Reviews

Run Yu Steals the Show

The closest contender so far to top Peach Blossoms. Except the intended demographic felt more targeted towards teens than adults and the pacing sags significantly in the middle. Too much screen time given to uninteresting side stories. The Demon Princess's love being the worst offender.

Still, there is a lot to take-away from Ashes of Love. For one, the overall story is very compelling with sweeping world-building located in a fantasy realm to set it up. Costumes are gorgeous, as most dramas will not lack in this category and the music was not only very suitable, but lovely. You'll be happy to know this drama also does come with a happy ending, complete with a mounting emotional climax between three main characters which eventually spills over into thrilling CGI battle/grudge match, loaded with emotion.

Now, I'm told compared to the book, the two main male leads Xu Feng and Run Yu, were reversed in the drama, in terms of temperament. I haven't read the book, so it's not for me to proclaim, but after finishing I did realize something very interesting. The antagonist love rival, Run Yu/Night Immortal, was, dare I say it... more sympathetic and likable then the leading man, Xu Feng. Now this is usually very detrimental to a story, as you want to root for the hero, not the villain. In the case of Ashes of Love, I would say this fact keeps it from being 10/10.

I don't want to dump on Deng Lung's acting because this may not have been his fault, but Xu Feng's character delivery came across as mopey and inexpressive. This was probably a conscious choice to make Xu Feng more likable compared to the book, which seems to have been frosty but still proactive (a lot like his dad in the drama). By being mopey, he is less threatening than is book counterpart. The problem with this approach is any emotional acting in comparison will stand-out. And that is exactly what Leo did, as Run Yu. He was sympathetic because he emoted so much more. I cared about his plight, because he convinced me of it. Xu Feng, was like the spoiled rich kid where as Run Yu was the orphaned poor kid going through all the suffering. Who am I naturally inclined to be more sympathetic towards?

Now since this drama falls under the romance genre, I'm also most critical of it's delivery. Jin Mi and Xu Feng are a couple much like Romeo and Juliet. The romance is not compellingly deep. It's a young love, filled with passion and a little superficial. It takes a lot of time before I am convinced their love goes beyond surface level. It's also a story about learning to love, mostly from Jin Mi's perspective. Yet, from the very beginning I could never shake the notion that between Run Yu and Xu Feng, it was a first come first serve basis. Jin Mi only fell for Xu Feng because he met her first and her decision to choose him was as immovable and permanent as the gender you're born as. Poor Run Yu. Though, I can't say I think him getting Jin Mi would have been ideal either. Run Yu started with a pure heart but became increasingly more dangerous as he grew obsessive.

It's nice that this drama does end happily, with all three sharing a mutual understanding of where eachother stands. I wanted a happier ending for Run Yu but at least this drama introduced me to the wonderful actor that is, Leo Yun Xi. I would go as far as to state Ashes of Love is worth the watch, for him alone.

One last thought. It might not be worth mentioning but... was it really fair to give Sui He / Peacock Immortal the ending she got? I get it, she was the bad guy. She tries to get between Xu Feng and Jing Mi and commits many foul deeds fueled by muddled obsession to achieve that. She deserves a comeuppance. Still, as the drama is wrapping up and the overall feel is happy, out of nowhere were treated with a scene of Sui He stumbling into a den of crazy cannibalistic brothers. She was already ostracized for her actions, left to die lonely and crazy. Why was our happy ending interrupted by more kicking of her when shes down? It felt wrong. The scene was unnecessary, gross and went too far.

It's been about a year since I gave this drama a try and so much of what I'm writing about is all that stayed with me since finishing. It's not the freshest review, but it's potent with the memories that stuck out the most.

