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How this has more than 7 is beyond me
I am not sure how this drama has over 7.0 and that would be a very generous rating. I had high hopes for this drama as people around me praised how good it was and the production value seemed high, so I decided to give it a chance.At the start the drama had potential. The relationship between the male lead and his sister, and the mystery around his traceless mother. The female leads friends even had their own conflicts and I found that they were more interesting than the actual leads. The friends carried the entire comedy angle. The romance is mundane and nothing new. There are so many overused scenes like the male catching the falling female lead kind of bs. There's a lot of unnecessary and long awkward kissing scenes that could have been removed. I find that the male lead is often stupid and simply simping over the female, completely disregarding his goals to chase her around. The female lead doesn't seem all that special or unique either and I am unsure of her appeal.
The only interesting bits of the drama were rushed and haphazardly written in. The sibling rivarly was barely touched and basically unresolved. The missing mother was dangled like a carrot on a stick and then the male lead suddenly says he is no longer interested in pursuing her. The heck? Those who watched knows what happens after. There are so many reasons that this drama is mediocre at best.
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Love love love it!!!!
Its the first time im hooked up to a chinese drama again after a long time. From the first episode, I have been anticipating the next ones and so far its has been exciting and good! I know this is probably not the first drama to have this kind of plot, but whatever the director and writer is doing right now, they should keep doinh it cause its working. The male and female lead are collaborating very well,and I love that they didnt have an interaction on the first few episodes so it didnt come out cringe and was very natural. I recommend this if youre not into overly cringe romantic type of drama😁😊Was this review helpful to you?
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If it is SWEET THEN IT deserves a 10!!!
I am someone who only writes a review if I want to give it a 10 other than that I will not write a review. I watch dramas purely for entertainment purposes and I feel that this drama has made my day and warms my heart. It has the nice fluffy and soft feeling that I get watching some of my favorite actors whom I have been watching and following since that debut so I do recommend watching it again and again especially when you are in between shows and waiting on episodes to drop and this doesn’t make you feel disappointed or distracted by skipping and fast forward to just to finish watching it.Was this review helpful to you?
The plot is sweet enough, but I truly fail to see its purpose. The premises, that is, a girly girl who lifts heavy weights, could have been everyone else that comes to mind – a clown, a dock worker, a truck driver or a simple student. The sport of weightlifting itself does absolutely nothing to deeply define this girl, except for 2 details: 1st, the hardship of balancing love for this sport with the basic womanly needs of being pretty; 2nd, the ridiculous choice of main actress, who is as believable as a weightlifter as I am as the first queen of Goryeo.
In Cheese in the Trap, the last drama I saw her acting in, someone called her "a giraffe", which I'd say is quite accurate a description. Lee Sung Kyung is tall, thin and beautiful, and her acting here consists of an alternation of pouts and a goofy gate that should lead us to believe she's not feminine. While watching, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I should raise one eyebrow or both.
The humour is off, at least for my taste. I didn't laugh once. There's too much screaming and wrestling, and most of all, there's too much eating. When I enter the realm of Korean drama, I'm psychologically prepared to see people eat at every opportunity, but here they really don't do much more. The quantity of food – and junk food – shoved into everyone's mouth is such that I got nauseous.
Acting is average. None of the actors shine in his or her performance, possibly because the script has no room for deep characterization. This isn't even a coming of age kind of story, since all characters end up being basically the same they were in the beginning, but with a partner. All the interesting cues, those that somehow delved deeper into the emotions of some characters, are conveniently skimmed and resolved in the space of a few minutes. Everyone lies to everyone else and calls it either friendship or protection. Bah.
There is some music… I think.
