A Later Bloomer, but a Sure Winner
The StoryIn this Historical RomCom Mystery, a mature widow, with great martial arts skills, rights injustices by night. Fascinating, she is, to a young Officer of the Courts who is tasked with discovering night criminals. Is this a perfect match under the moonlight?
In Knight Flower, this widow lives with her mother-in-law and is not suppose to leave the compound. She sneaks out at night like an assassin to aid those in need. The widow has a very interesting back story. Widows are kept inside so that they don’t sin with their eyes and heart during the mourning period. However, her quest is to serve the poor. The people find this widow graceful, classy, and of great beauty. The young officer finds her clumsy and cumbersome, but wildly alluring and seeks to protect her. Knight Flower is a play on words with Night Flower.
‘Knight Flower’ did not pass my 15 minute “Love It or Leave It” test, however, I saw enough raw material present to foresee that this might be a winner. Sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone. Knight Flower did take off by the end of episode one. My hunch was proved right big time. The main couple is a May/December pairing. There is great chemistry between the two leads. There seems to be another May/December pairing in this drama too, involving an older man and younger women. The OSTs in Korean Dramas in general have been great lately, in the new Korean Dramas this year of 2024. K-pop now has its full presence in K-drama. The OST of Knight Flower has a few really great songs. The songs are so good, many will sit-down dance when hearing them.
Quotes from the Drama Knight Flower
What one holds in her heart is her will, and what one speaks is her words, so what one can do is to be careful of that.” Knight Flower (What on says and what one does may differ. It depends on the heart condition)
Knight Glowers—They are Rainbow pink flower, huh? Their stems are like bamboo, and they bloom on rocks, huh? From Korean Drama ‘The Knight Flower’.
A fierce tiger can become a rat. [Or A King who loses authority is overwhelmed by his subjects]. Knight Flower
Actors Corner
Lee Ha Nee (Honey)—Former Miss South Korea turned actress, Lee Ha Nee really showed up in Knight Flower. Her acting in Knight Flower is blowing me away. She has just the right touch of comedy and seriousness for this part. Lee Ha Nee has four dramas dropping this year of 2024, The Fiery Priest 2, Aema, Knight Flower, and one already score big even before its American release is Klaus 47 (Based on a true story). She is 5’8” tall.
Lee Jong-Won—Actor/Model at 6’0” tall, Lee Jong-Won is portraying his character with such endearment. You easily give into the notion that he is captivated by this older woman. Lee Jong-Won previously gave an award winning performance in The Golden Spoon and also can be seen in Hospital Playlist 2.
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Miraculous Brothers is an interesting concept drama
Miraculous Brothers (2023)Some Korean Devotees have wanted darker themed Korean Dramas. Each has her own taste. So many dark themed dramas have too much violence in it for me. However, I fell upon this little gem of a Korean Drama. Miraculous Brothers (2023), which is a Crime, Mystery, Fantasy Bromance. The Korean Drama Miraculous Brothers is not a run-of-the-mill story. The edgy dark lyrics of the pulsating drama music should give you a clue about that. Cinematography (especially camera angles) are eye-catching. This drama kept climbing higher and higher up my All-time List, with each episode. You really have to be patient with this one. Each layer has a unique surprise.
The story centers around the mystery surrounding a magnificently written “book” which explores man’s desires and the duality of good and evil. Who is the writer of this book titled ‘God is Dead’, and is this person of this world? Is this book a book of fiction or reality? The writer of Miraculous Brothers just gives away enough mystery, a little bit at a time, until he reveals the big picture. This keeps you fully engaged as a viewer. (The drama has no demonic content, even though the young man has more than human powers.)
The drama pace of Miraculous Brothers is immaculate. What I like most about this complicated drama is that at junctures along the way, you are given recaps of what you should have picked up from all the clues. So if you get lost you are put back on track. For my taste, this is a great drama.
