Nothing about it is particularly compelling; a significant amount of relationship development is done in near-montage. It seems like a good idea for a film that wasn't fleshed out.
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9.5 for the first 30 episodes, 5 for the remaining
This is really a difficult review:If I would only rate the first half of the drama, I would give it a 9.5; the second half a 5; so altogether, it became a neither here nor there 7.
This drama, adapted from a popular internet novel, revolves around a notorious evil ex-sect leader Lu Zhao Yao and her story of revenge at the supposedly benevolent sects. But the story truly after she has died and wanders as half spirit half-human body, taken the shape of another girl, Qin Zhi Yan, whose personality is 180 degrees different than hers. The other great aspect is her romance with the new sect leader, Mo Qing, whom she saved in the past, but due to a misunderstanding she wanted to kill at the start but later hopelessly fell in love with.
What I love about this drama:
** The first half (up to about episode 30): except for the first 2-3 episodes at which the story was a bit confusing, the remaining episodes up to episode 30 were executed extremely well as the story and character development stick fairly close to the original work, which is original, light-hearted and funny. The episodes have a good pace, the progress logic but unexpected. There is a clear path towards a climax and an "ending" to it, that leaves the audience satisfied.
** The romance and chemistry between the main leads: the way how the relationship between LZY and MQ has developed is extremely natural and sweet. My emotion was going wild moving up and down together with the progress of how their misunderstanding got slowly resolved. There are a few really romantic moments in this drama, especially the kiss scenes are probably the best ones I have ever seen in a c-drama. Bai Lu is wicked, strong, and cunning on the outside, but righteous and caring on the inside. MQ is kind-hearted and caring but also easily jealous, strong and would do everything to protect LYZ.
** The acting of the main leads: Both Bai Lu and Xu Kai have done a fantastic job bringing LYZ and MQ to life. Through this drama, I have fallen helpless in love with Xu Kai. I have seen him in Once upon Time in Lingjian Mountain but did not think much of him at that time. But now I know why he is this popular. He can project this affectionate and kind gaze, the kind of gaze of being deeply in love with the female lead that is just heart-melting. His facial expressions showing sorrow, jealousy or anger are extremely to the point, I am in awe. The same can be said to Bai Lu. Her character is one of the most interesting female lead characters I have seen in a c-drama.
I also need to give big praise to the second main leads Shane Yan playing Qing Zhi Yan and Daixu playing Jiang Wu. Shane Yan had to play two opposite characters which she did excellently. Her character showed the most growth in the drama. Jiang Wu is bossy and malicious but developed a very loving side towards the end.
** The supporting characters. The Legends has a great set of supporting characters: Gu Han Guang, the doctor, and Zi You, the narcissistic sect lead are my favorites. Most supporting characters, even the evil ones, have a story that made them 3-D and the audience becomes empathetic with them. However, some of the stories were too long and often cut in at the wrong moment.
** The music: the title song Zhao Yao (same as the Chinese name of the drama) is extremely beautiful and I have been listening to it non-stop since the drama.
What I disliked about the drama:
** The second part of the drama starting from episode 30 onwards: The episodes start to fill with filler episodes with little involvement of the main leads. The characters of the main leads start to change to a state of none-recognizable. The audience can clearly see that there is less effort made to make the scenes look professional. Esp. the last few episodes are a disaster: the editing and story development are all over the place and nothing made sense anymore which left me feeling a little... WTF’ish. My train of thought during the early part of this drama went something like this:
“Oh no, how can this happen? Oh, good, nothing bad happened ... Wait, what are you doing...? Hm, isn't this the scene that supposed to come earlier...? But then where is this scene coming from?... Oh no, he is gone?! Oh, he is back again!... Is this a sad ending?... Should I cry?... Is this a happy ending? Should I smile? ... utter confusion.
