push me to try. I can say he did improve but hes just mostly awkward on screen. Even if its a scene wheres he's standing or walking, he looks so ill at ease. His character was suppose to be charismatic and he just doesnt deliver. The only plus point is that you can still feel chemistry between the MLand FL.Story: The premise was good and NuanNuan's struggle transitioning out from a failed idol group, and starting from zero into a working culture was something fresh and yet realisticaly potrays the lives of many trainees hoping to make it big and be the next star. That and the story of finding her talent in things outside of singing kept me interested. But the romance direction wasnt so good. The pace and the setting and how the leads handle themselves wasnt as enjoyable as i hope it would be. The secondary couple although visually cute but were amateurish. I keep wanting to feel more depth about everyone and yet finding little. So theres a real issue in both the writing and the directing of this drama. Han che was also not utilised properly imo.
Rewatch. Not for me.
Note for those who are sort of interested but cant be invested to watch the entirety, you can opt to watch a FMV clip, just chk on youtube. It can be sufficient and feels you didnt miss that much anyway.
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Recapping by characther:
-Jin Myung):Season 1 i felt the most affected by Senior Yoon (Jin Myung) and by Season 2 i really felt shes come a long way and grown. Love it when i see her chef bf- wish we had more scenes of them together)
-Ye Eun had the most drama by the end of season 1. Season 2 shows a realistic and sometimes painful road to recovery. It's not easy being a survival and a victim of violence.
- Ji Won - the most animated housemate. We mostly saw her antics in Season1. Finally in Season 2 theres more on her story, And dont get me started on Sung Min. Both of them are adorbs and the chemistry together is really off the charts. (Praying drama Gods let them reunite in a drama again)
- Eun Jae - same character but recasted - in my opinion they should have written out EunJae and let the actress Ji Woo inhabit a new character. Its too confusing to see her as EunJae when you still have Park Hye Soo's face in mind. Further EunJae' story arc here is also the least impressive
- Jo Eun - new gal played by Choi Ah Ra - refreshing character and her backstory and her story arc with Jang Hoon (played by DOTS actor Kim Min Suk) was cute
The writer and pd maintains the mystery n intrigue vibe throughout the drama. Hwa Young also guest role in her sassy character of Kang Yi Na.
Keeping the episode capped at 14 was great. Story, flow and pacing was spot on. It was a lovely ride to check back in with the girls of Belle Époque.
* Fans wanted a Season 3 and i think chances are slim. I'm quite satisfied with how we were left off and hints of what's in the girls' future.
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This review may contain spoilers
If you watch the previous lanling, its completely diff with the exception of character names. This is more a love story of the females past self with lanling and her new romance as her present amnesiac self with Yu wen yong. This adaptation only inserts more of fantasy elements and looking for 2 magical items linked to Qing Shuo.
I first started watching due to many who praise the chemistry between Qing Shuo and Yu Wen Yong with the later wonderfully potrayed by Peng Guan Ying. His character seems to fill the screen more than Lanlingwang.
I find the title of this drama misleading. Thats the greatest hint/spoiler i can give you.
I would have dropped the rating to 7/10 because i did not like the ending. But for all the sweet moments of the show i maintained a 7.5. Also i fastforwarded many scene of other characters that i do not like. I always do that with long C dramas- this too doesnt escape from the need to be self edited.
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Ariel Lin was such a cute actress that really make xiang Ching ooze with adorableness. It's also the first time I noticed her as an actress. Joe's character of Zi so was the aloof silent type. A great departure from when I saw him in The rose. But the best thing was our two leads have great chemistry so much that people start shipping them in real life (although she's married now)
The story follows closely to original Manga which perhaps reduce my enjoyment of the drama. Because all the comedy side is really over the top. And sometimes the actors have to do alot of exaggeration to fit into Manga theme. So this makes its less realistic. I find I only enjoy when scene are quieter and more mellow to connect emotionally.
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To be honest to enjoy it I skip some of the storyline, I find I don't really care much what's going on on the side of the bad guy. I'm in this drama for the romcom and I don't mind a lil heartache if that's what's necessary. That's why the first 2/3 of the drama is a must watch for the fun the romance and her falling in love with him. Fast forward necessary for the last third of the drama if you are like me.
Acting: 10/10 for Janice Wu Qian;6/10 for Kim Tae Hwan;8/10 for supporting casts
Janice quite like her character in My Sunshine was so lively and unapologetic, interesting juxtaposition against tae hwan as the cold blood xue monster
Romance: fluffy ttypes with squabbles, comedic moments, sweet moments and nice skinship lol quite a bit of good kiss scenes. I find it amazing that they can generate the chemistry despite not speaking each other's language as tae hwan is being dubbed (side note I saw interviews where janice speaks to him in English and he could comprehend it enough)
I wont spoil it but i have to say i wish it was wrapped up better in ep 28... could have been best comedic romantic drama until they spoil it with that ending
I've recently click and watch scenes that I love. So needless to say Rewatch value is high for selected scenes for me
Now there's buzz there would be a second season.. We shall see. Personally I thk Amazing boyfriend is a must watch C drama for 2016
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A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College
12 people found this review helpful
Couldnt Stay On~Unfortunately
Why I started it and Why Peeps May Like this:- if you're a fan of ZLS and wanted to see more of her works
- if you like school in historical setting
- if you enjoy a FL who has a strong character
- if you like comedic dramas
> My take is ZLS is very suited as Sang Qi. Infact I personally thk theres many resemblance to her real life character - chill, can hang with the boys, focus, frank character.
