It's about dreams, too (another banality on paper). And counterfeiting money. The better part of the plot could belong to an action movie, but the drama approaches it in a casual, slice-of-lifey manner. One arc turns very brothers Coen.
It's fun! In a quirky, gloomy way, with plenty of situational and visual humour stuffed in between tender moments. Beautifully written and directed, playing with conventions, often showing-not-telling and fully using the potential of each episode being a complete entity that can tell a story from a certain point. Highly recommended.
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Rebirth, Romance & a Hint of Existential Crisis
Ok y’all, this one’s… tough to review. Full disclosure: I pressed play purely for Quan Yi Lun, because my man has been stealing scenes (and my heart) ever since Blossom and Moonlight Mystique. The man’s got main lead energy, and I was ready to witness the glow-up era he rightfully deserves.Now, Echoes of the Self is sitting right there in my love/hate zone. You know that feeling when all the ingredients are right but somehow the cake still tastes like “hmm”? Yeah. That’s this drama for me.
🌸 What I liked (aka the reasons I didn’t rage-quit)
- Fresh spin on the rebirth trope — loved the concept of this a lot.
- Visually blessed cast. I mean… Quan Yi Lun. Enough said.
- Leads’ chemistry — starts off awkward like two coworkers forced to slow dance at the office party, but gradually evolves into genuine sparks.
- Crown Prince redemption arc — I live for a “former murderer turned ally” storyline. Therapy works, apparently.
⚠️ What made me yell at the screen (lovingly)
- Performances that lack dimension — the acting isn’t bad, but it often feels like something vital got lost between “action” and “cut.” It’s visually appealing yet emotionally hollow, like a beautifully wrapped gift box filled with air.
- Direction that forgot its own depth — the story wants to be textured and moving, but the execution feels oddly flat. Perhaps a symptom of its short runtime, perhaps a lack of directorial conviction.
- The rebirth logic gone astray — the FL’s “reborn self” spends the entire time trying to change fate yet barely acknowledges her younger self, effectively undoing the emotional purpose of her journey. The ML, meanwhile, seems mildly allergic to the concept of temporal continuity — sir, that is your wife, just… younger. Let’s connect the dots and don't treat her like the plague...
- The villain — underwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe it. That man got more screentime than emotional depth.
🌀 The Ending
Will it annoy people? Probably.
Did it annoy me? Not really — it’s a happy-ish ending, which in C-drama land is already a win.
💭 Final Verdict
8/10 — Cozy, romantic, and conceptually strong, but emotionally… echoing a bit too softly.
If you want something light, watchable, and sprinkled with a few swoon-worthy moments, go for it. Just don’t expect a masterpiece, but that is solely my own take on this and most probably because I had much higher expectations....
And Quan Yi Lun, if you’re reading this (you’re not, but still): you carried. As always. 🫶
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Beautiful piece of art. Highly recommended for the feels.
If you're into a deep discussion of what family, friendship, and relationships mean, and a lot of human observationthen works by Sakamoto Yuji (the screenwriter) are for you.
I've been a huge fan of the way he works his careful observations about humans and about how we interact as in a society into his *very relatable* and *very quotable* script.
Yes, this is a story about a woman and a "harem" of 3 ex-husbands, but the way they discuss this weird "family dynamics" is different from your typical rom com (let's be real, this isn't even a rom com... just a family comedy). It's super refreshing, and will give you vibes of some of his previous works, like Saikou no Rikon (a story about a divorced couple) and Quartet (also starring the same female lead and one of the male leads -- the first ex-husband). It's a drama I would never want to fast forward, because everything happens for a reason, and every character that comes and goes contributes to the main characters' development and growth. While the topics explored can get heavy at times, the way he handles it is light and unexpectedly funny.
You'll find easter eggs in later episodes referencing earlier happenings and how the characters have changed. And if you've watched previous works by this screenwriter (you should!), you will find that he's writing a love letter to his previous characters using his current ones. While this drama can of course be viewed as a stand-alone of its own, I especially love the continuity in his writing.
If this is your first Sakamoto Yuji drama, then be ready for a huge feels ride. This might be one of the best works I've seen of his. Grab a glass of water, sit down, relax, and get your screenshot hot keys ready. There are *so many* dialogues in this drama that are worth revisiting over and over again.
