Underwhelming time slip drama: strong start, uninteresting midpoint, OK ending
The first episodes grip you in entirely as the series introduces the fantasy aspect through a time slip, right in the middle of an inciting incident—from here on and for the entirety of the series, the female lead navigates her second chance in life with a playbook as her compass.There were definitely plot devices and symbolisms used, but like other fantasy series, they were not elucidated as time slip is not the focus of the story, but merely an incident that sets off the story.
The first few episodes are also used to establish the female lead and male lead as the couple, which is one of the contributing elements to the romance in the series. However, once this has been introduced, the story’s focus deliberately shifts, with politics taking the centerpiece.
That being said, while there is romance in the drama (both for the main and secondary characters), this is not the main theme of the series. The romance is merely a subplot.
Casting Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui, who have been constantly secondary leads in their previous projects, is not a bad choice, though.
Meng Zi Yi is not stiff and conscious when acting, while Li Yun Rui has the standard characteristics of a male lead. Li Yun Rui, though, still has a lot of areas to improve on, specifically in using his expressions.
I have no qualms with the pacing as it's pretty consistent throughout the series. Still, while the drama started off strong, the second half of the series hit a sharp decline in the quality of storytelling.
By the second half, I was struggling to keep my attention on the drama and was seriously considering skipping a few scenes just to fast track.
As the drama comes close to conclusion, nothing was making any impact anymore: writing was steadily becoming askew. And while the drama occasionally delivered good cinematography, the OST is mediocre at best and did not help elevate the experience in any scenes. The political turmoil plot alone cannot carry the entire series.
There was an effort to tie loose ends, and the ending was definitely conclusive, which is an important factor to the majority, but aside from introducing the potentials of Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Rui as actors, and having a strong and smart female lead (with a good head on her shoulders) who actually (and finally) takes the lead (and is dominant in the relationship with the male lead), I will give this a pass. Romance, politics, time slip, rebirth—there are far better choices, with mid dramas that can easily topple this.
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Suspenseful historical set in an immersive and authentic Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty.
The Longest Day in Chang'an is well-written, the characters are complex and the politics are intricate. While the first half of the show literally had me on the edge of my seat because of the fast-pace and suspense, the second half is a bit slower. It focuses more on our characters backstories and on politics. That does not mean the show gets boring during the second half though. It just shifts its focus. By the time we got there I already cared about quite a few characters. So, I loved that we got to know them even more in the latter part of the show. Something I really enjoyed about the characters was how multilayered they were. Each of them had their own ideologies and motivations and while I did not always agree with them, I loved finding out more about their pasts. Trying to figure out the motivations and getting to know the different layers of them, was one of the things I really enjoyed about this show.The cast is excellent. You can clearly see the effort the production team put into finding the right actors.
I really need to praise our two main leads. Lei Jia Yin as Zhang Xiaojing is incredible and takes you along with him throughout this whole journey. Jackson Yi is ridiculously talented at such a young age and I loved how nuanced his portrayal of Li Bi was.
The cinematography, the sets and costumes are gorgeous. Everything looks stunning, and I found myself rewinding a lot, just so I could watch a particularly breathtaking shot again.
The production team paid a lot of attention to details and historical accuracy. You can see this in pretty much every shot, and I was constantly impressed by it.
I do realize that I'm basically telling you this show is perfect, but it's not. One of the biggest problems was the sound engineering. The music is often way too loud while the dialogues are sometimes so low that you can't really hear it. And while I really appreciate that almost everyone used their own voice, some parts were clearly dubbed in post-production. It is just awkward when the voice changes into the dubbed version mid-sentence. At times, I thought the plot and politics got a bit convoluted and even a bit preachy at the end. The last 8 episodes are not as good as they could have been. But that never took away from my overall enjoyment.
This show is probably not for everyone. It takes some time to get into it, and you really have to pay attention while watching. That being said for me this show just worked. You could easily watch this as a beautifully shot historical drama full of suspense and action. Or you can watch it while savoring every shot, paying attention to how well-crafted the sets are, the little details in each scene, the poems, the songs, historical facts and so much more. It's really your choice how much you invest into this show. And that truly was what I loved about it so much. I found myself researching about Chang´an and the Tang dynasty or other details that caught my eyes while watching. And that is something I really appreciate.
Going straight to my all-time favorites.
