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The Dark Side of the Moon.
This drama is about how a power couple that is well matched in terms of cunning, ambition and capability scale the upper echelons of banking and finance during 1930s Shanghai. The narrative vividly captures the wild, morally ambiguous, highly speculative, wheeling and dealing nature of the mafia dominated banking and finance industries during that early period of industrialisation.Cheng Yizhi is a scrappy, enterprising, self educated young orphan with a knack for numbers and finance who is raised by a kindly shopkeeper. He starts out in a lowly position at a bank but his talent propels his rapid advancement to become the protege of banking magnate Huang Ruhong. Wu Lizi is the pampered daughter of a distinguished banker whose world falls apart when her father is framed and commits suicide. Hell bent on revenge, she marries Yizhi and ruthlessly uses his access to banking circles to investigate her father's downfall. Mutual lack of communication and a terrible, irreversible decision by Lizi ruins their marriage but leads to a very rewarding business partnership where they build a bank together.
Wu Lizi is one of the most selfish, devious, manipulative, ruthless and utterly charming female protagonists I have come across. It is such a treat to get complex and fascinating female characters like Lizi. That is why I kept watching this even though at one point I was enraged and disappointed to the point of almost dropping. I still don't like how they wrote Lizi to lash out so viciously and vindictively with such heavy consequences but I am glad I kept going because she really moved me with her stoic remorse and acceptance later on. Even though there were some rough edges to Cai Weijing's performance, overall she is tough, willful, curiously vulnerable and so charismatic that I could literally see how she tied Yizhi, Charlie and Xu Du up into knots emotionally.
Zhang Xincheng delivered a most excellent performance in this drama as Cheng Yizhi, a cynical character that well understands the dark side of the moon due to his upbringing on the rough side of town. So he is the ultimate nemesis of dark characters like Huang Ruhong because he can get into their heads and narrowly manages to stay one step head of them. In sharp contrast, he seeks the light in all of his dealings and finances some of the most promising industrialists of the day. At the onset Yizhi goes toe to toe with crooked businessmen and corrupt politicians with equally scheming and wily tactics. But as the story advances and his dark secrets are revealed, the character is whitewashed and becomes too perfect, so understanding with such shiny plated plot armor that I had to roll my eyes. I needed more flaws or to see him be a little bit petty or selfish and to play dirty sometimes. Instead Charlie, a far more interesting and lovable character rises to the occasion to do all the slightly shady things that need to be done in order to stymie their unscrupulous rivals. Nonetheless the lead couple has superb chemistry and the way their relationship blossoms from mistrust and suspicion into an incredible partnership on multiple levels is one of the drama's strengths.
The business subplots are quite interesting, well written and the financial concepts are kept at a simple enough level for laymen. The characters however are less well written and notably Lizi, is not consistently written. For such a smart character she does some retarded things that can only be put down to sloppy writing. Huang Ruhong's somewhat creepy and unfathomable hard on for Yizhe is also unconvincing and not in character for the leader of the criminal underworld. Indeed the true love triangle in this drama is the one between Ruhong, Yizhe and Lizi. This was such a promising antagonist at the start but gets sidelined as the ending arc digresses into yet another patriotic fight the Japanese invaders plot. I would have preferred to see a more satisfying cat and mouse takedown of this smart antagonist play out properly. Towards the later episodes, many key characters are gratuitously killed off to squeeze out the obligatory tears expected of a Republican period drama. This backfires as I only felt very sad for two of the deaths which only highlights that the other characters were two dimensional ones that I never got invested in.
There are many enjoyable and unique aspects to this drama that make it worth watching even though it falls down on messy plot, sloppy character writing and a lame ending arc. Charlie was my favorite character and his wit, style and wisdom saved the show. Overall this is just a 7.5 for me despite strong acting by the leads. And MVP Charlie (Wang Zijian).
