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Acting wise the drama was pretty good. I enjoyed everyone's parts. But quite surprisingly I enjoyed Little Sun's part the most! She was so funny at times, even though she could be a little annoying. But I was really happy with her ending. I liked the main couple too. But somewhere it felt like So Ji Sub's character was being made to act like Dokko Jin (The Greatest Love) and that sort of ticked me a bit. Don't get me wrong - I love So Ji Sub! I'm sorry I love you (starring him) was the first drama I ever watched and it's like First Love, you can never forget it. It's just that Dokko Jin is EPIC. Every line coming outof his mouth is classic and no one can pull that kind of role better than Cha Seung Won. So somewhere along the way I couldn't stop myself from making comparisons.
And not just So Ji Sub's character, I was also left making comparisons in a lot of other aspects. Like how The Greatest Love was funnier and had a sweeter ending. I think this is the only reason I'm giving this drama 9s. Because in my eyes it can't surpass The Greatest Love.
But it does surpass it in one aspect. Music. I just love the entire OST on this drama. In fact, if you ask me, this drama has the best OST so far this year. The songs made it top 10 billboard too and it' fully deserved.
The rewatch value is a bit low for me, because I won't really come back for any funny scenes. I might come back for a few ghost stories that were super touching. I might come back for Kang Woo and little sun. And the aunt and her awesome husband! But that's all for me.
Overall this is a good drama. Much, much better than Big, but I think other Hong sister dramas are funnier. Nonetheless this drama deserves a good average, despite being a tad bit overrated.
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The acting is really good in this. My favorite character is Lee Cho Hee's Sa Wol. She is a strong, loyal friend that is also sweet and caring. Jung Yoo Mi was perfect as In Yub. After watching several actresses lately with stone faces or overacting, it was nice to see an actress get it right. She shows her emotions with out it being obviously acting and it is believable. I ended up liking her character quite a bit. I have never seen Oh Ji Ho before. I think he did a good job as Moo Myeong. I think it is hard to be a quiet but emotional character, but Oh Ji Ho pulled it off well. Poor Kim Eun Gi. Kim Dong Wook portrayed the character's sweet and cold sides very well. I felt sorry for this character the most. He faced everything even his own short comings. It must have been hard for him. The other actors are good too.
There is really good music in this even if it doesn't have words.
I won't rewatch this, but it is rewatchable.
I recommend this drama to everyone no matter what genre you prefer. It is really good.
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Epic love story that never really was…
As I watched the story of “Thousand Years for You” unfold, I was looking forward to an epic love story that broke barriers and transcended time. Sadly, the show failed to deliver on the romance, and the ending left me feeling empty in that aspect.It is not as though the show lost its focus midway. From beginning to end, the story was about the love journey initially between a powerful saintess, Yun Xi, from the spirit clan and a valiant mortal general Lu Yan. Then later between Yun Xi’s doppelgänger, Deng Deng and Lu Yan, who waited 3000 years for Yun Xi.
Unfortunately, the pairing of Li Qin as Yun Xi/Deng Deng and Ren Jia Lun as Lu Yan fell flat for me. No matter how good they looked together, I just could not get the feels from them, and the chemistry was seriously lacking. They were definitely a visual treat, but I enjoyed the show more by seeing them as mystery-solving partners instead of a couple.
For me, the show would have fared better if they had removed the romance aspect and focused on the mystery and adventures. A xianxia set in the Republican era was interesting enough, and the different storylines were refreshing. It was entertaining to watch our sleuthing duo and their sidekicks battle the evil elements of the spirit clan. Most of the other characters, especially the second couple, helped bring this drama to life; they were all likable individuals in their own right.
The show was a pretty well-balanced emotional roller coaster of emotions, switching between humor, suspense, and melodrama. That said, the script did need to be polished, and there were plot holes and dialogue that should have been tighter.
I loved the details put into the costumes. One could tell that a lot of thought was put into the styles of the characters. Deng Deng often wore masculine clothing, but there were touches of femininity. The outfits for Lu Yan were chic and perfectly tailored. They highlighted Ren Jia Lun’s good looks so well. I also appreciate the color palettes that also matched the characters perfectly.