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Extremely good plot twists and engaging plot
When this show came out i purely watched it because the cover page looked cool but from the second episode onwards i was hooked!! the plot was so good that i was at the edge of my seat till the next dayActing/Cast:
Jing Boran has done a great job in demonstrating the various sides to "fei-ke" he made me hate, love, pity and empathize with this fictional character that had lived a very pitiful life....The supporting cast also did well and they did their parts especially the actress who played Xuan-er, i felt enraged on her behalf and she did a very convincing job at switching personalities...The female lead was pretty good but her acting wasn't a show stealer for sure, what i mean by this is that although she does her part very well her role itself isnt that impactful in the actual show
Plot:
The plot was done so well!!! I read a comment saying that this is a special type of drama where all crimes are punished at the end regardless of the reasoning and I think that I would have liked this drama regardless of whether it had a happy/sad ending...The parallels drawn between the "victims" and "the fraud" were very well done and by the end you can't really hate anyone....I also felt like it aptly shows how even the most intelligent people can be affected by their past and how important a good upbringing is for a person.....One thing i will point out though is that you will enjoy this drama way more if you wait for the next episode rather than binging (in my case i spent a lot of time theorizing which made it a more exciting experience)
Conclusion:
If you are looking for a short drama that has a pretty conclusive ending (an extra season is not required but i read some comments on the speculation of its possibility)
there is no textbook good or evil, and every character is a person rather than a plot device for the protagonist
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE SHOW, although there are meaningful gazes between leads and hinted feelings, and skinship between the supporting role with ml there is no actual romance as a plot in the story
( I tried to avoid saying anything close to a spoiler but if you want to know anymore details feel free to dm :) !)
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Revenge is best served cold! Scheming & slow burn romance as subplot.
The story is about the female lead who returns home after being cast out for 17 years. Though searching for home and love, she quickly finds herself thrust into the web of lies and schemes. Things get more complicated when the male lead, who is her ‘former’ brother-in-law, takes an interest in her and sees right through her mask of lies.The revenge plot is one, if not, THE best I’ve ever seen. Ep 1-19 kept me at the edge of my seat. However Ep 20-25 were… I wouldn’t say a let down but definitely not as strong. Lots of new characters were introduced with the focus on side stories that DID connect with the main plot but were just… not as interesting to watch. However, Ep 26-30 picked up the pacing and delivered a fantastic conclusion to the story.
Unexpectedly, one of the biggest highlight for me was the mother-daughter relationship. At first I hated the mother and per usual expected to dislike her till the end however I ended up absolutely loving her character. It’s rare to see a mother-daughter relationship so real and raw, it was written beautifully.
As a romance girlie, I was very much satisfied with the romance here. Some might say that there is barely any, but for me it WAS absolutely part of the story. If you expect grand gestures of love, fluffy dialogue, lots of intimacy or passionate kisses, you won’t find that kind of romance. What I loved was the slow burn, the fact that the relationship was always will-they-won't-they tension, the gradual build of trust, the way they unknowingly fell for each other, and the way they supported each other even though they were simultaneously against each other. Their love story felt organic, not forced, and connected seamlessly into the intense revenge plot.
POSITIVE:
- Revenge + scheming. A female centric story.
- Morally grey male and female lead.
- Badass female lead.
- Slow burn romance as sub-plot.
- Angsty and intense vibes.
- Lots of twists and turns.
- Captivating story with nicely written characters and their motives.
- Mother-daughter relationship. The true highlight of the drama.
- Great pacing.
- Best villain. I’m trying not to spoil anything, but this villain is the best psychopath I’ve seen in a historical cdrama. The way he kept one-upping the leads till the end had me going crazy.
- Fantastic OST.
NEGATIVE:
Ep 20-25 were not as strong as the rest of the drama (mentioned above).
OVERALL:
I picked this up as I was intrigued by the trailer but I truly had low expectations going in. I wasn’t a fan of Chen Du Ling but this drama completely changed my view of her. This role was MADE for her and she was brilliant in it. The revenge was 10/10 perfection, the characters were multilayered, the villain was so psychotic that he had me going crazy, and the slow burn romance was a nice cherry on top. That said, it's clear I absolutely LOVED this drama (especially as I’m in a huge drama slump and yet I binged this so fast). I wholeheartedly recommend this if you want a badass, scheming female lead with intense revenge and angst.
