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1This review may contain spoilers
"Your hand touching mine. This is how galaxies collide.”
One of the best Korean BL drama with super charming characters . A super healthy storyline .OVERVIEW - Do Hoe , a brilliant student who grown in a brutal and abnormal atmosphere without his parents love and care . He never felt happiness in his life like other children but suddenly he met Ju Yeong who carried the light of his love in Do Hoe's life .
POSITIVE - Super handsome and soft hearted ML with charming and cute MC . Their chemistry is unbeatable . The way they always stand side by side in each other's trouble really makes my heart melt .
The visuals , cinematography are awesome . Really felt like I was watching a high budget drama . Smiles of both ML and MC are heartwarming . The ice cream and rain scene in ep 1 were definitely romantic .Tiny slow music when they did eye contact ...ah it's ear candy .
NEGATIVE- I haven't found any negative points yet .
OVERALL- People who like to watch healthy, slow burn romance dramas then they can try it . It's really so good.
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As a European, single, career woman in my 30's I have come to expect certain things from my life and people around me.
1. Respect from colleagues for all the hard work I put in
2. Understanding that the hard work has left little room for dating
3. Evenings spent watching dramas because of the aforementioned hard work and singlehood
I started watching "The woman who still wants to marry" because I heard it was going to feature single career women in their 30's and noona-love...
Finally!, I thought. Women I can relate to.
And who doesn't like the added bonus of bit of escapism, in the form of gorgeous young men falling for older women? Yum!
Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
I'm not oblivious to the fact that, in Korea and Japan, unmarried women over the age of 25 are considered "Christmas Cake". Something that goes bad after the 25th. (Horrible expression btw. Just horrible!)
The previous noona-love dramas I've seen have mostly focused on the woman's inner struggle. Angst and denial of her unsuitable feelings, and so on.
She may have gotten sideways glances while flaunting her young lover publically. But that's about it.
Never mind that this would never happen in real life. Drama magic and suspension of disbelief achieved. Squeee!
In "The woman who still wants to marry", however, our two noonas are bombarded by hair-raising amounts of malicious gossip, disapproving parents and disrespectful colleagues.
The amount of shit that these poor women have to put up with is really disheartening.
If this piece of drama fiction is any reflection on how smart and driven women are treated in Korea... then I have found a whole new level of understanding for all those older and successful über-bitches we tend to see as villains in dramas. No wonder they'd eventually become cold as ice - if this is how they've been treated since their 30's.
While the romance is a big part of this drama. (Two lovely noona-love stories, no less.) The adversities these women face, simply because of their age and ambition, leave such a bitter after taste that it many times overshadows the sweetness of the romance.
I would ask someone who is considering watching this these 3 questions:
1. Are you under 30?
2. Is seeing Kim Bum fall in love pretty much your sole motivation for watching?
3. Do you normally not have problems suspending disbelief when it comes to ill treatment of women?
If your answer to the above questions is a resounding "Yes", then you'll probably enjoy this drama.
If your answer is "No", then you may want to look elsewhere for your escapist drama fix... or at least watch with an awareness of these issues.
I don't regret watching this drama. If for nothing else; Kim Bum pulls off one of the best "grand gesture"-scenes in recent memory. I finally get why women swoon over him now. I do.
It does make me sad though - to think that there are places in the world where it doesn't matter how hard you work to prove yourself. If you are a woman and over 30; you are supposed... no, demanded!... to give up your job and become a stay at home mom. Whether that life appeals, fulfills or excites you in the slightest. That's your duty.
Even if you marry Kim Bum - it would be nice to know you have a choice. Right?
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one of the best m/m couples of all time, watch this!!!