The best part for me was the excellent OST, and the songs were mainly the ingredient that got me tearing up. The CGI was also well-done, and the fight scenes were well-executed, except for some scenes that ended up hilarious instead.
Acting-wise, I was impressed by Li Qin, who delivered the emotional scenes perfectly and effortlessly transitioned between the ethereal, refined Yun Xi and the tomboyish, brash Deng Deng. There was criticism of her portrayal of Deng Deng because some thought she over-acted, but I thought she did fine.
Ren Jia Lun did what he did best, playing a calm, cold, emotionless person who gradually warmed up to the female lead. However, I felt RJL lacked his usual intensity compared to his other dramas. It could be due to how he interpreted his character, who was supposed to become indifferent during those 3000 years, trying to bring back Yun Xi by transferring energy into his last remnant of her. Regardless, without his usual magnetic emoting, the romance failed to come alive for me.
It also did not help that RJL used his voice this time, and one can tell he lacked experience with voice dubbing. It often sounded like he was reciting lines and came across as dull. On the other hand, Li Qin also used her voice but was better in delivery; however, her dubbing suffered from the volume being too loud, making her sound annoying sometimes.
Other than the romance, I also found the villains lackluster. I like Leon Lai and his acting, but as Zhu Rong, the main antagonist for most of the show, I was not entirely convinced by his motivations and actions, especially towards the end. Plus, the last-minute addition of another villain just felt too rushed. Ultimately, the final showdown was somewhat anti-climatic.
Overall, even though I did not get the fantastic love story I expected from a RJL drama, it was still a show worth watching. It was fun watching Lu Yan and Deng Deng play detective to uncover who was threatening the spirit clan and humanity.
Full OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iDlX-GIwI
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qV032sg5Faeju8KTDQbeJ?si=3a9110beb0c34f61
1. 吾 (I) - 任嘉伦 (Allen Ren) 00:00
2. 有时无期 (Indefinite At Times) - 张碧晨 (Zhang Bichen) 04:40
3. 光年爱情 (Light Year Love) - 王靖雯 (Wang Jingwen) 07:54
4. 你是我唯一 (You Are My Only One) - 陆虎 (Lu Hu) 11:38
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Love is not for suckers. Not when it's done well. Which this is not.
A reality show within a scripted show is a potential goldmine of craziness, scandalous behavior, unexpected betrayals, unlikely alliances and revealing both physical parts and intangible sides to the cast. And “Love is for Suckers” when it peels itself away from the generic main-character-romance drama, acquits itself rather well. “Rather” though is an important qualification because there’s some frustratingly obvious ways that this production could have been a memorable one.The main issue is how the storyline and tone are balanced. It’s very much a show centered on the two main characters - Lee Da Hee’s reality show producer Yu Reum and Choi Si Won’s neurologist/reality show participant Jae Hoon. They’re best friends and neighbors that, of course, have the occasional surfacing of romantic tension that’s been blocked by Jae Hoon’s all-encompassing job and Yu Reum’s previous serious relationships.
They end up on opposite sides of the camera in a reality dating show with Jae Hoon expected to romance one of the female cast members and Yu Reum expected to make compelling reality television. That both of these don’t sync up with a potential girlfriend-boyfriend relationship between the two main characters is the primary narrative. It’s not altogether unentertaining but how it unfolds ultimately is unfulfilling.
Chief among them is that Choi Si Won is a natural at light and comic and boisterous, but is out of his depth with a more serious role. And there’s a good stretch focused on the character’s tortured past that he hasn’t moved past and it’s not a convincing portrayal.
It’s also a hard sell that Yu Reum is a diligent worker, an ally to her colleagues, stands up and takes responsibility when she makes a mistake, is honest and kind, a respectful daughter, fearless in the face of danger, able to eat spicy food, etc. but is somehow struggling at both work and her personal life. Together, the two are just not a lot of fun, don’t really seem to match each other at all and neither is sympathetic enough that the melodrama lands emotionally.
