Hard-hitting Psychodrama
This one popped up on my Netflix feed recently and while the premise sounded intriguing, it was the magic words "Toby Lee" that hooked and reeled me in. Toby Lee last seen by me in the historical detective drama Miss Truth isn’t the main character here but he certainly commands a strong presence throughout the storyline. The titular "her" is played by Tiffany Hsu and she gives a sterling performance as the deeply troubled Lin Chenxi, a competent HR recruiter or “headhunter” whose life is thrown into complete disarray on the arrival of a new employee.The show begins with a suspicious death in an aged care facility in a small town. The victim is a former high school physics teacher Xie Zhizhong. The local cops finger a nurse, Yan Shenghua, a former student of his, as the chief suspect. As the show progresses, who done it, however becomes secondary to why it was done. The teacher's death is more or less a MacGuffin to make way for the real story — a terrible destructive secret that sets the stage for family dysfunction, guilt, regret and estrangement.
Lin Chenxi is a busy professional going places in her company. On the surface things seem to be going well for her. But enter Danny (Chris Wu) the cousin of the CEO who is eager to prove himself as the organization’s new rising star. His cocky, glib, overconfident demeanour camouflages a far more sinister persona. Danny, in fact is a sociopathic misogynist and loathes being upstaged, particularly by women. When Chenxi successfully talks a potential recruit into accepting a contract after the arrogant Danny botches the negotiation process, he goes ballistic. He lashes out and deploys the only weapons available to him — sexual harassment which escalates into violence.
These series of events seem to trigger deep seated memories and emotions that seem to set the stage for a mental breakdown. In a state of panic after escaping from the clutches of Danny, Chenxi meets with a road accident and is rendered unconscious.
When Chenxi regains consciousness she finds herself back in the house that she grew up in with her parents and twin brother in their hometown. From then on she exists in a perpetual state of confusion about where she is, who the people around her are and her relationships with them. The folks tell her that she’s been in an accident and seems to be suffering amnesia but why does she have fragmented memories of of a life elsewhere in Taipei with a supportive boyfriend (Toby Lee) who is now nowhere to be found. Much of the show sees her trying to navigate these memories trying to sift the truth from the lies as she becomes embroiled in the investigation of the death of her former teacher and the disappearance of an old classmate. It soon becomes clear that her family and former besties are keeping things from her as she stumbles around in the dark looking for answers.
“Shards” used here is apt as it points to the fragmentary and even unreliable nature of memories. Moreover it also refers to the fragility and brokenness of a soul stuck in a tragic past with no healing in sight. A shattered visage as it were. Furthermore “shards” can also signify the pieces of a puzzle that the audience has to put together as they journey with Chenxi.
As the audience sees events through Chenxi’s lenses, we are inevitably drawn into the same disorientation and speculation. Has she travelled back in time? Has she landed into an alternate universe? Is this all just a really bad dream?
The answers come eventually because the show isn’t just about the sordid past but about the dysfunctional gender dynamics that plague our world today. Sexual harassment opens the door to other unpleasant subjects related to the treatment of women in the workplace, the use of technology to invade women’s most private and intimate spaces. As it exposes the nasty side of cosmopolitan 21st century living, the show doesn’t shy away from taking a broad perspective on how both men and women are complicit in perpetuating such behaviours this side of the sexual revolution.
Despite the hard-hitting subjects covered in these 9 episodes, all of this still manages to arrive at a satisfying and profoundly moving finale. It's no exaggeration to say that this drama probably has the best ending I've seen all year. There’s undeniably an ugly side to humanity that has to be confronted constantly and often it seems to be our default position to do harm even with the best of intentions. In spite of the psychodrama and psychobabble at the end, I don’t find the resolution simplistic. There is an acknowledgement that the past is not so easily expunged and living with mental health issues does take a toll not only on the survivors but also on their loved ones. The goal is healing which will take time and effort.