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This show is all about relationships and it is love-hate for me
Dear Diary, I just had a lightbulb moment while watching Begin Again. I just realised that the show was designed to present us with a series of beautiful, happy or swoon-worthy moments like sugar highs and we shall want more. Unfortunately, for some of us, this will feel superficial when the highs wore off.The show started well and promisingly. It wore the rom-com tag with pride and it left the viewer with little doubt that the show was light-hearted and fluffy. The OST is full of happy little tunes and zany sound effects to help us to spot any double entendre. The writer flipped the usual marriage contract trope and made the FL the instigator and she was smart, head strong as well as the powerful CEO of a large corporation. The ML was a sweet, gentle soul in contrast. There was good chemistry between the OTP but it was not without issues. The meet-cute was good and the pace was cracking in the first few episodes. However, once the show started to go on rails then the weak story telling began to show. One such issues was an odd tonal misalignment. As I mentioned before, the show took its rom-com root seriously. It seemed hellbent on being funny and light hearted even though when you look at the themes that were touched upon it was anything but. There was PTSD, unrequited love, one sided crush, obsession, revenge and stalking, etc . They are hardly trivial matters but the show muted their impact. You can feel an unease and a discord building under the cheery veneer if you bothered to look.
By the mid show mark, the corporate world of the FL has collapsed due to the shenanigans of a revenge plot. However, while it was presented to us as a surprise twist, it was telegraphed to us earlier on. In a sense, it was a tell-tale sign of the writing. Almost everything about the show was very transparent and shallow. Lots of tropes were used and most characters were one dimensional. Some did play for laughs but the lack of depth was telling.
The wheel really came off when the FL played the noble idiot card around the 2/3 mark. Why writers insist that running away from someone who truly loved you is the best way to bring them happiness and peace. Really?! In this case, it was even worse as a child was involved. As other reviewers have mentioned, she could have simply accompanied the ML overseas but that would be too logical.
Then the magical unicorn joined the cast. There was a SIX years time skip and the show basically used a 5 year old boy as the Deus Ex Machina to reset the show. Sunshine and happiness returned to the blighted land and we rejoiced!
However, there was little character development in the mean time and nothing was really addressed. In fact, the show basically spent the first episode after the time skip to berate the FL (via her friends and family) for being a noble idiot. If it was such a bad idea then why use it as a plot device? When you consider the script even had the ML telling the FL upon their reunion that he didn't change his phone number for 6 years and she pointedly said that she didn't either then why didn't they just call as they were obviously still pining for each other. Not only the OTP had a reset, the 2OTP (the author) had a reset and started their courtship again when nothing happened for 6 years?! The 3OTP pairing (the actress) was a waste of time.
Honestly, the last 10 episodes were done like a string of scenes designed to give us the feels or make us swoon but barely advanced the threadbare plot. It walked the same grounds of the earlier episodes. Sure, the little boy stole the show and the couple moments were sweet and the ML will make you swoon. It was so light that it could have lifted the Hindenburg. The revenge plot resurfaced briefly but it was poorly handled and strained credulity.
You'd either love this purely for the feels and sweet moments and ignore whatever else was going on and you will be happy. Or if you watch this with critical eyes then you will hate how the poor script was veneered over by "Mills and Boon" moments and ultimately leave you with a hollow feeling. Maybe re-watch the last few episodes if you needed a sugar hit.
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Utterly brilliant from start to finish
Wow!From start to finish this is a brilliant drama. The main characters have so much chemistry (even when she does want to stab him in the eye with a chopstick) and their support teams are fabulous with plenty of amusing moments to further elevate this story. Fabulous costumes, fight scenes and attention to detail round off this production.
Not gonna lie, there is plenty of blood and drama with believable bad guys and the odd death thrown in..
Had me hooked very quickly and binge watched the whole thing as I just couldn’t put it down.
Will definitely watch this again.
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Hwayi reviewed by Hwayi hehe
My friend suggested that it would be cute to see Hwayi review Hwayi so here I am.Getting into this review, for this movie, I did not check the ratings (Like Rated 15+, 18+) and jumped straight into it. Let me just say, I was shocked but not pleasantly. I realized from this movie, that I'm not into really dark things. This was simply way too dark for me.
