Falling High School Girl and Irresponsible Teacher
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two people being each others light
ill start by saying this drama handled the subject of su*c*de very well for being such a short drama. shows that just a simple encounter can change your mindset and your outlook on life. our ML was there for our FL every time it mattered most.. Haiba was just the light in Mokotos life that she needed and must i say that she was what he needed as well. they were adorable and the chemistry was on point. their little moments were everything.even if you're not a fan of student x teacher relationships i would till give it a try. it doesn't have those creepy vibes that some dramas have with those tags. this was so well done. just wish it was longer, that's why im hoping for S2! :')
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PLOT:” Achiara is a small and peaceful village in the Korean countryside where nobody commits crime ; not other parts of Korea where a mysterious serial killer kills people on “Rainy Wednesday”. That’s what people say to Han Soo Yoon, the new English teacher, when she arrives from Canada. Unfortunately, the shy Soo Yoon discovers a corpse right away! Seeking the truth in Achiara is not simple: everyone has a secret or a reason to hate and threat someone….
One of the many things I really appreciate is the absence of romance/story line: no distractions, no useless moments or stupid parts! Also there aren’t many characters with side stories: dragging level is like 0%.
ACTING: to be honest, at first I didn’t like Moon Geun Young’s acting and way of playing Han Soo Yoon ^^” I thought she was emotionless and below average but, episode after episode, I realized that she probably is the only actress in Korea able to portray this kind of character: shy, scared, with low self-esteem. However I can’t totally say she did a great job; the other actors did WAY better than her
BTOB’s Joung Jae, for example, impressed me in a positive way (also because he’s only 20 years old…) and I read that many Koreans thought he was a professional actor, not an idol. Actresses Jang So Yeon, Shin Eun Gyeong and actor Choi Jae Woong did a wonderful job too
REWATCH VALUE: I wouldn’t rewatch it because I already know who the culprit is but I think this is a series that everyone MUST watch soon or later!
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Wow, is all I can say.
Thriller/Mystery drama's are not something I watch often, but when I do, it takes a lot for me to commit and do it and when I do; I hope that it's worth it. It's been a while since I've watched a mind blowing K-Drama to be honest and I can say that I didn't know what I was getting into when I started Flower of Evil, but I saw a clip and immediately I was sucked in to something I will never regret watching in my entire life.The synopsis in itself is already a rollercoaster, even though this is similar to a lot of other mystery/thriller/crime dramas; you don't really know you'll be invested into something even more mind blowing and emotionally tolling. You have a man that's the perfect husband, father, worker. You have a woman that's the perfect wife, mother and partner in general. They are both hard working, they met randomly by fate one day and the rest is history, their love is absolutely mind blowing and just plain...impeccable. But the male lead has a past, an unknown one. And unfortunately sometimes, you can't run away forever, especially when your demons are not only haunting you mentally, but then they start doing so physically. So you're going to go through what it's like to love someone but want to protect them no matter what happens, you're going to see that some people will go to the end to protect their own even though it's putting themselves on the line, you're going to see what it's like to be abandon by those who love you most and what it's like to be looked at like a monster. There' s so many ups and downs in this show but it's one of the best journey's I've completely been on. The love they had was wonderful, the characters that helped, the officer team, everything was just a nice flow of things.
Let me tell you, this is one of the best acting I've seen in such a long time. I love the raw emotions you got to witness between every single character; but you're taking so many veteran actors and actresses and putting them into something that they made just pure genius. The emotion and control that Lee Jong Gi has is amazing, the strong, bold character that Moon Chae Won played and the CHEMISTRY the two had, is absolutely everything. There was a prefect balance of their love and the show. The daughter was a fantastic aspect. The bad characters were so good at being bad. The reporter was a nice spice; the sister being added into the twist. The way the detective team carried themselves; if this show doesn't win rewards for the story, the ACTING will for sure win something.
The music was wonderful, I loved the timing that they had. I'm obsessed with the OST that Shin Yong Jae put together for this; everything about it is beautiful, raw and emotional all in one and that's how this show will leave you feeling.
Overall, this show was amazing. It's worth watching and rewatching within seconds. I actually binged this show and woke up just to rewatch the last 2 episodes because I couldn't get enough. The ending was quite bittersweet but I felt the craziest thing while watching it and I've never watched a show where I was so satisfied with the 2nd to last episode that I couldn't stopped there. I was literally so satisfied how this show played out and where it went that I'm absolutely mind blown at this beautiful master piece. My heart ached with the emotions of the characters, I cried and was angry all in one. And that's what a good drama is. One that you cannot stop thinking of and that was this for me. This really made me realize how much I love watching Asian Dramas in general. This was so good.
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Extremely Terrible Story Line
I normally don't write reviews. But this drama is so astoundingly, record-breakingly bad that I had to break my own record and write a review for once. I'm usually pretty generous with my ratings, I don't normally score anything under 7. So giving this a 3 means that I literally cannot stand this drama.To be clear, I found this drama to be bad from the start. But I pushed through because people kept saying it gets better (also because I can never find myself dropping a drama no matter how bad it is). Unfortunately, it never really gets better. I did find the drama a bit more bearable around episode 26 / 27 and thought I was going to finally be okay with the drama. But then I continued watching and it just turned out to be even worse.
Acting - Okay to start off, I don't really have major problems with the acting. It's not spectacular, but it's decent, watchable. As a fan of Zhao Li Ying though, I have to say her acting in this one is not on par with her own standard. There were some parts when you could tell that she wasn't really mentally there because she was just staring off into space. Just by looking at her eyes, you can tell she has spaced out. And that she's tired. She looks really tired and slightly aged in this drama. Maybe she made her comeback too early, I don't know.