All in all this is a strong script that’s tightly plotted. The cast as a whole is excellent — young and old. It’s the first Taiwanese drama I’ve watched in a few years because I had more or less given up finding one with a decent script without tons of fillers. I imagine that the format — 9 episodes — helps in keeping this trim and terrific. Regardless of the fact that I found this show engaging and immersive, I can’t see too many wanting to revisit it.
It would be remiss of me to end this review without some kind of warning. This is not a show for the faint-hearted, it’s certainly not for those who will be triggered by images of sexual assault especially if that’s been a feature of their past. Even though I’m someone with a strong stomach for crime shows, I too found those scenes disturbing and confronting.
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This review may contain spoilers
A late-blooming joy is still a joy
This story is about unrequited high school mutual crush which is getting an unique opportunity to explore a bond that was previously untapped. It requires balancing the nostalgia of the past with the reality of the present. It is but natural and sensible to gradually reacquaint with each other with active boundary setting. They gauge each other safely and are slowly rebuild their relationship through shared experiences and head towards having more stability in their relationship through honest and open communication. The crux of the story is when the FL comes to know that it had always been a two way crush.The focus of the story is not about quick love, confession and dealing with other things like career, friendships, family dynamics. They happen along the way.
Their shared journey IS the focus of the story.
As written in synopsis " The feelings that had accumulated over the years fermented under the memories and became stronger in the test of reality"
Pros:
Acting- All round good- I love Miles Wei acting. He always delivers. This is no exception. We get to see great comedy between him and lawyer Liu which I thoroughly enjoyed and many signature Miles expressions, geatures and moves which were a thorough entertainer
Dialogues
Cinematography
Comedy
Cons:
The second male lead plot dragged
Editing pace could have been faster
In my opinion this show could have been completed in 24-26 episodes.
Final review: The ending is beautiful and gives a perfect closure to the series and all characters.
It's even more satisfying to see that every women in this drama is empowered in her own way.
1) Ruan Yu, progresses from a successful author to a screenwriter. Of course her secret crush and love story is a success.
2)The female editor-in-chief, Chen, gets promoted to headquarters and even recommends 👇
3) Shen Mingying - who always challenged her - to take over as the new editor-in-chief. Shen Mingying gets her true love too.
4) The girl who's crushing on Li Shican realizes her mistakes and decides to move forward.
5) Lyu Shenglan, who waited for years for Xu Huaisong, who was even prepared for a marriage of convenience, steps back at the right moment as if realizing they were not meant to be and focused on her career and achieved greater heights.
6) Even the younger sister, Xu Huaishi, who was still playful, into celebrity fan culture back in high school, gets into a top university. Hopefully she will get her true love too.
7) Tao Rong, Xu Huaisong’s mom, also reunites with her husband and makes peace with herself and the past.
8) Sun Miaohan, who didn't compromise on her self-respect and dignity, successfully auditioned for the role of female lead in Ruan Yu’s book adaptation
RIP Yao Xin
Perfect closure to the series.
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Love transcends all
Where do I even start? I mean I just finished it right now and I feel this weird kind of heaviness. This is one of those shows that I am going to feel nostalgic about. Everything about it was so saddening yet beautiful. All actors did an outstanding job especially the main lead (Fandy). The direction, the lines, the ost were totally on point. Despite knowing how the show is going to end right from the very start you still feel this gravitational pull to continue watching it. It has made me feel so empty right now honestly speaking. It just hits you like like a train I mean it is just so painful yet pretty in its own way. How this one love story helped in bringing together so many people and made us question our own love for those whom we love.It teaches you alot about love and humans. Makes you have so many doubts about your own relationships. It actually literally shows you how pure love can be, transcending even death. How love is more bluer than blue itself that it can surpass time amd continue to live in other people's minds, stories and hearts.
The story is about two people in love who can do anything for each other's happiness even if it means hurting your ownself in the process, about the sacrifices they made for each other and how despite everything their love continues to inspire people.