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Wow. They took exaggeration to a whole new level with Best Wedding. I love the writer is bringing to light an issue that is prevalent in some countries. I think in the US most judges tend to give custody to the mother, but it is a case by case basis in most states. Plus, in the US there are all kinds of family dynamics. If this drama (even exaggerated) is a depiction of Korean reality when it comes to single motherhood and what makes people family, then it is just sad. Honestly, this drama had me on an emotional roller coaster. I almost gave it a 10 for that alone. However, some of the characters could have been better developed. For example Park Tae Yong was all over the place. Even until the end I was uncertain of his character. I had the same feeling about Hyeon Myeong Yi. I also thought the side stories were unnecessary and boring. Regardless, the ending was OK.

Park Shi Yen and the writer did an excellent job balancing the strength and vulnerability of Hyeon Myeong Yi. Bae Su Bin was also good as the strange and unusual Jo Eun Cha. Their characters were the most consistent and had the best growth. The other actors were fine also. Little Dan is just too cute.

Side note: Although I don't find No Min Woo to be that great of an actor, he does strip a few times in this. Worth watching those parts. Keke

The music was appropriate.

I will never rewatch this.

This is a good drama. I recommend it.

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It is said, colors, like features, follow the change of emotions

As the saying goes, emotions are the color of the soul. I can't even imagine being color blind. The editing and directing are brilliantly done. I particularly love the explosion of colors; the instance Yoo Han (Heo Hyun Jun, looks amazing)
removes his mask, and the rush of emotions reflected in color beaming in Yeon Woo's (Yoo Jun, what beautiful eyes he has) eyes is indeed a beautiful sight. I do agree with Yoo Han; Yeon Woo is so totally pretty. It's only two 16-minute episodes, but I am impressed with the writing, directing, editing, acting, and despite the shortness of the episode, the jest of it comes through. I particularly like how color is used to reflect our lead actors' emotions, mindset, and current state of mind. How wonderful it would be to experience emotions reflected in color, washing over our surroundings. I am intrigued.

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Worth watching !! cant get over the love story between SuMo and BaiYing

I saw there are so many negative review for MTC and I wanting to give my own honest review on this Drama.

Honest review/opinion from me:
This is my first time writing long review so please excuse my English if there is grammar error or wording mistake. I believe because MTC is an adaptation from a famous novel by Cang Liu/ there will be 2 different group of audience for this drama. One is those who love the novel and come to see the drama / the other one is those who love the cast or wowed by the preview and waiting for the drama.

From the beginning the start the marketing of MTC / I have always been looking forward to this drama because of the amazing cast. I love LYF / Yukee and ZYC. MTC also have a very strong lineup of supporting casts.

Story line beginning and ending:
It is indeed a slow start because the writer wanting to show us how Sumo and Baiying met 100 years ago and what happened between them that lead to the destruction of Kong Sang. From Novel fan perspective / they have hated the beginning because of the way writer has changed the story. For audience who hasn’t read the novel they try to find ML and FL chemistry because of the strong love story first 5 eps try to portray. People often complained that it doesn’t make sense they fall in love “true love” just like that. What they don’t know is / Su Mo / Bai Ying and Zhen Lan has been brought together one more time by fate of what happened to them 7000 years ago.

The story does get very interesting from Eps 9 to 36!! It explained a lot of things and slowly the pieces come together as of the real reason on where the problem started. Eps 36-43 felt a bit rushed and I believe they cut a lot of scene that make it looks like the series is not properly done. However this might also be due to the censorship matter in china.
I also felt that it will be more interesting if they put more fighting scene and don’t just cut it half way. CGI can be improved too. They should show more sword skills fighting from Baiying/Xijing and Yu Huan. I also felt that the scriptwriter focus mostly on Sumo and they let Zhen Lan down !! Zhen Lan has been portrayed as a weak CP from beginning to the end and I expect him to do much better. Same as Bai Ying / the scriptwriter pretty much made SUMO carrying the whole team by himself as he is always there to do the hard work.

Acting from FL and ML and other supporting casts:
LYF did a good job portraying Sumo. I don’t know why I think he did a superb job. Su Mo character is a very complicated character. LYF acting shows the different of playful and witty Sumo when he first met Baiying and he changed to more quiet character / less cheerful / less smiling after Qing Chen captured threaten him and his clan. Then he shows the real Sea King vibe when he come back 100 years later.

