Reviews

If you appreciate the arts of China, it's a watch

This is a drama wrapped around producing a documentary about many of China's amazing culture of arts-embroidery, weaving, ceramics, laquer, opera, costumes, etc. so as not to be just a standard documentary series (of which those parts are actually rather boring--but it could be because the English subtitles were not great). It features a quirky girl who is said to have a disorder that makes her anti-social, yet she is so observant of others that she can constantly come up with creative ways to find a human story behind the artistry vs. just relating facts and features.
I had fun watching it to see guest stars (several current idol and well known actors) in episodes portraying those stories.
It in line with other "Celebrate China" (propaganda?) shows like Our Times (watch the episode called Night At A Tang Dynasty Banquet focused on a dance) so I bet that is why the stars chose to be in this project. So if you are interested in the arts, it's a watch.

Read More

World is a battle field , few just haven't given up yet.

If you're here to connect with few characters deeply to their present, past and future, this drama is for you. If you are one of those who doesn't want to hope because of broken friendships or relationships, This drama is just right for you.
You live through the rash youth, the one where you have hope, You will live through the adulthood where you have to push yourself to hope and maybe , maybe if you have atleast one person in your life who would stand for you when the world stands tall against you, this is where it is. Overall watch this to see dreams , to just love even when you have nothing and when you are just surviving, it is alright , This is your fight.
Loved few characters , hated few but overall lived through it all.

Read More

Beautiful cinematography, lacklustre last quarter

Wonderland of Love was a show I started watching while waiting for SOKP’s new episodes. I did not expect much from WoL- the title suggested a focus on romance and I had little interest in picking up a Xu Kai show as I hadn’t enjoyed any of his last performances.

However, I would say that up till episode 32, this was a solid show. The characters are interesting, particularly Li Ni (Xu Kai), and the veteran actors particularly elevated this show. The show had some of the best cinematography I’ve seen this year - like this director’s other works (The Untamed and even Legends) there are lovely shots of characters standing on rocks. The scene with Ciu Lin and Li Ni in the grass was lovely.

When it started, Wonderland of Love was a story about doing what’s right over what one desires out of life. For Shiqi what he truly desired was to be free. Yet Ciu Lin pushed him to be the crown prince, and he was so determined not to tread this path that he even broke up with her for that. In a way theirs was a deep love that goes beyond separation and insignificant matters. They each stand for what they believe them and defend those beliefs even if it meant to separate from each other. Love should not demand the sacrifice of one’s true self, and despite their love for each other, I liked that they respected each other, even if different values guided them.

The best episodes on the show were definitely episode 30 and 31. 30 was heartbreaking- the camaraderie and affection between Shiqi and the other guys makes this episode both shocking as well as tragic. None of the deaths are just for shock value - the friends say their farewells to Shiqi in a dream sequence in episode 31 complemented by Chen Xueran’s beautiful song. This is the best I have seen of Xu Kai- his restrained grief was very well done, and his scene with Jing Tian as he recuperated was really heartbreaking, as was his memorial for his friends. The scene was beautiful - Xu Kai (Li Ni) spitting blood after taking a sip of the wine, and the bamboo grasshoppers falling from the sky.

The cinematography was spectacular, really. At least until episode 31.

I wouldn't say that the beginning episodes were perfect - they were plenty of choppy moments - the editing was simply off for a long time, but still one tried to piece everything together. It made sense to some extent. Then came the best episodes: 30 and 31. Then, the show went in another direction. There were unnecessary villains - very annoying, clingy characters that never get a hint. I started forwarding the remaining episodes.

Anyway I hung on till episode 40, which was actually better than the episodes preceding it. The moment between the father and son in episode 40 was touching, but it did not really allow Shiqi the opportunity to heal those childhood wounds from the lack of love he received from his father.

I think Xu Kai did the best he could with whatever he had - this role suited him well. Jing Tian was good too, although I did not enjoy her character's trajectory from a cool woman to crown princess/empress. Somewhere along the line I’m not sure what the show really was about.

Is it worth watching? I think so - particularly for the first 31 episodes, for the beautiful cinematography and for the performances overall. I enjoyed many of the supporting characters- Consort Xiao’s love story was lovely, and the bond between the imperial grandson and Han was touching too. There were certainly many solid moments. If only this script matched up to some of the cinematography then perhaps it would have made for a better show.

Read More

Dai Gao Zheng

I will shamelessly admit I watched this drama for the ML Dai Gao Zheng. Standing still with those smoldering, soulful gazes and his kissing scenes. He's simply gorgeous. The SML and the brother were easy on the eyes as well, but their characters were not appealing to me at all.