I will recommend watching it because after a very long time I felt like I will remember a show for the months and years to come. It just hits you right on the spot, makes sure that all your intestines get wrecked and still manages to make you want more of it. I hope the two lovers get a happy ending in their next life.
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I liked the story, it was very entertaining...wait „like“ is a understatement...I LOVED IT. I loved the chemistry between the chracters. I loved it, how they could solve any problem and got new friends. Let‘s talk about my „they“ in the last sentence. The whole cast was amazing. Ye MuXi, the female lead, monitor of the class, my favourite chinese female actor and a very cheerful and joyful (i think both adjektive mean the same but who cares?). And then there is Liao Dan Yi, the male lead, intelligent guy and the opposite of Ye MuXi. And then there is the whole squad, where everyone of them is uniq.
There is just one point in this show, which I didn‘t understand and like. Whenever there was a singing scene, the singing got dubbed. I was a bit stupid, but can live with it.
In summary, I really enjoyed it and recomend it to all who want to watch a comedy school-life drama with fantasy and much much more.
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One of the best Historical Drama in Korea! MR. QUEEN.
Im really hooked in this Drama. Complete genre (drama, action, romance and comedy) All Mr. Queen actors are impressive!!! They do their job well done!!! Especially Shin hye sun and Kim jung hyun. They really fit into their character!!!! And their chemistry is sooooooo undeniable!!! They really complement each other!! I can't imagine any actors can play their role like they did. KJH is really an adlib master!!!. The king's character suits him. SHS is an excellent actress too!!! She gave us a Roller Coaster emotions!!! This literally an ALL IN Drama!! One of the best historical korean drama I ever watched!!! Highly recommended!!!! Mr. Queens staff are all amazing !!! Especially the writers and the Director!!!❤️❤️❤️ They really deserve an award!!! Good Job! MR. QUEEN!!! ❤️❤️❤️Was this review helpful to you?
Acting/Cast- The cast of this drama is relatively new, so I've not seen any of them before. However, each one of them left a remarkable mark on my memory. As a fan of the book, I admit I fantasized the leads to be more good looking as per the description of the characters. I was also disappointed with the cast before watching the drama, but boy did they change my perception. Both main actors were very good at their parts, played with such subtle chemistry and understanding and I totally bought their version of Luo Zhi and Sheng Huainan. Special mention to the guy who played Zheng Mingrui. He was so amazing at his role that I really felt for his character. Soo good. All other actors pretty much played their part really well.
Music- LOVED the music of this drama. Both the beginning and ending theme was amazing, especially the end song was really cute and captured the essence of youth so well.
Re-watch value- Definately gonna watch this drama again.
Overall- I might be biased because i already read the book few years ago but this drama is worth the shot and i hope more people watch it.
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please tell me this was a social experiment
you know those shows that you just never want to end? this was the complete opposite of that. I spent every single second watching this hoping, wishing, praying it would just end already. I put it on 2x speed and still felt myself growing older by the second, wasting away my precious minutes on this earth watching this trainwreck of a show.now you may ask, why did you finish it if you hated it this much? I have no answer for you. I myself am astonished by my own perseverance. I told myself I would see this show through to the bitter end and I can proudly say I DID IT! I withstood it all. the bad acting, horrible writing, boring cinematography, outrageous advertisement, obnoxious background music and I came out alive. I stand victorious against this show! It hasn’t broken me, but oh boy it certainly tried.
sometimes when I close my eyes I can still see it… the logo “Lodestar Productions” looming in front of me, mocking me. I wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat after having found myself trapped in a nightmare where I, too, am sitting in that office. unable to escape the melodramatics of daonuea and nine. unable to even scream. someone hands me phone and asks me to book a flight using the AirAsia SuperApp™ I take it, my fingers numb, only able to wait for death to put an end to my suffering.
anyways this show was shit. and considering how many people it takes for the production of a drama I cannot believe that this was anything other than a social experiment. there is just no way that many people earnestly signed off on this idea thinking it was going to be a hit. I will not believe it. watch it if you’re looking for something to bore you death and haunt you in your nightmares.