Overall: it's important to know that this is a Thai lakorn i.e. soap opera. So there is a lot of family drama, exaggerated acting and a bunch of content warnings. It has one of the best m/m couples with amazing chemistry and my main complaint is we didn't get more screen time with them. I could write essays on several of the main characters because they had reasons for what they did even if I didn't agree with their actions. Watched on One31's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXopbKxiivxpBd7rbwDldPMmtdoclonyk updated 2024: Jam & Film were leads again in "Laws of Attraction" however, they stated that they would not be romantic leads together againContent Warnings: multiple murders, attempted murder, homophobia, slaps/beaten up/violence, blood, corporal punishment, manipulation, drugging, kidnapping, self harm, suicidal ideation, unwanted outing, and there is a maaajjjjor content warning towards the beginning of episode 1 that is a spoiler and I listed it in the comments
What I Liked
- the half brothers' relationship is my favorite fictional sibling relationship of all time (10/10)
- the m/m couple is one of my all time favorite m/m couples, they have amazing chemistry (10/10)
- there is some really great communication and misunderstandings don't drag on forever
- one of the only times where a character (Jiu) makes a promise and works extremely hard to keep that promise
- the women have major agency, I didn't always agree with their actions but they got sh*t done
- Pin could have been a stereotypical passive female character but was not, and I really enjoyed her character
- the martial arts/fighting scenes were fun to watch
- clear on when the series takes place (starts in 1931 and then a 12 year time jump so 1943); also enjoyed the historical setting
- understandable actions for most of the villains
- Tian dad's character arc
Room For Improvement
- the m/m romance needed waaayyy more screen time (they get only about 5 to 15 minutes per episode out of 1hr+)
- the initial drama dragged on too long, I was hoping for more plot twists and drama to pop up, it really improved at episode 7
- the exaggerated acting from some of the characters was not my thing, it got better towards the end
- the screaming from multiple characters
- lower budget, like with that cgi and the magical glitter
- unrealistic (talking during the major content warning, how a wild animal would behave), I didn't really deduct that much for unrealistic stuff because it's kind of part of the soap opera genre
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This review may contain spoilers
***May contain spoilers***I love this movie, cute, lovely, bittersweet, relatable, all rolled into one. I love movies that talks about the reality of loving someone and yet having a dreams and this two conflicts each other and that you have to choose one and regretting at the end. I love the two leads, the acting sre excellent. You can see the transitions as they grow and mature. What makes this a beautiful, is that how the storytelling is just honestly being told. I cried, it is sad, it's painful. God, I feel them, the love in the family is so real!
We really need to constantly remind ourselves that we need to express and demonstrate our love and care to the people we love. This movie just provided a realization that we need to express our love no matter how. The additional scenes of real people saying all kinds of emotions that they cannot tell to their loved ones or lost love, I am just having goosebumps.
Great movie to watch. Soundtracks is excellent especially at the end. Highly recommended.
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This review may contain spoilers
In the past year the BL community has had the odd experience of three expensively-produced BL productions reaching their final few episodes only to collapse under their own aspirations, angering viewers and overshadowing all of the elements that they might have gotten right. In all three instances it can be said that these series (HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, 2gether, and The Shipper) were trying to do something "different" with the BL genre. For 2gether, the intent was to reach a more global and conservative audience by toning down the gay aspects of Boys Love and replacing them with bromance. For HIStory 3: MODC and The Shipper, the directors aspired to transcend the BL genre and deliver something more realistic and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the way both of these series did it was by killing off a beloved main character.
For me, a main character's death is as inappropriate in a BL production as a high-kicking chorus line would be in a production of King Lear. In the case of The Shipper, an artful story was already being told very well, and the series actually did seem to be transcending the genre. So many commenters on the MDL page have mentioned how the body-swapping theme sounded unpromising at first, but after giving the series a try they found that it played exceptionally well. Why, then, did the series end up killing off one of the main characters, even before they'd had a chance to actually be in a relationship with their partner?
I still have yet to learn how Kim's death in The Shipper served the themes of the series. At least in the case of MODC, the director had a theme that she wanted to promote ("make sure you cherish every moment with the person you love because you don't know when they'll be gone"). Attaching such a theme to a BL series proved to be a mistake, but she had her reasons.
For The Shipper, the character death seems gratuitous because its theme about ships, shippers, and the people being shipped doesn't need for anyone to die in order to get its point across. (Plus there's that tease about a sequel in the very last moments of the final episode. If Kim can live on in a sequel then why not in the original?)