Meanwhile, there’s some tremendous characters beyond the main two. Jo Soo Hyang is electric as Yu Reum’s superior Kang Chae Ri. She’s a modern, unapologetic, strong female that is flawed and damaged and reckless that is both maddening and endearing. Park Yeon Woo also hits all the right notes as an insecure celebrity chef. Lee Juyeon’s Han Ji Yun is a more one dimensional character as the art professor pining for Jae Hoon’s attention, but it’s a warm and touching performance. As is the married and co-restauranteurs couple played by Min Jin Woong and Noh Susanna hoping to conceive. But each part of this ensemble gets short screentime so that Jae Hoon can break out a head-tilted pouty face at an unendingly despondent Yu Reum about a dozen times per episode. Had the whole thing been reengineered to spread the spotlight around more and tilt the main pair’s romance to a lighter, more comedic style, perhaps that would have really pulled in an audience.
Other minor complaints - Lee Dae Hwi’s Sang Woo is a bland character that rarely is necessary to advance any narrative, whether primary or secondary, forward and the performance is uncomfortably stilted. There’s a smattering of subplots between the reality show cast members and some of them are well-acted and show promise, but as soon as one episode sets up a potentially compelling direction, it will be forgotten and ignored thereafter. An eating disorder? Appears and vanishes. A mental illness? Forgotten once it triggers a laughably poor cliffhanger at the end of an episode.
And a minor detail, but impossible to miss - Lee Da Hee was styled and wardrobed to near perfection in her most notable recent work “Search: WWW” and the contrast with how poorly she is outfitted on this show is gargantuan.
“Love is for Suckers” has some nice pieces but they don’t fit together very well. Not really recommended.
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No more pairing for JCW and Yoona please..
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Piang Chai Khon Nee Mai Chai Poo Wised
21 people found this review helpful
Anusaniya ( Kimberley) is the rich girl, Sattawat is a doctor, his mother has got gambling problems, Anusaniya's uncle is in love with her, Sattawat's mother & Anusaniya's aunt in a way arranged them to marry, the dad agrees so they got married without love. As in any drama we do have distrubing characters. Somika was previously with Anusaniya's uncle but he breaks up from her for Anusaniya, this time she goes to Sattawat, she announces her love to him, but the doc has no feelings, Doc has a crush on Anusaniya since he saved her from drawning. It's for sure that Kimberley is a great actress but this type of characters sort of stick on her, she's always the rich, snob girl, though Doctor is not poor but not a chaebol.
They do have on screen chemistry with James. Just like on her previous drama we'll watch her development as she develops she'll realise that she loves Satawat.
Sonika is sometimes going overboard so her character was written excessive, she's a type of stalker
Keep pestering Sattawat. Annusya's bro pregnantes a girl, and she also hate her and she wants her baby to be the only heir of the family, that's what we know until later episodes. It's sort of like Brazilian Soap Operas.
Mirantee is a reporter but also Anusaniya's school friend, she had doubts that Anusaniya would ever recognise her, but yet she has not only recognised her and her name, she also recognised that she helped her when her heel was broken, after that incident Mirante started to help Anusiya.
Their bond got better. Mirante is also in love with the uncle. The actor who plays the uncle Pop Thagoon Karnthip is also quite handsome :))
When he had a accident Mirante was the one who was crying by his bedside. Sonika is the one who's responsible from all bad things happening to Annusiya's family and people around her, it is just jealousy turning into a mad hatter.
Anusaniya's brother's girlf also uses Sonika's addiction obsession on Satawat to hit Anusaniya, but Sonika is the idiot letting people to use her.
There's everything you are looking for, love, romance, action ( not that sort of action but still) kidnapping, cat fight..
At the end we see that uncle understands who he really loves :)
Our couple still pulling each other's hair, it's their way of showing love, aggressive couple. Doc is romantic soft hearted but our girl is bitchy.