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Story:
Typical josei romance plot (you'll appreciate this if you're a manga reader). Boy meets girl, the guy fell in love with her, then he pursues the girl. Actually the plot is just ordinary, except for a unique twist that the guy is a monk. The comedic dialogues are present which are good, and I guess that what makes this charming (for me anyway). But what I really liked about the story is honestly the guy's character. His personality is really charming in an enchanting way. I don't know but I developed a deep affection to the main lead not only because of his physical appearance but his character development as well. The girl is our typical josei woman (if you read josei manga, then you know what I mean).
Acting/Casting:
Such handsome and pretty people, I must admit. XD Well, I liked how the actors and actresses (esp the main leads) portrayed their respective roles. I haven't read the manga yet so I can't really say if they had portrayed it well but I can assure you they are really good. Good enough to make my emotions sway every damn episode easily. Ugh, I just so love them all.
Music:
BACK NUMBER IS THE BEST! XD YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO IT. YOU'LL DEFINITELY LOVE IT. HAHA Even though I look like I'm promoting, the OST "back number" really suits this show well. I fell in love with this song first before I fell in love with the show, so if you're still skeptical 'bout watching this, then I advise you to at least try listening to the OST. It made me appreciate the show more, maybe it could persuade you as well.
Overall:
I rated this 10/10 in MDL (personal taste hehe) but I'll go now with 9/10. It's really a good one. I rarely get feels when watching Japanese drama but I must say this is an exception. Maybe because I watched this during Christmas eve and Christmas day. HAHA Welp, I don't really know. But I really like the roller coaster of emotions this drama awakened in me. It made me realize that falling in love is not an easy thing. Again. It brings you pain, suffering, tears, frustrations (lololol hint: lots of drama at the end so beware) but as well as happiness, smiles, laughter, and hope. But at the end of the day, you'll still choose to fall in love despite of the pain it will bring in your heart. Because as they say, love can keep the sadness at bay. It will cure a painfully broken heart as well as warming a cold frozen heart buried with time.
Have a happy holidays. :)
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What I loved most about this drama is that the story just kept getting more and more extreme as it went on, and I just kept getting more and more sucked in! For 32 episodes I couldn't wait to see what crazy thing would happen next so, unlike other viewers, I was never really bored. I also liked that all of the major characters had a dark side, or were flawed, which made them a lot more interesting.
Lee Dong Wook's Jae Wan was a fun character to watch unfold, even though he was damn near robotic. This drama is basically his tragic story, and it's a doozy! At first I was turned off by how cold he was, but I liked him more and more as more of his story was revealed. Eventually his need to keep his composure seemed haunting.
Lee Da Hae as Ah Mo Nae was extremely annoying, even as she started to mature, but I thinks she was a great character. Kudos to the actress for making me want to smack her through the screen several times. I also really loved the forbidden romance between Jae Wan and Ah Mo Nae, especially early on when it was technically "very" forbidden. I think they had great chemistry, although they do much more crying than flirting.
Lee Duk Hwa as Lee Joong Goo had not a single ounce of redeeming quality in him, so It was fun to watch where his extreme evil would lead. Just when I thought he couldn't get more cutthroat he would surpass his last action tenfold. I thought he was excellent.
My favorite character by far was Kim Hae Sook as Baek Mi Nyeo. It took a lot of range to pull that character off. She was manipulative, mentoring, backstabbing, sympathetic, ruthless... she'd make me drop my jaw one minute and boo-hoo cry the next. Very few actresses can pull off a role that crazy, but she definitely did. It's not the most realistic character, but again, that's why this drama was so much fun.