Never to be rewatched. Once was enough to establish this is not my kind of drama and simply forget about it. My 6 is due to the fact that I completed it.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Wrong Addiction
Welcome to those who want to hear my rant/review again and this time it goes to the one and only, "iconic BL series", Addicted Heroin. Wooo. Honestly, I just don't understand why this BL is so popular especially with the problematic tropes being used there. I'll try to elaborate here.I'll start with Gu Hai, the guy who's twisted and who has a terrible obsession over Bai Luo Yin. I am so disgusted by his behaviour over him. The fact he stalked him was creepy made me want to vomit. Also, him hiring people to kidnap Luo Yin. Did that scream romantic to you? If you were in his position, how would you feel? This was Stockholm syndrome on another level. I felt like I was watching 365 days movie, but in Mandarin and between two Chinese men. Not to mention how the dialogues he used, "You want to have nothing to do with me, don't you? Then I will keep you chained here so that you cannot run away" before attacking him with a forced kiss and ending with a "Baby, you've known long before that I have special feelings for you, don't you? So you are not surprised that if I kiss you" and followed by other cringey dialogues, "I sleep with you on one bed, it's because I want to fuck you. I even dreamt of it" and blaming his obsessive behaviour on Luo Yin with no fucking regrets. This was the worst, "Husband who doesn't have sex with their wives is not a good husband" What kind of bullshit message was Gu Hai trying to say? He treated him like a sex object and not like his partner. Here's a surprise, this whole thing just happened in one damn episode, Episode 11 and there's more, SHOCKING!
Episode 12, the scene of what happened in the bedroom. My gosh, that was gross. Gu Hai couldn't control his dick and hormones towards his favourite "object" so he did it again! You could literally tell by Lin Yuo's facial expressions that he was so uncomfortable with it and poor boy had to play along with it when he already asked him to stop. That word came out right from his mouth. Yikes. Wait, that's not it! It also happened in Episode 13. Amazing BL right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcUiO4lQMr4 (Where I watched it if you guys are wondering) The fact that this loved BL show was romanticizing sexual assault, imagine this show being continued, I'll be counting how many more there will be in after this.
Also, Gu Hai's former girlfriend was so stupid. She's your stereotypical jealous girl who couldn't stand her boyfriend with other women. Of course, there had to be that stupid catfight between other women because of that. I just don't understand why BLs love portraying these type of women? I am tired of seeing it. Stop giving female a bad representation in BL please. I also couldn't understand her shitty behaviour of trying to make Gu Hai jealous by doing a fake affair. It didn't seem fake to me. The only fake I could see was from her fake attitude. Thus, I concluded, birds with the same feather flock together.
In conclusion, this chinese BL is not addictive at all and I am no way going to rewatch this thing again. I feel ashamed because I'm 3/4 Chinese and me seeing this? No. I've lost faith in humanity for those who love this BL. Goodbye!
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Is This A ‘Hellbound’ Experience?
With director and screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) and co-writer Choi Kyu-Seok basing the series upon their own webcomic and original production, this does leave viewers with one ultimate question; “ is ‘ Hellbound’ actually worth watching ?”
For jaded and cynical detective Jin Kyeong-hoon (Yang Ik-june) humanity has offered him nothing but pain and sorrow. Still trying to come to grips with his wife’s brutal murder and having a fractious relationship with teenage daughter Hee-jeong (Lee Re), Jin’s research into the cases leads him face to face with leader of the mysterious cult ‘ New Truth’, Chairman Jeong Jin- Soo ( Yoo Ah-in). The cult has pledged salvation for “ sinners” by spreading gospels of the angels and encourage them to “ repent”. However as episodes progress it soon becomes slowly apparent towards Jin-Soo’s true nature and the brutal goals of the group, with attorney Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-joo) pledging representation for the alleged “ sinners”.
The biggest thing to address about ‘ Hellbound’ is that it isn’t a show for the lighthearted. Whilst devoted fans of the webcomic may notice some subtle storyline changes ,the show is violent and not afraid to present brutal murders alongside people being combusted like human torches throughout the series.
Intertwined amongst the shoddy CGI monsters of ‘ Hellbound’ as well as alongside the spine-tingling OST by Kim Dong-wook, ‘ Hellbound ‘ expertly paces its descent into chaos, knowing when to slow down on abominable killings and when to present its moral deadlocks . From the rising corruption of religion and the cultural phenomenon in South Korea of hysterical puritanism, hypocrisy as well as the rise of extreme conservative views paradoxical to the insatiable appetite of society for violence through popular culture, ‘ Hellbound’ addresses a lot of issues without shame or embarrassment and with the entire purpose to expose current issues and realities in South-Korean society. However this is also where the series began to hit a rut after the midway point; it never really carried through these messages with regards to the medium of the series . Whilst some characters are used with a purpose, some seemingly quintessential main characters have rushed arcs or suddenly disappear without rhyme or reason, whilst the climax and rising tension of the drama often went on a downwards slope after the halfway point.