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I have never seen her in anything before, but I did NOT like Krystal in this role. I could be wrong, but it seemed like she was trying to emulate Park Shin Hye's acting style, but she did it poorly. The expressionless face, always speaking slowly in the low tones.... only works if your voice is rich and your eyes alone, can express more than one emotion .
I don't know how Korean Culture views this, but I had a big problem with the idea of a girl hooking up with her dead sisters fiance'. It is just not something I can feel sympathetic about. Even if he was my soul-mate and I didn't find out the connection until after I was pregnant with his child.I still wouldn't date my dead sister's boyfriend. lol... okay, I am exaggerating, but you get the idea. That said, the story itself would not have been as much of an issue, if the Chemistry between the leads was even remotely believable.
On a side note: I enjoyed L in this part, I hope to see him as a romantic Lead in the future. I also always love the second lead female in everything she is in, and would love to see her as the lead in a noona romance... maybe with L. That would be worth the watch.
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Stephen Chow have made a good job on directing and producing this film. Although he was not on the movie but he picked the right character to play the male lead role instead of him. The female lead role was also great and funny, you would love her :) <3
I give it a 10 stars! I'm so picky in giving a 10 stars on a movie because it is so hard to find a movie that deserves to give a 10 stars. But this one really deserves a 10 star ratings. You would love it! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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The story is ok. It is not the age gap. The actor who played Yoichi portrayed the sad emotions and insensitiveness required of his character well. Sakurai handled the maturity of his character well. But what was lacking is the chemistry. The Chemistry to bind the two characters acting well for this love story was missing. That makes everything less interesting. Even though the actors put an effort to justify their roles, the lack of chemistry makes it looks like the actors have not put in enough effort. If you look at the intimate scenes, it looks like the actors are unwilling or awkward(in a bad way) to do it. And that really put me off. Oh come on Sakurai San, you need to show the intense love in a very expressive way. Minagawa Kun also need to be more expressive. I felt Minagawa was intense but need to be expressive. These subtle expressions would have paid off in a big way if these two had Chemistry.
I liked the music part.
If you are expecting an intense love story, you might be a bit disappointed. Still if you have nothing else to do and just need to kill time, then watch it.
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Character wise, Mei Nagano was spot on. She was just so refreshing to look at. Miura Shohei on the hand also did great. But sometimes I just want to comb his hair lol (I know, they're just referencing the manga but still...) and Alan Shirahama... well, I may be a little biased about him since I was really pegging for Kentaro, never-the-less, he pulled it off somehow. The little smiles he makes were really cute.
All in all, it was a great live action. Plus, it was quite faithful to the manga despite some deleted scenes and characters.
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Interesting story until.......
The story started nicely , not some incredible story but was well made , the character development , there is some bad writing regarding couple characters it appears they change their minds along the way and just did not bother to do anything interesting with them mainly Seo Min Young and her relationship with Jin Do Joon as well as Mo Hyun Min poor writing both characters but anyway the thing were quite interesting till the end of episode 15 , the last episode literally scraps all the events and story from episode 2 to 15 , i never seen that before , basically i have lost valuable time watching a story that never got anywhere, what a pile of trash.I noticed that with many K-drama screenwriters the tend to mess up the final episode in many series .
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"The sunset was so gorgeous; its clothes were made of clouds."
This series is so beautiful that I eagerly waited every day to watch it on time when a new episode was released. The actors all performed exceptionally well, bringing their characters to life in a way that I won't forget for a long time. I loved how everyone from Wufeng had their own story, and you could empathize with them. I was able to feel both sadness and happiness with the characters. The relationship between the two gong brothers (shangjue and yuanzhi) was what I liked the most in the series; they found comfort in each other and helped each other to keep going.Was this review helpful to you?
Come on!...what just happened?
I read some of the reviews, and whole heartedly agree with the following:1. Slow! Slow! Slow! Too many " fillers".
2. Unnecessary, l o n g staring...while Zung expresses his feelings thru his eyes, it cannot be said about Mark's insanely long, unpenetratable staring and long, well, saying nothing...
3. Does anybody really believe Aek's ( Mark) lack of sensing the love/lust coming at him? If he struggles with his own feelings, there is no clear indication...and we are already on ep 8...