Equally unappealing was the FL. Whether it was the way her character was written or her acting, it's hard to tell. There was very little chemistry between she and the sizzling ML. He carried all the intimate scenes on his own. After a while I wished I could have muted every time she said his name (which was almost the entire dialogue for Episode 22. The writers must have run out of lines for her). The character was silly and clueless and just plain blah, and she played it that way.

The story itself had promise, DGZ could have done a little more acting and the villain could have been a little more dimensional than he was. He was just so bitter I couldn't feel any pity for him. And the female character attached to the brother was kind of one-dimensional herself. Not interesting at all.

So... if you're looking for a riveting story with award-winning acting, this isn't it. However, the eye candy is well worth it, and there is a lot of that!

Read More

1st episode: Who tf wrote this plot? It's so cringy i'm gonna die
2nd episode:I'm gonna keep watching because of Hongbin
3rd episode:Wait a minute...this is getting better
4th episode:Oh shit,I'M HOOKED

Those were my actual reactions. I wanted to drop the drama halfway through the first episode but i kept watching it and in the end,i really enjoyed it. It doesn't have a great storyline,like it's nothing new and unique,it's not gonna surprise you at all. But it has that fluffiness that everyone enjoys from time to time. The characters grew on me and i'm glad that i didn't stopped watching after the first episode.

So overall,for just a short web drama, i thought it was adorable. Really cliché tho,so if you don't like those kind of stories,this isn't for you.

Read More

A passable rom-com that got swamped by a tsunami of relationship disasters

Let me be frank, the ML was a horrible person for a good 1/3 of the Show. He is rude, arrogant and a bully. Thankfully, the growth in the FL offset this and gave the Show a positive momentum. For the first half of the drama, it was very rewarding to watch the FL overcome challenges and strike out on her own. The business aspect of this chapter was also engaging and interesting unlike many c-drama which is supposedly based on the business world. Not surprisingly, the ML changed for the better over time, but it was a slow journey and he continued to be taciturn and awkward for the bulk of the show. It was hard to ship the OTP initially. Nevertheless, everything was heading in the right direction and there are solid hints that the OTP is on the verge of going official when the ML suddenly has an attack of the vapours and told the FL not to have any silly idea about liking him. OMG! That is the smackdown of the century and of course the FL took it badly. This is where the wheels begin to fall off this cart.

I know push-pulls and misunderstanding are the cornerstones of a rom-com, but our dear writer double down on the relationship nightmares thus flipping the narrative on its head. It went from a positive, sunny outlook to a total disaster area within a couple of episodes. The doom and gloom went on for a good 8-9 episodes before the FL finally broke up with the SML. Suddenly, it is as if a curse has been lifted and the sun came out again. Upon reflection, there was little to gain from all this pain while making the Show feel stilted.

Speaking of the SML, there is no chemistry between him and the FL. Forget fish lip kisses, they were dead fish swimming. The body language of the FL made it clear that she wanted out, but it still dragged on for too long. Ditto parachuting the ML’s crush into the mix at the same time. All it served was to throw fuel onto the flaming wreak of our OTP “romance”. If that is not enough, the seemingly perfect relationship of her BFF and her partner became a complete train wreck.

This brings us to a related issue. While the first half of the Show was focused on the OTP with some side plots, the latter half became a free-for-all with all the side stories taking over the bulk of the screen time. The leads became the supporting act. So not only was there no progress in their relationship, but they were also caught up with everyone else’s problems.

In this sea of gloom, there was an odd spark. Oddly, it was a death, but the story was integral to the plot. It was poignant and well acted. It marked the turning point when the Show pivot back on course.

The last few episodes are used to dispel the gloom and put things right. More time and effort are spent on side characters while the leads are stuck in the dreaded friend zone. The pacing is languid to say the least. The ending is cute and predictable but more appropriate for a movie. The confession did not happen until the literal dying moments of the last episode! Why can’t we have more sweet CP moments? I believe the Show followed closely the book which it is based but after 30+ episodes a bit more fan service is not unreasonable. So much time is wasted, . . . so much.

Acting wise, the FL was very good while the ML struggles with his delivery. I have not watched any of his show which I can say his acting was outstanding. Most of the support cast earned their keeps. There were some one-dimensional characters and some overacting but not too bad.

OST is good. I can rewatch bits of it, but I would skip a lot as well. It started well and promised much but in the end, it failed to reach new heights and came down to a soft landing.