The acting front is admittedly a mixed-bag ( especially with some line deliverances by the supporting characters.) Of course whilst the main cast shone throughout, one of the most dynamic performances throughout the show was surprisingly Yoo Ah-In’s performance as fanatic cult leader Chairman Jin Soo .
Whilst main lead Jin Kyeong-hoon is admittedly a complex character type as the “ cynical cop” and female lead Hye-Jin as the “ attorney”, they often felt tightly crammed into their roles as stock characters tropes . This isn’t necessarily a bad approach per say and did give director and screenwriter Sang-Ho opportunities to reimburse old character tropes for his own gain, but it did little to really diverge these main leads from their expected decisions and actions, often leading them to be shoehorned into the plot ( as well as lacking more profound depth) rather than allowing the characters to move coherently within the contents of the storyline. For example a major subplot surrounding the series for Kyeong-Hoon is the murder of his wife. Whilst later revelations play briefly upon this subplot, the profound details surrounding Hoon’s reactions as well as his relationship with daughter as a consequence were left underexposed, and therefore lacked more sound emotional-depth also.
Of course getting back to our mysterious chairman it isn’t necessarily the case that he was executed as an entirely “ original villain” as after all Sang-Ho does enjoy playing upon Jin Soo as the “ calm and quiet” archetype. However where Sang-Ho creates mystery surrounding Jin-Soo is that he isn’t a “ redeemable antagonist with a painful past” or “twirling his moustache planning world domination”, but just a regular person with a megalomaniacal desire to deliver his warped sense of “ justice”. However whilst Jin Soo helped us to bring together our main characters and kept the storyline moving, his anticlimactic character arc and exit from the series raided more questions than answers afterwards.
This was often a major problem with ‘ Hellbound’- plot points which could’ve been meticulously executed onscreen or poignant for audiences to reflect upon, felt missed out completely by Sang-Ho’s imbalance of subtext against plot. For example even through the cinematography and as the director Sang-Ho never seemed entirely sure how he wanted to capture the world of the characters. Seemingly ordinary or gritty early episode scenes hinting at the unexpected, turned into moody and drab aesthetic shots of Seoul straight out of a noir crime series. This isn’t necessarily unheard of a director playing with mood or lighting to convey messages or by transcending genres. However , directors or cinematographers usually have a vision in mind when invoking these scenes for viewers. Sang-Ho seemed often uncertain even through the objective lens of the director with how this truly captured or presented the emotional mind-frame of his characters . . Adding to this Yeon and Choi weigh down each dramatic scene straight out of a jump-scare movie; the monsters’ attacks feel animalistic and playfully sadistic, but never truly added a more profound and impactful tone for audiences.
The ending of the series attempt to crank up the shock value to the maximum with the delivered revelations of the finale. However whilst the series does leave a more open ending through a cliffhanger major characters arcs, subplots and storyline moments were rarely tied together or felt more complete as a consequence.
So what is left to take from ‘ Hellbound’? ‘ Hellbound’ is a pacy supernatural thriller with an intriguing plot wrapped into six episodes. Aside from some dodgy acting by our side characters, the main cast were decent enough and the standalone performance by Yoo Ah-In did give the drama some undeniably charisma. However one of the major problems with the Netflix series is that it becomes lost in a maze of its own doing; subtext themes and plot were often lacking in depth and more profound deliverance, whilst even some of our main characters lost their gravitation to audiences by abrupt exploration and coverage alongside an incomplete ending. The series attempts to deliver a “ terrifying” experience through the CGI “ monsters” of the series whose design and presence onscreen felt insipid. Overall ‘ Hellbound’ is not a bad per say during a binge-watch session with an intriguing enough plot to keep you engaged, but certainly lacking within delivering a more sound impact for viewers also.