Not only the uncle and doc is handsome here, the guy who plays the owner of the furniture company is also hot
Well doc have been doing wrong all the time, while he could silence his wife with a lovely kiss :D
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Dream A 40 Year Dream
Only watched this for Xiao Zhan as I'm not a fan of heavy propaganda dramas usually from any country. I also have seen both LQ and LRL in other dramas and knew they were good actors and could handle pretty much any role. When I do these reviews, it's always from not just an audience member standpoint, but also as a writer/author. So I am impartial to everyone and everything. I don't like the new title of the drama so to me it's always been "Where Dreams Began" and here XZ aka XCS dreamed a 40 year dream.Pros: This series had a great flowing storyline where you didn't have any filler feeling episodes except for maybe the final 2. Favorite characters were tied with the leads; XCS and TXM or LQ. But at the same time they were also in the cons which I'll explain below. XCS was a man who unwaveringly followed his ideals even when more experienced in life people told him that his ideals would make him lose and regret those who felt inferior to him. After he overcame his physical disability post war, he was even stronger mentally. TXM was the epitome of quiet strength. She was his rock, his anchor even when they weren't yet together, before he realized any of it. Women like her are incredibly inspirational. Not only did she push him but herself.
Many people didn't like YGH and HHL due to their selfishness and cowardice but I did because they were the two morally gray ones in this story. Characters can't just be black or white, they need layers, to be able to evolve in whichever direction. We wouldn't necessarily want them in our lives but as characters on the screen, they were fascinating. The rest of the crew of QT, YQ, YF, DL, Amao, the other guy whose name I don't recall, plus certain parents, uncle Dong were all very awesome characters and all of the actors whether I found their characters necessary or should have left sooner, did a superb job. CHJ was actually the best antagonist out of the batch because you saw his corruption over time as opposed to Heizi, who though I liked as a greedy, money hungry character was too repetitive in his crimes and just came off as downright stupid.
Sets, costumes, OSTs, accents all of that was appropriate for whichever time period you were in.
Cons: Though they were trying to portray the 70s and onward over there as best as they could, much was unrealistic. Though I loved both XCS and TXM, as someone else mentioned in the comments, these characters don't exist in real life. They are too perfect in their ideology and no one on earth is flawless. They came off as their own versions of Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Trying to portray that in a slice of life type of story, essentially takes away from that slice of life. LSY was just there for too long and got away with too much. The actor did well but to have him constantly let go or wriggle out of the law while other people like QT who did legal work lost everything wasn't fair. It made the law look useless especially in such a high propaganda filled series. Those two just didn't jive. The constant nepotism became nauseating.
I will speak about the propaganda; I knew what I was going to watch but what--as someone who was also born in a socialist/communist country which no longer exists so I actually know what I'm talking about--kept throwing me off and having the scenes take a hit, was not that it was used but WHERE. In all of the military, government related and whatnot scenes, totally understandable. But when the characters are just having fun together shooting the breeze or being romantic with their significant others and the speechifying starts, it is eye roll worthy because literally no one did that ever in any country. When there are family gatherings or two neighbors meet up or something everyday, propaganda speeches do not happen. You'd sooner ask about a child's health or if they went to the movies, so that's where it was way too much.
The fact that there were multiple time jumps and we never knew where we were. It could be anywhere from a few months to a few years. One viewer had to research and write out a timeline in the comments. People shouldn't have to do that when watching a series; a small note on the screen would have sufficed. The SARS epidemic in the final two episodes was also unnecessary. They could've wrapped it all up nicely around the CNY episodes because otherwise it felt like this plot was just chucked in there last minute and was quite rushed.
Would I recommend it? If you are a fan of any of the actors and like a nice flowing storyline until that end. I think all of the actors did a superb job; very pleased with that.