Characters - Oh my God. There were just way too many dumb characters. Apart from Zhou Fei and Xie Yun (and maybe head of Disha Shen Tian Shu) all the other characters are pretty dumb. Li Yan gets the award for stupidest character in this drama. She's just so annoying. She cannot fight, doesn't have any common sense, is extremely naive, always gets into trouble and yet she always insists on tagging along. I'm just done with her. All the other characters feel a bit bland too. I think Li Sheng is the only character who had some sort of character development. He changed, still cannot fight really well and does occasionally dumb stuff but he became a bit more logical and mature I guess. But the other characters? No good character development.
A lot of the side characters like Third Prince and that young master from I forgot what mini sect serve no purpose other than being dumb and creating trouble for Zhou Fei and Xie Yun again and again and again and again. Some characters like the generals are honestly pretty useless too. I feel like they supposedly played some important role in the war or something but I always just forget who they're supposed to be. Zhou Fei's parents are also MIA for most of the drama, so again they don't really contribute much.
Story - This is what I have the biggest problem with. Right from the very start, there were way too many supporting characters with their own stories. There were way too many sub-plots that you can't even make out what the main story line is supposed to be. As the story progresses, they (slowly) start to focus less on the sub-plots but by then, you're so confused you still don't know what the story is. And then you get to the middle and you realize that maybe the story line is about this highly coveted treasure / artifact / god-knows-what called Hai Tian Yi Se. So what exactly is Hai Tian Yi Se? You will only find out in the second last episode because guess what? None of the characters know what Hai Tian Yi Se is either!! Yay, so nice. Is this supposed to make viewers more curious and drawn to find out more? Because it only made me frustrated. Also, I don't know if I missed it or what but they never really explain in detail about the tokens of Hai Tian Yi Se is either. It's like just some casual comments here and there about the lock, about the sheath etc. So here I am, having finished the drama and I still don't quite know what the full 5 tokens are :/ I don't think I've ever been so lost while watching a drama. I'm usually the one thinking "have you guys not been paying attention?!" when I see people commenting asking when something happened or asking to confirm something that has already been confirmed in the drama. But with this drama, I'm the one going "wait what is going on? did they already explain this cause i'm lost and i don't know what is happening". They also casually miss out some stuff like whatever the hell happened to Chu Chu's brother? They just casually forgot about him.
Here are also some of the other stupid stuff that they did throughout the drama + about the drama:
- too many flashbacks that make no sense
- having really really long flashbacks in the middle of the battle???
- talking in the middle of the battle
- escaping but then stopping halfway to start chatting and joking around
- Zhou Fei constantly breaking her blades (this never happens in other wuxia dramas but she breaks her blades like nobody's business)
- Zhou Fei and Xie Yun acting cheeky and lovey dovey when there's dead bodies around them (no, the dead bodies aren't even of the villains. THOSE ARE DEAD BODIES OF PEOPLE ON THEIR SIDE)
- catching up to the villain but not killing them immediately, letting the villain escape so they can wreck more havoc in the future
- DOING ALL THE WORK FOR THE BAD GUYS AND LETTING THEM WALK AWAY WITHOUT A FIGHT WHAT THE HELL
As a viewer, struggling to even make out what the main storyline is, IS THE WORST THING EVER! That is a sign of extremely bad storytelling. Need I say more? (No.)
Music - Personally, I don't hate the OSTs. I might even have liked it if not for the fact that I am so repulsed by this drama that I can't even bring myself to like the OSTs.
Production quality - Yeah the editing is pretty bad. Some of it doesn't even make any sense, like they just cut off the scene without any elaboration or explanation or follow up scene. Also there were some parts when they blurred out the face of the body double?? WHAT EVEN
In conclusion, it's a terrible drama. If eye candy is enough to satisfy you, or if you're just here for the romance, sure go ahead then. But if you don't care for the above two, don't bother watching.
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I can say that this is really worth watching for. Even though I was little sad that there are scenes that I like that wasn't included. I guess they just give emphasize to the important ones. Also, my feelings wasn't totally moved. Maybe because I already know the story that's why I wasn't totally moved.
About actors~ Ohhhhhhhhh!! They are so great! I salute them! They really done a great job especially kenshin!!!! He is so cool, handsome and cute!!! Love him x)
The way he express is just right, love it. Same as the same characters, the expressions are totally right. Although kaoru and Megumi are cute unlike in anime which are matured. Kaoru and Megumi wasn't able to absorb the 100% characteristic in the anime. But they did their job well too :D Sano is not really tall, but with his big muscles I guess that's enough. Anyway, they were really great :D
Music, I love the music and background music. It suits the movie. the sound effects were great too.
Anyway, I give it all 10! It was great~ Worth watching~ ^-^
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The plot... I too, as many others, love the first half of the story more up to like episode 11? but the later half isn't bad either. It just has less happening. Some people say it dragged on and maybe it did, but i didn't really pay attention since i was so in love with everything else in it.
The plot had wonderful details that really showed different sides of the characters. Like Eun Jo; She is basically the evil stepsister and if this story was from another point of view, she would be seen as a complete bitch but cause the plot allows you to understand Eun Jo and all the other characters, and it seems much more realistic. No human is perfect and everyone has a bad side and it depends on how you see it who is the villain and who is the hero/in. And i feel like this drama portrayed that pretty perfectly.
I LOVED the acting. After watching this Moon Geun Yong became one of my favorite actresses of all time. The other actors were all great too, there's really nothing i complain about. And the acting really completed the plot and I got into the story with it. Every time Moon Geun Yong cried I cried with her. If im ever feeling sad and just wanna cry, I rewatch the sad scenes of CS and cry my heart out.