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Weak Hero Class 1
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1Intense. Brutal. Yes, I recommend it. And with a heavy heart I am also considering it valuable
"Weak Hero Class 1" leaves me with mixed emotions. It is an intense KDrama, in which the young people are remarkably slow-paced, sort of numb, at times bordering on apathy. On the other hand, there are violent outbursts. Extreme. Brutal. A cruel parallel world that actually should have no place whatsoever in the everyday life of high school students!What kind of society do we live in? It is simply too much, what young people have to go through and deal with. KDrama didn't invent it. Neither does the webtoon, the story is based on. It is a sad and scandalous reality in many schools, in many classes, in South Korea and elsewhere.
"Weak Hero Class 1" doesn't sugarcoat anything.
And it ends just the way it is... no end in sight...
I admit, I was about to drop it. Too much frustration and violence - it actually goes on and on. (Even if the 'weak hero' develops cunning, inspiring recipes to fight back... it still remains a world of violence.)
But then the relationship dynamics between the boys (and girls) are quite intense and what they go through inside and out is touching. Ultimately, it doesn't help to look away - even if it's painful to look at. In fact, "Weak Hero Class 1" is a great, impressive production. It is a disturbing inventory - disturbing because the story leaves no perspective, no silver lining, no substantial room for hope. (At most marginal sparks of light here and there.)
The largely indifferent attitude towards life that prevails in posture and movement of the young people is one thing, the massive outbreaks of violence another. Each soul seems to have long since fled its young body, so that there are only roughly apathetic youths on the move who occasionally act as numb thugs who kick helpless bodies on the ground, or vice versa. It's actually unbearable. It's traumatizing on both sides. And yet it is everyday life. This creates a very unique flow in the world of the students. In this world, one may search in vain for serious, responsible, courageous adults. They are lacking. The kids are alone in this world and have to find their way to live in it, or rather: to survive. Which side will you be on? Perpetrator? Victim? Rescuer? Spectator?
What agitates me the most in connection with "Weak Hero Class 1" is the enormous enthusiasm among der age-group of 13-17, who with this story obviously feel seen right on. This may be 'only' a fictional story, but it obviously tells the story of the youth, we (adults) usually dont´t get. Many are thrilled. In fact, I'm NOT thrilled. I'm impressed by the intensity of the production, yes. But primarily appalled by the dominance of bullying and the severity of violence among peers in everyday school life today. I am also shocked by the documented, self-evident aimlessness and helplessness of the adults. Ultimately, I am frustrated by the lack of a positive outlook and affected by such a disillusioning world of experience of the young, growing up generation.
"Weak Hero Class 1" is based on the template of a web toon and has (via KDrama) by now reached an even wider audience, especially among the 'adults', regarding bullying among schoolchildren. I appreciate that. The KDrama was released on the young streaming platform Wavve and was thus able to give plenty of dramaturgical space to the violent excesses. Maybe more than necessary? Or just right? The KDrama has a simple mission: to show what 'we' tend not to see because 'we' (adults) have no place in this parallel world of schoolchildren. And as a matter of principle, the story does not provide any answers in terms of a way out. No.
In the contrary: 'we' adults are in the pillory... What have we done (and also missed) that it could have gotten this far! Where is this going to end? What can we do about it?
Anyway, bottom line: I recommend the series. And with a heavy heart I am also considering it valuable especially for all those who call themselves adults, parents, teachers, social workers, officials in youth welfare offices, police officers, etc....
Hello, wake up!
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This show is actually a tutorial on how to squander potential.
Alchemy of Souls starts off massively intriguing with a sprawling new world being introduced to us, the production design is amazing, and the CGI is certainly good enough. Visually, great. All those soul-shifting concepts are brought in, as well as the factions, characters and many dynamics are introduced to us early on too, and it looks soooo interesting and full of potential.But then… nothing much really happens. The show shifts to comedy slapstick and relegates most of that incredible lore to the background. There is intrigue (and political intrigue), but it doesn't really lead anywhere for most of the runtime. Characters have arcs… until they don't.
But the worst offender of this is, by far, the absolutely outrageous treatment of the female lead.