There are two male protagonists in the Korean drama Miraculous Brothers. Are they monsters or saviors? There is a strong female lead character too. While the subject is about serial killings, the drama does not have gratuitous violence. There is some cursing. The rating, however, is mostly accounting for suicides being covered in some arcs in the story.
One of our main protagonists is a young man who appears to be not of this world. He can manipulate time and objects, but lost his memory when he was hit in a car accident. The other protagonist is a failed writer who is the driver of the car from the accident. His life is turned upside down as he tries to piece together clues as to who is this strange visitor.
Bae Hyun-sung (Dear M) and Jung Woo (Reply 1994)
Miraculous Brothers is in the vein of the great Korean Drama Signal, with a twist. Lots of Head Talk here.
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‘When I Fly Toward You’ Chinese drama is flying high for me.
‘When I Fly Towards You’ is a Chinese Drama about a young girl who has a mad crush on this boy. Why? No particular reason. Sometimes teen girls are just attracted to someone. He is very smart and in Advance Class. She is in average class. He runs, but she persists. Will she win? The drama is uncomplicated and delightful, a simple read. I love the chemistry between the male and female leads. Cuteness overload. ‘When I Fly Towards You’ is a Chinese Drama to add to your complicated list of dramas. Use it to decompress. The drama has 24 episodes at about 35 minutes each and is on Netflix. I am totally loving this Teen Crush School Life Drama. Like with the Chinese Drama ‘Hidden Love’, ‘When I Fly Towards You’ takes this relationship from teen years to adulthood. This is a very romance centered drama with a stellar posse of actors.More attention is being paid to the Chinese School Life Romance Drama Hidden Love and deservedly so. Nevertheless, ‘When I Fly Towards You’ is an excellent drama too. Great OST or original soundtrack and great posse of actors. ‘When I Fly Towards You’ has the vibe of the Korean Drama ‘King, The Land’ because of the truculent male and the smiley female, with a splash of the Chinese Drama Hidden Love which transverses time.
PS-The voice of the Male Lead is ever heavenly, resonating in the lower register. I could listen to this voice for days and never get tired. And by the time you get to the end, you will miss this drama Big Time.
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I loved ‘My Lovely Liar’.
Hwang Min-hyun (Minhyun) singer/songwriter of the K-pop group NU’EST and actor from the big hit Korean Drama ‘Alchemy of Souls’ (which followed Live On) is putting out only his third drama. The early buzz is that this drama will make him a household name. It is fortunate that he gets the main lead with the little star maker, Kim So Hyun (Love Alarm). She is a former Korean child star, who can do little wrong in picking good Korean dramas and making her costars shine. ‘My Lovey Liar’ got off to a slow start, because this star power rich Korean drama needs a lot of set-up time. However, the chemistry between the two leads took off all of a sudden by the end of episode 2, heating up the place. I loved My Lovely Liar and I viewed this drama real-time.The drama is quaint and engaging. It is about a young lady who can hear lies and she has turned this into a profitable business. Her love interest is a music genius with a mysterious and dark past. There are a few surprises in the story, which takes the action in surprising directions. Give this one a try.
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50 Days to be her lover
My cutesy school drama ‘Be My Boyfriend’ is about a standup guy enamored over the school “Hot Girl”. Miss Hotness needs somebody to pretend to be her new boyfriend so she can dump her no good soon to be ex. Miss Hotness enters a 50 day contract to carry out the rouse and on a lark picks our “steady but ready” ordinary guy. After the contract ends, each can walk away. He gives himself 50 days to change her mind and to show her that love can come in an unusual package, and for her to let the temporary job become permanent.This couple was so cute, the pair got picked for a story arc as a couple in the Korean drama Sh**ting Stars. Literally, their arc in Sh**ting Stars was the funniest arc in the whole drama. So many video compilations have been put out on their story arc in Sh**ting Stars. Both of these actors’ careers have taken off after being in Be My Boyfriend, and deservedly so.