Story: The story actually wasn't the bad. It looked good. And it looked exactly what I like to watch. However, I was totally wrong. There was too much death. Literally every five seconds a "dad" would die, it felt like. There was just so much stuff thrown at me that I couldn't catch up. And there's a brief butt naked scene where it showed after the raping of a young girl, that literally scared/disgusted me. I really should've checked the rating before watching it.
I feel really bad for Hwayi for having to grow up underneath these maniacs. I do remember liking one of the dads a lot but everyone else was just not it for me.
Acting: The acting was amazing! Yeo Jin Goo pulled off a splendid performance at just the young age of 16. And of course, the other actors as well did amazing.
This is not a movie for people who can't deal with blood, gore, extreme profanity.
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Didn't really like Zhang Yu Jian character in this show. He was too immature and like a child. Yes, there was a gradual improvement in character, but it was very very little. Even till the very end, I did not see a big improvement. That decision to disappear for 2 years at the end without a word to You You was just plain immature. I admit that the decision to leave the entertainment scene and let the online vitriol calm down was acceptable, but that does not mean you leave the girl you like in the lurch, without any word whatsoever. Love is about facing the ups and downs of life together （有难同当）. The mature thing to do is the talk to You You and discuss with her what he intends to do and see how they can overcome the adversity together.
I much prefer the character Zhang Yu Jian played in LCDF (Yan Mo), where he is much more mature and responsible. Seeing this 360deg change in the character he plays here makes me irritated.
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This review may contain spoilers
One of the reasons I loved this drama is because it subtly tackles mental health. Yes, I know this is considered as a family drama but how they personified and tackled depression was so close to reality that it almost hit home to me. Will elaborate more in a while. I first watched this drama without knowing anything about it except for the cast. I heard Uee was offered the role first as Seo Jian but declined, and no matter how much I love Uee I'm so glad she did decline because OMG SHIN HYE SUN IS GOLD. I really love her acting style. She's an outstanding actress and I cannot imagine anyone else as Seo Jian. The role was made for her. period.
However, I would like to say that I'm not the biggest fan of the love line between the FL and ML. I might even say that I like them better when they were siblings. Not too fond also of the relationship of the second leads. I don't know why, but no matter how cute they were together something felt off for me but I can't seem to point my finger on it. Actually my favorite couple in this series is Seo Jiho and Choi Seohyun. They just look so cute together and they grew their relationship more naturally as they spend more time together. I find it very unfortunate that they ended up as just friends but at the same time I understand also why it must be done as it will just be so wrong if they ended up together because first they will be at the same boat as their older siblings and second they will be in-laws when Seo Jian and Choi Dogyeong gets married. My second favorite couple here in this series is actually Choi Jaesung and Noh Myeonghui because even though they did not have the best relationship during their marriage you can still see that they did marry for love and they still have a bit of respect towards each other during their time together. I personally believe that their greed got the best of them sometime during their marriage and that's where it started to go wrong BUT they still did love each other they just had different priorities in life but I'm glad they found their way back. I mean it's hard to believe that they didn't love each other when you have three children together :)
As I've mentioned earlier, I believe depression was part of the theme of this drama also. Throughout this series, there were three characters who had depression (actually more but will focus on these three): Choi Jaesung - Andropause (male menopause); Seo Jian - Suicidal; Seo Taesu - passive suicidal.
Out of these three, Choi Jaesung was the mildest case, however it only meant that if it wasn't prevented properly there was a possibility that it could've worsen. I deeply empathize with Seo Taesu, as in his case it was built up over the years after his family started treating him different due to the change in their financial position. It was actually sad to see that because he was so down that he wanted to die but in no means wants to kill himself. And Lastly, Seo Jian. She did attempt to commit suicide and I'm glad she did recover fast. It goes to show that all of us are vulnerable it's just that others have a stronger facade than most. Out of all the family dramas I have watched, this drama had the most realistic depiction of depression. So realistic in fact that I think they should've placed a trigger warning for the audience.
Overall, it was fun watching this drama. The ending was satisfactory, it was realistic as I think after everything that have happened they all needed time to heal their own wounds.