Read More

it is an epic drama

i honestly love a good tragedy not only that the whole casts are so sweet, especially the sides couples. this drama songs are really good the singers are epic i don't want to give too many spoilers on this drama. so i will say one thing it will feel like a rollercoaster ride one minute you're happy the next minute you're down in the dump and the next we get a reunion which will make you cry and lol then the cycle repeats. the actress for this drama FL Ji Yun He (Dilraba Dilmurat) and ML Chang Yi(Ren Jia Lun) have a great chemistry. the drama is well written the director and scriptwriter know when and where to throw an emotional bomb on the viewers. man, honestly I want more tragedies like these in drama. this drama has multiple tragedies and I'm not just talking about FL and ML only the sides couples have tragedies so be prepared with a box of tissue cause some people gonna cry a lot when watching this and some will enjoy it. this was a bitter-sweet drama and i thoroughly enjoyed it all the way to the end. i also cannot stress enough that the songs in this drama are beatuiful

Read More

I was excited to see another Bai Lu drama, but to me this drama didn't meet my expectation. Was hoping it would be a cute story but this drama just packed too much. I got a little lost watching it at the end. I felt this drama was kinda choppy in it's plot development...

Let me try to summarize it.... Male lead is from the Upper Jiu Liu ( aka upper class person) He has a clothing business.
Female lead is of the lower Jiu liu ( from the lower class) where she is the leader in the Dragon Bamboo sect. Two people from two classes come together to solve a case of missing gold thread from the male lead 's store/factory. ( Many episodes were about this case , which i didn't find particularly interesting). The female lead gets to stay at the store to unravel what has happen .Beside the Dragon bamboo clan there is a snake clan , who does evil and try to inflate the silkworm. They were also behind the missing golden thread. After the case is solve, the female lead is there in the shop as a designer, and help design different thing likes bras and pillows to sell to the public. In their shop there is the second female lead who has an evil father. The evil father basically tries to kill the male and female lead because they know of his evil and deceptive ways. He gets saved because , he actually has another identity, he's a crown prince. Just like that the story turns and he moves Chang An.

There is also a mystery behind the female lead's identity, but the big reveal was just kinda confusing and like wth ? it took way too long for her to solve the case/find out why someone killed her master. she goes into the royal palace and tries to find more , but she doesnt really find much information.

Also the female lead is suppose to be a leader of the dragon bamboo clan , but i didnt find that she had the characteristic traits that fit. I mean she is a little loud, rough , brave and can drink but she doesnt know martial arts , so she cant protect herself, while on the other hand the male lead who is from the upper class and is much more tamer knows martial arts and kicks butt!!!

The female and male lead pairing didnt work. I didnt feel like they had chemistry at all. Like it took so long for the female lead to figure out she liked the male lead. The male lead was a little too stone cold face lol, but he was cute when he smiled. I felt she had more chemstry with the second male lead. They didnt have enough screen time to build that relationship up, maybe one incident, but afterwards nothing so it was left to dry lol ( dont know if you know what i mean) So if you are looking for romance, this is not the drama for you !

I think they gave a little too much time in showing the relationship between the second male and female lead. I didnt like the fact that he turned evil, but at the end had such a wth ending.... ( dont wanna ruin it all) Also the evil father has an evil daughter.... Didn't like her either, a lu cha biao!! green tea b....

What i liked was the relationship between the female and male lead's servants. Their story was pretty cute!! They ended up falling for each other.

I mean this drama is bearable, watch at your own warning! hehe

Read More

So firstly, I really did enjoy this mini series, it has many good points, but I do want to give a fair warning that it FLIES through the plot. I mean A LOT is glossed over, to the point you might think its a budgeting issue not just lazy writers. This series really should have been a full 12-15 eps in my opinion. The characters and the overall plot would have benefitted from it. That being said,

STORY
Super intriguing on a base level. I like this plot line they were trying to flesh out, and i could do enough back-fill myself to make it seem more full than it really was, but still it was very enjoyable and entertaining. This is also a down side though, as because it's so short you almost feel ripped off or that there are 5-7 extra eps laying on the cutting room floor in the editors office. I like seeing two capable, independent and strong dudes fall in love because it keeps away from the often ham-fisted fem!sub with a masc!dom that spurs up in these type of stories often. It's pretty cool

ACTING
Okay the acting pretty much made everything worth it. The two leads are great and there is definitely chemistry -- I enjoy the dichotomy of kr film being either NOTHING or going the full 9-yards and beating you over the end with make-out and strip scenes. Luckily for this film there was the latter.
the sister is also a great actor and she's very cute and genuine.

REWATCH?
yes just because there are some missing plot lines and such that'd i'd like to take time to fill in on my own. also the scenes mentioned before are hot sooo... ace.