Yukee- her acting indeed a bit weird in MTC and I can only understand why after re watched this drama. Bai ying carried such a huge burden and she always feel guilty that the destruction of Kong Sang happened because of her selfishness. Being someone who always wants to lead a free life Baiying felt very “restrained” and unable to express herself. I think this is one of the reasons why in first few eps / Yukee was just staring or standing like she is thinking of something. It is not easy to portray this character so I still appreciate Yukee for taking this roles.

ZYC and other supporting lists did a great job !!

Ending:
I can’t get over the ending for 3 days and then after re watching I decided to treat this as HE just because Zhen Lan mentioned about Sea God will be back..

So far I personally enjoy this Movie very much and love the cast. I don’t agree with such a low score of 3.9 in Douban. I felt that score is way too low and there are so many worse dramas out there compare to MTC. LYF/Yukee/ZYC all did wonderful job and it is a hard work to begin with. The novel adaption aint easy !! I appreciate all the actors and I will continue to support MTC xx

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A "Moving" drama that doesn't come around very often! SUBLIME, WITTY, ACTION PACK AND EMOTIONAL.

"Moving" up your emotions in every possible way!

CHEMISTRY is through the roof! Han Hyo Joo and Zo In Sung are chemistry-ing like no other, even the chemistry amongst the other actors are so effortless and smooth that you just get sucked into THEIR reality while watching!

Even though this is centered around incredible individuals with super powers, it still very much showcased their in-depth reality of hardships in their life that is focused with missions they carry out. I really loved the backstory and past of the kids' parents. The parent's story from the past, their struggles, pain & hardships truly were admirable to watch!

Every time I watched Jang Joowon's (Hulk) scenes I became a bawling mess! It's been a whole emotional roller coaster the parents acting truly proved why they're A-listers actors. They portrayed caliber acting where you feel each and every emotions! The display of emotional expression of the veteran actors were so meticulously well executed that you feel each emotion deeply. This series is unbelievably amazing that waiting for the next episode were torturous!

Moving really touches every aspect of everyday life; the struggles, pain, loneliness, hardships, societal judgement, hierarchy of jobs and the disparity of living an average life as individuals with super powers.

This drama is packed with fast pace action, great CGI/VFX, amazing cast of actors; both playing teenagers and A-Listers actors and great story-line of every character that pulls at your heartstrings. The production value is indeed spectacular and stellar. Not only is the quality of the drama evident but the intriguing story line is so well paced and written that every episode feels like 20 mins instead of 56 mins.

CHARACTERS

The kids/parents relationships are so heartwarming to watch. The parents did their very best at raising their children especially with all odds against them. And the kids being good, attentive and understanding of their parents showed us their strong bond and trust between each other; each having their own unique story.

Character development was very well paced out by using flashbacks, clever and poignant editing. Each character's backstory had their own message which really created emotional attachment from the viewers. This made me empathize with every one of them after understanding their pain and struggles of what they all had to go through especially the parents.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Each scenes were very well thought out and every cut was symbolic and meaningful. For instance the interaction between the American Ambassador and the Chief director of the NIS. The American guy boldly sat down displaying his back towards the Korean creating a discourteous/disrespectful move. The power altercation between the two countries was quite a revealing case to watch!

SYMBOLISM WAS THROUGH THE ROOF!

The symbolisms in the drama were so relevant to each character too!! Every scene has a meaning not one thing is useless in a scene. For instance, the 2 bullet scars on Joowon's arm are so symbolic. They represent the 2 people (The commander & DooShik) who showed him real kindness during his mission on the field when everyone else thought of him as a monster. And the keepsakes he holds dear from both of his comrades and wearing the boots and always having the pocket knife with him are such precious memories he'll never forget. Their existence to him are irreplaceable. He's truly so pure of heart and loyal to the end. His story really brought me to tears from him getting betrayed, chased, stabbed, always enduring the pain, to him falling in love which made me smile but then cried again when he lost his only rock and love of his life.