Now, I've seen where because the main character of The Shipper is Pan and the "real" Kim has limited screen time, people have said that the series doesn't qualify as BL. Pan's journey, though, is mainly about discovering who the real Kim is, and as she learns more about him the viewers learn along with her and their affection for him deepens. By the time she hits the paydirt that yes, Kim and Way have a relationship that goes beyond friendship, we've become completely invested in that pairing. We're in it to win it! We thrill over Way's epiphany that he actually loves Kim, then get even more excited over the proof that Kim also loved Way, and from that point on Kim has become as important to the series as any of the main characters who've had more screen time.
How sad, then, that none of these revelations can ever get acted on or rewarded because one of the boys turns out to be dead. We discover that what's been served up is a full-blown BL storyline but with a tragic ending. And if anything doesn't belong in a BL storyline, it's tragedy.
It must be said, too, that the longer Pan stays in Kim's body the less appealing she becomes as a character, deciding to intervene with the people in Kim's life to make sure they know that he's actually not a good person. At one point I became disgusted by her judgmental attitude and smug sense of superiority. I'm not convinced that she ever truly lived that down, thus weakening her standing as a main character that people can sympathize with completely. In this regard Way is the much better person, and all the more deserving of the happy ending that the series squanders on Pan.
It also bothers me that the hetero-normative couple gets the happy ending while the m/m couple gets the dead boyfriend. Back in the 1950's, death was in store for most gay characters because the morality of that era demanded that they meet a tragic fate. In this sense The Shipper is terribly unenlightened and regressive. It would have been so easy to give both the m/f and m/m couples a happy ever after, and it would have more effectively communicated how every kind of love deserves nurturing and respect.
A happy ending for all would also have been befitting the BL theme of the series.
I would have liked to listen in while the creative team for The Shipper worked on the storyboards and reached the decision that Kim would be killed off. What the heck were they thinking? They obviously misread their audience in a fundamental way, and I can only hope that GMMTV takes heed of misfires like The Shipper when they hire the next production company to mount a BL series.
In about three months I plan to do an experiment where I'll approach a few BL fans at random and ask them what they remember most about The Shipper. I think I know what the answer will be. In the meantime I'll be checking in with The Shipper's MDL page every now and then to see how many comments are NOT about the crappy ending. (Not many, I bet.)
This is the danger of messing with a genre that people absolutely love. But, after what amounts to three disastrous decisions in three expensively produced series, I'm starting to wonder if anyone in charge really cares.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not your usual RomCom, yet a love triangle on top of a socially critical labour dispute mission
The protagonist's name "Byeon Hyeok" means "revolution". The wordy title "Revolutionary Love" already hints that this is about a Romance. But this title also contains the second plot line: the love that leads him to revolution - to resistance and struggle for the rights of irregular workers in the company of a powerful Jaebeol. One way or another, Byeon Hyeok is at the center of events - as the eldest son of Jaebeol of the Gangsu Group, who is in love and choses the barricades (and new ways) within the corporate culture of his father's business group.Basically, the topic of such a labor dispute is rather socially critical and highly explosive, because there is practically no legal representation for the irregular part-time workers in South Korea. The number of non-regular employees is four times higher than among the other OECD member states. Employment relationship is not well protected. There is no union representation. Irregular employees usually only receive about half the wages of a permanent employee. The time limit is barely a year. Since the Asian crisis, this form of employment has proven to be cost-saving and convenient for small and large companies, so that it has been retained on a large scale to this day. "Revolutionary Love" cleverly focuses on this aspect of the South Korean working world as this critical topic is sort of camouflaged with a lot of slapstick and speed on the humorous note ... and of course there is the romance...
The role of Byeon Hyeok is a showpiece for Choi Si-won, who, with his wide array of physical, wordless visual grimaces and gestures, softens the actually frustrating labour dimension by Korean standards to a level that makes it accessible to the masses on public cable TV (and 'permissible' for the powerful). At the same time, Choi Si-won has the necessary sincerity to also show his sensitive side and create space for the closeness of a romantic relationship. In contrast to the comedic character of Byeon Hyeok is his 'friend' Kwon Jae-hoon, whose leitmotif ´seriousness´ can hardly be surpassed. In between, the head of the "revolution" whirls: the street smart Baek Joon.