We are introduced to Naksu as being a badass (and a REAL badass at that, a rare sight!) assassin wanting revenge. Then we watch her go from strong female lead to meek pushover, and never recover. What a shame.
Now this isn't to say that this is an entirely negative experience, because it isn't. Let's list a few positives:
Amazing production design and cinematography
Compelling character setups
Interesting lore and world-building
Nice and colorful CGI
The action is actually good (when it happens)
So basically, great everything outside the main storyline and characters, which bring down the show a lot because… well, it's important!! The pacing was all over the place, oftentimes meandering without aim.
Somehow the best actor in this was the actress playing the queen. Amazing performance in the penultimate episode.
The male lead is the only character in this show with a fully-realized personal arc.
I read in an article that they were still writing and filming this as it was being broadcasted. It even got delayed mid-season because of that. Kdrama writers really need to stop writing as they go, and instead write the full story before filming begins (taking a page out of western shows and leaving room only for minor corrections). How can your story make sense if it's not even fully plotted? It's obvious here that many narrative threads were made up as they went along.
So, in all, I guess if you wanna watch a show only for the male characters, you might not care that the female ones are done dirty, and that's fine, you do you. But I don't. I was disappointed at the amazing potential this show had, only to… fail to live up to it, especially concerning the FL.
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Its absolutely trash
this is something that disrespectes both the novel & the fans of the original work. Its so bad like it could've been actually been good but they just kept f it up. Changed & butchered the story sm to point i just wanna forget this exist. Read the novel or the manhwa. please dont waste your time watching this.Was this review helpful to you?
Dark Humor
This is a dark comedy movie. Despite winning the Oscar with 4 awards, I can't say I like it. The acting is fine, so are many other movies. This movie depicts the great divide between the haves, and the don't haves. It also shows how easy it is to forge any documents in today's digital world. And how the unscrupulous can cheat their way out in a world that demands paper qualifications.I have to admit I do enjoy watching how the family of four get themselves out of their predicament living in a squalid condition to live in a multi million dollar home. But as the story unfolds, I sense more stormy waters ahead. As expected, the story takes on a dark turn, becomes psychopathic and murderous.
My verdict? This is not my cup of tea. As much as I'd love to have an Asian movie to receive the Oscar, I really can't say this is it.
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This Drama Is Actively Gaslighting Me... and Somehow I'm Still Watching??
Okay... my thoughts are all over the place with this one, so bear with me because I'm genuinely trying to figure out how I feel about it while writing this. 😂Right off the bat, the drama starts very randomly. You're thrown into the story with little explanation, left to figure out who's who and what's going on as you go. Even the leads' first meeting in the present timeline feels abrupt, like I accidentally skipped an episode.
I've seen people complain that the drama looks dated since it was filmed in 2023. Sure, I noticed it, but it never took me out of the story. If that's enough to make someone skip it, fair enough - especially with how stacked this summer's lineup is - but I do think it's a bit unfair to judge the project mainly on that.
Despite all that... I found myself genuinely entertained.
I really liked the FL in the beginning. She has a clear goal from the start - finding her master and senior brother - and she sticks to it. I also loved the little friend group that formed, and the academy sect might honestly be the first genuinely decent cultivation sect I've ever seen. That's rarer than gold in this genre.
What surprised me most is that I actually liked both leads more as individual characters than as a couple. The ML was genuinely enjoyable at first - but somewhere along the way he turned into a lovesick kicked puppy. It makes sense narratively, but I couldn't help feeling like he lost some of the qualities that made him interesting. Ironically, I still liked the FL on her own, yet together... something just doesn't click. I like him. I like her. I'm just not sure I like them.
The plot itself is familiar: reincarnations, fate refusing to mind its own business, and two people destined to find - and potentially destroy - each other in every lifetime. What did surprise me was how casually the drama handled some pretty massive reveals. The ML regains memories of his previous life... and basically shrugs. Eventually the FL finds out too, and everyone treats it like they remembered they forgot to buy milk. I honestly couldn't tell whether that was an intentional writing choice or another casualty of the editing.