ACTION SCENES

ACTION was killer and unbelievably incredible that it seriously kept me on my toes!! The production and quality was beyond my expectation!! I can't say it enough but it felt like I was sucked into the characters' intense action scenes during their fight rooting for them to win and accomplish their mission. The perspectives, different angles and camera takes were so smooth and effortless that there was no awkward cut at all. Truly a spectacular performance on both the actors' effort and the production team!

ROMANCE

The romance in the drama is surprisingly a pure breath of fresh air! It's not at all cliche, cringe and overdone but just perfectly balanced! The characters' personality creates such a heart fluttering scene that encapsulates their sweet moment without rushing and the slow-burn romance just makes the viewers left wanting more. That's exactly how pure romance in real life is like and I'm glad they showed and displayed it in such a way in the drama. Of course for my taste, nothing beats seeing adults falling in love for the first time and even better at first sight! Perfectly done in my opinion!

Overall, this drama truly exuberates every genre you can think of; action, romance, melo-drama, humour, mystery, thriller, supernatural and high quality content of story-line and cast. It is refreshing, compelling, fascinating and complex!! Definitely a must watch drama that doesn't come around very often!

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Must watch

I never watched censor adaptation of novels but this one It catch your attention from the first episode. I have been addicted to it. Even tho subs was not accurate enough .I just watch it and then read the novel to understand (yes i was this much addicted ) .

I will recommend this to you if you like to watch plots like gaming( detective games ), virtual reality, friendship(ahm ahm), and different stories in one series.
there were 12 gates in this story and story of each gate is worth to watch. You will never feel bored of it. Its sad that it got banned but I hope it get the recognition it deserved. The acting was so good each actor give their best.
I will definitely re-watch it again when subs will be accurate :)))

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If you like the american tv series 911 you will like this!

Just as i said in the title, if you loved the american tv series 911 or 911 lonestar you will absolutely love this!

As a huge fan of the american series 911 I without a doubt had to watch this and i am so glad i did, it was fantastic, i loved the mix of Fire Fighters, Ambos and Police!, the stories were so bloody good and had me on the edge of my seat every episode, the characters were so loveable, besides the bad guys i didnt dislike any of the main characters! The drama felt way too short with only 12 episodes, i just didnt want to stop watching it, i was already hooked but the last few episodes made it so i couldnt look away!

SMALL SPOILER!

The end of episode 12 was a really bad cliffhanger and the only reason im okay with it ( as hard as it is waiting ) is because its already been confirmed for a season 2!

END OF SPOILER!

Seriously dont even think about it, just go and watch it, you wont regret it!

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Watching this drama is like boarding a luxury cruise ship, and thinking you you are going to have a fabulous vacation, then right when you start having the best time ever you hear Celine Dion start to sing about her heart and you realize the ship is about to crash into an iceberg, and you want to get off, or turn back, but it's too late. Honestly, I sensed early on that this show would be a disaster, but I loved the main 3 characters so much that I didn't want to believe it.

The best part of this story is the relationship between Gong Shim, Joon Soo, and Ahn Dan Tae (I don't know why the sister is even in the promo pic). The bromance, the romance, even the rivalry works. Together they are hilarious and heartwarming. I loved weird Gong Shim, in her wig. I think Min Ah was a strong leading lady. I loved sweet Joon Soo with his perpetual smile. Ohn Joo Wan is adorable. I loved seeing Nam Gung Min not play a sinister bad guy, but instead play a strangely adorable character with a random super power. The early episodes, where we get to know these characters, and they get to know each other, are the best episodes. It's like a completely different show compared to the rest of the drama. As soon as they started getting more into the missing kid storyline, the show went from fun romcom to the stupidest mystery thriller ever.