"Revolutionary Love" is a KDrama that is often underestimated by Western viewers in its ambitious socio-critical and labour policy claims. It knows how to touch with the protagonists' love triangle despite the labour dispute mission. Yet, be aware, it is not your usual RomCom.
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家和万事兴 (Jiā hé wànshì xīng) Prosperity Starts from Harmony at Home
家和万事兴 is a motto that is embedded in every Chinese people’s heart. This philosophical adage reflects in their everyday life and is vividly portrayed in this outstanding story. The Story of Xing Fu is partially adapted from Chen Yuanbin's novella The Wan Family's Lawsuit (万家诉讼) which was also made into a movie in 1992, Qiu Ju’s Lawsuit (The Story of Qiu Ju), directed by the acclaimed Zhang Yimou and acted by the gorgeous Gong Li. The earlier story was set around the 1980s when rural life was harsh, and the country’s economic miracle was still at its infancy.In this new story, The Story of Xing Fu, set in the late 2010s, viewers can see the marked improvement of village life compared to the 80s, but the rural-urban differences are still very distinct with the sophisticated urbanites looking down on the poor villagers; the divide is even more brazen now than the old days.
Xingfu (Zhao Liying) is a rural woman who is strong headed and lives life guided by her uncompromised principles of honor and integrity; right and wrong for her is black and white. Though not well educated, she would go all out to find justice when a person’s right is being infringed, for she is a person who would go all out to help whoever needs help. She is fearless to take on the rich and powerful if she needs to, because she believes the rule of law will always prevail. After she marries to a farmer, Wang Qinglai (Tang Zeng) from a neighboring village, she comes to live in the Wan Family’s Hamlet.
The Wan Family’s Hamlet is a settlement founded and led by Wan Shantang (Liu Wei) as the respected village head. The residents there are mostly Wan Shantang’s relatives with Wan (万) as their family name. Hence, the Wang (王) family, Xingfu’s in-laws, becomes an odd-one-out and feels like an outsider. For this reason, the Wang family always keeps a low profile and tries to please everyone especially Wan Shantang, hoping with the village head on their side, they would blend in more easily.
All disputes by villagers in rural China are usually settled out of court through intermediaries such as the village heads. Local police may be involved as a mediator to bring the disputing parties together to come to a settlement. This drama carefully portrays this side of life for most of the Chinese population (majority of the population still lives in the rural areas and small cities).
Therefore, when Xingfu’s husband was accidentally kicked by Wan Shantang in the groin, she is unhappy with such settlement and files a lawsuit against Wan Shantang, something that is out of the ordinary. As things eventually turn out, Xingfu is indebted to Wan Shantang, and the lawsuit is forgotten. But as everything is going smoothly for all, the law catches up with Wan Shantang and he’s imprisoned. Outraged by her action which is seen as being ungrateful by the villagers, Xingfu and her husband are forced to leave the hamlet to avoid their awkwardness at home and become migrant workers in the city.
Chinese families often sacrifice themselves and send family members who have the most potential to the cities to work or for higher education, in the hope that the ones that ‘make’ it would reciprocate and help take care of the rest of the family. The concept of investing in one person and when the person gets wealthy, he/she would help bring up the rest of the people, permeates the whole society. Wang Qinglai and his family work hard and send Wang Qingzhi (Liu Yanchen), Qinglai’s younger brother, to study and work in the city. When Xingfu and Wang Qinglai come to live in the city, Wang Qingzhi is expected to take care of them.
‘Guanxi’ (connection) and ‘renqing’ (favor) are deeply rooted practices of the Chinese tradition. As the government tries to weed out nepotism and corruption, such practices become prohibited especially in the cities. Wang Qinglai doesn’t realize the pressure and predicament he has put his brother in, as such tradition is viewed undesirably in the city. The drama tries to portray realistically the conflicts between the brothers in the job finding process.