4. How many nasty/ jealous/ having their own agenda Chefs do we need in one story???
As for why I will continue to watch it:
1. Main couple is beautiful, and hopefully the natural chemistry will come thru...it is a bl!
2. The photography...the food...the music...Aue supporting family...
3. The trailers ( happy ending...).
4. Hoping the director will let Mark show some real acting going forward...I trust he can act. Zung is great already.
So far, a bit disappointing. I have noticed in other BL stories the tendency to keep slow motion untill the last episode and then tidy everything in a real hurry....hoping this is not the case here.
Update after the 10th episode- what I was hoping for happened...Mark (Aec) is expressing what he is feeling, and he can act! Finally, he becomes clearer and we understand what he going through and his inner struggle...glad the director did not wait to the very last moment. I changed my overall impression accordingly 😉
Well...I just watched Ep 11, and reduced my overall impression accordingly. I hope the producers read these reviews - I hereby strongly suggest to never employ the screen writer, and especially never use the director! What a waste of two talented actors! Everything about it was wrong! The idiotic dialogues ( who cares about pork??? Yes, we got the symbolism of the food in prior episodes), the unrealistic lack of progression in their romantic and physical relationship ( a peck of lips and a hug?!? really?), turning the MC into a boring, secondary couple to the dessert Chef and his BF giving them a bed scene and the longest love confessions scenes (one minute was enough), Playtime is involved with Eve!?!?..What was that all about???? 10 last minutes showing scenes from prior episodes!?!?! Why? We saw it already! Nothing made any sense. I am so disappointed with this lackluster end...
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do better
If you’re thinking of watching the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint live action… Please don’t. Like seriously, just read the novel or the manhwa instead. It’s so much better. The live action barely even feels like the same story.I haven’t even watched the full thing myself tbh but from everything I’ve seen and what people have been saying, I can confidently say it’s just Not it. The changes they made?? Wild. And if you actually care about the original, it’s kinda painful hearing what they did to it.
First of all WHY are they saying Dokja hated Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (TWSA)??? No he didn’t. He literally LOVED it. He was the only reader left by the end, like he stayed with it from chapter 1 to the end. The author wouldn’t have even been able to keep writing without him. That story meant everything to Dokja—it was literally his reason to live.
And then they’re saying he was a bully?? What??? Dokja was the one getting bullied. He was quiet, alone, and barely holding it together. The novel was his escape, it was all he had. Flipping his whole backstory like that just completely messes up his character.
The casting too 😭 I’m not tryna be mean or anything but the actors just don’t feel like the characters. It’s not just about appearance either, they just don’t give off the same energy at all. The whole thing feels super disconnected.
Also Yoo Sangah being a healer now?? Since when. She had thread-based abilities and she was strong in such a calm quiet way. They really just took that and tossed it. For what.
Heewon using a gun instead of a sword is crazy too. Like her whole constellation was tied to justice and the sword was such a big part of that. Also she wasn’t even supposed to be in the story until Dokja entered TWSA and changed the plot. But in the live action they made her the protagonist?? That’s not how any of this goes.
Joonghyuk was the actual protagonist of TWSA. In the novel, Dokja spent years reading about him and admiring him from behind a screen. It wasn’t a bond or anything like that, not at first—Dokja just idolized him. He was obsessed with watching his journey and surviving alongside him from the outside. That whole dynamic was super important and they barely even touch it in the adaptation.
Idk. It just sucks seeing a story that meant so much get turned into something that barely feels like ORV. It doesn’t have the emotion, the depth, or the weight of the original. It’s just not the same at all.
If this is your first time hearing about ORV please please read the novel or the manhwa first. That’s the real story. This live action ain’t it. ORV deserved so much better.
To whoever directed this please do better and actually take criticism.
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Easy on the eyes with a touch of boredom and a rushed, crazy finale...
While I understand what the production tried to do - replacing homophobia with xenophobia for merman, they did not do a thoughtful job. Especially the story around the events 20 years ago were not done properly. It is mentioned in the middle of the series and culminates in the finale with a ridicilous solution to cure poisoning. Of course when you first see the actor playing Phraphai father, you already know who the bad guy is - that's when you "typecast" an actor for mostly bad guy roles. So the predicability shot through the roof - and I don't like that. That his adoptive son also plays a psychopath is also not helping.The rest is ok, they even put effort in the merman fins which did not look out of place. The setting is also nice, it's not in the city, but of course we have the typical rich city boy and a very naive bartender who does not stand up for himself and is under the thumb of the psychopath most of the time. Because it's not a school setting I expected him to be more pro-active and not display such a passive behaviour. He is old enough to know what he wants and what he does not want. The first four episodes drag on a bit and I wished they had introduced the past event much much earlier and kept that storyline more in focus and did tell that story in more details and not so rushed. The side-story of Pings mother was just ridicilous imho. If you tell your son for 20 years, that he is a "monster" - but then change your mind when he left for a day - it's just not realistic in my book. And they did not really need that story-plot.