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Precious Fluff with a Healthy Side of Substance
I originally wrote this review halfway through the drama, and I'm happy to confirm it did not disappoint me at all afterwards. So many kdramas become consumed by the male lead in the back half, or otherwise forgot to follow through on the female lead's story. But this wasn't the case at all here, because Gangnam Beauty was committed to Mi Rae's growth. The times that it strayed from her, it tended to follow the stories of the other women in the drama, most significantly antagonist Soo Ah's own perspective on beauty and self-esteem, but also Kyung Seok's mom and her attempts to reconnect with her children.This drama hit all the right notes for me. I was really reluctant to watch it because often stories about makeovers or plastic surgery have very negative messages which suggest either that your life will be better when you are "prettier," or else they emphasize the fat shaming and fall into the very tropes they're trying to fight against. But Gangnam Beauty did an excellent job of questioning beauty standards and showcasing the hypocrisy of a society that only values women for their appearance. I think it's only real flaw in my book is that it had what appeared to be PPL for a diet pill in one episode, but the pill was used by Soo Ah and the protagonist Mi Rae later called her out for all the methods women use to be the "most beautiful" when all they end up doing is hurting themselves. So while I would rather they never have shown it, I'm glad they turned it around after.
Anway, onto the cast: I think Im Soo Hyang and Cha Eun Woo did very well as Mi Rae and Kyung Seok. Even if the latter is a little green as an actor, he believably conveyed the subtle shifts in Kyung Seok's "coldness" and watching him warm up and become open as the drama went on was a treat. But of course, it's Soo Hyang who carried the weight of the drama on her shoulders, and she made Mi Rae's paralyzing fears very relatable while still allowing her inner strength to shine through. The side characters were all well-cast in my book, and their personalities were realistic and charming or even more realistic and infuriating as needed. I loved that the show never became solely about the romance - although the soft and slow progression of said romance was perfect for both characters - but really incorporated university life and friendships throughout.
I read the webtoon because of this drama, so I'm biased in the show's favor, but I think it conveyed the message from the comic appropriately. Adding Hyun Jung as a best friend for Mi Rae was an excellent choice in my book because it helped us understand how Mi Rae made it this far and showed that you can have a support system and still feel alone on a larger scale. Plus it set Soo Ah apart as a woman who lives for competition (even though that's something that society is partially to blame for as well) in comparison to several other girls in the show who were genuine in their intentions even if they sometimes fall short. I also like how it called out certain kdrama tropes, allowing our gallant male lead to learn more about how to respect the female lead even though he already started off leagues ahead of most men.
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Migraine-Inducing
OVERALLThis drama can be enjoyable if you're good at suspending your disbelief...and your values. Watch it if 1) you like the fantasy genre, 2) you like stories that take you on a journey, going through a gazillion plot changes, 3) you'll be happy with a few sweet love scenes. If 1) immature female leads make your skin crawl, 2) you get confused easily, and 3) you can't stand rushed endings, then skip.
THE STORY
I need to start by saying two things: 1) I know this drama is linked to another one, but I didn't see it, so I'm the new, fresh viewer (not the fan of Eternal Love), and 2) I don't usually watch xanxia, it's not my go-to genre. For anyone not like me, then the following review may not be very useful, but if you identify, read on!
I decided to try the drama out because I saw some clips on YouTube that looked fun and cute. From episode 1, I could tell it'd be a rough ride. Let me start with the good stuff. First, there really are fun and cute scenes between the leads. Not too many, not the ULTIMATE best (see Love Designer for that!), but still good enough to keep you going until the very end. Secondly, not going to give much away, but a part of the drama takes place in the mortal world. That part was definitely the best of the drama. It's more realistic, the characters are more down-to-earth, the plot is more coherent, and it makes you really emotional. And...that's it.
Now for the bad. The absolute worst of this drama is the FL. She acts like a five year old 95% of the time (the 5% she doesn't is when she's in the mortal world). I have a lot of difficulty understanding how she's supposed to be attractive to the ML...which leads me to ML, who's too expressionless for my taste. That makes everything worse because he's like a statue and the FL is like...a prepubescent child. It just felt so weird to root for them. And then there's the issue of the FL being dehumanized a few times in the drama, which really brings that weirdness to a whole new level because not only is she demoted to an immature child, but also to an animal and an object. And then there's the fact that the plot jumps from one problem/world to the next and they don't seem to be connected at all, which is confusing. And then there's the fantasy elements that aren't explained well. And then there's the rushed ending. And then there's the flashy surreal visual effects... There's just too many issues that were hard to digest, I couldn't fully enjoy it.