Actors are Lee Si-Woo and Shin Hyun Seung.
Actor Shin Hyun Seung is getting another starring role in his 2023 drama Han River, coming up shortly. Actress Lee Si-Woo can be seen in My Lovely Liar 2023. I love these guys’ acting potential.
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Were six episodes enough to pull off this wonderfully imagined SyFy Action Drama?
Black KnightA celestial catastrophe causes Korea to change to a desert where air quality is drastically limited. Only 1% of the population survived and now live in a masked world. To receive goods and services in this dystopia, the population is divided into the general, special, core population members, separated by QR codes encoded into their skin. Those of the population not chosen for either of these special groups receiving special treatment are termed refugees. Humans can disassociate from humanity in times of extreme crisis.
The heroes of this new dystopia are the Deliverymen. They are the ones who fight off brutal Hunters, seeking to confiscate these special delivered goods. The Hunters try to steal from those supply cargo trucks called Relief Supplies Transport Vehicles the Deliverymen drive. The Deliverymen bringing replacement goods to the people in the serviced populations are Rockstars to the public. Out of the shadows of this fighting force of martial arts specialists is the legendary Deliveryman 5-8 (Woo Bin) who is the superhero among super heroes.
This drama had a great ideal premise and could have been a great SyFy drama. I feel that the scriptwriter who transposed the brilliant Webtoon (By the same name) into a drama could have handled his brilliant material better. The writer seemed to have lost his way through this potential hit. Black Knight was reduced to allowing violence to take the place of a well written script, in my opinion. The cast was stellar, led by Woo Bin as the legendary 5-8 Deliveryman and Kang YouSeok as the dreamer and population castaway, seeking to become a Deliveryman like his hero 5-8.
I found myself fast-forwarding past certain violent scenes and I was left a little empty waiting for this potential hit to take off. This drama has six episodes. More episodes could have been used to develop the wonderfully imagined characters living in this wonderfully imagined life-interrupted world in this drama.
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Delves into the Webtoon Industry and give behind the scenes knowledge
I think that the Korean Drama ‘Today’s Webtoon’ is a special hidden gem. It stars Kim Se-Jeong (Business Proposal) as On Ma-Eum, and Nam Yoon-Soo (The King’s Affection) as Goo Jun-Yeong.Fresh from her starring role in the RomCom Business Proposal, Kim Se-Jeong moves from high energy comedy to expose her softer realistic side as a personal developer of young Webtoon cartoonists in ‘Today’s Webtoon’. Kim Se-Jeong, playing On Ma-Eum, could not be a more empathetic drama character. I love her strong presence in this Korean drama. Empathy means the ability to wear the other person’s heart in your chest. On Ma-Eum really understands her young creative charges and really knows what they need. She garners the romantic attention of everyone looking for a safe haven. Nam Yoon-Soo plays Goo Jun-Yeong, who is the exact opposite in personality. He is too logical to understand feelings, but senses that he should latch on to On Ma-Eum. Goo Jun-Yeong is a business genius a tactician. You will not know whether to love or hate him. This drama also has great music. Stick with this one for the long haul. It just keeps getting better and better with each episode.
The character I am most drawn to in ‘Today’s Webtoon’ (because of the realistic rawness) is Sin Dae-Lyug. Few people understand a Webtoon genius and how to soothe that quiet beast within. In this drama, all of his Webtoon storylines are very dark, but autobiographical. Sin Dae-Lyug is played by Kim Do-Hoon from ‘My Absolute Boyfriend. His performance is very gritty and emotional and it may put him on your list of young talent for which to watch out.
What ‘The Liar and His Lover’ did for explaining the Music Industry, ‘Sh**ting Stars’ did for explaining the intricacies of handling the egos of drama stars in the Drama Industry, ‘Today’s Webtoon’ will do this for Webtoons. This drama explains the ins and outs and back door cutthroat dealings of the Webtoon Industry, while showing how creative genius Cartoonists are cultured as Webtoon Artists. Each drama character has his own dynamic backstory which adds richness to the drama. While enjoying this Korean drama, I learned so much about design and production of web cartoons, how to develop them, and what makes one web cartoon fun while another one is not.