There has been massive rural – urban migration in the last 40 years in China, causing unsustainable pressure in the cities. Rural farms are being deserted, children are growing up without their parents, and elderly parents are being abandoned by their city-bound grown-up children. Wan Shantang tells Xingfu that, though it’s a must to leave the village to see the world sometimes, she must not ever forget where home is. After all, life is meaningless if one loses one’s family. These heart-felt words are meant not only for Xingfu, but for all viewers alike: do not lose your family in the pursuit of wealth and materialism. In the end, you may end up with nothing. Silently the writer is telling the viewers that, wherever we may be living, family is where home is.
In this drama, Zhao Liying is not that glamorous girl. She's a typical village woman with unflattering hairstyle and old-fashioned clothing that is worn by most women in rural China. Her growth after living in the city helps her look more sophisticated later as an inn keeper, but most of all, she becomes more flexible and articulate for the well-being of all the residents of the Wan Family’s Hamlet. Zhao Liying’s portrayal is convincing, bringing alive the Xingfu character who initially has a one-track mind and later develops into a savvy business woman with compassion and understanding. She learns that not everything is as clear cut as in black and white; at times, there are the grey areas and she needs to be flexible enough so that everyone can live in harmony, as it goes, “Prosperity starts from harmony at home” and Wan Family’s Hamlet is home.
I really like the amicable, but straight-shooting Wan Shantang character who is kind and upstanding but occasionally impatient and explosive, and Liu Wei’s portrayal is so wonderful and authentic. Acting as his son Wan Chuanjia, Cao Zeng’s portrayal is equally good and believable.
Luo Jin plays a supporting role here as Guan Tao, the lawyer. As always, Luo Jin exudes an affable demeanor and though he’s not the lead here, his character is well loved, and his chemistry with Zhao Liying is wonderful although their relationship is only platonic. All in all, the whole cast puts in the best of their acting and every character has its flaws, and is realistic and believable.
My Verdict
Just as the brutal treatment of the Tangshan (China) girl’s incident came to the attention of world media recently, the airing of The Story of Xing Fu is timely. The beginning episodes of this drama almost eerily replicate what happened in the Tangshan incident and its handling by the authorities. It is sad to see how many similar cases swept under the carpet, each condoned by the society. There is a lot of injustices, class differences, and gender supremacy, which is an on-going issue, and is not unique only to China; it happens in many societies, including in the open west. I'm glad that Zhao Liying took up this project to bring awareness to the injustices in the rural Chinese society where women are constantly suppressed, discriminated, and wronged.
Director Zheng Xiaolong, who also directed the Legend of Mi Yue, one of my most favorite historical dramas, together with Director Liu Xuesong have brilliantly portrayed the lives of ordinary people in everyday rural China where much of the population lives, bringing out their challenges, ironies, and resignations in facing a changing world. The picturesque scenery of the village is breathtaking. This drama has no romance, no nail-biting plots, no mysteries, just plain slice of life. Many viewers may find it boring, but that's missing the point.
Sacrificing individual’s rights for greater good is touted in the Chinese society; benefits for the community is more important than for personal gains, and this value is repeatedly reflected in this drama. Hence, all conflicts here are being resolved through the concept of “prosperity starts from harmony at home” in mind. It is perhaps such simple value that brings the Chinese societies together, and they become united and great overall for the world to envy. This, is the point of the story.
This drama is for viewers who want to learn more about the real face of China, and for viewers who appreciate the beautiful countryside and its tranquility with a laid-back simple lifestyle.
GREAT WATCH!
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The Scooby-Doo Gang Minus A Goofy Dog
I was anticipating the reunion between Jung Il Woo and Yuri after being blown away by their pairing in Bossam: Steal the Fate. So when I saw that one of the genres was crime & mystery, I was looking forward to a detective show where both leads would deploy their abilities and work (and flirt) together to solve crimes and deal with the darker side of humanity.Well, this show was that but not really that either. I can only say that it was a novel, mash-up of genres and had an interesting, chaotic dynamic about it. The show kicked off with great energy and mostly maintained the fast paced action throughout that kept me interested. I knew that there was comedy but I did not expect such silly, slapstick humor and ridiculous set ups. I supposed the opening credits in comic book style should have given me a hint that this show did not take itself seriously. Each episode required one to suspend disbelief, sit back and enjoy the ride which I totally did. I found every episode hilarious and entertaining.