Speaking of editing... yeah, you can definitely feel those missing seven episodes. Some transitions are so disconnected that I felt like I was constantly filling in blanks the drama forgot to include. Normally I enjoy piecing things together, but here it sometimes feels like someone handed me a puzzle with half the pieces from a completely different box. Before I've even processed one confusing sequence, the next one starts asking me to connect another set of dots that don't seem to exist.
Which brings me to my biggest issue:
I feel like something is missing... and I genuinely cannot identify what it is.
The chemistry isn't bad. The acting isn't bad. The visuals are nice. The story is perfectly watchable.
And yet...
The dynamic between the leads feels oddly... miserable for most of the drama. The ML's devotion feels both abrupt and somehow understandable at the same time. The FL is noticeably harsher toward him than almost everyone else, which I also understand given the circumstances. Individually, these choices make sense. Together? I don't know. The emotional payoff just isn't fully landing for me.
At this point, I'm not even sure I ship them romantically. Honestly... they both look like they'd have a more peaceful life if they simply minded their own business and stayed in separate realms. 💀
I'm enjoying myself. I'm entertained. I keep clicking "Next Episode." But somehow, the further the story progresses, the messier and more confusing it becomes, and I feel like I'm experiencing the plot through mild spiritual enlightenment mixed with sleep deprivation.
I've still got six episodes left, so maybe everything will suddenly click and I'll come back looking like a clown for doubting the process.
Final verdict pending... because, at this point, I'm just as confused as the script seems to be.
✨Final thoughts after finishing the last 6 episodes✨
Uf... I finished it. And my first thought was: finally, this is over!😂
The last quarter of this drama really went off the rails. Not that the drama was ever the most stable train on the tracks, but the final arc basically looked at whatever little structure was left and said: "Yeah, we're done pretending."
I'm still baffled by how they managed to cut 7 episodes, mess up the continuity, leave the audience connecting random dots... and somehow STILL make the story feel dragged out. The bigger mystery, honestly, is how I managed to finish it. That might be the real plot twist of the drama. 💀
One thing I did appreciate, though, is that the leads actually got to spend a decade together as a married couple before the final ark went down. That gave their relationship a bit more weight and made their ending feel more satisfying than I expected.
The SML, however... oh boy. As expected, he became a walking source of frustration. Every second he was on screen tested my patience. And honestly? I did not feel sorry for him. The warning signs were there, everyone ignored them, and then everyone acted surprised when things went exactly the way they did. Sorry, not sorry. 😂
Looking back, this was definitely a drama of two halves. The first half was genuinely enjoyable and had a lot of charm.
The second half, unfortunately, started sliding downhill very quickly. Everyone annoyed me at least a little, the plot became increasingly messy, and I have to admit... I still don't think I really liked the leads together romantically. I liked them individually, but their relationship never fully clicked for me until the last 2-3 episodes.
That being said, the ending wasn't completely disappointing. The leads got their happy ending, Gelin and Senior Lu got theirs as well, and a bunch of other characters.
Final verdict: a chaotic journey that I don't regret taking, but probably won't be recommending anyone else to embark on. 😂
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The story is simple and cliché: two very intelligent war mastermind adversaries, one a general, nicknamed the God of War, the other a female strategist. Pitting against one another they’re formidable opponents: mind versus matter, prediction versus adaptability. Together they’re unstoppable. That’s the reason everyone wants to keep them apart. It’s not that they’re weaker separately, but rather unbeatable together. Chu Bei Jie is the general of the kingdom of Jin, related to the king by blood. Bai Ping Ting is a childhood friend of the Prince He Xia, a sworn enemy of Chu Bei Jie. Chu Bei Jie and Bai Ping Ting fall in love but their love is an obstacle to the wishes of the king of Jin, the Royal Consort, the Chancellor and to He Xia. Through tick and conniving plots, Bei Jie and Ping Ting are separated. After years of turmoil in the land, they reunite again for their love towards one another to fight against He Xia and unite the land under one empire, bringing peace to the people and stability to the land they so dearly love. This is the story in a nutshell but the drama is so much more than that, is the sacrifices one makes for the loved ones, the sacrifices one makes for family, for country, for honour, the battles one faces not to conquer to dominate but to conquer to maintain peace and to fight for the ideals of a better world and at opposite ends for everything antagonistic to that. For that reason the story is a 10 out of 10 without another thought.