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Kim Young Dae gets to me with his bedroom eyes
Forbidden Marriage is my passion. Many have tried to start the buzz talk about this Korean Drama.Actors Kim Young Dae, Park Ju Hyun, And Kim Woo Seok
Who to choose? I really can’t choose between male First and Second Leads. I could date either male lead. This is a laugh-out-loud romp which morphs into serious drama just like Mr Queen. Male First Lead Kim Young-dae does it again. I reported previously how he heated up the cameras in Sh**ting Stars. With his bedroom alluring glances, Kim Young-Dae takes the roam out of romance and makes you want to settle down. Second Lead Kim Woo-seok is your “steady and ready” choice. Mr Perfection with no need for improvement. He has the comfort zone appeal, in a good way. Kim Woo-seok has done musical theater and can be seen in Rookie Cops. I loved both characters each played.
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This review may contain spoilers
Jung_E is a profound SyFy movie and a “must see”. I will explain it.
SyFy can be difficult to grasp sometimes. Jung_E is a brain twister. It takes you in one direction, then abruptly goes in another. If you don’t make the twist you are thrown off the bus. Jung_E is an intellectually profound SyFy movie. I am compelled to explain it. Contains Spoilers.Jung_E
The movie Jung_E takes place in a dystopian world. Earth is under evacuation to Space, because of flooding covering the earth. Some eighty satellite worlds have been constructed in Space to hold humans. Now, some of the satellite worlds are at war to claim domination. There is always a political faction who wants to rule others. The world needs a fighting force. This force will be made up of AI robots patterned after this Legendary Female Commander.
When we have to read subtitles and try to absorb very relevant information, sometimes the brain does not keep up.
Premise is stellar
SyFy look is through the roof
Woman fighter and leader is a thumbs up
Set and Costume design is through the roof
EXPLANATION OF THE MOVIE
In the opening scene, we view combat action with the Legendary Female Commander. She is single-handedly taking down an army of Cyborg warriors, but then she is killed. Right before she is killed, you clearly see her pause. Abruptly in the next scene, you find out that you were looking at a simulation. You further find out that “The powers that be” are trying to perfect this AI warrior for mass production and profit. However, the Warrior always stops at the very same point in each simulation improvement. Why? This is the first brain twister, taking you in a different direction from thinking you are seeing real combat, but you are viewing a simulation.
It is revealed that one of the Scientists is actually the daughter of this deceased Legendary Female Warrior. She has been brought on to guide this project. However, why is the AI always stopping at this same point? The daughter figures out that in the midst of fighting the Cyborgs the Legendary Female Warrior loses a little finger size doll that she carries, which was given to her then young daughter (Now grown Scientist). At this point, the Legendary Female Warrior always spots this doll amidst the fighting, distracting her long enough to be shot by the Cyborgs. This is an anomaly, because the AI Warrior should not recognize her human past. The Legendary Female Warrior AI is evolving after all these tons of simulations. The daughter picks up on this and this notion is confirmed when the two actually meet and the Legendary Female Warrior recognizes her.
The second brain twister come when we are introduced to the fact that the Head Scientist is actually a Cyborg too. The mega-mad “owner of it all” is a dilettante (person who takes up a subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way) and these Artificially Intelligent constructs are toys to him to dispose of at will.
The third brain twist is when we learn that the program will be shut down, especially since they have not figured out how to advance past this certain point (Even though the daughter knows the secret). The dilettante chooses to scrap all the remaining Legendary Female Warriors and throw them away (so the daughter is told), because the warring factions resolved their differences by negotiation. The Legendary Female Warrior is no longer a source of potential profit.