Even though the show was all over the place, with tons of inconsistencies and plot holes, there was still a main storyline with the ML, Eun Seon Woo trying to find the murderer of his mother. Actually a prominent chaebol, Seon Woo opened a detective agency as a front for his investigation. Helping him was his sidekick and probably only friend, Yang Jin Mo, a brilliant lawyer who was also incredibly tech-savvy. I gotta say, Yang Jin Mo had the best lines throughout the show and Eum Moon Suk played this funny character very well.
Along the way, Seon Woo met Don Se Ra and ended up having her as part of his undercover team and while the romance between the two main leads took a slower path, culminating only in the last couple of episodes, Yang Jin Mo and Se Ra’s best friend and baker, Sa Na Hee played by Song San Eun, went on a much faster track.
The four main characters had great rapport and played off each other so well. Il Woo again impressed me with his ability to emote different feelings via his micro-expressions and his eyes, oh his eyes…Yuri took Don Se Ra, a character that I found irritating at first due to her self-righteous stubbornness and evolved her into a likable FL. The chemistry between Il Woo and Yuri did not disappoint! Even though I had hoped for more kisses to make up for the lack of in Bossam, I still enjoyed watching their interactions on screen. Jin Mo and Na Hee, on the other hand, made me cringe but also laughed a lot - their overacting and silly antics never failed to tickle my funny bone.
Really, these four reminded me of the Scooby-Doo gang minus a goofy dog. They even had a van that the real Scooby-Doo gang would be proud of! I was happy to see Lee Joon Hyuk who was also in Bossam as Director Hong. He was another character that delivered the right amount of comic relief.
The antagonists fell flat for me though with some wooden acting but Hong Woo Jin deserved kudos for playing a secret psychopath.
The music track was great - the opening song and the other ones were upbeat and lent an uplifting tone that was apparent throughout the show. For posterity, I added the list of songs below.
Overall, even though I can see why “Good Job” could be a hit or miss with most people, I would recommend that you give it a try. It is watchable, bingeable really with only 12 episodes, has many great moments and ends on a high note.
OST list:
Closer - JAY B & Youngjae (영재) |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rheg1w0k3Us
https://open.spotify.com/album/4RxzSoaDzWmFEeJB2H23br?si=GxbNoKerROeB5f5YvmCEfA
Savior - Baekho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXQAAqjzQbI
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Dvc61AhWBaCxtzWZvNcUh?si=LMSqeE2MQ16yOqsurlpRcw
하루 (A Day) - SUMMER CAKE (썸머케익)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pZnAmfnEHo
https://open.spotify.com/track/24thngWyztJ8opjZgam2DE?si=6ae7eb1324f24161
Spring ‘봄’ - Yerin (예린)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOqqlE20x5w
https://open.spotify.com/album/0W13rQuiY4xY5cISSa9uni?si=F5nHO9_1S9GxKwJJJIb3_w
Obvious (뻔해) - SOULSTAR (소울스타)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVvZ7NEvZBw
https://open.spotify.com/track/20eeWxB72UDma9z1nGk3Ah?si=c22c91920c9542e9
Like You 굿잡 - 찬주 (Chanju)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC0AqWa-eEA
https://open.spotify.com/album/0dnFHJfAFIirCZkXbu4AGS?si=LF2r3EwbR2qY6XnipPhJoQ
Key - Bryn (브린)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1nB6wwWsmk
https://open.spotify.com/track/54yc7L3u6ZeWofDvlWybZI?si=8e28553e995a497f
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Precious Chinese History, Poor Editing
The Imperial Age is the story of Zhu Di (Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty, reigned 1402 to 1424) from his youth to his death at 64 years old. Compared with other Ming Dynasty dramas, this drama has fewer fictionalized events though some historical events have been watered down to make the characters more appealing, while others have been dramatized for dramatic effects. This version of the story is perhaps closest to the historical records.Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang who was the founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty (reigned 1368 to 1398). His oldest brother, Zhu Biao was the crown prince designated for the throne. As Zhu Yuanzhang and his wife have humble origin as peasants (Zhu Yuanzhang was said to be a monk), the dynamics within the household are like any families of the commoners addressing each other informally. The Zhu household lives in harmony with loving parents and amicable children. Unlike most palace dramas, in this drama, it is very refreshing to watch the informality of parental and sibling relationships, with the Empress personally cooking in the kitchen for her family with no fanfare (there’s no wastage of food as in The Royal Feast, another drama set in Ming Dynasty). Palace life is simpler and happier.
