This review may contain spoilers
Definitely the dark horse of cdrama for this year
People have already reviewed and said everything there needs to be said so I will just outline what I liked or didn't like:Liked:
1. The acting; The acting of the main leads especially wu jinyan was so stellar that in some parts I would forget that I am watching her act. She made sure that we would remember xue fangfei/jiang li. Her beauty and her expressiveness literally shined through the screen. The way she could deliver a thousand emotions through her eyes in a second was so good. Same goes for wang xingyue as duke su. Although he did not have much screen presence, he still managed to DELIVER. The moves that would have looked ridiculous and cringy with another actor, he made it work. Both of their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS even when they are just looking at each other which was 90% responsible for this drama being a success. Shout out also to Shen Yurong and Princess wanning's actors because my goodness, they dominated almost every scene they were in. The way shen yurong's actor made me feel pity for the character yet making sure that we know how evil he is, was done so artfully I had to be impressed. Also ji shuran's actor, she played the tropey stepmother role but still managed to shine though even when wu jinyan was delivering a spectacular scene.
2. The plot, characters, and pacing: Cdramas are getting good at pacing and its nice to see this being reflected in The Double. The plot had significant amount of twists and turns to keep the viewers engaged till the end. The diverse range of characters gave this drama life as well as the character developments. Not everyone received justice or happy endings but you understand the motivations and aspirations behind their actions, even the villains. The double is one of the few cdramas where morally grey characters were portrayed brilliantly. I also liked the subtle emphasis on how systematic misogyny, the effects of bad parenting especially by the fathers towards the daughters, the implications of sexual violence even towards the main character and how the producers did not shy away from it.
3. The OST: Chenle's "Live on love on" was solid art. The opening theme was beautiful as well.
4. The cinematography was better compared to other youku production.
Disliked:
1. Although the plot is pretty solid some times you have to suspend logic to appreciate the drama in my opinion. The slapstick comedy at inappropriate times did not help. Them using wugong for not other reason than being flashy was seriously weird.
2. The leads had excellent chemistry and the romance progression felt natural but did not at the same time which is understandable given romance is not the focus of the drama but I wished there would have been more substance. Like in LLTG although there was an overarching plot the romance was also prioritized as the ml and fl gets entangled early on and it feels more developed. But with this, other than the chemistry and the subtle understanding by the audience that the leads are falling in love, there is not much to go on. It feels like the romance has taken a back seat.
3. The ending felt weird and unnecessary. I know they did that for the dramatics as this is a very soap opera-ish drama but the ending was literally not needed. They could have ended with XH and XF married, a time lapse for 1 year, then cut to them visiting tong'er and jiang li's tomb with a voice over and that would have been enough. That battle scene should have been shown early on which would have increased the angst. The slow burn would have worked out better in that way just like how it did in LLTG. But a scene at the end just goes to show they just wanted to create some hype and nothing else.
It's quite an enjoyable drama and probably the best one in this year judging by the cdrama drought.
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Gyeongseong creature- between not absolutely horrible but not great either
The first 5 episodes honestly made me rethink starting the drama and then dropping it because it fell terribly flat, be it the characters or the pacing. The show really starts showing some actual substance after episode 6. Still the plot and character building was rushed, character development felt sloppy and there were some glaring plot holes that cannot be overlooked as anything but plot armor.The drama in my opinion failed when it tried to do a lot of things at the same time but not hitting the right balance. The atrocities and crimes committed by the Japanese occupation subsequently got overshadowed by the supernatural aspect of the drama. Half the time I wasn't sure how to feel because you have some very dark material that horrifies you and then you see a 10-11 ft monster just rumbling about. You aren't sure whether to be curious and thrilled about what the monster can do when you have a man being tortured still fresh in your mind.
Now, the last 4 episodes kinda brought them together in a good cohesion and an overarching theme to bind them but in a 10 episode length drama thats quite late. Han so hee was amazing throughout, especially her action scenes and crying scenes gave me goosebumps.Park SEO Joon's Jang tae sang character development was finicky but it made him act more like a main character rather than a showpiece so..i guess it's okay. The ending felt like a leeway to season 2 and less like a proper ending to me. Loved the opening theme song extremely haunting and appropriate for a drama like this. Production, cinematography, cgi were pretty good. Overall not bad but not great.