Now for the fourth most profound brain twist. To the daughter, literally, they want to throw her mom in the trash. This does not sit well with her. She is use to working with her deceased mom daily. What is even more disturbing is that the daughter finds out that the dilettante is not going to toss all those Legendary Female Warriors in the trash. He is going to make them into sex toys to sell for profit. What??? After learning this, the daughter activates the main unit, which is the one evolving into sentience (or humanness) and helps her to escape. The daughter also steals the unit information needed to activate the remaining Legendary Female Warriors. This gets the ordinal Jung_E into the open and sets up the potential for Jung_E, the second movie or this SyFy premise could be used or should be used to make a Korean Drama.
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Undercover Relationship
Off the bat, we have a reverse trope in Queen of Tears. She is the rich guy and he is the poor lover. We start off with a kiss in the first two minutes. Kim So Hyun (playing ML Baek Hyun Woo) looks gorgeous as the New Company Recruit and Kim Ji Won (playing Hong Hae In, the Heiress of Queens Group and FL) is our beautiful rich Heiress. He is left handed, she is right handed and so are their lives. This is a very acrimonious relationship, stairs to nowhere. Queen of Tears is a Dark Comedy.Hong Hae In met Baek Hyun Woo working undercover as an intern in her own Conglomerate. Not knowing who she was, it was love at first sight for him. This drama could well be named ‘The Impossible Heiress’ or ‘Snow Queen and the Seven Airs’. After 10 minutes of viewing, you might agree with me that this drama has “Hit” written all over it. Secretly, behind the Ice Maiden veneer, there is a woman who loves her husband and a man who does not know that. This is a painfully great story, with a stacked cast. And believe it or not, this is a laugh out loud RomCom.
I like the dichotomy of the character Kim Soo Hyun is playing. Literally, his character (Baek Hyun-woo) has two faces. He is playing his character in happy times, a time in flashbacks when he and his wife (Hong Hae-in played by Kim Ji Won) were in love with each other. In the next sceen in Queen of Years, Kim Soo Hyun is playing his present self, one jaded by life and one totally saddened by his living situation and the loss of love for his wife. Kim Soo Hyun is asked somehow to reconnect to the emotions and feelings he had with his wife at first. For this character, Kim Soo Hyun has to be bipolar or living in two different worlds. I am so enthralled by how he is pulling off these polar opposite characters for his performance in Queen of Tears. Can he find the self he lost?
What I really like about Queen of Tears is a hidden message to the World of the Married. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it.
Oh BTW. Seeing Kim So Hyun after almost a three year drama lay off (His last role was Ordinary Day 2021), you might have love at first sight (again) too. There is great cinematography in Queen of Tears. One thing that is inconvenient in Queen of Tears is the close up shooting of this drama. We have to read subtitles and try to look at faces. Since the camera person is using close in shots, that camera stays on the person speaking only a split second and then moves to the the next person speaking. The camera is moving off each person too quickly. To view the faces of the actors, I literally have to pause frequently.
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Doctor Slump is a RomCom to start right now.
Are you enjoying the RomCom Doctor Slump, in spite of its serious message about Clinical Depression? Are not Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Sik a perfect match for this Drama?Doctor Slump 2024 ‧ Medical Mystery RomCom
Quote: “It was once said in a movie . . . that failure and defeat meant different things. Anyone can fail, but defeat was an utter fiasco usually found in legends. I was defeated”. Male Lead explains his bout with depression and his life in general.
All those who have been waiting for Park Hyung Sik (Hwarang) to give a performance like his iconic performance in Strong Girl Nam Soon, you might want to check out Doctor Slump. Firstly, since his character starts off in High School, Park Hyun Sik is back to his skinny-K-Pop days. Secondly, Park Hyung sik’s roots are firmly planted in comedy, therefore, the RomCom Medical Mystery Doctor Slump plays to his strong suit. With the combination of Park Shin Hye playing the straight guy to Park Hyung sik’s funny guy, I see a hit for me with Doctor Slump. The drama series is not all fun and play though. Serious issues, like depression among Doctors, are addressed as well. There is great chemistry between the ML and FL and the series also takes a sobering look into the world of gapjil, or workplace violence and bullying. When you are the top in your class and you hit rock bottom, the failure seems ever so greater.