I found out that the scriptwriter, the novel author herself, adapted the drama to fit a 28-episode long drama, which had a different ending than the original script. Later she was told to extend it to 40 episodes, which she barely made it. However, then she was asked to extend it to 56 episodes which forced her to completely rewrite everything last minute. Thus it completely derailed from its original story, including the personalities of the leads as well as the bad editing and the fillers in later part of the drama. The fans started to criticize this drama in the middle of its airing that the makers start to cut the final episodes so the direction of the final episodes changed completely to be closer to the original story to please the audience. Even the makers themselves had to issue an official apology after the final episodes have been aired.
After watching it, I felt so dissatisfied that I went back to read the original novel to reimagine how the drama would have been if it had stuck to the original story. So far, I like it very much. With what I can see, the drama had the potential to become a "second Untamed" but failed to do so due to the awful capitalism of Chinese drama land that made this drama a complete disaster at the end. (Yes, you heard it right, it is the same director as the Untamed! Now you know, next to the actors, the director, it's the scriptwriter who is the soul of every drama).
All in all, If you are a fan of Bai Lu or Xu Kai and have a good imagination you might want to watch it to the end. Otherwise, I would recommend you watch it to episode 30 and just take the interim climax as an ending which is satisfactory in itself.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is the 2nd worse kdrama I watched this year. Just bad. I am not comparing to Strong Woman b/c I never saw it. I literally started watching this b/c of the short youtube videos of Si-O. I love a good looking guy, villian even better (that's my jam). I actually thought the 1st three episodes were fairly good even with some of the shenanigans going on. The reason this show is terrible is the writing. Period, point blank. A show can be an over the top comedy/fantasy/drama. That doesn't mean the writing gets to be bad and the audience has to accept the many inconsistency in the story. The plot still has to be logical and reasonably entertaining but this wasn't. There were way too many unnecessary characters and too many unnecessary subplots.
This was the worst, non-climatic ending to a villian I have ever seen!! I didn't expect Si-O to do a complete 180, that makes no sense. But to not have an epic, all out fight scene with the "hero" and the villian was just plain stupid and Namsoon being immobilized by drugs doesn't count. They litterally end the villain and then there were 40 more minutes of show left. A show that, at this point no one cared about.
The best thing about this show is Byeon Woo Seok. That's it.
11/26/23
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You Taught Me All the Precious Things
16 people found this review helpful
Though the story was serious and was kind of heavy, it was not dragging and it was presented in a way that viewers would want to continue watching it 'til the end. It gives great impact and a lot of lessons. One would also learn to love each characters as the drama goes on. Music was just right and goes well with the emotions the drama is trying to give to its viewers.
This is one of those dramas that after watching it, you would realize a lot of things. One of those dramas that as the characters in the story changes, you could also feel that something deep inside you has changed. You would also learn as the characters in the story are learning. A must watch drama. A drama worth remembering.
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The story centers around 2 ill-fated loves. I thought both stories weaved together well, without feeling too cheesy, or forced. Gu Wol Ryung & Yoon Seo Hwa's tragic romance had me hooked from the very beginning. Choi Kang Chi & Dam Yeo-Wool's chemistry kept me excited about what would happen next. I'll admit that the story was a bit predictable at times, and there were a few frustrating questions left unanswered (specifically about the Gu Family Book), but the amazing cast made every episode enjoyable. At no point was I ever really bored.
Lee Seung Gi is one of my favorites. I've loved him in every drama I've seen him in, so it was great seeing him in a role where he gets to evolve into a true hero. He was perfectly complimented by Suzy, who plays a strong heroine, not just the pretty damsel in distress. They worked well with each other, and even made some of the cheesier love moments work.
I think the entire cast did a great job, so it's hard to single any actors out, even though I did have a few favorite characters. I hated who I was supposed to hate (Lee Sung-jae is such a good villain), and empathized with the entire colorful cast of characters. I also loved that many of the characters, weren't completely good or bad, which gave them more depth (Choi Jin Hyuk looked so good being bad, and Jo Jae Yun was hilarious). Though they played 'over the top' at times, I had to give the cast a 10.