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Touching, progressive and informative
This movie is the type to shoot an arrow straight thru the heart, some people will watch this and think, oh a story about the struggles of a person with a trans identity, and do not get me wrong it does show a pretty clear depiction of the day to day struggles as well as part of the journey of a trans woman, the strength in this movie is its portrayal of motherhood and family as no one seemed to react when Tomo was living with her negligent, slightly alcoholic biological mother but put her together with a trans woman and suddenly people seem to care...I loved the family moments, the struggles the over protective mother and the great palett of motherhood showed here, what makes a good mother? what makes a family? I also loved how it showed realistic ways to deal with life outside the norm as well how relatable the characters are.
The show does a great job showing both the struggles and pain a child may face due to grownups %&€%#& €%#%#% "€("€("#B"##€="#€"€("=#(%"(%". Including neglect, bullying and loss of strength to live without neglecting the strong hold parents have on their children.
I am a little bit disappointed they casted a cis man as Rinko, he did do a good job portraying her but it would have been better if a tans woman or woman would have been casted to play this role. However I do not know much about the industry in Japan but in a better wold that will be done.
I have seen that some people complained about the obsession with boobs, however I think those matter more than many people think as they are clear markers and what most people notice first. "Imagine being a girl but never getting boobs".
I also love the humour here and there, there is a lot of funny kick up moments, family fun and so much love in this movie it is hard not to fall for the characters.
Definitely a movie I strongly recommend to all...
Story that needs to be told: 10
Bring out your anger towards society: 10
Family: 10
Exitment: medium
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This drama actually got me into the manga, which is rather backwards...
Story - Each character has a backstory and /grows/ throughout the series (except the background characters that only have 7 lines in the entire drama) in a way that reminds me of a novel, almost. It shows that they were developed, 3-dimentional characters that seem all the more real because of those facts. This is major kudos to the writers and original mangaka.
Music - I never focus much on the background music in movies or dramas unless it sticks me as wrong for that moment. I do know that they used the theme song throughout the story, which was interesting because it fit in every moment they used it in, even though they were vastly different. this part comes with a warning; you WILL have the song stuck in your head for a good while if you watch the episodes in a few (1-3) sittings. However it's a good song, so I didn't really mind.
Rewatch Value - I've already rewatched this drama once, my favorite parts about a million times, and created stories in my head for when I'm bored and want to play with ready-made characters. (Can't tell I'm a writer, huh?)
Acting/Cast - Yamamoto Yusuke is really just the cherry on top, in my opinion. His acting skills are so great, and he covers so many different rolls so efficiently and /well/ in different dramas that its just inspiring. He became an actor I follow after Tumbling and, after a few more of his dramas, he became my favorite actor. He's just amazing.
I feel I have to mention the others (that way it doesn't become another of my Yamamoto-ramblings). They cast this very well and everyone fit the part and acted their rolls naturally. Some of the actors were better than others (the Mizusawa character faded into the background too well and was rather emotionless unless the situation called for extreme emotion) but none of them were 'bad' actors, just differing styles.
Really, really worth the time to watch, rewatch, think about, and drive that damn song out of your head until the next watching!
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1This review may contain spoilers
Interesting to Speculate on
I love reading peoples thoughts and saw some here, speculating on what Sung Kyu (the adopted brother) felt especially during the ending scene where his smile disappears. So I decided to give my own two cents. In the beginning it felt like it was already shown to me that Sung Kyu was pretty apathetic and didn't necessarily feel strongly towards acting a specific way to be liked. Barely being able to choke out the words 'it's delicious......... mom'. He wasn't shown trying to connect with Sung woo other than randomly picking him up at school once either.The first time Sung Kyu shows assertiveness is when the shower scene happens. Because of this detail I didn't feel like he tried to appease Sung woo like someone else did. (which is why I like seeing other peoples perspective since it can be so different!)
I also don't think it was suppose to be about sexuality at all and whether or not Sung Kyu is attracted to men in general. For me this was more an exploration on how Sung Kyu didn't really feel anything and therefore tried to fill the emptiness within him with a new family and the shower scene mostly to me looked like 2 very empty and emotionally tired people that desperately needed to feel 'something', just anything. But just like most one night stands, it didn't fix the initial problem, that Sung Kyu felt a loss of identity and therefore remained apathetic after not being able to find it with his new family either.
