Reviews

I can KIND OF see the effort but..

I’m convinced there‘s is a good story buried somewhere inside this garbage mess but it’s barely visible. This series made very little sense.
It‘d be too long to go through every little and big thing in detail so I’m not gonna do it but to put it bluntly: nothing made much sense, including characters’ decisions and accusations. Even the first half of the show made barely any sense but the second half was complete idiocy. This show had several scriptwriters how did nobody catch the nonsense?

The first episode was actually quite good (good enough) but onward ep 2 it got exponentially worse until in culminated in full-on ludicrousness.
Absurdity of the plot aside, the show also struggled with extreme tonal inconsistencies. It didn’t know what it wanted to be, comedic or dark. It’s possible to carefully combine both genre elements but you have to know what you’re doing and the writers here were not up to the task. The whiplash I got from the clumsy, radical tonal shifts was insane. One minute it’s a serious scene and the next minute it’s suddenly turned into badly written gag comedy. Bizarre!
Some of the scenes were painfully overdramatic and were portrayed in a way that made them unintentionally hilarious. It felt like they wanted to make certain scenes look really cool but ended up making them look ridiculous instead. The direction felt incredibly amateurish and I know that the director isn’t an amateur but he obviously didn’t know jack about directing action scenes and it shows.
Now that we’re on the topic, this is not an action drama, it’s not a romance drama either, it’s an awkward and weirdly paced family drama with some clumsily sprinkled action and romance scenes in between. Oftentimes the dialogue was painful to listen to and most of the time it was on the nose with a lot of telling (AND sometimes showing). It genuinely felt like the dialogue was taken out of a bad shonen anime word for word.

Now onto the romance:
There was so little attempt at romance that I didn’t even care if Jack and Joker ended up together. The romantic chemistry and interactions were nurtured so little that I didn’t care to be invested in their supposed romantic attachment.
I don’t mean that we need to see them confess and/or make out with each other every other episode bc romantic chemistry and build up can be shown in a lot of different ways that don’t have to include sexual intimacy but you gotta have at least some build up, no?
Where are the stares, the slight flirtation? Sometimes it’s briefly there but then it abruptly stops, removing any possibility of a smooth romantic build up. It’s really awkward and at the end doesn’t amount to much. I’ve seen many types of bromances (Western and Asian) that have so much more romantic and sexual tension between characters where they barely even touch each other and this is supposed to be a BL but the romantic tension barely exists here. You can’t just haphazardly throw in a couple of romantic scenes in between all the plot and call it a romance. There’s an art to properly weaving romantic subplot into the main plot of a different genre. Talking about other BLs, Manner of Death did it right, Kinnporsche did it right, even Triage did it right and that one had barely any romance in it.

War is a good actor and Yin def. has improved but in this drama their acting felt slightly off kilter for a lot of the time. I might be wrong but it seems to me that the people heavily involved in this project, YinWar included, didn’t know what exactly they wanted it to be, weren’t sure enough in the direction of this story/plot/theme and that’s why almost everything felt wonky about it and the project itself felt unstable on its legs.

One last thing I want to mention about the plot is that it wanted to showcase how poor people were being taken advatage of by rich people but the poor people didn’t make the greatest decisions either. One example that really jumped out at me was the bit about Jack‘s parents.
They committed suicide bc they thought that their life insurance would be able to pay off their debt but bc they didn’t care to properly read the contract it didn’t work the way they expected it to (bc insurance doesn’t pay in cases of suicide, which was written in the contract!).
Why did they make Jack‘s parents seem foolish by making them not read the full contract? Why not make it a legal loop or make it some other type of refusal to pay out the insurance? Why not lean into the obvious unfairness and scam of the society that openly prefers and protects rich over poor? This was a missed opportunity and made Jack’s parents seem rather stupid instead.
Anyway, my criticism notwithstanding I do appreciate the idea and the grind. I see the effort behind the show and I respect the effort. I know that I’m in the minority in my dislike of the show and I think it’s a good thing that many other people liked it. I do wish for Yin and War to succeed in the entertainment business and I’m sure Jack and Joker will contribute to their future success, I just hope that their next project will be more to my liking.