The script I think was a bit too ambitious, which Is why I gave the story an 8. I don't think there were many plot holes, and I can forgive predictable stories if they are entertaining, which this was. There were actually a few moments that caught me completely off guard, and that kept the feeling of suspense going. I do think that some of the explanations were a little too far fetched, which made it hard for me to connect emotionally. I did not cry during the "sad" parts, because they were so melodramatic. Still, I was completely invested in the characters, which I think is a testament to the outstanding cast.
I did not love the music as much as others did, but it did compliment the mood well. I could see myself rewatching this, and still being entertained, but I wouldn't call this drama one of my favorites.
The ending does leave the door open for the possibility of a sequel, which is an exciting thought.
Overall, I would say this is worthy of any Sageuk to watch list. It was not perfect, but it was exciting, and enjoyable enough to get a "great" score from me. If you are willing to suspend your belief, I think you'll enjoy it too.
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Very unique and interesting! MUST WATCH!!
I started King The Land first… didn’t find it that great. I love Lee Jun Ho, but felt that the drama just didn’t bring out the best in his acting. Didn’t really find the humour all that funny either.Then I started this drama, and boy was I blown away! It’s so unique and interesting!! A very refreshing perspective and fresh outlook. I loved the FL - her character is so fresh and unique. The storyline is very captivating, a little complicated and may not make sense at times- but that’s what happens when you have past lives/ reincarnation plots like these. (At least this made more sense than Lee Jun Ho jumping off the helicopter on to a steep cliff in his Hermes shoes and suit to save the girl he likes???? Does he think he’s spider-man? )
Ok enough reference to KTL. Watch this drama. It’s very good. :):):) Some ppl commenting that the ending wasnt great. I thought it was fine- an open ending sort of closure for all involved. Some loose ends with some of the side plots- like what happened with Mr Kang? I always thought that if Ban Jieum had her normal life back, he would be “released” from the spell and go back to his normal life as well?? Haha.. anyhow. These sort of plots cannot make perfect sense anyways.
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-Wildness beyond imaginations.... check!
-Violence... check!
-Hopelessness...check!
-Spot on comedic scenes...check!
-Amazing performance from the whole cast...check!
-Magnificent use of flashbacks, colours, lighting and music... MAJOR Check!
-Memorable... We'll see about that ;)
-Story... I don't usually watch anything where there is no one to root for, much less enjoy it, but somehow this story was engaging so...check! But it was mostly because of it's characters rather than the story itself.
This is definitely a director piece. What I love about this movie is exactly what I loved about Confession. The not so linear timeline, the constant use of flashbacks, seeing only part of the picture piece by piece until it makes all sense, the effective use of music to indicate the absurdity of the situation, the colours used show the madness in the world. The movie doesn't shy away from anything, and the story is told by one hell of a messed up dirty old ojisan. Under a lesser director, this movie would've been like any other, average, forgettable. Nakashima has a way of mastering the image he's showing. A true artist who manages to connect with the audience through images.
Yakusho Koji's genius was beyond my imagination (currently checking out his movie list ;)) Tsumabuki was adorably delightful. I smile on every scene he's in. Sometimes I burst out laughing. Specially in his last scene in the movies. Hilarious! It just caught me by surprise. Odagiri, oh Odagiri, he may not appeared long in the movie, but it was long enough to captivate me. To the point that I didn't realize I was missing my chance to get some great screencaps of him XD. What a scene that way. Words cannot describe it. It was so effortless on his part. Playing crazy characters for him is like a kid getting his favourite toy on christmas!
That young cast! No fear for the future of the Japanese cinema as long as they're around. It's my first time seeing Komatsu Nana so can't judge much but she has the perfect demonic beauty that she uses effectively here. Hashimoto Ai always knows the best thing to say at the right moment. Hiroya Shimizu was also perfect his the use of his character is interesting.