PS: One of the worst grandpas ever in a series: Noh Yangho!!!
PPS: Other mental issues I've observed in this drama:
Dependent Personality - Noh Myeonghui, Choi Seohyun
Inferiority Complex - Seo Jisu, Noh Jinhee
Manipulative behavior - Noh Yangho
Victim Mentality - Noh Myeonghui
I believe there are more but I'll stop here for now :)
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The plot is centered on the Japanese upper class in 1912, an era that’s very rare to find in Japanese or Asian productions in general which made me appreciate its use. Although the beginning was a bit slow, the love story was done quite well and let me tell you, this is not one of those cheesy stories where everything gets resolved with “I love you” and “I love you too”. This is a mature romance that goes in depth of emotions and struggles to reach its peak. While watching the romantic developments, you will get a taste of flowing innocence, painful denial, endless suffering, forbidden encounters as well as hunting desire that led the storyline into dark yet enjoyable corners because it was one of the basic chapters of this movie.
The story’s developments weren’t always right or very well done. Actually, some of them felt predictable and quite bothersome to follow such as familial quarrels and the barriers against the main leads’ relationship. However, if we judge it by the overall atmosphere; the screenwriting was able to pull it off and create a pleasant and mature love story.
The acting department was almost flawless. As usual, Tsumabuki Satoshi was able to get complete control of his role like he always does; that guy is an astonishing actor indeed. It doesn’t matter what kind of role you give him, he will manage to shine in it no matter how badly written it is. On the other hand, Takeuchi Yuko happens to be an expert in romantic stories. Of course, I am not denying her acting skills but if you saw her other romance oriented productions, you will notice that she always manages to create gripping chemistry with her partners and this movie wasn’t any different.
Spring Snow is all about chemistry, so if Satoshi and Yuko didn’t pull it off the way they did; everything about this movie would’ve fallen apart. It was so consuming and very different from other Japanese productions; from now on, that’s how chemistry is supposed to be done. Moreover, the characters’ development was quite neat and enjoyable overall even if some of them felt quite messed up at times.
You should watch this if you’re looking for mature romance, great acting and astounding chemistry. Needless to say, if you’re expecting something fluffy and cute then you’re definitely in the wrong place.
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How much can one's skin, one's face tell you…
Under the Skin is a crime drama that revolves around two main characters Shen Yi (Tan Jian Ci) and Du Cheng (Jin Shi Jia) and how they solve cases together. Shen Yi was an art professor but he joins Criminal investigation Detachment of Beijiang as a forensic artist and helps them with his great observation skills and his professional art skills. Captain Du Cheng bears a grudge against Shen Yi as he once drew a portrait for his undercover friend who later died.
The balanced tension between these two where one carries guilt and the other carries a past grudge was visible right from the beginning but since this combo was tied together by circumstances it was gonna be fun watching how the latter story progresses. Their bond that develops over time and the trust that comes along as they solve mysteries together is the precious part.
Favorite lines from the drama »»»
—"Humans give intriguing expressions when they're alive but once they're dead, their face becomes so dull"
—"Dead men are expressive too. Sometimes it's even reliable than a living person"
A major highlight of the drama are "portraits". If not for this drama, I could've never expected art is this deep and they can actually recover faces with such less hints. I appreciate the amount of art and portraits in this drama. It made things more realistic and reasonable. It's about the details that makes this drama more interesting.
This has a total of 10 cases including 9 cases of the present and 1 case from past 7 years ago which are intriguing, unpredictable and unique. The best part is that their stories will not disappoint you at all.
Acting — Tan Jianci as the invincible portraitist is the perfect actor for this role. His minute expressions everytime he is drawing or sketching is just flawless. The way he acts as if he is observing things looks so real and he is like totally into his character. Jin Shijia is also good acting as the cool leader of the team. Even all those guest actors who acted only for 2-3 episodes when their case was going on were so on point. I was touched by some of their stories and no doubt their acting played an important part.