Read More

Chang yi and Ji Yunhe's relationship

I LOVE changyi and yunhes relationship and admire their selflessness
in regards to protecting what they love and doing what is right.

More importantly, changyi is fine ash and I was so disappointed when I heard
that the actor was already married because I'm down bad. Lmao.

Anyways, this season was amazing and I love the second season so much more
so hurry to reach S2!


my bio states that I am dilraba's sister..and its the truth, contact me
for proof.



you can stop reading here bc im just saying random stuff now,
eydjsin duebjs dh hk j j h hidndyks ksubdmdi duveywkbdm idbd j
udnd un ilsm iel jdbie

Read More

At first I watched this drama for Wallace Huo and Tang Yan, but I ended up loving all of the main characters. This drama was my first wuxia, so I didn't know what I had to expect.

Story: The story is about Jing Tian, who is destined to rescue the world. Together with a noisy girl named Xue Jian (yes, in my opinion she is very noisy), the priest Chanqing, the mysterious girl Long Kui (If you read the synopsis on dramawiki.com, then you will know who she is, if you can't wait) and his companion MaoMao he searches for the solution to rescue the world. During the journey they are learning about their past lives and become friends. They have to fight against many enemys to get what they need and sometimes the solution has to do with one of themselves.

Acting: Hu Ge is a excellent Actor, I knew it, before I began this drama. Honestly, I like his character (Jing Tian). He reminds me of Naruto Uzumaki. Jing Tian is is full of joy, he talks very much and he is proud to be named as the hero. Hu Ge plays the role very well, but I hope I can watch him as a serious character next time.
This drama is my 3rd with Wallace Huo. I watched him in two dramas in two different periods, so it was my first ancient. (The other two were set in the II.WW and in the modern era). I think he is excellent when he plays serious roles, but I want to see him in a lesser serious role. His role is a priest who learns about his two past lives because he can't remember them.
Yang Mi acts as the noisy Xuie Jian. She was a character I didn't liked at first, but after...15 Episodes she wasn't very annoyoing anymore. I don't know any of her other dramas. Although she did a very great job, I think she was the least convincing castmember.
Liu Shi Shi (Long Kui) was good, but her character was so mysterious that she was so suspect. I think she LSS did a great job, although the last drama I watched with her, I didn't watched til the end.
Last but not least Tang Yan, who plays Zi Xuan a woman who plays a 200 year old who is also mysterious (and idiotic v.v). She gets on my nerves. Tang Yan plays her very well, but her character was so ... I can't get over one of the scenes v.v I don't know why, you have to watch it for yourself, but please, have a big staying power.
The supporting Characters were okay, but not special.

Music: I love the music. My favourite Songs are Pian Ai by Chang Yun Jing and the ending Song by Hu Ge. Pian Ai is played in special moments and most of the time it suits them.

Rewatch Value: I think I won't watch it again in the near future. The reason isn't that I don't like the drama, it is a situation in the drama I want to forget.
...


*Spoiler*
...


I can't get over the ending v.v Now I know what other watchers meant when they said Wuxia and HE are not very common v.v

Read More

Just a breath of fresh air

I finished this series yesterday, but I am now finding the time to give a review. And what can I say? This series was indeed a breath of fresh air for me! I mean, the last Thai BL that I watched and I gave a 10 to was 'A Tale of A Thousand Stars' while the last good BL that I watched and gave a 10 to was 'Kieta Hatsukoi'. And yes, I know that this BL had some glaring flaws. However, the best parts outweighed those flaws for me, personally.