It wasn't an easy watch but totally worth watching. If you're a fan of Nakashima movies, especially Confessions, you'll definitely like it. If you are a fan of any of the cast, they make such a spectacular job it's worth venturing into this movie!
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At the beginning I wondered if they would be able to portrait the character of Jang Ok Jeong, probably the most well known villain of Joseon, as a good person.. but on the contrary they have not changed her character.. they have shown what was behind her behavior, behind her ambition and coldness: first of all the desire to rebel from the injustices suffered because of her humble origins, but also her deep love for the king and for her son Yoon ..
This is a truly tragic and romantic love story in which they both were willing to lose everything for each other..
I especially loved the character of the king .. wise and fair, with the courage to reform the government several times, able to counter the political opposition particularly alive at that time, but also willing to give up the throne for his love..
A fantastic romance with great characters analyzed in every facet and an excellent cast.. I've always loved Kim Tae Hee and Yoo Ah In both, but in this project they have outdone themselves, the chemistry between the two has always been perfect, the acting was impeccable.. and let's face it.. they are both really beautiful.. and.. I'd stay hours listening to Yoo Ah In's voice * ^ *
The OST was astonishing, in particular "Sorrow Song" by Yim Jae Bu.. it was of great impact..
Highly recommended!
Ps: Sorry for my English ^^
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trash live action that no one wanted
i hope this shit will flop so hard that that misogynist director won’t have any reason to make up another shitty movie sequel.from the moment they prioritize casting famous actors i knew this movie is set to flop, cause that has to be the worst casting i’ve ever seen. only redeeming casting here is nana as heewon and the actress that acted sangha, which is such a waste bc they decided to be misogynist towards the female characters of this movie.
i fucking hate everything about this live action because first, the original author of the novel doesn’t even approved of this movie as naver (a misogynist company ofc) was the one who decided this masterpiece needed a live action no one even asked for. second, as i stated before, the fucking casting. besides the things i’ve said beforehand, the actor who is acting as dokja doesn’t even know the character he’s acting. the disrespect towards the original medium is loud and they consider themselves artists?? and that leads us to the third fucking reason, everyone in the production literally just disrespected the original source as well as the cultures written in it. they fucking changed everything that i can’t hardly call this my orv, atp they should just change everything from the title to the characters bc this is NOT MY ORV. they should’ve taken the netflix adaptation of kakegurui, it’s INSPIRED but not necessarily the og medium.
i have a lot more to say honestly but i’m just getting irritated again so i’ll leave it at that.
READ THE WEBTOON OR WEBNOVEL INSTEAD OF WASTING YOUR MONEY AND WATCHING THIS SHIT.
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Not the best, but not the worst
Honestly, there is just so many bad reviews out there for this drama. "My Strange Friend" did not make it to my list of favourite C-Dramas, that's true, but it's far from the worst.I can understand that the bar is higher for a series with the ML of Yibo's caliber, but one must admit that good plot is not among the strongest points of most C-Dramas. Given the budget, I think the production already did the best they could with what they had, and I was quite surprise that they managed to pull off this much out of the limited resources that they had.
There were lots of plot holes and the series was dubbed over in the original Chinese version to make up for the inconsistency, but some part of the story and dialogue were still very interesting. I especially liked the first few episodes, the following not so much, but still passable. My favourite character in the entire series was Afu. I think he got the best story line, and the actor really nailed it portraying his character.
To summarize, do not expect another "Untamed", but "My Strange Friend" is not so bad as a story.
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I Can Still Hear Ai going... P'YUUU...
Peoples, we got a rapping confession, followed by a guitar scene confession. It was a two-in-one double kill. I almost didn't make it out alive. It was brutal. Also, did anyone want to reach into the screen and shake P-Yu when he was treating his ex-girlfriend like precious cargo right in front of Ai's salad?Well, that ending was super anticlimactic, after all that dreaming that was it? A pull out knife, and a neck brace? Arite then. It was also very criminal how we didn't get a last moment between Yo and Ing, we were robbed and I wanna have words with whoever was in charge of the script.