Cheng Yi acts as the juvenile Zhu Di from episode 1 to episode 9. For once, Cheng Yi gets a happy and mischievous role as a prince who is well loved and pampered by his parents and siblings. His acting here is convincing as a 13-16 year old boy and rather funny as he gets paddled on the backside multiple times for his disobedience, and the actor’s bare back is even shown, fleetingly, when he’s being tendered for the wound.
Feng Shaofeng becomes the young 17 year old Zhu Di until his death at 64 as Emperor Yongle. Feng Shaofeng has a very affable demeanor, making the Zhu Di character very lovable, though he looks too mature for a 17 year old initially. Despite that, Feng Shaofeng looks very regal and authoritative, and has the charisma of an emperor. The drama lays out carefully all the events that have taken place prior to the uprising / civil war, and how Zhu Di comes to wrangle power from his nephew and become the Emperor. Ruthless and cruel as recorded in history books, the drama manages to show such cruelty is justifiable and the character is indeed a deserving respectable figure. Whatever it may be, I am not a historian and it’s not my place to judge the accuracy of such depiction. For me, the logic makes sense and ties in very well with the rest of the story and hence to call Zhu Di a great Emperor of his time.
My Verdict
The original version of the drama is said to be 80 episodes long. It is trimmed down to 45 episodes to fulfill the current government requirement. As such, one can imagine how the final product would become with a cut down of almost 50% of the work completed. There are many skipped scenes, making the story disjointed and can be confusing for non-Mandarin speakers. It’s at times like watching a jigsaw puzzle with the tail placed on the face, and the mouth on the rear side.
Despite the horrendous editing, this drama is still very enjoyable for its authenticity to the actual events. Though a palace story, there are no usual harem cat fights, no rivalry and scheming among the princes, but with a lot of resignations, tears and heartaches of losses. Feng Shaofeng has wept multiple times here with a unique wail. There are also long scenes of both the Emperor Hongwu’s (Zhu Yuanzhang’s) and Emperor Yongle’s (Zhu Di’s) accomplishments in their land reform, establishment of secret police (Jinyiwei aka Embroidered Uniform Guard), purging and execution of officials and their families, wars with the north-east, new capital and foreign engagement, military, bureaucratic reform, Zheng He’s expeditions to the south seas (just by-passingly, not in great details) etc. These scenes can be boring for some viewers who are more interested in action packed story telling. Having said that, some details are very funny and humorous. I believe many of such delightful details have been deleted in order to retain the main events for a shorten version of the story.
Emperor Hongwu has 26 sons from his Empress and various concubines, but in the drama, he’s shown to be only with his Empress all the time displaying his devotion to her. Likewise for Emperor Yongle who is devoted only to his wife Empress Xu. Therefore, there are no cat-fights among the concubines, and no revelation of how many concubines perish with the Emperors when they die. All in all, this drama tries to emphasize on devotion among the men and women in the story which may not be a reality.
The battle scenes are very well made though certain scenes have been reused again and again for various different battles. The endings of most of the characters are similar to what have been recorded in history books, with a few exceptions to make them more palatable for the viewers.
The whole cast is commendable, and the official soundtracks are touching and beautiful. If you are a Chinese history fan, you’d love this drama. I have thoroughly enjoyed it despite some of the shortcomings due to the massive editing. The original version (80 episodes) must have been a masterpiece.
Recommended for history buffs. Great watch! Bravo!
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Burning is a slow-paced mystery drama that revolves around 3 main characters, all 3 very different human beings, Jong-su is a shy, soft-spoken guy who keeps to himself, Hae-mi is an outgoing, wild and idealistic girl, Ben, on the other hand, is a well-put together, charming and charismatic man, with a psychotic edge, almost alike Christian Bale in American Psycho. This film succeeds in merging 3 extremely different personalities into scenes perfectly, the attention to detail is sublime in Lee Chang-dong’s film. The personalities complements each other in different ways even though they are such distinct individuals, and that’s all up to Lee’s brilliant direction and marvelous script.