I am so angry at the writing that I actually had to google the writer. Apparently she wrote for some dramas that I liked, so I don't get it. I am giving the story a 4 only because of those early moments between the 3 characters, but honestly the cast deserves the credit for that. The story itself deserves maybe a 2.5 at best. The worst part of the story is that everything is obvious from the very beginning. EVERYTHING. We watch the whole show waiting for the characters to figure out what we already know, and watch them frustratingly misunderstand each other in the process. What also doesn't help is that our main characters suddenly start acting completely different. Ahn Dan Tae starts to literally seem like he has multiple personality disorder. He always retains at least a small part of his charm, because Nam Gung Min is a great actor, but once he started to change the show became less interesting. His booty is consistent though, and deserves an honorable mention.

The rest of the cast is pretty mediocre, and stereotypical, while some have some really horrible overacting moments. I liked Gong Shim' parents, but her sister is a useless character. If they wanted to make her a serious rival that we cared about, then she should have been much more involved in the story. The grandmother was another character that I honestly didn't care about, and some of her crying scenes were laughably bad. I liked the dude from the convenience store, but when a minor convenience store character outshines other major characters, you know something is very very wrong.

The soundtrack is good though. I really liked a lot of the songs, but some lost their charm when the show started to.

Overall, this is a drama of wasted potential. It didn't know if it wanted to be a romcom, or a melodrama, or a thriller, so it just tried to sloppily integrate the them all. All that did was water down what they could have done well.

As much as I want to recommend watching the 3 main leads, I have to recommend skipping this one. The story goes nowhere. It's longer than it should be, and felt like it. It desperately clings to drama clichés to fill in the time. The last two episodes are embarrassingly bad. Not only do they pretty much identical to another drama that aired around the same time, but the closure for the characters felt so forced that I could't take it seriously.

I hope someone takes the best moments between the three leads and edits this show to be the length it's supposed to be (10 episodes max!). I would recommend watching that video in a heartbeat. Otherwise watching 20 episodes of this is not worth hitting the iceberg. And if you already started it, don't listen to rose, it's ok to let go.

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Lets get this out the way cus I know someone is gonna kill me for parts of this statement.

Despite my torn opinion of him as an actor (damn your managers for steering you to more crap roles than good), "Black & White" has firmly asserted Vic Zhou into my mind as a "actor" and not a "Idol actor".

Yes I liked him in "Mars" and "Sweet Relationship" but it was his portrayal of the not-so-by-the-book "Chen Zai Tian(Pi Zi)" that made me go back and re-watch those dramas to confirm to myself; "Was he always this good?"

In this we have him playing a cop with more going on under the surface than meets the eye, partnered with a straight laced kind of cop, "Wu Ying Xiong" played by Mark Chao.

First of all, the dynamic between these two was bloody brilliant.

I love how "Zai Tian" was like the Captain Jack Sparrow of policing, down to the little walk and womanizing. Vic Zhou had us rolling our eyes and laughing at every wink, saunter and hushed seduction While Mark Chao's "Ying Xiong" had us busting stitches at every foiled seduction attempt he smote like some cock-blocking god.

But with every laugh they got us with every dramatic scene too, not overly done, nor overly drawn out, which was a godsend because some dramas can wring out that angst for all it's got and still ask for another bucket.

While the characters were a good symmetry for each other, the story writing and editing and directing were just as perfectly matched.

You don't feel rushed while watching it, and you don't feel it's too slow. Just the right pace, coupled with great actors putting it to the best that they can push it made "Black & White" the best Taiwanese produced drama I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

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WHAT A WASTE

If they had followed the manhwa, this would have been an amazing show. There were sooooo many unnecessary scenes that literally had nothing to do with what was supposed to be the main couple and center of the show, but ended up being 'that couple in the background'. Hell they didn't even get to be a couple, nothing. They should have called this Chanyoung of class 2. It's like the creators just 'clickbaited' the BL lovers community and honestly I'm so pissed. I waited so long for a load of bs. The cast is amazing, the actors are great. . .but the creators messed this up so bad. Gosh I'm so pissed. That's time wasted I'll never get back. . .