I really liked the music too, i love listening to the ost and remembering this drama. I felt that the music fit the scenes really well
The rewatch value.. hmmm... I feel like there are parts that are really worth rewatching, and then some parts are parts that were necessary the first time but now that you know the plot you don't really need them anymore, but since i dont usually rewatch dramas anyways i think me watching even some parts of this means its really good :) I've already rewatched some episodes like 5 times when i usually only watch them once or twice...
Oveall I gave it a 9 but i wanted to give a 10. It's really a favorite of mine and the first serious (and second ever) k-drama i watched. I think it's best suited for people who can focus on dramas well xD and for people who like sad dramas (you might need tissues!)
And also for people who can see the bigger picture and understand the characters... It made me kinda sad when i read comments that said "How can Eun Jo be so cold?" when all the time i had been thinking "Poor Eun Jo, no one understands you but Ki Hoon".
But still I recommend this drama for everyone to watch :) If it ever seems confusing i'm happy to help ;)
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A life drama full of great messages, but a romance it is not
The first and foremost thing viewers need to know when coming into this drama is that this is not a romance drama. It is a life drama with a few romance plots. It's slow. It's meandering. It's chock full of time skips. There's not a lot of focus on developing romance or chemistry.As a life drama, it's about our many main characters finding their way through life. From elementary to high school to university to working life. On their relationships between each other, their romantic partners, and their family. And how their respective character flaws need to be overtaken before they can get what they want. As viewer, we are taken on a ride to see how they come to terms with a change in future plans, grief, insecurities, trauma, distance from loved ones, and more.
We get to feel the nostalgia of watching how people communicate/d through the passage of time. How certain technologies made it easier, but were still subject to the same difficulties because of the people using them. But through it all, we were able to see a friendship that lasted through multiple decades, even as the people within it changed. And we got to take a look at several different family dynamics, and how they are still family regardless.
I loved this drama. It had a nostalgic and comfortable atmosphere that I enjoyed sitting in with each episode. I also enjoyed seeing how our mains grew as individuals and all possessed some trouble or another that I could relate to. There wasn't much focus on relationships, but I think that's okay. Because it wasn't the direction this drama was trying to take.
If you're coming in expecting your typical BL, you'll be sorely disappointed. The Life/Slice-of-life genre is not for everyone. So if that genre is not for you, I highly recommend skipping. Because it is actually a good story. But it's a good life story, not a romance.
However, I do wonder if the drama might have been too ambitious with the amount of main characters it was tackling. All of their stories were told completely, but I didn't get to emotionally connect with them as I usually would have liked, despite their performances being pretty solid. In my experience, most life dramas with such a big array of characters will choose an episodic format, which helps establish to viewers that they aren't meant to emotionally connect with the character too much. But by putting all of their storylines together into the same episodes, it made me feel like I was expected to connect deeper than what I actually did. Nonetheless though, it is a quality that is common with life dramas, so I can't really hold it against this production in particular too much.
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most anticipated but most disappointing
I was excited to see that Gemini and Fourth were getting another project together, and ultimately knew it was inevitable. With the popularity of the pair from their recent (and best so far..) project which was My School President I was excited to see another imaginative and original drama from the pair. Unfortunately for me the originality wasn't coming because this drama is a remake of Keita Hatsukoi, and it is again.. unfortunately not anywhere near as good. What comes in the end is an adaptation I can neither recommend as a stand-alone drama, or to any fans of the original. This drama is just worse in every single way possible.. let me explainI am not a hater of the fact it is a remake. I know remakes can be done well and have been before, I didn't expect for this to be better or worse, the least I expected was some effort.. and I didn't even get that. The acting is done well enough from the new faces I see, Gemini and Fourth I can't help but see that they are just acting out what was originally done.. and the depth behind their performances aren't there because of a simple reason. The direction and production shot them in the foot, and it isn't any of the acting at fault, it is the writing, the editing, directing, and everything but them. So the editing is extremely cheap and it tells me that whoever is in charge of this project simply didn't understand or care for the source. This drama was just a way to make a quick dollar, that is what it all tells me. They use shammy music and sound effects in ways that aren't effective and just a shame to be there in the first place.
With Fourth in particular. He is a fun person and is an amazing actor, and I know that from his leading role in My School President. The difference there is that he had room to act, instead here they shove sound effects to try and get an emotion of humor out of a scene. The original source material is a manga, and I can see this being done with animation, live action is completely different. The actor can stand alone by himself and I don't know.. act! Fourth is more than capable of holding a viewers attention in the humorous scenes, but instead they drag it out to its limit by stretching the camera and adding cheap sound effects which are what I said. They are cheap ways for the audience to go.. oh this is funny! It isn't, to me it is insulting. I know Thai dramas tend to do this, but they should've reeled it back. My School President was a fun show but also had its mellow moments, it was so well received and had heart because of the directing and care in every scene. In this drama there isn't any attention to detail other than call backs to any other source material. There is a whole lot of extra time in this drama, but it is wasted for cheap and phony reasons. This drama uses the leads and the source material as a way to market and doesn't do anything new by itself, it drowns the original concept to an abyss and I can't see it coming back from it.