Okay so overall, I enjoyed the drama totally. I was looking forward to the revelation of all those cases and I liked the stories in them. The acting is perfect and I recommend this thriller mystery drama that has little sprinkles of bromance along.
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this show isn't getting what it deserves
I've seen so many people talk about this show being disappointing, but I honestly disagree.Firstly, the two main leads did such a great job. I love their chemistry. Also, lots of people are saying that Jimmy's acting is lesser than the korean actors but I don't think that's the case. Yoon Oh and Dr Moon are much more emotionally heavy characters then Peach. Personally, I feel Peach is someone who doesn't display his sad emotions, rather opting to give out a screen of happiness. Even if you still believe that Jimmy's acting wasn't good enough, he still did a great job portraying the emotions of his character.
Next, the story. I think the script was realllyyyy good. I'm trying to not spoil too much but the ending was perfect in my opinion. It didn't try to give us an unrealistic/hypocritical of somehow rising the dead. It was a nice ending. And the writing was really good. Nothing cringy or unneccassary.
Overall, if you're hanging on the fence, I'd say just watch it. It's fairly short and I don't think you'll regret it. IMO this show is much better than some thai BLs with a higher rating.
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Lee Kwang Soo stood out to me when I first saw him in City Hunter. I don't know why; he just did. He quickly became one of my favorite cast members on Running Man. Since then, I've seen almost all his series and a fair amount of his movies. His acting has gotten better and better. As the lead in Sound, he's perfect. The cast he leads which includes the phenomenal Kim Mi Kyung. (I swear she is the hardest working woman in South Korea) are equally as perfect. This is the odd case where the casting director got it right all the way around. Speaking of RM, ex-RM, Song Joon-Ki is in an episode for maybe 2 minutes. Current member Kim Jong Kook is in another episode for perhaps 10-15 minutes. That brings me to the episodes. The webtoons were 15 minutes. Luckily, I found 30 minute episodes (2 web eps put together of course).
The writing is fantastic. There are some crude scenes (remember that potty humor I mentioned), but don't let that deter you. Those couple of scenes are really setting up something bigger and funnier. WARNING: The funny may sneak up on you. I started watching Sound at work. A scene came out of left field and took me by surprise. I basically holler laughed and had my supervisor at my desk wondering what I was doing. There's very little character development as it's not that kind of a show. There is character familiarity. You get to know these characters quickly as you do if you were just starting to read a comic or watch an animation. Hopefully, there will be more seasons and we'll see them develop.
The music was good... I guess. LOL I remember there was music and it fit well. I didn't find it hokey or silly. Just appropriate.
Overall, I adored The Sound of Your Heart. For me it was the perfect 30 minute nugget to help get me through my days. I've actually watched it twice in less than 2 weeks. I guess the rewatch factor is kind of high, huh? ;-) Mind you, the type of slapsticky comedy might not be for everyone, but you never know until you try.
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在下晴明 - Qingming is in the house.
在下晴明Yes! Yes! YES!!!
Qingming is in the house!!!
That is THE most striking difference between Yin Yang Master and Dream of Eternity, where I was like - Huh?...what??? Detective Dee?? Where is Qingming??? Where oh where is my yin yang master? THE Yin Yang Master? And in this Chen Kun just delivers the wickedly enigmatic and alluring essence of Qingming, a diabolically powerful, magical, misunderstood half human half demon that walks the world in between.
This version of Yin Yang Master's plot is much simpler and thus, better executed. It hones in on the life and death bond between a demon familiar shi shen/侍神 and their master zhu ren/住人. Falsely accused, half human, half demon Qingming is estranged from his zhu ren Baini and the Yin Yang Bureau. They reunite in a desperate attempt to recover an artefact that can set a powerful demon free; a quest that tests and lays bare their true loyalties and exposes past betrayals. Chen Kun and Zhao Xun's chemistry never fails to thrill, captivate and move me and they effortlessly convince me of their life and death bond. What I also love is that Qingming is not just uselessly waving his hands in the air reciting incomprehensible incantations. He really jumps into the thick of the fray in a way that leaves no doubt that he is in it to win it. In every life endangering encounter there is that nail biting sense of urgency, intensity and imminent peril. This fantasy world with its human and demon yao/妖 inhabitants has a very adorable, young adult and enthrallingly magical feel to it. In many ways, it captures the essence of Disney in that it speaks to two audiences both kids and adults with its clear message that both humans and demons can be monsters.