Storywise this is an average show, the production was ok most of the time and it's easy on the eyes. But just cute/handsome actors do not make a convincing story. It's far away from the worst thai BLs we got to see this year but it's also not really good either. It's an ok show and if you like the premise it's not too bad to watch.
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A Building of An E-Sport Team, Plus Romance & Bro-Ship
Out of all of the E-sport dramas I've seen, this is probably my favorite by far. Story plot was pretty good, enjoyed the action scenes from the e-sport, loved the actors, loved the silly but cute romance between the leads, and the amount of bro-ship between the group of guys. Let me break it down what I experienced when watching this.E-Sport
* The E-sport part of this drama is a little different than the other E-sport dramas. This drama showed lesser number of tournaments, I believe 2 in all, first one when they compete as a new team and the second one towards the end of the drama when they understood & learned how to work with each other. This E-sport is more focus on their team building, getting along with each other, learning each other's weaknesses and improving on it. It also shows the struggles & strengths of building a new team.
* Instead of showing multiple tournaments, there are a lot more e-sport training in this drama. There were a lot of in person game scenes from the actors and I appreciated this a lot because seeing the behind the scenes, this was a lot of work to do. Their work paid off though because I enjoyed those game scenes. They were action packed!
Romance
* It's the typical bickering of the ML & FL who eventually finds out they were each other's crush. Even a little misunderstanding in the beginning but you don't have to wait too long for the misunderstanding to get clear out.
* A funny but cute chemistry between our main leads: Lots of disruptions when it comes to kissing and the numerous times ML's character Yi Chuan fail on being romantic. Like, seriously, I just love watching their scenes. It makes me so happy and I laughed so much.
* A love triangle: SML likes the FL, who you do feel bad for. He does move on from it and becomes close bros with the ML afterwards. There's also this one girl announcer who likes the ML as well but her role, while annoying, is very minor. She doesn't play a big role so not much of an annoyance from her thank goodness.
* Secondary couple (Dong Shi & Girl Chu Tian): Not the best secondary couple I've seen but not the worst either. I just couldn't sense the chemistry as much compared to Yi Chuan & Jiu Jiu.
Other things I enjoyed:
* Best bro-ship: I love Bo Yu. He is so funny, the goofball of a friend but also a very caring bro to Yi Chuan. We also see the building relationship of the bros between Yi Chuan and boy Chu Tian.
* The reality aspects of building a new e-sports team: Some members don't get along, new players, pressures, struggles, & not much support in the beginning but then you see how things turn around with not giving up, dedication, and hard work.
What's missing for me:
* FL's character Jiu Jiu didn't really have much of a story. Focus seems to revolve more around the ML's character Yi Chuan.
* As part of the secondary couple, I expected a bit more about girl Chu Tian but the way she was presented, it seemed like she wasn't important at all.
* The ending was good but with all the focus on the Yi Chuan's injury in so many episodes, I felt like they miss details on this towards the end. Like there wasn't really a good conclusion on Yi Chuan's issue.
Overall, I enjoyed this E-sport drama. It was a different approach from the ones I've seen. The ending was not what I expected or preferred, but it was enough to leave me satisfied with it. The lead's chemistry, the bro-ships, & the in game battle scenes are why I enjoyed this drama the most. Definitely will re-watch again in the future.
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"Lost in the Drama: CWN-MR's Love Saga - A Rollercoaster of Emotions and Unforgettable Moments!"
From the moment I stumbled upon this captivating tale, little did I know that I'd willingly become a clown, forever enchanted by MR's endearing puppy-like charm and CWN's enigmatic cat allure. Their love story is a masterpiece, navigating the storms of life, teaching us resilience and the beauty of true connection. We've transformed into giggling, blushing, and stair-fearing enthusiasts, and the story's happy ending, uncensored scenes, and sweet moments have left an indelible mark. Here's to being forever haunted by the echoes of their love and the pure joy they've brought into our drama-loving souls!Was this review helpful to you?