THE ACTING
Despite hating her character, I still liked Dilraba's acting the best, just because she makes it seem so natural. I was not too impressed by Vengo, though it could also be the role. He definitely seemed better in the mortal world part. I need to see him in something else to confirm. I can't say much about their chemistry because, like I said, the romance made me feel kind of awkward at times, given how they depicted the FL. I don't have much to say about second leads either. They weren't particularly endearing, except maybe the demon lord.
THE MUSIC
...yeah...
REWATCH VALUE
Low. I can just watch YouTube clips to jump straight to the worthwhile scenes.
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1
1It only works because it's a "GL". If Pat were a man, it would be a horror series hahaha
In real life, Pat would be a stalker... but in the series, she is the GLs' most beloved red flag! Pat goes to great lengths to win Prem over, even though Prem claims she's straight! Of course, we have to keep in mind that this is a TV series, not real life, because if it were real life, Pat would already be arrested for numerous crimes, hahaha... It's unbelievable how she stops at nothing when it comes to winning over the love of her life. She's capable of anything, even if what she's doing is considered stalking... The fine line between romance and crime is definitely Pat, hahaha. Everyone is calling her a "red flag," but at the same time, they're IN LOVE with her because Pat has so much charisma, has the attitude of a villain, is elegant, beautiful, confident, courageous, and isn't afraid to show what she wants and go after it. But as soon as Prem gets sad, sick, or fragile, Pat will do anything to cheer her wife up and make her happy.I need to praise Pam. What a great villain! For me, a good villain is one that makes you angry, that makes you hate her. A villain who doesn't make you feel anything is worthless. Pam made me so angry throughout the series that I suddenly found myself watching it while grinding my teeth. Pam is hateful and cunning, and the actress deserves high praise for that. Congratulations.
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The summary of the drama is pretty accurate, so I won't tell much more about it. If I did, it would probably contain spoilers that should only be revealed by watching the drama yourself.
This drama has so many charming points that it's actually quite difficult to find a starting point. If I had to point out the biggest strength, it would probably be the writing and the cast. Especially the veteran actors impressed big time. Every time the drama seemed to drag, they pushed the story forward and really made me care for their characters. Chun Ho Jin and Jun Noh Min... Two actors I respect a lot. They are so versatile in all of their roles, that I'm always happy to see them in a drama. And goddammit, they were awesome here.
The leads themselves stood their ground and were one of many driving wheels of the story. Actually, the whole cast was so well balanced that it's hard to find a weak link. Of course, I had to pay special attention to Park Shi Hoo since he was not that impressive in his previous drama. And what can I say other than that he found his confidence again. In the first couple of episodes he seemed shaky and nervous, so I was still skeptical about him. I couldn't force myself to ignore his flaws, so I hoped he would get a grip soon. And he did. It took some time but he finally managed to find his old acting self again. From that point onward it was not difficult anymore to enjoy his performance. Though I also have to mention that in some of the later episodes he got unsteady again.
Something that needs to be emphasized in this drama is the development of every single character. Everyone is going through some very dear and life changing situations which pushes them in unexpected directions and shapes their growth vastly. Forcing some of them to make a bunch of inevitable decisions, I didn't always like the direction they were taking. On the other hand they made them so understandable that it was also hard to oppose it.
Family dramas are usually not my thing because the sheer length of the episodes is bound to get draggy at some point. I can't deny the fact that this drama has some difficulties as well, but the amount of these parts is fairly acceptable and doesn't weigh too much into the enjoyment of the drama. And the reason for that are the couples. Each and every one of them had a very interesting story to tell. Whether it was the leads, their families or their friends. Especially the two male friends of Do Kyung (PSH) were a pleasant add to the main character. If one of the side stories got too depressive, there was always another "supposed to be" couple that ensured some lighter moments and lifted the heavy atmosphere.
I'm praising this drama so much and yet my rating only stays at 8.5... What to say about that. I had some issues with the ending. It was not a shocking one and I get parts of it. Yet, the way they wrote it seemed too exaggerated and estranged some characters a bit for me. Not only did they include one of my most hated drama tropes, they also gave the final resolution a torn connotation. Therefore I was not able to fully enjoy the end of the drama.