Read More

Genuine and hilarious at the same time.

I think this is the best variety show I have watched this year. Very enjoyable from beginning to the end. My favorite episodes were episode 1 ,6 & 7.  They should named this Villains Home Decoration lol. They really worked hard in making the house beautiful  got me thinking it was such  a waste to part with it when the show ended. Now it has ended, I have two questions about the show if anyone knows lol.  First,who is the real owner of the house?  What a lucky owner lol. Second, they spent a fortune redecorating the house but with whose money ?

About the cast :
-Uhm Ki Joon = His calm personality balance the trio. The older hyung who take care of his dongsengs in his own way.
-Bong Tae Kyu = He  cursed the show's concept alot, said it was a crap and awful but he was the one who worked the hardest in every task he got.
-Yoon Jong Hoon : Our Golden Youngest. Despite being the youngest, he did what a mother would in a family. He cooked and take better care of his hyungs.His synergy with BTK was the best.

I could feel the interaction they had were all genuine and not scripted .They seem to say what they want to each other depicted they have a close relationship with each other in reality. You can't love what you don't know. In WDB, you would see their real personality behind the villain masks they wore in most drama they were in and  surely fall in love with them by the end of the show. Recommended!

Read More

The acting was VERY GOOD. I just really want to emphasize that. Excellent plot. I've seen it before on gooddrama.net while looking for more detective series to watch, but the series cover picture and the name, just didn't click to me. But then, I found out that Junpei Mizobata is one of the cast. And that did it! Haha.

If you're looking for a detective tv drama, this is it people. Another thing that I actually like about it is it's funny, makes you laugh hard every now and then.

Great character development.

All said, I'm looking forward on watching the second season. It better be greater or equal to this!

Read More

A sweet summer ride with a dash of drama!

7.7/10

Positives :
✅ All the cast members were sweet, supportive and adorable. There wasn’t a single "extremely problem child" in the bunch, which made the overall atmosphere and vibe genuinely heartwarming.

✅ For me this was a unique and refreshing concept. The idea of living together to find a BL partner for a drama role was completely new to me and I really enjoyed it. It felt like a fresh twist on the usual reality show format.

✅ The panelists "The Aunty Squad" were over-the-top in the best way. They were funny, dramatic and very engaging throughout. Their silly commentary here and there added an extra layer of entertainment to the episodes.

Negatives:
❌ I did not enjoy over-the-Top drama towards the end. While the first 10 episodes felt genuine, the drama and sudden twists in the final two episodes came off as a bit too much. It somewhat disrupted the otherwise vibe of the show.

❌ I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had been an 8 or 10-episode series. Some parts felt a bit slow and dragged on.

❌ Now this might just be my problem but Poom deserved more panel love. It often felt like the panel forgot about Poom, especially when he was waiting for translations in the early 5-6 episodes. I wish they had given him a few extra seconds to catch up. It occasionally felt like he was watching the show alone. That said, it was nice to see him interact more with the squad by the end.

Overall, this was a creative and enjoyable ride for the most parts with likable casts and a fresh concept. Despite a slightly rocky finish, the journey was full of warm moments and making it worth a one time watch.

Read More

Searching for Meaning in a Meaningless World

Snowy Night: Timeless Love or its (better) alternate title Seven Nights of Snow features constant, unending scenery of snowy landscapes against which this beautiful story of grief and regret is set. Some of the snow scenes were shot on location and some were recreated - yes the CGI can be a bit underwhelming, and the premise of the male lead returning to the Apothecary Valley while retaining terrible injuries during the course of eight years may sound uninspiring. Yet, underneath this repetitive facade lies a poignant and reflective tale of grief, love and sacrifice.

There's the seemingly cold medical-doctor Xue Ziye and the equally cold Apothecary Valley. Our male lead Huo Zhanbai is the righteous and kindhearted (to a fault) seventh brother of the Sword Sect. Appearances can be deceiving -as the eight years roll by we learn that Xue Ziye is neither cold nor lustful. Huo Zhanbai's task over the eight years is a meaningless one - finding herbs that will serve no real purpose apart from giving him a reason to live. His grief outweighs the pain he suffers from searching for the herbs - so he would suffer physically then lose hope altogether.  Sometimes one needs only one reason to live. Xue Ziye's shifu later on points out that a lie saved three lives. For Xue Ziye, her own reasons to survive was the hope of reviving her old childhood friend - in order to do so she herself finds meaning in several meaningless tasks - rootless water, rootless plants - all of which can hardly manifest into anything. Huo Zhanbai's path to self-redemption is itself meaningless as there is nothing to redeem. His self-sacrificing kindness overshadows everyone else in the beginning half of the show only to be surpassed by Xue Ziye acts of self-sacrifice in the last few episodes. 