Thinking back, Everyone in this movie seemed to fill up the emptiness with something, The mother keeps filling the emptiness the loss of her son caused her, by adopting multiple people. Sung Woo seems to fill up his emptiness coming from a broken home with physical affection from a significant other. And Sung Kyu as a grown man being adopted into a new family with a new identity because he feels like a nobody.
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An Oriental Odyssey.
Chu Sijing, a captain of theJinyiwei/锦衣卫 or Embroidered Guard is on a mission to investigate a strange epidemic that broke out on the remote Wumu Island in Liaodong province. The outbreak threatens the adjacent NInghai Fortress, a critical stronghold against the invading Jurchens. The powers that be have their own agendas and appear more interested in covering up the outbreak than anything else. Thus Sijing steals onto the island aided only by a Mongol Tartar official Bo Yan and a Fulangji/佛郎机 businesswoman Angelica. There he encounters mysterious, disease afflicted villagers who worship ancient Gods and is forced to deal with some monstrous truths. Can he weed out the root of the epidemic before it overwhelms them all?This story is set in the 3rd year of Tianqi, when the Ming Dynasty was in rapid decline. It was a time of many natural disasters from meteorites to a mini ice age, drought and famine. Superstition reigned high as the peasants were starving and the emperor was widely said to have lost the Mandate of Heaven. The drama invests heavily in world building and weaves in many themes from the period and fantastical creatures from Chinese mythology 山海经/Classics of Mountains and Seas and 神异经 / Classics of Gods and Spirits. Even though the CGI is not the best, I appreciate the effort that went into how they blended history, fantasy and ancient lore together to make this an Oriental odyssey.
Unfortunately all the research and creativity that went into world building is wasted on the story's plot which hints heavily at a complexity that never materialises. For such a short drama, there are too many subplots touching on many themes that go nowhere. Even ignoring Sandrine Pinna's appalling Disney cartoon character acting, the entire Angelica/Pirates of the Caribbean arc adds nothing to the story. The time would be better spent fleshing out the motives of the Henggong cult and tying up the many loose ends to the story. I usually like Huang Xuan's acting and enjoyed his chemistry with Bo Yan but this is not his best role. Maybe it is the overuse of green screens but I caught him frequently out of the moment and staring blankly into space. Shen Rang is the only character that really moved me and I enjoyed this character design and portrayal the most.
The best things about this drama are that it does try to be different, it is short, some of the action scenes are pretty good and it is oddly enjoyable despite its lack of logical consistency. The ending is anti-climatic, doesn't hang together well, leaves loose ends and is disappointing overall. I am being generous in rating this as a 7.0/10.0.
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I previously saw Shin Min Ah in My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho and I loved her acting as Mi Ho in that drama. Her role in this movie is different, but her acting is really well done. I've never seen Kim Kang Woo or Ryoo Seung Bum in anything else, but I really enjoyed watching them in this movie (:
The music isn't anything special, nothing really stood out to me.
I definitely can see myself watching this movie again, I loved it (:
Overall - watch it! If you're looking for something cute and funny it's definitely worth looking into (:
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"LOLOHMYGOD HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL IN CHINESE LOLWTF SRSLY"
Now that you're all over the fact that this movie exists at all, let me tell you that this is actually an official Disney production.
... And one would not want to believe that while watching.
The reason I decided to watch this movie was because it's strikes me as the kind of movie you can't know exists - and then NOT watch it. I therefore curled up in a sofa with my friend and had a go, and I cannot count the amount of facepalms that happened that night.
First of all, the story differs a little bit from the original HSM that we all (well, some) know and love. In the original movie, the story has quite deep substanse compared to this one (and it pains me more to write it than you can ever imagine). The characters hardly interact with eachother, but seem to be perfect best friends and enemies regardless of this. It just baffles me. I was also very confused by parts of the story, since I completely lost track of what was going on at some times. Not to mention, it took me about half an hour to figure out who the main characters were. That's never a good sign.