Overall, I would still recommend My Golden Life. It has some really sweet but also touching and heartbreaking moments, great character development and an endearing bunch of actors and actresses. And who knows, maybe you are more tolerable about its final minutes than my humble self.
One warning though:
There will be a character who will bring your darkest side to light. He is obstinate and stubborn and arrogant till the end, so prepare yourself for some seriously hair-pulling and fist-clenching situations.
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2
1
1This review may contain spoilers
❤️ My internal clock woke me up at 4:00 a.m. to watch this for a week.
StoryThe story was surprisingly accurate. When I did a comparison between plot lines in the novel versus the drama I was surprised to see that the drama stayed very loyal to the book. And I say surprised, because it felt, especially towards ep 26-30, that the drama was falling behind. That said, it’s because it was missing a lot of context that was left in the novel.
I completely understand the choice to cut out some of plot lines and missions (ex: the bear, interrogating/breaking out prisoners, the multiple battles in the capital…) for time. But where they cut, they also included a lot of scenes for other characters. For instance, QM and YQQ barely had any of their own pov in the novel, while the drama devoted almost 1/3 of its time to them (and I do appreciate the toxic love story). But the screenwriter decided to incorporate the side stories into the main story, thereby taking away time from the main story.
So we missed a lot of plots surrounding our main characters in exchange for other characters. But for what they kept, they stayed really faithful. Almost word for word.
The story stayed very faithful the characters in a lot of ways, but also deviated from them somewhat. For instance, for XZ/YZ, we barely get any context about his mother’s suicide and how it affected him beyond nightmares and hints about self loathing. In the book, it’s deeply tied to his reluctance to fall in love, how he doesn’t want to end up like his mother falling in love with someone that when they die it kills them. He blames himself more than anyone, and when he finds out that his mother killed herself to save him from his uncle, it completely floors him. It was a huge moment in the book where he went to confront WY at his parent’s graves. Or when they realize that her father was WX and he actually leaves her and throws himself into the war to try to get her out of his head, injuring himself repeatedly, then going to his family and asking to be whipped 108 times because he committed a grave sin by falling in love with her and deciding he cannot let her go. I mean, the angst!! Dial it up by x20 in the novel.
And I can excuse those changes for needing to cut time. I think the change I disliked the most was ep 26/27 when after he’s drugged, he doesn’t kill the opposing side General like he does in the book. That was one change I was genuinely confused why they would do that. It just prolonged that plot point for that guy to come back for 2 seconds and be killed in a 1 second. That was, I think, the only change that actually annoyed me. Because in the book, after he wakes up, he goes to fight in the battle before seeking out CY, having confidence that she could take care of herself and that if she couldn’t his people would take care of her, even though he was worried.
Generally the show did an amazing job. If I didn’t read the novel, I would think this still an amazing watch for its plot. Still 10/10.
And I do love some the changes they made in the show. XZ/YZ is infinitely nicer and less of a dick to people. And while some people may complain that he’s not showing the power of being the feared marquis, I appreciated the change. We still see the depth of his power because he can mobilize people to do what he wants and his reputation is as feared general and he has so much arrogance from his achievements that he doesn’t even kneel for the emperor. I like that we see him be nice to Changning and to Bao’er, especially in the village.
I like that the mains relationship had a lot more consent in it. I think the mains relationship was so beautifully written and perfectly performed (I’ll get to that later).
Despite the fact that it cut into the main story line, I love that they included the side stories and added the complexity to the other characters (WY, QM, SY…)
My general review for the story as a whole was that it’s a good story. Having read the novel, of course I’m disappointed that parts I consider pivotal weren’t included, but I’m not that mad about it because of how the drama came together as a whole.
I definitely think my understanding of the drama is probably affected by the translation. I saw online someone say that the translations lost a lot of the formality and context. So hopefully I can either learn mandarin or someone can do an in depth translation with guides on the jokes or important verbiage that are lost on those who don’t speak the language.