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Honestly, I found this show to be just okay.

The main issue with this show is the writing, which felt uninspired and lazy at times. Characters would find answers/clues sometimes too conveniently to move the story along. Thus as a result, the investigation did not feel super compelling to me. Additionally, Seo Hui was criminally underwritten. That character had an underwhelming amount of development/growth, and wasn't given much to do. Also, I didn't like how in the beginning the (only) female detective was often the comic relief as a result of her foolishness. I've seen this type of humour is older dramas and thus it felt stale to me, and a little offensive to still be seeing token female characters in male-dominated work environments portrayed like that nowadays. That being said, the show definitely had its moments that were either intense or intriguing.

The acting is really the best part of this show. Lee Min Ki gives a great nuanced performance as a character completely different from his most recent drama work, thus further proving how exceptional he is of an actor. Lee Yoo Young was good as well with what she is given, I just wished she had more to work with. I also really liked Kim Shi Eun as Jin Kyung and Yoon Jong Seok as Ho Gyu, who both were endearing and truly earnest. This is probably just me, but I didn't really like Seo Hyun Woo as In Dong Gu, as the performance felt one-dimensional and it really felt like he was "acting".

Music was alright, I like the 80s inspiration. But also it didn't really suit the style and tone of the show, thus it felt like a superficial attempt to be "trendy".

Reading this over, I sound a little harsh but I just wished the writing/story could have delivered the same level as the cast did.

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It's everything you'd want in a 5-episode special; a mix of romance & comedy

Before I get into the specifics, you have to remember that this is a 5 episode special, and can't be interpreted in the same manner as a second season might've been.
*note: for the reason that this is a continuation of "2gether" it will be hard not to refer to it.*

Story: Rather than an actual sequel, "Still 2gether" is more of a chance to re-witness Sarawat, Tine & all of the other 2gether characters that were missed from the show. In regards to that, I think it lived up to it's expectations. It served its purpose as a romantic, sweet & comedic continuation, and I don't feel the need to over-analyze the story. Once again, critiquing the show as a stand-alone is quite hard, but in terms of the story & plot, it's quite sweet & cute :) It's not meant to be much of a brain-racker, and I don't think expecting a full-on 'plot dynamic' from solely 5 episodes would be doing it much justice.
But from I've seen, they executed this sooo nicely! There were so many nostalgic "2gether" moments in the first few episodes of "Still 2gether", and as the show progressed, the better it became! The finale was a perfect wrap to the tale of Sarawat & Tine - and everything weaved together no nicely in the end.
[a little cute spoiler: for anyone waiting for a kiss scene, you needn't to worry ;) ]

Acting/Cast: I think all the actors did a pretty spectacular job. What I loved about 'Still 2gether" is that the cast have definitely improved their acting :) They've embraced their character's roles and stick by it quite well. Considering the fact that this is Win's first role as an actor, he did a great job as playing his role as Tine! In my opinion, Bright who plays Sarawat's character did a really good job too! [despite knowing the other conflicting opinions on this matter]. Sarawat & Tine's chemistry has improved by a tenfold & they're so natural with one another. And I loved the supporting characters so much! I'm so glad Gunsmile is getting more recognition; and I loved his comedic character, Boss (who else is on board with the BossPear ship like me?) Mike & Toptap (Mantype), PhukongMil (FrankDrake), Gun (Green), Guy (Dim), Fong (Khaotung), JJ (Ohm) and all cast & crew members did a great job in doing all their characters justice.

Music: I'm not much of a music fanatic, but you can never go wrong with Scrubb's songs or the "Still 2gether" OST in that manner. It's so beautiful!

Overall: I'm giving this a 9 overall because it deserves to. Both "2gether" and "Still 2gether" have been such a fresh breath of air, and because this series aired during the pandemic - I'd say that it's been a sort of comfort; worldwide! It's gained such a large international fan base, and rightfully so. It's a sweet and cute continuation - and all I hope for is another opportunity to witness these characters *wink*

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