Crucial parts that may seems small are taken out, with the Cinderella episode in particular being the worst and the point I realized this show just sucks. I really didn't want it to either. So Atom (who is played by Fourth) isn't even Cinderella, and that is fine by itself, but when you really think about it where is the logic? Originally he volunteered to do it, so the only reason I see that they didn't is because either Fourth didn't want to cross-dress (which is fine) or because this drama wanted to toss the coin in the pot of things they are progressing. That did the opposite, with Atom not being Cinderella it messes the whole identity of the stage itself as well as Atom's character. He does thing in spontaneous behavior, because it is just who he is. He is someone that thinks before he acts, and that is how it is in the original and not here. With Atom having time to think about it, get rejected, and then to do it again takes away a bit of that charm from him, and ultimately strips the dynamic between him and Kongthap (Ida). Ida is a guy who thinks carefully, and even too carefully. He doesn't even understand the concept of liking someone and it doesn't make much sense to him just based off a feeling alone, and Atom (Aoki) is the opposite. Aoki is the person who does things all of his feelings and without feeling, but just is a genuine person. So he subbed in for Cinderella not just because he liked her, but because it was just in his nature. His whole class had no problem and here? Well they refused until he had to and he did it by himself? He had no reinforcement and it made his behavior seem odd? Like Atom isn't the type of guy to do things off of a one moment decision, but they find it weird? So it was disingenuous even if they wanted to pull a homosexual relationship in the mix.
So the episode there became just the characters singing instead of developing their individual characters they sung songs for the play... If you want GemFouth to sing write another drama that has it make sense.. here it made no sense? It was another skip for me..
They screw up the main parts of the characters so badly and they seem a shell of themselves. Atom and Kongthap alike are stale and uninteresting. The ending of episode one wasn't nearly as impactful from the editing and because of the direction towards the portrayals. Kongthap is someone who in the end is also an extremely good person, and very thoughtful. Atom ended up actually liking him but not in any way that was serious or understandable, it was actually pretty confusing. I keep watching and hoping they just go to the source because that did nothing wrong, and if they change things then can they add? There is more than enough time to make this drama good or watchable, this drama just makes me think that I should just go back to watching the original. I really should, GMM shame on you. Shame on you for just shoving this out into the open for the money, where is the heart? Where is the passion? The comedic timing alone is enough to turn someone away from this, this isn't funny at all, not even in a so bad its good.
Taking away the little details.. especially the garbage scene.. oh boy.. that is just not needed. Taking those humor bits away show to me that whoever is in charge really doesn't understand the source material at all. It is just fan service and bad fanservie and is extremely dissapointing. Watch My School President again if you like Gem and Fourth, don't kid yourself into thinking this is good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Legal Rommates
THRC was “supposed” to be a story about a upcoming star instructor who got pregnant and entered into a marriage contract with a guy and later they fall in love. 100% of everyone who tuned in to this expected that kind of story. Instead we got a rising young instructor who gets pregnant enters into a marriage contract and then becomes the second lead because her baby daddy and his nonexistent issues came first.This show had potential. If only the writer hadn’t gone and smoked that cheap ass pot or whatever it is they smoke. To come up with one of the most stupid nonsensical stories ever. So many storylines were started and like magic they abracadabraed out of existence.
Examples:
-Yeon Doo’s career before and after the baby
-The shared baby between her uncle and TaeKyungs brother & sister-in-law (shaman’s vision)
-SeJin’s revenge on the Gong family for making her family feel like shit
- SooKyum’s mom’s absence for majority of her life
- BongNim and SeJin’s dad possible romance
- The weird resemblance of YuMyeong’s ex Jay and DongWook which was extremely weird I might add
ummmmm I think I’m forgetting something else……what is it?🤔🤔🤔🤔Oh yes!! The relationship/chemistry between Yeon Doo and Taekyung.
It very clear that this writer caught some form of amnesia or writers stroke cause they clearly opened more plot lines than a DC Comic TV series and forgot to close them.
Another thing that got on my nerve was that as a writer you’re supposed to not be biased and not have favorite’s. Clearly this writer missed Writer’s 101 class. That wretched character Kim JunHa became the main lead over night and everything that was done worked in his favor. With the way he was written you’d think this writer hated happy endings.
As the weeks went by TRHC went from a show that solved problems by episode 2 or 3 to a show that dragged issues out for the next 5-10 episodes then solve then either 2 minutes into the show or right before it ends.
And don’t get me started on the lack of chemistry between the main leads. Their marriage progressed from fake to real and only stayed real on paper. For the entire series they were roommates. The most intimacy they’ve had can be counted on one hand. You’d think that for a show based around fake marriage there’ll be loads of lovey dovey I’m falling for you stuff.
I’ve seen my fair share of weekend dramas and honestly after YLAG (Young Lady and Gentleman) I’d sworn off them. But I’ll rather take the amnesia plot lines in YLAG than this crap show. The only character that I liked was Haneul. She made the show better.
To any future watchers of this circus freak of a mess show…..please I beg of you with everything that exist DO NOT watch this show! Even if you’re curious pick any show…better yet take a deep dive into the comments and you’ll see for yourself what I mean. We all hated it with a passion.
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1This review may contain spoilers
The complete lack of chemistry was fascinating to watch.
This drama should be studied. We need a whole master thesis presenting various theories about what happened, because it’s been ages since rom-com gave me this little, basically nothing in terms of romance between the main couple.What’s even more confusing is the fact I actually finished it, and I did not even have to force myself to watch it. Not many things worked in this show, but somehow I still kept watching the next episodes. Don’t know what weird spell this show put on me, but it worked.
On the bright side, production wise it was great. Not outstanding, but definitely on the high level of production. I wish we would get more in-game scenes since these were for sure entertaining.
What’s more, the second couple was amazing. What a refreshing pairing. Both Ha Jin and Sin Won are the type of characters I have seen in other projects. Their whole storyline was rather unpredictable in terms of typical cliches.
That would be the end, now we have reached the border to the bark side. And there is a lot to talk about.
I already talked about how weirdly weak the chemistry between the leads was. Not one scene awoke any butterflies in my stomach, there were zero sparks. By all means, the main characters felt like siblings, not like a couple. Sadly I think Choi Hyun Wook jumped into adult roles too fast, without graduating from university first. I do believe picking one or two titles set in the uni after all the high school dramas is the best option for the majority of the actors. He looked too much like a baby here, and how the character was written did not help.