I think overall, too much time in the village, that could have been cut down and devoted to more background in their families and backstory. I don’t know if it helped that I read the novel so I knew what was happening, or if it hurt because I knew what should have been happening.
Acting/Cast
When I say that the best part of this drama was the actors, I am not lying. The actors understood the f*cking assignment, and I applaud them heartily.
Our leads ZLH and TXW had peak chemistry. I have watched their other works before and I do not know if I’ve ever been this obsessed with them. They’ve never looked better, they’ve never acted better.
I swear to god TXW eyes did more acting in this drama than some veteran actors in their entire careers. And ZLH’s microexpressions and his jaw. HIS JAW!! Did so much acting!
Now, yes they are both very pretty people and do benefit from the pretty privilege where you can ignore bad acting. But I genuinely think they did act very well in this series. This is a director who knew what he wanted and got it from his cast.
I also watched the behind the scenes footage and was surprised by how much say the actor’s had in what they wanted to do considering how intentional this director is with his choices in the drama.
Besides our leads, our side characters were also outstanding. DK and SK’s chemistry was on fire. While toxic obsession stories are not my cup of tea I give them all the props for their chemistry and flawless acting. They played incredibly nuanced characters. LQ and YZL also gave an amazing performance of their pure love story. And LMR is a new young break out actor I hope to see more of.
Special mention to the young actors playing CN and YB. They did amazing.
Music / Cinematography
I have nothing but love for this director and his way of capturing the story and the characters. He is so deliberate about his choices, the coloring, the focus, the details are just so layered and intentional.
The music and composition was beautiful.
Rewatch Value
10/10
Would rewatch, would reread, have been rewatching, and rereading.
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Repetitive story
This story is very repetitive, even some scenes were very similar to other wuxia dramas, it's like they mixed a little from all other dramas and copy pasted here. For example immortal samsara, the journey of Chang zi, Ashes of love etc. therez nothing new so it's very predictable. Mainly cuz in the first episode starting scene they themselves mentioned what's going to happen in next 27 episodes where step by step the guy says how ML ended up killing her and everything, that was stuck in my mind when watching it so it was easy to guess what was going to happen next. Some plots were very unnecessary, just to create drama they showed unwanted things like when the evil girl turned good they killed the guy she was going to marry ( when devil can kill literally kill anyone at that point but they choose the groom 😂)just to make her evil again connecting it to Ayin's torture and death for no reason cuz she was anyways going to die but ML goes to great lengths to save her only to kill her in next 2 episodes 😂😂😂 it's funny cuz ML makes a long plan thinking she won't die with his punishment but she died in hands of ML for very silly reason that he didn't know her immortal spirit was already damaged. There is no strong story here, basically one thing lead to another creating such circumstances, some developments are very random.I really like Zhao Lusi but why shez acting same as she did in hidden love? Baby voice and everything, I didn't like it. And ML's acting wasn't that bad but he didn't give main lead vibes at all, other male characters were more charming than him.
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Nobody is flawless
People these days can't handle flawed characters, and that's why they hated this drama. From the moment it aired, people kept bashing it, so of course I was discouraged from watching it.What a mistake would that be if I didn't give it a chance because I enjoyed it and absolutely loved it!
Both Qian xi, and Ying Tao are flawed characters. Qian Xi is selfish. Ying Tao is unhealthily obsessive.
The highschool years showed us how immature and childish they still were. They lived in this bubble, where they thought everything would went well after they grow up. But the college years showed us their development. Ying Tao found out that love isn't easy like in fairytales. Her roommate was a great example of that.
Qian Xi went from the highest top, to the lowest one. He was selfish for telling Ying Tao "Don't forget me." when he knew, he wouldn't see her again. But I believe he wanted at least one person to think of him in his hardest time. I understand that he had a pride, that he didn't want her to see him like this. His mother always wanted him to be perfect, and when you spend years in this illusion, you cannot simply get out of it.
You'll always think, you have to be perfect in order for people to like you, to love you. Otherwise, you're not worthy of them.
Their relationship is toxic, but beautiful. This drama is the proof of it.
Their love surpassed everything bad, and left only the good in their relationship.
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