Both these characters, in their silent ways, find companionship in each other and heal from their wounds. Perhaps the most poignant scenes are the ones where the two of them sit together sipping wine. Sometimes they stare at the moon, sometimes they wait for the epiphyllum to bloom. That was one of the most telling moments on the show: the beauty of a certain moment - watching flowers bloom. No physicality could surpass the silence of beauty. These were the slow moments on the show that I thoroughly enjoyed. In an age where one needs to slow down - these moments were meditative, poetic and meaningful. Sometimes the greatest meaning lies in the little things and it's those little things that make up the big things.   

By no means is this a happy show - many of its characters suffer incessantly and in different ways. Mingjie, Miao Feng and Miao Shui are also victims in some way or another. I enjoyed the way the stories of all these characters was revealed during the course of the show. Miao Feng's true personality is revealed much later and he makes for another very interesting character. The bonds that the characters share was another highlight of the show. The silent unspoken love between Huo Zhanbai and Xue Ziye. The bonds between Xue Ziye and Miao Feng which were heartbreaking towards the end. The love between Xue Ziye and Mingjie which reached its peak in episode 29 with the beautiful scene where both actors gave an outstanding and heart wrenching performance. There were other bonds too - mother and son, lost siblings, shifu and her students - each wrought by boundless sacrifice. 

Yes this is a tragedy but it is by far one of the most beautiful tragedies I've watched recently. It is never dark or gruesome and perhaps never too complex in its plots. Instead its complexity lies in human relationships and emotions, where silence outweighs the noises of the world, where love, kindness and sacrifice is unforgotten and where hope can be found even in the greatest sadness. 

Read More

Oh look, it's review time!

I don't usually watch dramas like this anymore, but I found myself without an internet connection for a few days and this lingered on my external harddrive. Guess that's how life works, eyh?

I plowed through this in three days. It's a really light watch. There's no rocket science involved in any way, and to be quite honest - the story line is rather predictable. However, it did have some good points.

The story is decent enough. It's nothing extremely original, but it gets away with being charming and light hearted. The title would give you the impression (or at least it did to me) that this is gonna be hardcore ramen cooking from start to finish. I was surprised to see exactly how little focus there was on the actual ramen. I'd like to throw in a comparison to emphasize my point; In Baker King Kim Tak Goo, which is a drama about baking bread, you get to learn a bit about the process of making bread and how one should proceed. As for this one, we learned nothing about the ramen, which is a rather complex skill. I guess I was a little disappointed by that.
I know some of you are gonna go "Yeah but this is a romantic comedy, it's supposed to be about relationships and silly acting". I get that, and Baker King is a completely different genre.

I'm just saying.

Moving on!
I have the impression that romantic comedy is a very "silly" genre in Korea. It's all about overacting in front of the camera in what is supposed to come across as cute and funny (apart from the boy meets girl part of course).
Weeeell this drama, for me, takes it to a whole other level. The camera closeups on Yang Eun Bis face and the awkward hand movements, which were topped off with sound effects, were just extremely hit and miss. They could have gotten away with way less and made it easier on the eyes in the process. However, for it's genre it does hold some comedic value. I just don't feel like it served it's purpose the way it could have.
Other than that, I don't really have any complaints. Some rookie actors made their characters rather bland (*cough* Yoon So Yi *cough* Woo Hyun Woo *cough*) but what can one really expect. The main leads did their job fairly, and all in all it was an enjoyable watch.

The music is rather bland in my opinion. It never really stuck. If someone played a song from the soundtrack for me right now, I wouldn't have been able to tell where it was from. I don't feel like it emphasised the drama the way it should have.

I'm not one to re-watch dramas often. In fact, with a few exceptions, I never do it. However, 6 is a rather high rewatch score for me. This is because the drama, despite my concerns above, is a lighthearted and silly (but not ridiculous) drama.

The good things about this that I would like to underline, is that it's fast paced. The episodes are short for a korean drama (45 minutes), and time really flies by while watching . The episodes are never really dull, and never at any point did it become a hassle or a duty to keep watching. However, it really depends on what mood you're in while watching. Don't expect a life changing drama. If you're after a drama where you can turn your brain off and just lay back and enjoy, this is the drama for you.

And for that reason, I rate this a 8/10.

PS: For those who are interested, you are welcome to join my "We who want to high five Yoon So Yo in the face with a hammer" club. We meet every wednesday at 6pm. I bring cake every two weeks.

Read More