Anyway, can we talk about how dirty they did Wan. Sure, the dude just couldn't take a hint that Ai wasn't interested, and Yo misguided way to help backfired, but damn, did they have to do my man like that? Screaming on top of your lungs that you don't like him was just wild. Poor dude, he better than me though, still helping Ai, me, I'd have never shown my face to him again.
This show is one of those that grows on you. When it started I was like, meh, really? But along the way it became my comfort show, it was wholesome and I enjoyed watching it. The two pairs had good chemistry, the plot, when the writers remembers their main objective wasn't bad, and I had a few chuckles. Oh, and the parents were really kind, which was refreshing to see.
Listen, the writers had a good plot, however, they did not execute it to its full potential. At some point it felt like they forgot the main plot-line, so they had all those floating dreams to fill the gap. They even forgot how Ai was playing some investigator or another with that closet wall full of drawings and stuff. They could have done so much more with this plot, instead they tiptoed around it to show us a whole episode with Yu's ex, Pan.
No, cuz what in the random arse was them dedicating a whole episode to Yu's ex for? When she returned I was like, 'oh, you still in this show?' then they gave her a whole episode as a result of things that didn't happen on screen. Who even cared about that character? Sure they needed that side-story for that Ice fellow to play a part in the finale, but a whole arse episode for characters no one cares about is wild.
And she only added to my anger. Yes, I felt bad for her, was even rolling my eyes at that annoying Ice and going 'how about you go melt somewhere creep.' but at the same time, let's be honest, she put herself in that situation. She had a good boyfriend, living in a big arse mansion (how they pay for that house? or did their parents leave them stack of paper in the bank?) who loved her, and she broke up with him, so she could go fake date someone and became famous. I felt bad for her, but the whole time when she was there and Yu was treating her like a newborn baby, feeding her and making my blood pressure go up, I was like, yeah, Sharon, you walked into that one yourself.
YU AND AI
These two were cute when they were bickering in the beginning of the show. And their little church scenes. P'Yu always somehow managed to make Ai angry. I did like their friendship, and when they got together as well. I assumed Ai was gonna be passive in the relationship, but he wasn't, episode 10 ending had me going... ooo... so this is where we are at? okaii. I liked how protective of each other they were. I also really love how it seemed like they lived in two houses, just going from one to the other, and the parents were so chill about the whole thing.
However, these two needed to communicate. Ai putting himself in constant danger was not it, all of those could have been avoided if he'd communicated with Yu. Sure he didn't want him to worry by keeping his dreams a secret, still, feels like trusting the one you love is better than keeping secrets that are putting you in harms way.
Yu had me until he decided to be a good guy and help his ex-girlfriend. Yes, yes, I understand, and in reality if an ex needed help, I'd have done the same, but damnnnn that episode made me glare at him over my popcorn and wine. Another place I was glaring was when Ai took all those pills. Child, you cannot be this stupid, sure your friend gave you a bad advice, but surely, Ai knew how dangerous it was, no? And to think nothing happened to him. They shook him a bit and he woke up. #facepalm.
But all in all, cute couple, wholesome-ish, it was nice seeing their friendship grow into love. They did well as leads and had me invested in their story. I really liked how they felt like a happy family with the rest of the cast, all those eating together scene was very heart-warming.
YO AND ING
Now, we were all rooting for them, seeing as anyone with eyes could see that Yo liked Ing back. What I didn't like was Ing's attitude when he confessed and more-or-less got rejected. Yes, it was frustrating to see Yo pretend, but when all was said and done, it felt like Ing somehow forced Yo to accept his feelings? I don't know, he deserved to be angry, but stopping to be his friend, and all that anger was not it. Still I was happy when Yo finally accepted his feelings and they got together. I cringed so hard during that rapping scene, was it cute, perhaps, but I watched it between my fingers out of secondhand embarrassment so...but anyway, glad they figured out their stuff and got together. Cute and whatnot.