Quote: “During these hard times, if you have someone who could comfort you, would it help you to get better?” Female Lead.
Doctor Slump is quaint and cute and is a go from me. Laughter is the best medicine for what ails you. I laughed a lot with the Korean Drama Doctor Slump, in spite of the heavy noteworthy message about controlling depression.
Actors Corner
Both actors (Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Sik) can be both serious and/or comedic actors, even with the same character. They both have the acting tools to pull it off. Both have such great acting ranges too. Doctor Slump is a great vehicle to showcase the acting strengths and talents of these two acting powerhouses.
As a particular acting strength, Park Shin Hye talks with her eyes. Whole sentences are embellished and punctuated by her eye expressions. Look for what she is saying with her eyes. Mommy is back. Park Shin Hye has carved her acting lane in Korean Drama since her early teens.
As an actor, Park Hyung Sik uses expressive hand movements, body shapes and levels, and voice changes to add entertainment value to his acting. This enhances the viewer experience. Park Hyung Sik must have a very comedic voice in his head. Please pay attention to his hand movements and body shapes which creates his own sign language. This is his acting signature.
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Stolen Heart
Kill Me Love Me has a dark foreboding look and feel in the first half, with great camera angles and positions. There are beautiful shots and vivid colors for this captivating Chinese drama. The cinematography is through the roof. There is great dance choreography for the Martial Arts. Kill Me Love Me has a highly charged sensual undercurrent to the storyline. Kill Me Love Me is an eye feast.Strong dramas are built off of two strong leads. Kill Me Love Me has two of the strongest Chinese leads available. Chinese actress Wu Jin Yan was a strong revenge seeker in The Double and plays an assassin in Kill Me Love Me. She does well in period Chinese Costume dramas because of her strong abilities to make her martial arts moves believable. Her haunting nature adds mystic to her characters. Wu Jin Yan gets these alluring dramas of late. Actor Liu Xue Yi is a very fine actor, who has great emotional and character range. He was the most impeccable and captivating villain in another great Chinese Costume drama ‘Destined’. Even playing against Bai Jing Ting, Liu Xue Yi stood out for me. His star quality looks made me secretly adore this bad boy. Liu Xue Yi is the type of actor who springs out of nowhere to make you fall in love with him. His full presence is in every scene he is in. All of his facial features are so perfectly symmetrical. Liu Xue Yi may not be on everyone’s list yet, but he will make most lists of actors whose name you want to remember after you see him in Kill Me Love Me.
Kill Me Love Me was an astonishing and sensual drama that constantly held my attention. The strong storyline, the slow pacing of the dialogue, and the unique visuals gave Kill Me Love Me a wonderful artsy look and feel. The ominous closing scene of episode one, I replayed half a dozen times. The visuals were so stunning. Kill Me Love Me is weirdly, but oddly artistic cinema.
The back ground music is expertly orchestrated, using a full cinematic orchestra instead of a band. This is less usual for Asian dramas. The music gives the drama an American feel. I loved this drama.
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This story is time travel and not reincarnation
The StoryIn the first 15 minutes (Therefore, this is not a spoiler), the Heroine dies, then gets a second chance to live her life again. Her is transported back in time via an unknown reason, hopefully to correct her past mistakes in life. The Story of Kunning Palace is a Time Slip (Time Travel) Drama, or this suggests that the means for time travel is not established. Nonetheless, this is a story within a story and is inventively designed. Both stories run concurrently, as the first life of the Heroine is threaded into the second life as flashbacks.