There is nothing subtle about this drama, it is melodrama at it's finest. I loved the cast. I loved the music. The writing may not be perfect, but considering all this story tried to take on, I was impressed.
32 episodes is a huge commitment, but I didn't mind because I didn't want it to end. I would also watch all 32 episodes again, which should tell you how much I enjoyed it the first time. I definitely recommend this to any one who likes their dramas to be filled with DRAMA in ALL CAPS.
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This story is supposedly based on a true story and can I just say this is a complete tear jerker. My friends kept pushing me into watching this and even though it's sad, I am so glad I decided to watch it.
This movie is just an amazing story about ones first love. It teases you with so much happiness and then just stabs you in the heart with sadness. I think it hurts a little more inside when you realize this based off true events.
I loved the cast. I really liked Miura and Yui together. There were those awkward acting scenes but I've grown used to them after watching so many dramas. But their chemistry was pretty good. I liked the supporting cast as well. Their characters were shown just enough and all blended well together.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone and if you are still iffy about watching this, just watch it..with a box of tissues of course
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This drama has everything you would expect from and Asian drama AND more. It's all i thought about for days, I literally dreamt of the characters when i slept.
The story, although it is appears to be a stereotypical 'good girl meets bad boy' theme, is actually far more deeper then that. The girl wasn't always so reserved, and the boy wasn't always such a womanizer. It really touches upon the consuming physiological problems that tragedy can create. Its normal to see the male lead 'change' throughout the drama and become a better person while falling in love with the female lead, but it is extremely rare to see both characters changing so much; together.
The acting was amazing. That's to be expected with Barbie and Vic. I laughed and i cried with these characters. I felt their heartbreak as much as my own.
Its the rare kind of drama that gets better with each passing episode, and at the end you just wish you could watch it all over again with new eyes.
I would recommend this to anyone.
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Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
This excellent adaption of one of Gu Long's best known works 绝代双骄 is also known as peerless or legendary twins. The cringey English title is a shameless bid to advertise the main leads as eye candy idol actors. This delightful romp through jianghu is faithful to the original story and checks all the boxes in terms of what a true blue wuxia ought to be.This is a typical Gu Long plot structured around one overarching conspiracy that comes to light after the main protagonists encounter many adventures and solve a few smaller related mysteries. A woman scorned by unrequited love sets out to extract a terrible vengeance by separating twin brothers at birth and raising them to kill or be killed by each other. As the leader of the powerful Yihua Palace, she raises one of the brothers Hua Wuque (Hu Yitian) to be a stellar martial artist whose mission is to hunt down and personally kill the wicked Jiang Xiaoyu. Wuque is a handsome, refined and righteous but overly naive and reserved young man who is the spitting image of his father Jiang Feng.
Wuque's brother Jiang Xiaoyu (Chen Zheyuan) is rescued by Jiang Feng's sworn brother legendary swordsman Yan Nantian and grows up under the influence of the ten great villains of Wicked Canyon. He is renown for his intelligence (mostly due to self praise) and is a lively, charismatic and healthily skeptical young rogue. Less skilled than Wuque, he relies on his deviousness to squirm out of tight situations. He is a determined bachelor that evades several persistent young women before meeting his match in wit and resourcefulness. This embroils him in several romantic entanglements and triangles. During his many colorful adventures, his path crosses with Wuque and they become friends and allies. Together they tackle their main antagonist, the scheming Jiang Biehe and his son Jiang Yulang. Despite their disparate upbringings and appearing on surface to to be polar opposites, both brothers are innately good natured and have common values that bind them in a deep friendship. Nonetheless in accordance with jianghu code of conduct, they must fulfill their vow to face each other in a predestined duel to the death.