Stoey-10/10
It's a simple story that has been told many, many times. Yet, I feel in love with it. They were frenemies and became lovers. Heck- they were friends from since they were small behind thier parents back! And I felt that it was portrayed in such a beautiful way. And, okay, yes, Wai was a huge d@ck for doing what he did to them and not apologizing, but in the end, he accepted them.

And what I loved about this series that I am not seeing a lot of people are talking about is that the parents, while they don't like each other, they are very acceptable to whoever thier children are dating. Like Pran's mom accepted that her son would date a guy( she just didn't want it to be Pat though). And Pat's parents were totally cool that Pa was dating Ink (I'm sorry but tis is huge to me as I will forever be scarred by BL's parents who don't accept thier kids due to who they are dating). And coming down to the ending- like the parents know that they are secretly dating and have (kind of) just come and accepted it.

And, okay, I thought that it was a trival reason for why the parents hated each other. But when I saw an explanation for the reason- I understand why they became the way that they did. I'm not gonna say that this series is perfect in all of it's ways- yes they are flaws. But those flaws don't really stand out to me.

Acting/Cast-10/10
Hands down. One of THE best acting that I have seen in such a long time. From the amin cast to even the supporting role- they all were phenomenal.

Music-10/10
I love the music so much that it honestly didn't bother me, no matter how much times that they have played the song in the series.

Rewatch Valu-10/10
Yes! I will most definitely rewatch this series again. I love it so much! And I shouldn't be surprised because the director of this series, Backaof Noppharmach Chaiwimol, has developed phenomenal series over the years with outstanding actors and I will continue to support him!

Overall-10/10
Overall, I give this series a 10/10. I have stated in previous posts that for me it's how the actors and he directors are able to bring across a story that you have seen a 1000 times into a way that can either take our breath away or make you feel...meh. They were able to do the former for me and for that I am grateful. I would most definitely recommend this series to others to watch!

Read More

Okay, let me preface my review with the fact that you must be a lover of the crime/suspense/action genre. If you are not, this is not the drama for you.

Acting: What can I say, I was pleasantly surprised by all. I've seen them all in different works but in this collaboration between Jpn/Kor; they reined supreme. Takenouchi Yutaka as Shou/Takumi was phenomenal. As the gangster Shou, he played the role really well. I loved that! And boy is he a sexy man! Choi Ji Woo as Yuna was a treat! Except for movies, I'd never completed one of her dramas but as Yuna (the ever changing Yuna), she was on point. I would be remiss in leaving out Sato Ryuta as Hide. Afro-ed down and funny as hell!

Action: Okay, this is a dark. dark drama. You are talking about gangsters, crooked cops; no drama of this ilk would be complete without some serious action! No, no club and knives but serious gun action so the squeamish, beware.

Filming: A Lot of the shots are dark and I guess the director was trying to project darkness because of the subject matter

Romance: It was nicely done and I must say, very believable. You will definitely feel and experience as these two, Shou and Yuna fall for each other. It was also nice to see that they expressed that affection too with hugs, kisses, etc.

Twists: Talk about a roller coaster ride!! There are so many twists and turns in this drama, I guarantee, your head will spin like you are possessed. HAH! I'm kidding but you will be shocked, dismayed and pleasantly amazed at the number of twists in this story; well done.

Music: There really wasn't a lot of variations to the music; however, what was featured was very nice. I loved the songs that were featured and there were times that the instrumental music reminded me of one of my favorite movies called Ghost Dog; same beat. You'll be bopping your head from time to time listening to it.

Overall, the writer definitely closed this drama with a bang and I was very, very happy. But as usual with JDramas, you must watch until the very end. I'm always sad when I do not understand why a drama has a certain title. Now I know what Rondo means.

LOVED IT!! Completed in 2 days!

Read More

High aesthetic value - favorite FL

This drama has some of the prettiest background designs I've ever seen. The blend of CGI and stage design is so smooth I have a hard time knowing what's real and what's not. The world is thought out and immersive. I also like the costume design for all the animal spirit characters.