The heroine is the daughter of nobility, but she was switched at birth. The Noblewoman is raised as a plebeian and the switched plebeian is raised as a noblewoman. When all is discovered decades later, due to sentimentality and other reasons, the legitimate Heroine is accepted into the family only as a second daughter and not with the status of the plebeian daughter. This makes for an interesting start to The Story of Kunning Palace.
Quote: “He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick”. Young Warrior from The Story of Kunning Palace.
I love complicated dramas. The Story of Kunning Palace checks all my Asian drama criteria boxes. There is even a lot of ancient law incorporated into this intelligently written script. However, until enough of the backstory is revealed, the drama may be hard for some to follow. The heroine makes lots of mistakes as she first lives her life, which ends in her death. She is snatched out of her first timeline and reinserted back into the beginning of her failed first chance. What will she do? Will she learn from her past mistakes and correct them or is history doomed to repeat itself? It seems like that many of her efforts to change her new timeline produces failures, as history continues to make corrections back to its past timeline to thwart her new insertions. When under Time Travel restrictions, if one cannot makes changes or corrections in the new timeline then one is in a time alternative universe where changes to the future are impossible.
The heroine, who actually turned out to be a wicked person in the first timeline, gets a new chance to live a proper life. You see her make conscious efforts to correct past mistakes as these mistakes are revealed through her constant flashbacks to her original timeline. However, overall, her life course seems destined to be repeated. Will she succeed in correcting her past and saving all the lives she destroyed. You must watch The Story of Kunning Palace to find out.
Note: Some have flagged ‘The Story of Kunning Palace’ as drama about reincarnation.
It is not. Reincarnation is rebirth into a new body. The drama is a reinsertion into a first life and thus is Time Travel and not Reincarnation.
Quote: “What the world needs is heartless men. Those who abide by the rules can’t move forward fast enough. So screw the rules”. Anti-hero from The Story of Kunning Palace.
Quote: “I would not dare to ask your Majesty to move. But I also have a message for your Majesty. You must know that a man who is greedy for his own profit and who seeks the skin of a tiger, does not know that the tiger is a tiger”. Lowly Court Official loved by Her Majesty from The Story of Kunning Palace.
Actors Corner
Bai Lu—Strong female role with a woman who knows how to pull the surprise, by playing dumb.
Zhang Ling He—The anti-hero (Villain) you will love and hate to be confused by.
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This review may contain spoilers
Does The Long Ballad show how powerful love can be, as lovers ignore the cost of love?
This post does contain small spoilers in the text.The Long Ballad is unique in showing what power love has over a person. Many Korean Drama devotees will remember the Korean Drama ‘Nevertheless’ as a drama showing how one can ignore all the red flags which tells you that this is not a love pathway you need to travel. However, you also learn that your heart can so easily ignore all the warning signs as you steamroll over common sense. The story of The Long Ballad becomes a truly tumultuous journey of love for me of the true costs of love.
The Long Ballad (Song) centers around many true historic figures among the plot. The drama is a Romeo and Juliet story of star-crossed lovers from the Tang Dynasty Period (618-907) who should have been enemies, since their Tribes were enemies and were constantly clashing and fighting each other. Our lovers are Li Changge (Dilraba Dilmurat), a Royal Princess from the Tang Dynasty and A’ Shi Le Sun (Leo Wu) who is Commander of the Eagle Military Division of the A’ Shi Le Tribe. Being the only member to survive the loss of all her whole family in a coup for the Tang Dynasty Throne, heroine Li Changge sets out on a quest for revenge, as she remains loyal to her Tang Tribe no matter what the cost. Princess Li Changge is totally reckless in her quest, ready and willing to give up her life at any time. A’ Shi Le Sun becomes the one who wants that life for himself, and he refuses to let her sacrifice herself, as he constantly goes to her rescue. Li Changge and our hero A’ Shi Le Sun meet by chance while she is disguised as a man, who has full expertise in the Martial Arts. Later, when he finds out that she is a woman, love comes almost instantly, as he admires the bravery and skills of this powerful woman fighter. Even at the potential cost of the danger to his whole Military Division and potential disloyalty to his Tribe because of this love affair, A’ Shi Le Sun can not withdraw his heart to the side of reason.