The plot and the many archetypal characters in this well known story may seem tropey and unoriginal but Gu Long was one of the pioneers of the modern wuxia genre. If this feels familiar or like something you have watched before, it is more likely those stories or characters were influenced by this rather than the other way around. It is easy to follow because the audience is usually one step ahead of both protagonists and antagonists and knows the big secret that they are brothers. It is a favorite of mine because the overused revenge trope is handled compassionately and does not devolve into simply just an eye for an eye. All of Gu Long's women are capable of being frighteningly single minded in love, unscrupulous, vindictive and utterly ruthless and unforgiving. One of these bad-ass ladies always gets the guy but this is from the 1950s so while there is romance, it is very chaste by today's standards.
I was really impressed by the cast. Many important roles were played by young and upcoming actors and this was very obvious in the first 4 episodes. After that, almost everyone got into character and it came together quite well. While Chen Zheyuan somewhat overacted Jiang Xiaoyu, he is a very versatile and charismatic young actor. He just needs to not try so hard, be a bit more nuanced and develop his own style. Similarly Hu Yitian's Hua Wuque was a bit too restrained or underacted initially. But they had great chemistry and really excelled at showing us how the brothers grew to become more alike as they got to know each other. I must also mention the awesome cat and mouse encounters between Jiang Yulang and Jiang Xiaoyu - what an excellent villain! I actually found this to be the best acted, most nuanced main role.
Finally in terms of what makes or breaks any wuxia it is the fight scenes. These really knocked the ball out of the park - they were truly awesome - excitingly and powerfully choreographed with the right balance between stills, slow motion and non-stop movement. And naturally it is Gu Long so it is a total feast in terms of the number of heart stopping lethal clashes between some very colorful, slightly eccentric martial arts champions with wildly improbable combat abilities. I love this stuff and immediately rewound and re-watched each epic clash.
What a fun, well paced, light heart-ed and engaging wuxia. I wish all adaptations of the classic, best loved Gu Long and Jin Yong wuxias get this kind of quality remake. Two thumbs up!
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1I have read 50% of the novel and I can say that the production of this drama did a great job to make the story alive! There are some minor changes, but that did not affect the storyline. There are some scenes that I thought maybe can be done better because some of them were just kind of out of detail. I wish that they put more focus on the characters' personalities since I know the story can be developed more from that, but that's okay, I laughed a lot watching the FL and ML interact. The chemistry between the FL and ML is so good. Their acting is very natural, like real siblings. I have watched some of Miaoyi's dramas, and I also know Jun as an Idol, I know he was a child actor. This drama honestly surprised me because their acting is so good! I just know that they were actually having fun doing this project together.
I just hoped they put more songs into the drama, but maybe because it is a rom-com, the OST is more fun songs? Idk.
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This review may contain spoilers
I really thought people were exaggerating, but unfortunately they screwed up everything on final episodes. The only thing that was outstanding in this drama was the mature and understanding relationship between the main leads. They always solved everything through talking to each other but in the last 4 episodes the writers just thought were a good idea changing this amazing couple dynamic. It made no sense that Yang Hua, who always were straightforward about his feelings, simply not being able to answer QS twice when she asks who he would choose between her and Yao Yao.Then, instead of talking about the problem, YH just came with the stupid jealousy game to make QS come around with her feelings, he even let her thinking he was that boy's father. That was so out of character and the last no sense was that reunion. YH wanted her to admit and tell that she love him but in the end they get together and she still never confesses her feelings. That separation seemed so meaningless. I feel the writing was just messy, a lot was obviously cut and the end was completely unsatisfying. It's a shame because even though I skipped a lot, until episode 34 the drama was good and the main leads romance was one of the best I ever saw. Yang Hua is simply a perfect man, so precious, I will just keep this in my memories and forget that stupid end.
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Beautiful xianxia drama that may have its flaws but overall is still worth the watch
Before I get into this, I would like to say that negative reviews have had no effect on me and I think Zhou Dong Yu looks the part.This story follows Shang Gu as she lives up to her role as the leader of the four immortals and takes responsibility for the realms.