The acting was dreadful. At times it was just embarrassing to watch, and the characters were so shallow it hurt me to the bone. I can't completely blame this on the actors though, because the writers didn't exactly give them much to work with. The dramatic line coming from Poet (Chinese Zac Efron) after he was "betrayed" (seriously, what actually happened there?) by his Ning Ning (Chinese Vanessa Hudgens) will follow me in a sarcastic matter forever more - "I tried drowning my pain in water, but it seems my pain has learned how to swim." Deep stuff there, I'll give you that. It just doesn't work in the setting at all.
You're all probably wondering about my "high" music score. That is because of two specific songs in the movie - if they had been choreographed differently and sliiiiight modifications had been made to the vocals, I would not have hated it. I actually still find myself, annoying as it may be, humming to one of them.
If I ever were to rewatch this, it would have to be in 10 years when I don't remember what happened and want a good laugh. Though I really doubt it will happen. As I said, it's the kind of movie you just HAVE to watch, but one time is enough.
So why would I rate it a 5? Well, despite my negative attitude and low scores, I actually had a blast watching it. It was so awkward and embarrassing at times that I couldn't help myself from laughing (mostly at parts not meant to be funny...), and it has given me a lot of inside jokes with the friend I watched it with. And for that, I treasure it.
I would recommend people who haven't watched it to watch it just so you can say 'Hey, I watched High School Musical in chinese!'. People may look at you funny, but some may also laugh their asses of and join the epidemic themselves (because that is what I'm trying to start here - or maybe not). That's the kind of atmosphere you'd have to go for to watch this movie, because if you're looking for a movie with a plot and substance, then you ought to look elsewhere.
Still, I will never say I regret to have watched it.
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I'm disappointed with the ending
I enjoyed the first half of the drama. I especially love episodes with Dilmurat Dilraba (Li Hui Zhen) and Zhang Vin (Lin Yi Mu). Zhang Vin was sooooooooooo charismatic, funny, caring and self-less. I think he should had been the male lead. I really was rooting for him to end up with the girl. Watching the drama, I totally get how he fell in love with Li Hui Zhen. And I truly feel that she should had love him back. They had so much chemistry!!Meanwhile, I found it unbelievable that Li Hui Zhen was in love with Bai Hao Yu. Yes, they were best friends when they were younger. But, I don't get why Li Hui Zhen would love him. First he totally ignored her on their first meeting, didn't spare her even a glance. And then throughout the drama he was terrible to her. There was no romance at all between the two leads.
Halfway in the drama, I couldn't stand the suspense anymore, I read spoilers and found out she doesn't end up with Lin Yi Mu. I was super upset. I wanted to quit the drama. I wish this drama had an alternate ending. She definitely picked the wrong guy.
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The story is very well written above all. No free events that appear out of nowhere as it does happen in many of the latest dramas. It's a classic story (the good ones will never happen to be the bad ones or vice versa) but with very interesting dramatic twists and well constructed characters learning important lessons for the final.
It's assumed that the main characters are 4, but from the beginning it seems that the main couple is that of the hotel managers and their complicated love story; however, when Frank and Yun Hee appear the story gets complicated, and that's great XD
I have to confess that I fell totally in love with the "Yoon Ah-Yong-joon" couple , I never had seen them in any other drama and seeing them here made me their number one fan, they are one of the best couples I've ever seen. On the other hand, I must say that during the first three quarters of the drama I didn't like the character of Hye Kyo because she was very arrogant, but in the final episodes, her character was more sensitive and I ended up liking her.
About music, there are two songs that I found great and that's why I qualified music with 9: "For Love" and the lovely "The Day You Come to Me" by Kang Chul. Although the drama hasn't a very diverse soundtrack and usually repeated this last song for all the romantic scenes, the melody and lyrics are as beautiful to me that I don't think that devalues the drama in any way.
In short, I think this is definitely one of the best classic dramas out there and should not be missing on your watchlist, especially because you will be satisfied with the end... although it leaves something to the imagination XD. Highly recommended!!!
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Nothing like the original and a miscast ML
The original is better imo. There was something about the sillyness and slapstick nature of kdrama that made it work. ML in kdrama was written well and made likeable. This show has not really redeemed him and it was "put them together 2 together just because. So watch it as just another show forget the other show! Now as a show:The trip in kdrama when they bond and talk like old friends made me ship them. We didnt really get the long sweet moments of just and FL was in love with younger ML.