The main catalyst characters: Chu Bei Jie, Bai Ping Ting & He Xia
Chu Bei Jie performed by veteran Hong Kong actor Wallace Chung and embodies the personification of Mars, the mythological God of War in every sense. He’s strong, determined and wrecks havoc amongst those foolish enough to get in his way. He’s smart and a brilliant strategist, able to adapt to local circumstances like no other. He’s also fiercely loyal to his king and to the woman he loves, never doubting her, never losing faith in her. He’s also not afraid to show his emotions to her, to hold her, to comfort her, to cry in her presence. Wallace Chung performs Chu Bei Jin brilliantly. He is Chu Bei Jin. For a man in his early 40’s to perform Chu Bei Jin, a character that is over 10 years his junior, to perform the stunts that he performs in the drama with the agility of a man half his age is a feat not accomplished by many and Wallace Chung does it effortlessly.
Bai Ping Ting is performed by Chinese A-List Angelababy. She took time to get used to on screen. Initially it was a struggle to see Bai Ping Ting. She appeared to passive when the character is anything but. Every scene seemed to drag with Angelababy’s performance. Is not that she was bad, rather she wasn’t good either. She was just flat and continued to be flat. Her emotions were so utterly standardized it was hard to empathize with Bai Ping Ting, despite liking the character so much on paper. It seemed that she was despondent of life and just existed. It was sad to watch. However as the episodes moved on, her performance grew more convincing, perhaps due Wallace Chung and Sean Sun’s performances who elevated the drama and by consequence perhaps made her elevate her performance as well. Bai Ping Ting is a character with more spunk than what was portrayed but saying that Angelababy’s performance was nice to watch with Wallace Chung and Sean Sun.
He Xia is performed by Sean Sun and what a remarkable performance that was as well. He’s younger than Wallace Chung yet on screen their prowess’s are evenly matched. He Xia is despicable and vindictive and a pain in everyone’s side. He marries for power then when he loses the woman he didn’t know he loved is too late. He could’ve been happy but he chose to pursue vengeance and in the end vengeance took over him and he lost himself. Sean Sun is phenomenal performing He Xia. He’s unreadable. His face demonstrates nothing, his actions demonstrate everything.
The secondary characters: the King, the chancellor, the Queen Consort, the Princess, Lady 13…what is interesting about them is that their role in the drama doesn’t drag. Once their purpose is finished they no longer appear in the drama. Normally secondary characters tend to stay in a drama from beginning to end but here, they don’t which is different but good. Once they no longer contribute to the story, bye bye and another character appears to take their place with the exceptions of the King of Yin and Princess Bai Lan. Acting/Cast, I would give it a 7. Not all characters are convincing but that mishap I gladly overlooked as I really enjoyed the drama.
The OST is nice, it’s not outstanding but it’s nice and it matches the drama well. In a scale of 0 – 10, it’s a 6.
Re-watch value: 10 out of 10. I loved Chu Bei Jie, loved, loved, loved the character and Wallace Chung! Bai Ping Ting matched him in every way possible. They’re a couple made in drama heaven, the Ying and the Yang, complements! Their battles against one another were phenomenal and when they put their heads together to fight their enemies was amazing! The drama remained solid and consistent if, dragging at times but that didn't compromise the story, building up to the reunion which ought to be watched again and again and again!
Overall General and I is as perfect a drama as they get even with its imperfections and flaws. As everything in life is anything but perfect the drama is a pure example of it, a story that is utterly perfect despite how unperfect and challenging it was along the way!
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I wanted to like this drama but…
Sadly this drama was a bore. I tried to finish it two times with months apart and the secind time I watched until episode 14 which was an improvement from episode 6 the first time. I have nothing against the actors or the premise of the story but somehow I had to force myself to continue watching and I found myself always avoiding the next episode by choosing other dramas like My Journey to You and Kunning Palace instead.It is well made and not particularly different from many other dramas but the characters never got me curious or engaged. I simply didn’t care if Li Lianhua found what he was looking for. I probably won’t try and watch the drama a third time. I didn’t hate it I just was bored.
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