And that’s what bothered me a lot - instead of making him an adult who has what is perceived as childish hobby, they actually made him childish. And with how mature and independent Su Jeong was, it felt like a babysitting job, not a romance.
Then we have Jung Hyo Seon - what was that? They painted her as a complete psychopath, zero understanding of human emotions, not just rude and cold, but simply abusive. Even in the last episode she was “confused” by normal human emotions, to then take 180 next two scenes and reconnect with Ju Yeon by apologizing. This just pissed me off. Not only did her development make no sense, it was insulting that it was accepted by people around her in the first place. Apology is a bit too weak when you were LITERALLY abusing your grandson for years.
The writing was just bad. 12 episodes, but it’s hard to describe what actually happened in the show since most of the topics and plot lines were poorly developed. Sure, they did bring some interesting topics like feeling embarrassed about your hobbies, need for acknowledgement and how it can negatively affect your life, guilt that comes from not addressing grief, inequality in the workplace, but none of them had any depth to it, worth reflection and discussion.
Overall, this is such a weird show. Majority of it does not work, but still makes you want to watch the next episode.
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Hopefully Netflix has season 2 that would be dope.
Would definitely rewatch it! 10/10 for me considering I binge-watched 40 episodes in 2 days!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
If you love Ancient Love Poetry, then you have got to watch this!
Yuan Qi being the Son to the Two True Gods: Bai Jue and Shang Gu in Ancient Love Poetry, The Last Immortal is a story which focuses on Yuan Qi journey to Adult-hood, after he was sent to Daze Mountain as the disciple to Donghua.The Last Immortal beginning takes place after Bai Jue sacrificed himself and before he return at the very end of Ancient Love Poetry.
Yuan Qi in the beginning is 200 years old, which is a bit odd in Xianxia standard that he's fully grown into teenager, but that's okay, since I just take it that it is just the world-building in this story. So when Yuan Qi is under a different identity, named Gu Jin (being 200 years old), would be considered a Young Teen at the beginning.
Some people keep asking whether they should watch Ancient Love Poetry first, or not. The Last Immortal is a standalone drama, BUT if you haven't watched Ancient Love Poetry, then you are surely missing out on it's prequel, since whether you like it or not, knowing what happened in the past, will give you a better understanding to the world building & characters and where this story takes place, since Post Time-Skip (1000 years later), Bai Jue(Yuan Qi's father) would have already returned to Shang Gu, in the God Realm. So the story is connected/tied back with each other.
I am into Xianxia genre, so naturally, when a Xianxia genre looks appealing I would give it a go, and me being a fan to Ancient Love Poetry, and know that the story are linked/connected in the world-building, how can I not give The Last Immortal a try? Since Bai Jue and Shang Gu is my OTP in the Ancient Love Poetry, naturally I would want to watch about their son in his own story/spinoff i.e. The Last Immortal. When I first started watching this drama, I was pretty neutral with Gu Jin (ML), but if I have to be honest, I didn't like that side to him where he doesn't want to cultivate to get stronger. At first I didn't understand why but as the story progresses there are hints thrown in to show why he felt that way, and by then, I came to understand his feelings better.
I actually felt that Yuan Qi's character is quite sad when you think about it. If we look at his past from his childhood until now, it is impossible not to feel sorry for him. People also need to know that the Novel Yuanqi (portrayed in Shang Gu) is different to the Drama Yuan Qi (in Ancient Love Poetry) when he was a kid. The change in the Novel Kid Yuan Qi vs Drama Kid Yuan Qi, is that in the Drama: Ancient Love Poetry, it was an added bonus where the screen-writers give us those moments where Yuan Qi's father (Bai Jue) spends time with him in the mortal realm before he go and sacrifice himself. He have those father-son moments that the Novel Kid Yuan Qi never received in the prequel.
So, if you take this into consideration, you will know just how sad his childhood is like. Since the Last Immortal takes the adaptation of it's Novel (Hidden God), based on the events that happened in Shang Gu Novel.
Why is it sad? Well, Yuan Qi was born without a mother and father. When his mother woke up, he had to call her "auntie" for a while. His father acted like he didn't love him. Just when Shang Gu (Yuan Qi's mother) found out that his father was doing all this for them, she completely lost it. His mother could not take care of him as a result, since she didn't have the heart to take care of Yuan Qi, because she knelt before the ancestral god for years (500 years in the Drama, but more in the novel). When looking at this, it really feels like she ignored him. And then he was sent to Daze Mountain for training. It was also shown that Yuan Qi's lost his god powers due to what happened (in the past). Gu Jin was the name he uses as another identity when he was sent to Daze Mountain.
In all those years, he never properly get to have a family moment, nor did he get to celebrate his own birthday with his parents...
So honestly, I don't blame Gu Jin if he doesn't want to return to being True God Yuan Qi, because looking at his past/backstory, there is no example in front of him, when he's a child that godhood is a good thing. For Yuan Qi, being God means self-sacrifice, loneliness, and leaving loved ones behind, and not being able to live the life he want.
He once said that logically speaking; he understands why his father (Bai Jue) did what he did, but he then revealed his true feelings deep down, and I felt that the actor WAY (Wang An Yu) did a really good job in portraying those subtle expressions of hurt and sadness within him. BUT despite this being said, he still loves his parents deeply, for a child that didn't get to grow up in that kind of happy-family environment, his parents is among those few people that is very important to him (Yuan Qi really deserves a hug to be honest!!).
I honestly don't fault him for feeling this way, because as much as I love his parents (Bai Jue and Shang Gu, in their story), but as parents, they weren't able to give a loving childhood and environment for their son Yuan Qi to grow up in. Even Daze Mountain felt more like a loving family atmosphere than the God Realm that he grew up in so I can understand why he loves being in Daze mountain, those were his carefree moments where he gets to do the things he loves to do.