All-in-all a nice show. It wasn't the greatest, but it grew on me, and it had its moment. I'll recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit different other than school setting as a main focus. I'll definitely be checking out the future work of the cast.
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HONEST CRITIQUE
Note: This critique comes from a novel and manhwa reader. Biased? No. This is an ADAPTATION of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. Which means that the theme, plot, and the dynamic essence should be similar if not the same.1) JUSTICE TO THE CHARACTERS
Not only did the movie failed with the actors (no hate to the actors as they're only doing their job), but I blame the director for choosing them. First of all, height differences. It's not a big of a deal, I can agree—but to not even managed to follow such a basic detail for the story can already show how incompetent they are. Second of all, looks. Are the actors handsome/pretty? Yes. But do they fit the role they're acting to? No. Lee Giyoung is literally not that young. If you disagree with me, at least read the manhwa and compare it if he's supposed to be that young. Aside from Gilyoung is Lee Jihye. I know that some KPOP fans might get offender but I don't really care because it's not your favorite story that's getting adapted to such incompetency. Her looks is literally mature for Jihye. In the beginning of the story, we know that Jihye was still a student. Do you think it fits? Hell no.
2) JUSTICE TO THE STORY
When you're doing an adaptation, note that you're adapting the entirety. Did they managed to do it? Very not so. First of all are the guns, the story literally mentioned that firearms don't work on the monsters. "What if it's a weapon made using magical abilities?" Bullshit. Did the manhwa or even the novel mentioned that there's a magical gun at the beginning? No. If the director can't even follow the plotline of the story, what can we even expect from them? It's literally messy if you can't follow the plot. Here are the keys point that make it NOT ORV:
• Bully, since when did Kim Dokja became a bully? In fact, he's the one being bullied. His past is literally him losing hope in life because he's being bullied and shame all throughout the school year for being the son of a murderer. In fact, it got to the point wherein he jumped. It's honestly so sad that him, who experienced all the bad things, would become the bad thing himself. Can the director even see if that's the same story they're following? Because if you ask any ORV fans, it's literally far from it.
• Mother, what the hell do you mean by taking care of his mother? The reason he was bullied was because of it. It may be heavy plot for some but does this mean we should replace it to a completely new one? Hell no. The reason why Kim Dokja is like that because that's what made him like this. A quiet reader who's only hope to live was reading his novel in peace. Of all the atrocious things he experienced, it will be forgotten because of the movie portraying him as someone who love his Mother. Change his past and you'll change him completely.
• Sexual Assault, when Kim Dokja first encounter Jung Heewon is when she was getting assaulted. Again, it's another heavy plot but that doesn't mean they should change it. Jung Heewon is the embodiment of justice, what justice is there when even her own character doesn't experience it?
• Powers, the characters using a gun is already explained. Aside from that is Yoo Sangah building bridge and healing. NEVER EVER has Yoo Sangah heals people. What? Do you think she heals someone by whipping them? What the fuck? Are they alright in the head?
Finale, while I can think more reasons to hate the live action, I hope that there are more entertainment industry who can give sufficient JUSTICE for the story. Hate the movie and the director, not the actors. For those who wants to open a debate with me, please make sure that you've at least read the manhwa or novel. You may contact me through the fb group of ORV and screenshot my review and post it there, I would gladly take you on. For my fellow readers, let's rate this down on every movie site we can think of. This isn't fair for us, nor is it fair for the story. Thank you.
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The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity
17 people found this review helpful
Watch for special effect
Wow wow wow just watched the movie in theatre and must say worth all the time and money I had no expectations just wanted to watch Mark chao and Deng Lan didn’t knew Wang Dou is in thisI am surprise they have written him as supporting role but he is the main character he looks so handsome and his acting is good too
All actors are good Good looking and fitting to the role
Cinematography is just awesome you can just watch it for that
Only one complaint there is no element of mystery some questions are raised but immediately answer is displayed
Go and watch in theatre
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