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If you want something quick and fun...
Yup. If you want something quick and fun, this is it. The best point of this drama is the excellent chemistry between the leads. The ML is pretty stiff but with the FL, who is the amazing zhao lusi, he was quite great. I enjoyed the kiss scenes immensely!The story is very early 2000s k-drama style. Rich CEO meets a hard working poor girl, falls in love, they have a childhood connection, love triangle, typical parent trope. But since the FL is pretty well developed character in the hand of a good actress, the ML is not a narcissist and is willing to admit his mistakes, the plot twists are okay, and the side couples are interesting thus the final product is decent and enjoyable. I must say after episode 13-14 it starts to drag badly. But it's a very light, refreshing, doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously, bubbly drama that you can binge when you want a palate cleanser.
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Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area - Part 1
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Enjoyable but nothing new
First of all, it does NOT deserve the scathing reviews or low rating it is getting simply because it's a remake which I think was stated in the show's description? So I have no idea why people are mad as if they have been deceived. I LOVE the original show. The first 2 seasons were one of the best TV experiences I ever had. After it ended last year I was quite nostalgic so I feel like if you are someone like me then I don't think you would mind much. But if you are looking for something original and brand new then this is not for you.Having said that I also understand there are legit issues raised by some people regarding aspects of the show that the korean version could have made better but chose not to.
PLOT: follows the original plot with minor deviations here and there in terms of a certain scene or a character's backstory. The story length was not adequate in my opinion and the cliffhanger was unsatisfying. I know their intention was to drag the story in part 2 but it did not feel like an adequate ending for part 1 either. The 6-episode length has made the story rushed with not enough character developments. Although the professor- syj and denver- misun (og monica) couple had chemistry it did not feel natural. There are some cringey scenes which feels forced and quite uncharacteristic given the context.
ACTING: Actors for Berlin, denver, moscow, misun, youngmin were perfect. SYJ and professor's acting is also impressive but severely disappointed in nairobi and tokyo's casting choices. Tokyo and nairobi's characters needed someone who is impressionable as they are very impressionable themselves in the group. I hardly barely felt that from them.
..,and I guess that's the problem of remaking such impressionable characters and a show that became a global phenomenon. It's impossible not to be compared and not compromise quality due to burden and pressure. Despite that, it did okay but nothing special.
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This review may contain spoilers
A magical dream that you don't want to come out of
This drama has been out for more than 1.5 years and pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said. The only thing I want to add is that this drama is probably the most magical drama I have ever watched. It's like a dream that you don't want to get out of.The things I liked:
1. The story was tight knit, solid and had good consistency throughout even though towards the end it felt a little disjointed but the thematic coherency they maintained was good.Execution was elegant, character development, plot development, dialogues everything was done with thoughtfulness and effort.
2. The acting. Aside from Dylan and Esther being downright spectacular, I liked how the supporting cast also proved themselves especially Zhang linghe as changheng and ronghao's actor was brilliant.
3. This drama has probably one of the best osts I have ever heard. It complemented the scenes and even provided context for the characters emotional states in such a way that was so raw and so poignant sometimes that you forget it's a drama.
4. The costumes. Especially dongfang qingcang's costumes that Dylan rocked. Man is made to be wearing long dark elegant beautifully embroidered robes! I loved the color schemes and the aesthetics that they were trying to going for that addr an extra layer to their identities, be it cangyan tribe or shuyuntian people or the XISHAN people.
5. Production value and cgi was through the roof. The budget reflects that and it delivered. One of the c dramas that I have seen with Hollywood level cgi.
Things I felt could be better:
1. The drama being 4 episodes longer which would have made the finale more impactful and not feel rushed. Especially dongfang qingcang's death and his revival.
2. Xunfeng and danyin should have been a couple.
3. More background on taisui and how the first goddess subdued him. I felt like they just introduced him as a plot device, about whom we got to know very little about. He just appeared few times and suddenly after ep 31 he is the big threat. The transition seemed forced.
4. Ronghao killing the xilan tribe and the supposed ties between xiyun and chidi was introduced and then was never addressed which is odd.
This drama is one of the best xianxia love stories that I have watched and many more dramas will come and go but this will have a special place in my heart.
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