Here's why I dropped it like a hot potato
- ML's characterization is bad in my books. I cant understand how he is defined in the script. He's supposed to be worldly, refined and maybe dignified based on his knowledge, rank and position in school. Yet he comes off as immature and lacking? Is it a script thing? I felt disappointed in the ML and cant help whining about the scriptwriter- if she could take a page or just a para out of Zhou Shen Chen (of One and only), Hou Chi (from Dear Brother) or even Pei Zhao (of Maiden Holmes);
- Styling below par. If you think of Xu Kai Cheng, his good looks from Well Intended Love pops up in your mind. But he just looks odd and ill fitted in the historical setting. Given his appearance and built you would think he would give a commanding presence right? But there isnt any.
- Acting. Because the direction of the drama and comedic tones you cant exactly compare it to a lot of other dramas. But the overall feel is it seems superficial in many areas. Particularly ML, i couldnt buy into whatever he's trying to sell
- SML. Ren Hao's character started well. But if only they din screw it up as early as Ep2. It would be awesome if the tight friendship stays as friendship between FL and SML.
- The plot isnt the best. There's a problem with the execution and flow. The mystery part is poorly meshed too. I have stayed for worst honestly but I stayed for ML-FL. In this case I dont feel anything for this pairing. The feels for ML-FL here is not good. IMO the pairing here is the worst out of all ZLS dramas and you do know she has a long record of great chemistry with her costars. So i thk the script, character and plot hindered it. There dont seem to be much reason to stay on.
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As with korean costume makeup, the ghost were scary looking. Some scenes were gripping and not for the faint hearted when you watch it at night
What amazes me the most is the script and the writing. Heres a team of writers who knows what it wants to tell and how to tell it in 16ep. The plot when you thought was predictable as they clearly show who the antagonist was from almost the start keeps surprising you as the plot unfolds a d continues to be exciting and suspenseful to the end.
Furthermore i was surprised with Taecyeon and So Hyun. When they first announce the pairing i was worried and hesitant to watch. Surprise surprise that they were adorable together and bashful which works for their character and school student setting. So Hyun was a gem and i love her Hyun Ji who was spunky, can kickass, and super cute. Bong Pal was dorky, grumpy turned sweet. The two sidekicks were fun to watch too. Lastly Kwon Yul's acting was spot on. So eery and scary. So this is another awesome tvn drama that i didnt expect to like but in the end love it.
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Maybe it's a matter of taste. There are parts I enjoy. The plots are a mix of something different to dramatic script (both expected and unexpected)
Be warned that it's not a fluffy story. There are parts that are realistic and then there's loops of drama. And just when you thought you know what's going on, the writers throw you into another loop.
From the love angle: it's refreshing that both Hong Do and Yi Seok are very adult and mature regardin their feelings. They don't avoid or pretend it doesn't happen. They have upfront conversations about it. Perhaps I'm still scratching my head how did a girl with chronic illness of being embarrass to look at and converse with people and blush furiously In the process (lived alone after the death of her grandma) suddenly jumped into bed with the doctor. So sudden full on skinship was kind of too far fetch for me. From the guy's perspective you could say he was lonely, it was hormones or chemical firings in his blood. Regardless, their first kiss a d first time together wasn't romantic in my book. And it did interfere with my ability to completely invest myself into their love story. I'm still glad I stick through to the ending.
I have to say Hong duo's hair was kind of distracting for me. But It's a rarity to see the leads not focus at all on her appearance. Her hair and clothes were really forgettable. They put emphasis that the love just happens and on paper you wouldn't have thought she would be the match fated for Yi Seok. Like he said, the love just happens. She was suppose to like the detective who makes her tongue tied and blushed profusely. But with the doctor she could open up, talk, even swear. So really. It's fated in a way.
The second male lead. I do feel sorry for him. But I'm glad they throw him a bone at the end so that he didn't end up alone.
If you don't expect too much, you don't mind dramatic plot lines, more adult and open type of relationship, you can give this drama a go.
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Plot: could have worked since its a remake of the Korean version but it didnt as theres tpo much recycling of a thin plot that would hav worked if the drama is half of actual length
Cast: Jin Bo Ran was passable in his role but i have a hard time rooting for Zheng shuang character. I dont feel her and its hard to root for the heroine when you dont care
Chemistry: My major problem. somehow i dont feel them despite some scene s that were set romantically... i thought to myself if the actress was someome else could have worked...
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I really like the magic show part and girl saving guy for a change. Then i keep waiting for the romantic development. Plotwise it was moving but the feel between Hawick Lau and Tiffany Tang was lacking. They were individually okay in their roles. Hawick Lau as usual nails the angsty lonely male figure who has power and wealth. But every time they get together i couldnt feel the spark or believe the love. In scenes where it would have fireworks or catapult to kisses, nope we dont get the kiss scenes, almost like it was avoided. I ended up shelving this drama so many times cause I couldnt connect with them. (Maybe cause Tiffany is Hawick's wife's bestfriend in real life? So they are friendly but hard to dwell into romance?? I dunno)
The only thing left to comment is they hav good sense to write a good ending.
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