A’ Shi Le Sun is often physically harmed, disgraced, and even loses his mother to death protecting the only woman he has ever loved romantically, as Li Changge continues on her reckless course. A’ Shi Le Sun tried many times to let go of his love for Li Changge, but he was not able to release himself from this burdened love. Love has full power over you, but so does Li Changge’s revenge and loyalty to her cause.
(When A’ Shi Le Sun’s mother was killed, all I could think of was “Release the Kraken”, as A’ Shi Le Sun went on a rampage of blood, ala Vincenzo.)
Along the way, Li Changge begins to realize the depth of the romantic love A’ Shi Le Sun has for her, as she slowly begins to return his endearing love. A’ Shi Le Sun’s love is like a third uncontrollable character in this love story of The Long Ballad. Every time Li Changge endangers herself A’ Shi Le Sun is forced to pay the cost of sanitizing her world to keep his love in this world. He could do no less. While the cost of loving Li Changge was great, losing Li Changge was a price A’ Shi Le Sun found unimaginable to pay.
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Loved this one
Prisoner of Beauty has a cold male lead, harden by revenge. There is political wrangling and arranged marriages, but the centered emotion is hatred. The male lead stars fan favorite actor Liu Yu Ning as Wei Shao / Zhong Lin. Son of a Royal Military family, he saw his family wiped out as a young boy, by the deceitful rulers of an opposing country. Now a Military General and ruler of his clan, he seeks to wipe out the ruling faction which destroyed his family. Wei Shao is good at what he does, fueled by revenge. His military successes are numerous.The main family faction and target of his revenge offers to capitulate, seeking mercy outside of defeat. They offer him an arranged marriage with the daughter of a high ranking ruler. Wei Shao deviously accepts, since this faction offers him the ruling seal of the political faction. He accepts what he considers to be a throw-away bride.
The female lead is beloved Chinese child star Song Zu Er, now playing grown roles. She plays Qiao Man / "Xiao Qiao", a vicarious, loving, witty and intellectual waif who is very loyal to her family and clan. There is no way out of this. The family must accept this arranged marriage or get wiped out. The marriage arrangement is offered to Qiao Man’s older sister, but her older sister is in love with someone else. To save her sister from this fate, Qiao Man manipulates the situation to take her sister’s place.
In General Wei Shao’s mind, this marriage is a necessary badness, an inconvenient interruption in the way of total victory. However, when he first meets Qiao Man, his physicalness totally overrules his emotional need for revenge. He is floored by her beauty. Wei Shao literally has to collect himself and put himself back into revenge mode. Wei Shao’s mission of revenge must remain paramount. Qiao Man must remain his ‘Prisoner of Beauty’. This is what ‘Prisoner of Beauty’ is about and this Chinese drama becomes a striking romance. The drama is pulling in the accolades and the ratings are averaging 8.9/10. I adore this drama and adore both Liu Yu Ning and Song Zu Er. There is sword fighting in this drama. View Prisoner of Beauty on VIKI or Netflix.
As child actors do, they burn out. We have not seen Song Zu Er in a Chinese Drama since 2022. Apparently, she is now well rested. Song Zu Er is slated to star in seven Chinese dramas in the coming months, an unheard of schedule. Three is the usual max. She is the main lead in six of these dramas, which includes dramas in the new Chinese drama format, the Chinese short drama.
Note: It is a twist of happenstance that Song Zu Er is entering back into Chinese Drama at a time when beloved actress Zhao Lusi is taking a break from acting. Zhao Lusi is busy exposing the Industry Scandal over the Actors’ Slave Contracts. Ironically, Zhao Lusi’s last costar was Liu Yi Ning in The Story of Pearl Girl. He is the male lead in Prisoner of Beauty.
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