The story starts out somewhat stereotypical: Shang Gu needs to get stronger so she trains under Bai Jue. However, the character development was nicely done in this: Shang Gu grows from a mischievous, useless goddess to a powerful, self-sacrificing leader. Bai Jue also begins to open up, and the chemistry between the two is adorable. Shang Gu is like a puppy dog of happiness whenever she's around Bai Jue! The plot also begins to pick up around 4 episodes too, and the story becomes very interesting.
The second life is also neat, but one of my only criticisms of the show comes here: Shang Gu(or Houchi in this life) becomes a bit wooden. Zhou Dong Yu still acts out Houchi like she was the strong female ruler she was, but after 30 episodes it starts to get a little stale and unbelievable. In Xianxia dramas (or any drama, really) I wish to see a lot of character development and growth. Shang Gu experienced emotional and physical growth, but I'm not sensing a lot of emotional growth from Houchi where it feels like there should be some. She still faces problems and reacts to things in exactly the same way for 20 episodes straight. I find it hard to believe that her personality will change drastically when she becomes Shang Gu again too. Despite this, I still enjoyed the second arc.
The third phase (starting from the return of Bai Jue) was both the best and the worst phase. It was the worst because in some places, there were some cheesy and unbelievable scenes, such as (no major spoilers) when everyone stood in a circle around Bai Jue and Jing Zhao and watched everything unfold without reacting. There were some pretty shocking things happening, so the vast majority just standing there like statues kind of took the emotional impact out of that moment for me. Another thing is Shang Gu interacting with Bai Jue during the period when they weren't on the best terms. They basically said the same things for three encounters. Xu Kai's acting saved the day because he has the best despairing gaze, but I feel like they needed to switch up their interactions a bit.
Now for the best parts (and these override the bad parts by miles ). I said above that I may not like Zhou Dong Yu's acting in the third arc, but I was pleasantly surprised. Her acting, like in the first arc, feels lively, spirited, and quick-witted. The second great thing is actually the villain's development. I want to give props to Jenny Zhang for portraying Wu Huan's character with such depth. Her desperation and resignation of fate led her to her actions, and I can even relate with her a bit. Her story was well written and her ending was justified. And that leads me to the third thing. Ancient Love Poetry has one of the best endings that I've seen. All the characters were written off nicely, everyone got what they deserved, and the ending was beautiful. Nothing felt rushed or unsatisfactory. The ending sealed the deal for this drama being a great drama overall.
About the main characters: I sometimes felt Zhou Dong Yu could've acted some parts with more emotion. She's awesome at the cheerful/intellectual/imposing scenes, but her sad scenes aren't totally there yet. Xu Kai is great; he goes from an emotionless True God to a hot-blooded immortal, and he's great at subtly showing his emotions in his third form. Like Zhou Dong Yu, his acting is also a bit wooden at times, but his emotional scenes hit me where it hurts. He's got some great acting abilities. Despite their individual acting, their chemistry was adorable. I also liked the fact that their relationship was not a stereotypical guy-is-the-best-at-everything relationship.
The side characters are a joy to watch in this show. I love them all, from the friends to the villains. They are multifaceted and compelling, and I'm as invested in their stories as I am in the main couples'. Wu Huan is a dislikeable but understandable villain, Yue Mi and Feng Ran are friends with interesting backstories, the other immortals are all people with flaws struggling to do their best, and the Demon Tribe is just another group with its own troubles and stories. Tian Qi is actually one of my favorite characters. They are part of what makes this show charming.
For the animation: the trailer was beyond beautiful, but making every little part look amazing is going to cost a lot of money, and this drama is already CGI heavy. However, this show is the best-edited among long-length xianxia dramas up to and during its air. It really is dazzling and gorgeous.
Overall, Ancient Love Poetry is definitely a drama worth watching, and despite my criticisms, the number of great scenes vastly outnumber them. Also, once you get deep into the story, you want to know what happens next!
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