The female lead is self-assured and competent, if not manipulative. This characterization works very well for the story; she is easily my favorite character. The only con is that she overshadows the male lead, who is there to be pretty but gains some action relevance later in the season.

Check this out if you want to watch a series with profound lore, well-written female characters, and gorgeous aesthetics.

Read More

I don't understand hockey at all but u don't have to understand it to love this drama. I was really supprized at how much I love this drama b/c of the sport that is involved. The story was really well developed. I loved the spacing of how the relationships came together and the conflict b/t the love interests. I really appreciate how it was not just about the main couple but the supporting couples as well. I am putting this 1 on my fave list & recommend that others watch it. I love that Queen is basically hockey music to me now. I will not be able to watch another hockey drama or movie w/o thinking about Queen. I think this was actually the 1st Japanese drama that I have watched that at least one male character did not dress up as a chick. I am happy to see the serious side of Japanese drama even though I laughed alot while watching the story play out.



There was only one problem that I had and that was finding links to actually watch the drama. One place I found the whole drama was www.watch-drama.com. This may help those that decide to watch. Enjoy!

Read More

If you prefer happy stuff over heavy, dark stories and can't stand watching bad things happening, then don't watch Miss Ripley. I'm warning you now.

Now that that's out of the way:
First of all, Lee Da Hae is amazing in this drama. She really played out her character perfectly, and throughout the whole drama I kept swaying from oozing with hate to feeling a deep sense of pity for her (character). I didn't care much for her acting in My Girl, but her acting in Miss Ripley is absolutely brilliant. Overall, the casting was pretty nice but I don't think Yoochun really served a purpose in that drama (nor did it seem at all like he truly liked her, so Yoochun's acting in this drama wasn't that great although it was cute), and the other man was good, but I wasn't impressed. I was slightly disappointed by the overall acting of the cast, but Lee Da Hae's acting in this drama really pulled me in. I usually can't take melodramas, but I kept watching anyways.

The story is great, because it holds a good message and also stirs up several psychological/moral questions concerning topics such as corruption, motivation for actions, greed, and misanthropy. I hated what Lee Da Hae's character did in this drama, but I couldn't help but pity her at the same time, because there are some (although a bit overexaggerated) real-life issues that are presented in the drama.

The story's purpose (or at least what I analyzed it to be) is ingenious, but the story itself goes downhill. I admit, I stopped after episode 9. Half because I couldn't take the awful things that were happening, and half because the drama started dragging. The story overall was still pretty good though.

I would not rewatch this though, because although the first time was alright, if I rewatched it I'm sure I would feel like the drama was dragging 10x more than it was the first time, and I don't want to go through suffering from nightmares about it again. Although this isn't my type of drama (Out of the 80+ dramas I've watched, all of my favorites are happy-go-lucky fluffy ones), I still liked it. Not sure why.

Read More

You should watch this movie if your like melodrama. I do and I did not care that it was slow moving. It is reminiscent of the older Chinese movies that are both sad and hauntingly beautiful. Although the story is not unique, what is outstanding about it is the realism of living during the Cultural Revolution with all the stringent rules and regulations. The lack of freedom to choose one's path in life, one's partner, and one's love sets the tone and mood for this movie. The risks this couple made to be together is what defines their love and makes this movie special. It will stay with you for awhile.

Read More

First of all the actors aren't that young and doesn't seem to be that experienced either? I mean maybe it was the script. I wouldn't say I completely hated. It was enjoyable for the most parts and it just didn't stand out I guess. There were some funny moments but most of the funny parts just didn't make me laugh out loud. I was actually smiling through the cute scenes. which is actually a plus point meaning I did't completely dislike it.
The story isn't something unique at all but it's from a manhua. Hope I can find it somewhere. It might give me more insight to the story. For some reason the story was all over the place for me at certain times.
Anyways if you are into romantic stories to just pass time I would suggest this one.