2ml and 2fl are strong characters and shouldnt have been cast as seconds. I feel they got a bit more airtime than they should have. A lot of scenes of them talking about the other two instead of more scenes of ml and fl just ",hanging out". I see why people have 2ml syndrome. We just didnt get enough of ml and fl chemistry. I even didn't see why he left 2FL. It was just a bunch of weirdness!
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To me, what really made this drama one of my favourites on my currently watching list is the one and only Dr. Lee Young Oh. Thank you Jang Hyuk for the incredible acting, I got chills! This character is what made me so excited to watch a new episode week after week. I just wanted to see more of him and try to decipher is mind, which is indeed a “Beautiful Mind”. I won’t even lie: emotionally damaged characters are my favourite kind of characters. The psychological aspect of this story is just brilliant.
I’ve read a lot of negative comments about how Gye Jin Sung is a clueless, stupid and annoying character but I couldn’t disagree more! It’s true she lets herself be carried away by her emotions and makes decisions impulsively but I guess that’s exactly how she’s supposed to be, so we can see the contrast between her and Dr. Lee Young Oh. Even though they’re completely different, the romance wasn’t forced. They needed each other so they could both find a balance between “brain and heart” and become better characters. Park So Dam did a really good job with her character. I’ve only watched her once in “Because It’s The First Time” and she didn’t impress me much. However, she surprised in this drama.
A big shoutout to all of the cast. The chemistry between all the actors was pretty good. (Power Rangers doctors, thank you for the laughs!)
All the episodes were really interesting and the story never dragged. The only negative thing I have to point out is about the research on regenerative medicine. Sometimes the scenes related to this were kind of repetitive and boring but they turned out better over the episodes.
The OST suited the mood of each scene wonderfully. Every time “Dirt” by Bernard Park played my heart ached for Dr. Lee Young Oh even more. God, how I love this song! It conveys so many emotions, it really touches your heart in a special place. All of the other instrumental songs were extremely appropriate to the tense atmosphere.
I recommend this drama to anyone who loves psychological and medical dramas. I promise you won’t waste your time. Don’t give up on this just because it ended earlier than planned. I don’t know how the ending would be if there were two more episodes but I can say that I’m pretty satisfied with how things were wrapped up!
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Anyways, the story itself is touching and heartwarming. The first few episodes are them working on setting up the exhibition, finding the dogs, and setting out to Antarctica. Like the last reviewer stated, how many dramas (Asian ones at that) settle around the Arctic? But not only that, this story is based off of a true one. While I'm sure they through in scenes to make it more moving and to draw you in more (which they did excellently by the way) most of what you see is how it really took place.
The acting was top notch. This is my first drama with Kimura Takuya and he really stood out in his role. His love for the dogs and his actions as a leader. Of course the rest of the cast was great as well, and I think Yamamoto Yusuke acted his best in this role.
The dogs were who really really stood out though. Again, like the last reviewer stated, how they got the dogs to act so perfectly in their roles amazed me. It was natural and realistic, everything they did and how they acted. And it added 10x more to the story. You can't watch this drama and not expect to get attached to the dogs and their teamwork and spirit. I can only imagine how well trained these dogs are.
The music fitted the drama, but it's nothing I'd really listen to outside of it. The instrumentals were moving and the actual ending song went along well with it.
I'm not sure when I'll ever rewatch this, but I can definitely see myself watching it again someday. It's a really good drama. I just can't see it happening for awhile (my next step is watching the original movie and then rewatching Eight Below and comparing the stories).
Overall, I feel this drama is a bit underrated on MDL. It's a drama about faith and encouragement and working together as a team. It's a drama that shows that the life of a dog is just as valuable as a life of a human. It's a drama that really pulls you in and leaves you with a bittersweet feeling. You can't watch this drama and not feel a single drop of emotion.
Keep a box of tissues by you!
This drama has a hint of romance, but it's not what it's about or focused on so don't expect much in that department. Same with Comedy. Expect discovery and teamwork and drama.
TL;DR?
Watch it!! It's worth your time!
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