strawberrymatchalatte

My experience with Chinese dramas adapted from novels is that they often barely resemble the source materials, so I watch them as a separate beast. Less aggravation and confusion that way. I remembered seeking out the Love Between Fairy and Devil novel and was hella confused.

Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan did have that little bit of interaction following Xiao Yao's assassination. So little that I forgot about it.

I do expect romance when I watch these sorts of dramas (how many of these don't have romance??), but what I'm after, firstly, is well-written stories, and whether I enjoy the romance will depend on how they are written.

The two romances in this drama don't work for me. If Cang Xuan's political plotline is giving indigestion, then the Xiao Yao-Tu Shan Jing romance is serving food poisoning. I'm already fighting nausea, and depending on how things go in Season 2, diarrhoea may be in the cards 😭😬

I don't remember much about the Lovers Bugs, but I don't think they are absolutely needed because I would have to be blind as a bat not to notice the star-crossed lovers set up between Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu. It's obvious that he lights her fire and presses all her buttons. And it's also obvious that it had her running scared. Probably because she sees "impending doom" tattoo on his forehead and, thus, a reminder of her mother death on the battlefield. He triggers all her abandonment fears in ways that Tu Shan Jing doesn't.

This Xiang Liu-Xiao Yao -Tu Shan Jing juxtaposition was set up right from the beginning. I would have to be blind AND brain-dead not to see it. It's a classic love triangle with a twist. A twist courtesy of Xiao Yao, who is emotionally crippled and in arrested development. The actress, though, is not doing an adequate job of showing this internal struggle in the character, which not only impacts this set-up, but also makes this character less interesting than she should be. At least so far.

The plot is not plotting. The romances are not romancing!

This drama started well, but the execution is not holding up. Intriguing and promising set-ups are wasted, as the writing insisted on taking some of these characters down the most uninspired path. The characters of Xiao Yao and TuShan Jing, in particular, are frustrating to watch. Often, it feels like the more interesting characters and stories are happening elsewhere, while the camera stays on these two and their so-called romance. It's like watching a drama, but instead of focusing on the main characters, the lens stayed on the second or third-line characters. And did they dig this plot line out of some dusty script written a decade ago, 'cause it's giving me flashbacks to the sort of makjang, melodramas set in the Republican era?

After 39 episodes, it's clear that this drama lacks a substantial plot. Cang Xuan's political plot line is so undercooked that I would probably get indigestion if I tried to eat it. So it's up to the characters to hold this drama together. Unfortunately, Xiao Yao is far too passive and undynamic to be a compelling lead. She's further rendered 2D and rather unlikeable because the actress is not showing the internal conflict that is integral to this character. She's more interesting when she interacts with Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu, but put her with her 1D boyfriend, and Ambien is running scared.

Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu both have their arc happening; unfortunately, everything is tied back to Xiao Yao. Would it have killed them to show more of Xiang Liu away from his interaction with Xiao Yao? And I'm disappointed that he and Cang Xuan have had no other interactions after Xiao Yao regained her status. A further reminder that the political plot line is not to be taken seriously.

Still have to finish Season 2, but it's not looking promising.

With the Headless Bride Case, the fact that the FL and the ML both concluded that the victim must have been having an affair was ludicrous. Their reasoning has so many gaps and they were dismissive of other possible explanations. This continued in other cases. Jumping to conclusion in this way could lead you down the wrong investigation path. Like I like said, Sherlock would have had a conniption.

I watch the trailer and if it looks interesting, I give it a chance. I start many series, but drop probably 85% of them. You do get some decent dramas, but to get an 8-10, it needs to be consistently well-written. The script is of utmost important - story, pacing, characterization, characters and relationship development. These are the foundations of any story. Unfortunately, there are far too many subpar scripts in Cdrama land. They can still be entertaining and enjoyable to watch, but that isn't the same as being good.

I generally don't read comments or reviews before watching to minimise being influence in my perception. My observations from years on MDL is that the scores are highly inflated. I guess my taste doesn't aligned with the majority of the users here. I wish MDL has a function to sort the reviews by rating. Like you, I find the more critical one to be more interesting and insightful compared to the gushing 8 -10.atars reviews.

The FL is like a Mary Sue with the Golden Touch. Everyone seems to be in awe of her skills and awesomeness 🙄. The lack of logic and observations of the period norms just further emphasis the script low quality.

A 4 is generous. I gave it a 2. You did the right thing by dropping it. I stuck with it to the end to see how much more nonsensical it becomes, and it did not disappoint on this front. So bad in fact, that I felt the need to write a review. LoL.

Always interesting to read the reviews on here, because most of the time, they left me baffled because it seems like we were watching completely different drama :-). This one was no exception.

A horrendous script that became increasingly nonsensical as the drama progressed. Characters were 2D. The case/crime-solving aspects were appalling and had so many leaps of logic and reasoning that Sherlock would have had a conniption. If you mainly focus on the romance, then this may be for you, because the leads were all loved up and flying that green flag romance. I came for the crime-solving with romance thrown in, so this fell off the cliff.

CGH has gone full crazy. At this point, he's just being willfully vindictive because of his vendetta against NH over SYM taking NH's side. He's not using his brain at all because he doesn't want to. It's easier to blame NH rather than take a look at himself and take responsibility.

Episode 26. When he told her to run and she didn't even wait for him to finish speaking before getting out of there, it had me howling. LOL. After years of watching scenes of people crying and just standing around being a nuisance when they are told to leave, I finally get to see someone being smart.

No love triangle. The FL was never really into the second ML. She has her prejudice towards the ML and it can be frustrating to watch. She has her reasons, but it would have been better if they allow for more changes on her part rather than keeping her bullheaded. However, I don't find her hateful and hopefully, once she realized how wrong she was, she'll make it up to him.

The first episode was a hoot. It became repetitive, with the way the FL constantly thinks the worst of the ML. They could have developed her character gradually instead of having her change her stance after she found out about his dual identities. The poor ML constantly get mistreated by what seems like everyone. His father is hateful.

This drama was entertaining, but it's not good. The script relied on non-stop plot twists and doesn't leave room for good build-up or set-up. Plot holes and illogical things that required too much suspension of disbelief. The acting was also lacking. Face-offs between the two leads couldn't maintain suspense because the acting couldn't sustain it. It's still worth a watch because it is entertaining.

One of the better Cdramas in recent years. Good development of the characters and romance.