Read More

a hidden gem

This one was an unexpected gem.
I never heard about it before, it suddenly appeared on my Viki ‚new release‘ list and then I got curious & how happy I‘m that I really give it a try because it became one of my favorite dramas this year so far.

Sure some Episodes lagged and I also did not like all of the actors acting (I‘m looking at the actor playing Fah) but they give their best, for many this was their first acting job they all were surprisingly good, especially the actor of Vee impressed me, hopefully we‘ll see him in many more projects in the future!

They show had three couples and at the beginning they all had quite good divided air time but later on the third couple was a bit moved to side, that was a bit sad. Also I liked the friendships we had, especially the basketball team.

Fah & Torn - the main couple, they were cute at the beginning, nothing special and as mentioned before I wasn‘t big fan of the actor playing Fah but I really liked Torn. Some things happened in the later Episodes which made me dislike Fah for a bit and I really hoped for them to break up. But in the end I‘m okay with how they ending this couple. But I do think their story was a bit too weak to be the main leads.

Aii & Saen - CUTE. That is the perfect word for these two. Loved them from the beginning, until the end. I could sympathize with their worries and thoughts.

Dome & Vee - the chemistry was so powerful in the first few Episodes, unfortunately there scenes decreased in the later Episodes and also because of the (necessary) time skips we missed some important scenes for them (the breakup between Pan & Dome and Vee dealing with his panic attack) Vee was my favorite character in the whole show and my heart felt heavy for him most of the drama. Wrong time, wrong place, right person - this described Dome & Vee the best. I‘m a bit disappointed with how the show ending the story of these two. And I do hope for a Spin-Off.

Also to mention I never disliked Pan, she also went through a lot & always was their to support her brother. She isn‘t at fault in any way, if we need someone to be at fault it was Dome & Vee themself.

Overall a really good drama which unfortunately is totally underrated. I wished more people would watch it. And if after the 1st Episode (which is the weakest of the whole drama) think it‘s nothing for you, stay, it‘s worth it, really ❤️

Read More

I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. Since it was an older drama I expected it to drag and for the quality to be poor but it exceeded my expectations. This drama is definitely underrated.

story: as far as the story goes it isn't terribly original but thats normal in dramaland. There were a lot of refreshing differences in the plot compared to other dramas however and it wasn't riddled with cliches. If there was a misunderstanding in the drama like we so often see, instead of dragging it out for 4 or 5 episodes, the misunderstanding usually got resolved within the episode and so I was never so frustrated I wanted to rip my hair out. The story progressed in a believable fashion and I felt everything was realistic.


characters: All the characters were nicely developed. I loved that the main girl didn't fall for the rich handsome successful guy and actually broke dramaland tradition and went for the poor and not so handsome guy. Their romance was beautifully done and their interactions were adorable. I loved that he wasn't a jerk to her and I loved that they were honest with eachother and their feelings.


music: the music in this was so-so. nothing stood out really.

over all I give this drama a 9 because it kept you watching and didn't lose your interest. I was rather really happy with this drama and I hope you consider watching it to.

Read More

Keep Running is honestly just a staple favorite for me, watched since the very beginning seasons and will always continue watching as it comes out! I've been through switches of different casts, (will always love the main beginning cast with Deng Chao, Lu Han, Chen He, Zu Lan) but LOVE the new casts too! Season 7 had some amazing and funny people, and this season did not disappoint.

The topics for each episode were on point and super relatable to our everyday current lives whether or not you're a celebrity/idol/actor/actress/singer, etc. The cast was unbelievably funny and shared the same family type vibes that we continue to see every season. Shoutout to the OG trio (Zheng Kai, Li Chen and Angelababy) that are still around, they keep the spirit alive and continuing with new cast members. Hehehe love Kun Kun, watched him since his Idol Producer days and was so happy to see him a part of this cast. The guests for this season was also so awesome!! Just loved this season, 10/10 and so sad that it's already over!!

Read More