So when we began watching the very first scene, the producers gave us a snippet of 1000 years later at the beginning scene when Yuanqi(ML) was trying to chase after A-Yin(FL), but we didn't know what happened that lead to that scene, and then it got shifted back to 1000 years ago, the past, before that scene occurred, I do think it was cleverly used because it gives the audience a sense that "we know this beginning scene is going to happen eventually", but we don't know why, and what lead to that scene, so as we got transported back 1000 years ago, this is like going through a journey where we learn about their backstory and what lead to that scene at the beginning.
Acting wise, Zhao Lusi doesn't disappoint in her role as A-Yin and Feng Yin, she really bring out the emotions well! This is also the first time I've seen WAY (Wang An Yu) in a drama, but I felt like he really brought out the feelings of his character: Gu Jin and Yuan Qi well (in his own way), at least he did successfully made me feel sorry for him/through the way he played out those subtle sad/hurt emotions.
Both WAY (Wang An Yu) and Zhao Lusi have great chemistry in terms of expressing their love/feelings for each other, that when they're together on-screen you see how naturally comfortable they are together. FL being born to be the Next Pheonix Queen have to go through her Nirvana/Tribulation as A-Yin, the water divine beast and their story begins from there, where they came to meet each other, what started off as bickering to being the "only one" in each other life.
While in the Ancient Love Poetry (it's prequel) shows me that being a True God is cool etc etc, but in The Last Immortal, it really showcase it in a different light that being a True God isn't fun and games but someone with a heavy responsibility, that needs to consider the well-being of the Three Realms, and how to be fair, where personal opinions doesn't matter. I honestly felt so tired for Yuan Qi during those times, because..... Well, won't spoil it for you - you can see for yourself when you watch it.
Please don't hate Yuan Qi, try to see and understand his feelings... This is a story/journey to adulthood. If we have everything perfect with no mistakes, then it will just be bland and boring, and it will not touch on our emotions the way it did... If you didn't like him at the beginning then he's a character that will grow on you by the end.
Yuan Qi is character that have made mistakes, mistakes that leads to regret and regret that leads to character developments, but in my eyes, no matter he is Gu Jin or Yuan Qi, they are the same person, and he has always tried his very best to protect A-Yin on his end. I can never bring myself to hate Yuan Qi, because I understood the situation that was presented to him, and how much he shows me he cares and values A-Yin's life. But the portrayal of Gu Jin and True God Yuan Qi does present different aura's to show a contrast on the development/growth that after Gu Jin returned to being True God Yuan Qi, he is no longer that same carefree him who just lives his life away, not having to shoulder those heavy responsibilities that he will have when he returned to being True God Yuan Qi
But you know, one of the things I love about Yuan Qi's character is that, although he know he doesn't have much time left, he really just simply want to spend those remaining moments with Feng Yin, so they can have those happy memories to look back to.
This is really difference to his father, Bai Jue, because respectively(each to their own) love the FL, in BJ perspectives, he thought that having his family hate him will be their strength to live on and move on without being heartbroken when he's gone. Since he didn't want the whole short time bliss leads to an long term suffering.
But Yuan Qi, in his own story shows us this in another light, where he didn't want to waste any moments away and he just simply want to create those happy memories together for Feng Yin, so that even if he's gone there won't be any regrets.
I think deep down Yuan Qi is subconsciously impacted by his father's decision and wish he didn't have to go that direction to make them(YQ and SG) hate him(BJ), because that left them with regrets when they found out the whole truth but is too late to go back to fix those regrets because they didn't know BJ real intentions and how much BJ loved them
Anyways what I wanted to say is that I honestly love BOTH Bai Jue and Yuanqi here, they both will do anything to protect the woman they love but have taken different paths to achieve it. If I have to choose here, although I understand BJ intentions were good, but I have to agree with Yuanqi decisions and what he's showing me, since I rather see some happy moments which leaves them happy memories without any regrets IF he have to "die".
Yuanqi in my eyes is a great and loving husband and I feel happy that Fengyin can have someone like Yuanqi who loves and protects her like this.
From the audience perspective, my advise is when you watch this drama, try to take a step back and see it from all sides perspectives, not just one, and then you will see why they did what they did. Whether you like it or not, it is entirely up to your preference, but like I said, when we look at his past from his childhood until now, it is impossible not to feel sorry for him. I do think this is the fate of the god of chaos, the direct leader of the true gods. The same was true for his mother, Shang Gu. In my opinion, the greater the power, the greater the difficulties one must overcome.
Some may love ALP better, due to preference, I love ALP too but I also love this drama as well, in its own way because it is a great story which shows a different perspective to being a True God in the three realms and showing how the characters have grown through their respective story. Each one have their own tribulation they must overcome, both Bai Jue and Shang Gu have theirs in ALP, now it's Yuan Qi's turn in TLI. Being in a tribulation, I see it is obstacles they have to overcome whether it's in love(worthy of being with each other at the end, after going through all these obstacles set for them by fate) or the roles of being a True God (Yuan Qi) and Phoenix Queen (Feng Yin).
As far as the other actors goes, there is quite a few familiar faces, like I recognized Qi Pei Xin who plays as Bi Bo and Feng Ming Jing who plays as the Three Headed Dragon, since they were both actors from The Untamed LOL, so that was a nice surprise to see them in this drama. I do think that all the actors did a great job in this drama!
If I have to say something I don't like is that, they didn't feature Tian Qi or Zhi Yang in the God Realm (or any mentioning of them), and I am still bitter at the fact that aside from Yuan Qi, they didn't keep the canon names for some of the other characters, and have to changed it instead. Di Juan and Yi He, seriously?? (-___-)
In terms of ending perspective, my final verdict is I asked for an ending that makes sense and I got that, they did well in explaining how Yuan Qi can come back instead of just leaving it to our imagination... Thats at least not lazy writing imo.