Burning is beautiful, the cinematography and the calmness within this film is something to behold. The metaphorical excellence that presents throughout as the film progresses is brilliantly executed. Burning leaves you with questions, and doesn’t feel the needs to explain. It wants the audience to find clues by themselves in small details, through Ben’s facial expressions, through small events that happen throughout the film, and by the end, you are left mostly impressed and also dumbfounded.
I sat in the theatre wondering what was gonna happen next, for such a slow-paced drama to keep me on the edge of my seat like a thriller is an amazing feat.
Burning is no doubt a masterpiece, and the style is very alike Edward Yang’s The Terrorizers, and to a small extent, A Brighter Summer Day. Burning, is no doubt, one of the best of the year so far.
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This review may contain spoilers
OMG...the writers totally ruined this drama with the extension. I was ranking this around an 8 until episode 13ish. I love melodramas, but occasionally I like fluffy romance dramas. I chose this drama because I thought it would be a lovely romance. I was so disappointed. It starts with a little bickering between the leads that quickly changes to sweet slow romance. Then left turn to stupid. Then there is all the inconsequential side stories. I also hate that at the end they used the narrator voice instead of using the last "extended" episodes to actually develop the characters and story. Anyway, I can't go into it with out spoilers. The actors are good. George as Zhou Zhen and Annie as Xiao Shu are good actors and have great chemistry together. Too bad it was wasted. The other actors are ok too.
The song was good at first, but slowly started to get on my nerves.
I won't rewatch this.
If you watch this, then I recommend only watching to episode 13. Just pretend that was the end of the drama.
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Each character was crafted carefully - from visual to the inner world and reasoning behind their actions and decisions they make. Why an assassin is and assassin, why a gangster is a gangster, why a psycho became one and most importantly - why they all want to become human again, after being beasts for so long. Each and every actor fit their character flawlessly and it seemed that all of them still have a lot of stories to tell and that, to my mind, is important - that a character seems so rich, so full that you have a feeling it can tell even more than the scriptwriter has presented.
The subtle (and not so subtle) connections between the said characters that allowed the story to grow and evolve, filled each episode with suspense and anticipation for what will happen next. Who has killed who and why? How is he connected to him? Did he really do it? All those questions run at least through my head and I received an answer in each following episode, getting more questions as an addition.
Apart from the way that the drama made me think, I also loved the idea that even beasts want to be and can be human, that some beasts are only circumstantial and might not even be the ones that should be feared, that people we trust might be scarier than a beast hiding in the dark. No beast is ever as scary as human - human is the scariest person on earth no matter how we look at it.
The plot playing with monsters and humans, who turn to be the true beast, was captivating and I literally couldn't stop watching. The investigation done in extraordinary way, the perfectly choreographed action scenes, the raw and realistic feelings of friendship and trust that grow, get stumbled upon and the re-emerge, and, my favorite, basically no romance that would interfere with the story.
This is joining my top favorite dramas and in all honestly I need a season 2 with the same cast, same characters and new human-monsters to catch.
Give this drama a try - I guarantee you won't regret it.
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super underrated, unique storyline, and amazing cast
the plot (i wont reveal much) is just so interesting with many twists and turns despite the short amount of episodes + minutes. however, the unique storyline and amazing acting from the wonderful cast really pulls the whole story together. i was honestly shocked to see not that many ratings- all the visuals from the actors in this drama is just woooooheee. i am def planning on rewatching soon, i love the ml and fl's chemistry.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A Normal One!!!!
I saw the Reviews before I start the drama and saw the people saying the drama is not that great and story line is not good . Yes I agree with that cause it is one of the most common old stories where the poor and Family and Leads pushing each other . But In a diff way it's been so long that I saw this troupe again so I saw it and It was good and I really like first and second leads but I did not get the second leads story.I suggest you to watch because it is not that great to some but it will be good for some on the whole it would be a one time watch as per stroy wise but if you want to see it for Actors then yes even I might watch it.
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