The only thing I really did not enjoy in this movie were the second leads - both actors were juvenile and did not deserve the screen time that they got. The animated characters like the Evil Red Ghost and side characters like the Peach Blossom Fairy were far more compelling and managed to capture my heart over those two jokers.
Overall this was a very entertaining movie - Chen Kun fans like myself will obviously be able to find many things to like and I can see kids just absolutely loving it. I rate it 7.5.
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IT TAUGHT ME ABOUT SELF-LOVE WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT!! THANKS RUN ON
Unfortunately, the journey with Run On has ended. But I know I can binge-watch it again :)This was the best drama that I ever watched in my 2 years of kdrama life. This is my first review for a drama; so, you can guess how much I liked it.
The story the dialogues everything was perfect. Most importantly it taught us about self-love which is very important. Whatever I thought from the previews came out to be completely different. This drama was not cliché at all. This for me was the first drama in which I liked both the couples equally.
Gyeomi was a couple which mostly dealt with a lot of emotions and Danhwa was a couple which really brought smiles to our faces. The iconic birthday party scene which I am sure no one can forget.
Not just the main characters the side characters also helped to really bring out the happy side of the show. This show would have been nothing without- Young Hwa’s homie, Dan Ah’ brother and manager, Mi Joo’s sister like friend May and Seon Gyeom’s sister Eun Bi. These people helped in keeping the show alive.
I am not a picky person but sometimes I just get tired of dramas where I can predict the story and this was just the drama that I needed at the time. I was watching another drama on kissasian but I found it in recommendations I just thought about giving it a try and here I am. I even left the other drama I was watching.
Now for the remarks:
Story- Perfect
OST- Perfect (can never forget)
Acting- My first drama of SSK I know many people don’t like her acting but here she became one of my favorites. First drama of ISW as well and he also became my favorites along with SY and KTO and of course all the side characters.
Rewatch Value- Would definitely watch it again whenever I feel empty and want something to refresh my mind.
Last but not least not to forget I will definitely miss this drama; but I can watch it again. The thing I will miss the most is the COMMENT SECTION of this drama. It was a really peaceful place where everyone shares their views and talked about it. We together predicted the story out of the previews. I WILL TOTALLY MISS IT. I JUST HOPE IT STILL STAYS ALIVE EVEN AFTER THIS DRAMA ENDS.
I recommend this drama to everyone who doesn’t know about self-love and who doesn’t want a cliché plot:)
THANK YOU TO THE WHOLE TEAM OF RUN ON (though they can’t read it)
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PlotEarly stage this drama show Li changge as a independent and have good/decent martial art but along the drama its seem like she loose her martial art and doesnt know to defend herself. eventhough the characters said she so clever and women with tactics but in my opinion main leads always cover her reckless .
This drama dont have heavy revenge plot, I have seen other drama that have heavy plot of revenge. Li changge seems lost at the middle of the story and need Sun to give her direction.
This drama doest show how desperate/independent Li changge is because plot highlight more journey of Li Changge to find revenge or injustice for her family but its seems like she more closed with her cousin rather than her sibs . Its a bit confused.
Casting :
Ashile sun - that carry all the character and closed the weakness of li changge.
li changge - early story seems strong but kind loose along the story and depend more on her friend to protect her. What the used of her martial art ? Its a bit confusing when they have scene in war but Li changge face dont have any dust on her clean. She want to portray boyish chracter but zhou liying or yang mi have been better portray that.
Mimi Guli - she seems from noble family when look at her tantrum (at the market) Like WTF woman just let go . But she only a maid even zhou lusi is a princess know how to be humble.
Leyan - character like stupid and have nice heart . Doesnt know how to fight and so on but at some scene like when she got kidnapped and follow group of beggars she portray her character well .
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