It's a happy ending for all characters and I'm happy for them. Happy that for all 3 pairings I shipped they got their happy ending.
I will have to express my gratitude to the Devil God, Ming Qi, since he really played a big role in bringing back Yuan Qi, and he doesn't seem as evil/selfish as his character portrayal in Ancient Love Poetry. I also like the bromance between him and Xiuyan!
In terms of the ending for Yuan Qi and Feng Yin, yeah, it's a Happy Ending BUT personally it's not a satisfying one, for me at least, since.... I was like why didn't she run up and hug him at the end???
Honestly, I would be content if they shared one last hug before the end. It would be a nice parallel back to Bai Jue and Shang Gu (Yuan Qi's parents) where Shanggu ran up to Baijue and hugged him and them both being content at the end of Ancient Love Poetry (ALP) in each other's arms... But sadly we didn't get that in The Last Immortal. You know the irony here is that back then when I saw that ending for Shang Gu and Bai Jue, I wanted something more for them, not just a hug, but now in The Last Immortal, looking back at the ending, to Ancient Love Poetry, that was at least a more satisfying ending for the Shang Gu and Bai Jue, at least they can have a one final hug, which we didn't get for Yuan Qi and Feng Yin.
This is why I feel conflicted about the ending. I love that they put in the effort to explain how it's possible for Yuan Qi to come back and not left it to our imagination, but at the same time, I didn't feel satisfied with this ending. I honestly would be content if Feng Yin ran up to Yuan Qi and they have one final hug before the end. If that happened I think it will be a nice parallel back to ALP ending IMO.
IF they can't get that, then, can they not at least close the gap and not standing at a distance like that? Yeah, I can see that they both expresses how happy they were that they're back together, even if there's a distance, they're connected through their mutual happiness (for their well deserved happy ending). It is poetic, but it didn't leave me with a satisfying feeling, this is because I do think that after all they've been through they both deserve a more satisfying ending, you know....
Well, I think that is about me and my Xianxia genres in todays standards.... They always go with the typical "last minute happy ending", where the ML sacrifice for the FL, and the FL wait for the ML and then he return, and they got their happy ending... I really miss the good old days where the ending for Xianxia back then have a more fully satisfying ending when compared to nowadays. This is why for me, when I came to love them as a pairing in Xianxia, I want them to film at least another Drama together but this time in a Modern setting since at least the Modern Dramas are more fulfilling with their ending when compared to Xianxia. Xianxia has always been my favourite genre, but sadly, this is how I feel towards Xianxia ending nowadays, there's only a few Xianxia endings that puts a smile in my face when I watch it in 2023.... Back from the Brink, Love you Seven Times and The Journey of Chongzi epilogue to name a few where I was happy/content with their ending..
Anyways, I won't ramble on, so I will conclude my review here, do I recommend this drama? Yes!!! If you're a fan to Ancient Love Poetry, then do give this Drama a go, but watch this without any biasness. We may have our preference on which one we love better: ALP or TLI, but don't hate on one of them just to make your drama the "better" one since everyone have different preferences, and you're not doing your drama any justice because you're giving a bad rep to the one you're supporting/loving.
For me, I love both Ancient Love Poetry and The Last Immortal. They both have their own unique charm that is compelling, and it will be a sad miss if you don't watch either one IMO!
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Cliche 1 check, Cliche 2 check ….Cliche 453271 check
So whatever you might look for in a typically cliche storyline ….you’ll be offered everything here ...from the very basic…. plot about contract marriage (ofc with a stupid reason) ... a melting iceberg ofc due to global warming (I mean cold ML becoming all sweet and kind …) a strict mother in law (who’ll eventually fall for our kind hearted cinderella) …. a sweet and cute grandma (who obviously adores FL from the very first interaction )...typical side characters….a bitchy SFL (who lives by the virtue- anything and everything for love) ….and a perfect secretary (free with cold ML's in dramaland ….it’s dramalands special combo) ….a bit sad childhood (why else would he be cold ...we need a reason ...ofc we do ...and they give a very obvious one... like always) ...a typical good for nothing FL’s bff (ahh ...or who else would support our hardworking, a bit too dumb and godess of goodness type FL through her very obvious hardships)…and well there’s no way we can forget our beloved SML(the never acknowledged saviour of our damsel in distress) ….after all we’re to suffer too ….So yaa as I said if you were to ever have a checklist for cliche’s this drama definitely owns a top spot ...but then when we talk of cliches, we talk of execution ...I wouldn’t say it’s a fresh execution ...but I’ll say it’s a decent attempt ….
You know with those contract marriage to love tropes there’s not much scope for freshness ...but still the leads portray a decent chemistry ...with fun moments scattered all the way …you are in for a decent ride …
Have realistic hopes and the show delivers well …hope for misunderstandings ...hope for SLS (second lead syndrome) hope for a not so necessary leap...hope for typical gender role reversal through horror movies and roller coaster rides (that’s the typical way to describe things...I am not a discriminating fella ...both are allowed to be scared...) ….hope for a lot of cute scenes and laughs...hope for fillers ….hope for a cliched drama ...and there you are ...this drama will meet all your expectations ! (aren’t you wondering ….why am I stressing so much on cliches ….bec the drama wouldn’t exist without them...no not even an ep)
The acting ...on point in most cases ...the third couple storyline was neither interesting nor fresh and I mostly skipped through them ….our main couple ...with a fairly high share of screen time ...do deliver and ...our second leads ….yep they do fit their roles perfectly ….but sadly do feel a bit underdeveloped …!
The company/work setup ...well I won’t say unrealistic ….but too convenient !
For the rest...music ….no I am sorry it didn’t catch my attention ...no rewatch value either….cuz the first watch also feels like rewatch ...lol
So well in short if you are looking for a cliched drama ...this one is a perfect bet ...with cute moments and every cliche you can possibly expect ….this just makes a proper time pass drama !
Hope you enjoy watching ...cuz I did too ...for I knew what to expect ….and this became a good watch !
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A promising yet unfulfilled journey
Prior to touching on any unfavorable points in the adaptation, I would be remiss not to praise the decision made by Ahn Ji Ho and Lee Sang Jun to take on roles that break the conventional heteronormative mold. Special recognition goes to Ji Ho, who, having starred in a popular mainstream Zombie drama "All of Us Are Dead," shows immense courage in embracing a non-straight role and sets an example for other mainstream actors. The interaction between these men is endearing. Sang Jun (Seung Won in the drama) is a timid/shy, lovesick admirer, striving to capture Ji Ho (Hee Su in the drama)'s attention. Much like the source material, drama Seung Won's motive for approaching, reaching out to, and confiding in drama Hee Su is to spend more time in his company and reveal his feelings for himSeung Won: "I don't like Ji Yu"
Hee Su: "Why did you lie?"
Seung Won: "Because I wanted to keep hanging out with you" (chapters 42-43)
A screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/7ElUfSX
Drama Seung Won, too, gently nudges drama Hee Su to confront his true feelings and discover the solace and true love that await him in Sang Jun (Seung Won)'s arms
Apart from Ji Ho (Hee Su) and Sang Jun (Seung Won)'s chemistry, a praiseworthy part is drama Hee Su's compassion. In the first episode (5:10-7:04), he listens without prejudice to a woman struggling with her feelings for another woman. There's something extraordinary about the scene. It's become one of my favorites!
Now, this might be a contentious point. I find that the actors’ and actresses' appearances don’t match the youthful roles they’re playing. Without a doubt, they're good-looking, but they give off the impression of being older and in their mid/late twenties or early thirties. Their seasoned, mature appearances prove challenging to reconcile with their student status. And watching them cosplay as high school students sometimes stretches my ability to suspend disbelief to its limits. An effective approach could've been to set the story in a workplace or university
I can be lenient with these matters, most high school dramas/movies have the same problems. What troubles me is the pacing and the straightwashing or forced feeding of "straightness" to cater to the squeamishness of homophobic mainstream audiences wary of encountering too many rainbows on their screens. The pacing of the gay storyline is sluggish compared to its "straight" counterpart, suggesting an uneven distribution of resources and dedication from the producers. It's not until the seventh or eighth episode that the emotional bond between the gay couple undergoes transformation. The adaptation struggles with maintaining the integrity of the source material, a problem worsened by the presence of a "straight" storyline
The source material doesn’t even feature a "straight" storyline between Chan Yeong and Ji Yu. I find the insistence on shoehorning one into the narrative, and replacing Sun Woo and Yoo Dahm’s (the second gay couple's) storyline, unforgivable. A screenshot of Sun Woo and Yoo Dahm from chapter 56: https://imgur.com/a/OInfwbQ
How mind-boggling it is that we're accused of "destroying" friendships for shipping characters of the same sex who are "just friends" in their source materials when society destroys or hints at destroying man-woman friendships in favor of non-platonic storylines with nary a consequence. Friendships between men and women, boys and girls, are meaningful and don't require a non-platonic downgrade. Chan Yeong and Ji Yu serve Hee Su best as supportive friends. Inserting a "straight" angle between them detracts from Hee Su's journey. This story, "Heesu in Class 2," belongs to Hee Su and his love interest, Seung Won, and shouldn't be hijacked or distorted by a superfluous "straight" storyline
Some might defend the erasure of the second gay couple from the adaptation, citing that their storyline occurs in the second season of the source material. It's a dubious, flimsy excuse at best. The screenwriters were capable of fabricating a "straight" storyline involving Chan Yeong and Ji Yu. It would've been prudent to use the creativity and merge key elements of the two seasons into the 10-episode adaptation. The creative process of converting the Manhwa into a drama enables the combination of two seasons' worth of content into a condensed format. The screenwriters could've reorganized and improved on the timelines, events, dialogue, and character development of the source material. The erasure of the second gay couple is an oversight, considering the wealth of solutions available to incorporate their storyline
Being classmates and friends, Hee Su's acquainted with the second gay couple. Their early introduction in the adaptation could've provided Hee Su with close tangible evidence that happiness in a gay relationship is possible, instilling him with the confidence to pursue his own male love interest(s). Their presence could've contributed to Hee Su's personal growth. They didn't have to be "useless" or "irrelevant"
Those reading might ask themselves, "are you a hater? Do you hold a grudge against the adaptation?" I'm not, and I don't, or I wouldn't have assigned it an 8/10 rating. I believe the adaptation should've gone beyond the bare minimum of keeping one of the gay couples. And I believe everyone has a right to be uneasy about certain deviations from source materials. The sentiment was witnessed in the public's response to "The Little Mermaid" (2023) and "Snow White" (2025), where a simple change in skin color caused widespread disapproval. It's reasonable to also disapprove of changes to gay source materials
Expressing a preference for gay narratives over "straight" ones or questioning the producers' call to accommodate societal prejudices against gay-centered narratives doesn't amount to prejudice or -phobia. Releasing a work into the public domain opens it up to positive and negative feedback. Both are opportunities for the producers to understand their audience better, identify their shortcomings, and grow
That said, I appreciate the effort put into this part-BL/part-gay adaptation. Going forward, I'd like to see BLs exclusively centering gay experiences and relationships
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