Reviews

Swords spark but the pacing perishes

I went in to watch Last Samurai Standing with one desire: well choreographed swordplay. And the series certainly delivered there. Big tick from me.

Also big tick for the death game format. I don't really understand the critique of 'we've seen this before'. I mean, we've seen heaps of spy movies before, but people keep returning to Mission Impossible and James Bond. Don't change a good thing, right? The death game set up is something I enjoy because it immediately introduces high stakes, not because there's anything novel about the trope.

Otherwise, I was pretty underwhelmed by Last Samurai Standing. There are too many characters with back stories, resulting in breadth rather than depth. Back stories should provide a) emotional attachment to a character and b) an explanation for their motivation. I found the former to be superficial at best, and the latter to be often too far-fetched.

So while I didn't mind any of the main characters, I wasn't too fussed about their fates. If I was interested in anyone, it was the Ainu character who received fleeting screen time and no backstory.

That said, this series has overall stellar production quality. There are more than just a few impressive shots, and the colour grading itself is beautiful. I'm curious to see in which direction the second season goes.

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Starts as a silly rom com and ends in equality of genders and clear communication

=== Disclaimer ====
I wrote this review on Jan 17, 2026 bc so many ppl quoted my review earlier. They are clearly some kind of paid troll if they are making up stuff like that.

Perhaps I should have not written this review now bc someone quoting a non-exhisting review is a sure sign of a (paid) troll.
I still decided to now write this review bc I think it is important.

====Review=====
I disliked the start of this drama, it was a very silly frilly rom com for youngsters.

I like that the FL was a functional strong adult and I like the ML bc of Twinkling Watermellon, so I kept watching and I am glad.

The drama made a U-turn into amazing social commentary.

Eventually, it became a testimony of CLEAR COMMUNICATION, TEAM WORK, AND EQUALITY OF GENDERS, and there were many episodes in that mode

In fact, this drama is a pioneer and a peek into the future where genders are equal

How ML and FL resolved issues, separately and as a team, was great .
Two functional productive adults in great love.

The drama also addressed social stigmas, bullying and how to resolve that.

SO IF YOU THINK THIS DRAMA WAS BORING and something like Dynamite Kiss or Cam this Love Be Translated are "interesting", then we have nothing else to talk about. Do not even bother writing to me :)

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Amazing loved this drama

LIKE

Fell in love with Ren Ru Yi - Liu Shi Shi is really beautiful

8 foot tall man buying pastries always teasing the height in most of Liu Yu Ning’s drama

Your nose is so sensitive. Are you a dog? His zodiac happens to be a dog. Eat your bun…

The joke in this drama lol hilarious

Everyone always teasing Ning Yuan Zhou especially his subordinates who are more like brothers

Fight scenes are good

When Yu Shi San made hand gestures to Ning Yuan Zhou about Ren Ru Yi touching his hands.. lol

Li Tong Guang's love for Ren Xin omg soso touching

When Yang Ying revealed her true identity wow

DISLIKE

Really nothing soso good

MUSIC - personal fav

奉上 Feng Shang - 刘宇宁 Liu Yu Ning
別梦寒 Bie Meng Han - 刘宇宁 Liu Yu Ning
一念关山 Yi Nian Guan Shan - 任贤齐 Ren Xian Qi
长醉 Chang Zui - 光良 Guang Liang
立剑 Li Jian - 张杰 Zhang Jie
何故春回 He Gu Chun Hui - 张栋梁 Zhang Dong Liang
半世风霜 Ban Shi Feng Shuang - 袁娅维 Yuan Ya Wei
怕梦 Pa Meng - 黄霄雲 Huang Xiao Yun
还未曾 Hai Wei Cheng - 不才 Bu Cai

REWATCH VALUE

Shall rewatch when I have time someday

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Don't Bother

I had high expectations initially. In fact, first 10 episodes were pretty good. But it went downhill afterward. I knew slapping is a staple in lakorns, but lord, there's slapping in every episode. The villains are one dimensional with no redeeming qualities, the FL is relentless but the ML might as well not be there. I mean, ok, just like in Love Hurts (Rak Rai), I feel like they intentionally do this or else it would be too intense. ML got the morals but not the spine and it gets old FAST. Also the 2nd couple was boring as hell.

If you're expecting romance between ML & FL, you're gonna be disappointed. Not only it's a slow burn, also there was barely any. Logically speaking, why would she be involved with him if their marriage is only transactional.

By episode 18, I regret not dropping the lakorn earlier and now I'm in too deep to not watch the ending. Fortunately, it has a satisfying ending.

My advice, watch it on 2x or 1.5x speed. In fact, if you skip the middle episodes, you won't be missing out on anything and you will still get the ending.

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Fantastic music but just a drag

First few episodes were intersing I have completed 10 but it's not going anywhere, too many conflicts that's going over my head first of all too slow for my liking then FL is king how is that ? Ok let's assume that's true than she doesn't have a freedom of what to do she feels like a princess at best rather King , is FL is king then who's the person she calls master ? other's calling Lord ? Gods are dying getting hurt and they are calling themselves immortals don't know how's that ? ML is good looking but after sometime you are just bored with same expression there's no change whatsoever

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Could have been a 10/10 show

When I started this, I was convinced this was going to be my best xianxia, so I'm disappointed in how hard it fell off.

At first, I applauded the writers for doing their best to tell a beautiful story in limited episodes, because it's obvious that this is a show that deserved 50-60 episodes to fully bloom. But as I spent more time thinking about it, I realized that the writers held partial responsibility in the mess that the second half turned into. The story they were trying to tell was incredible, but they didn't have enough episodes to tell it well. To maintain the quality, they should have cut the story down. Or at least done it over multiple seasons, (which is rare, I know).

Unfortunately, they chose to do neither and the story suffered significantly. I know that the 3-lifetime romance is a big xianxia trope. But prioritizing a trope to the detriment of good storytelling is a decision that opens them up to criticism.

What I did like (let's get this out of the way because it's super short):

Wang Yinglu and Chen Feiyu deserve so much respect for keeping us invested in these characters despite the story going downhill. I can't give them enough praise!!!!! I'm pretty sure I'm going to rewatch this a few years down the line, but I'll be sticking to the first 13 or so episodes just to bask in Tingyan & Sima Jiao's beautiful story.

What I didn't like (no surprises here):
The pacing. The pacing. The pacing.

I'm just confused with how it was set up. The show starts off slowly, letting the characters get to know each other and fall in love realistically. Before you know it, you're halfway through, having a great time. And then you realize they're going to try and fit 2 arcs (demon + mortal) in the remaining half of the show, and question marks start popping up in your brain.

This problem with pacing is exacerbated by the middle arc that feels pointless (the cultivation school and body swapping plotlines that take up a lot of time and don't have thaaaat big of an impact on the overall picture.) It's frustrating to see so much time spent on side plotlines when the main story is so rushed. We also didn't need a second couple given the massive time constraints. Ruling and Black Snake Guy didn't really add that much by having a romance arc.

The pacing is even worse in the mortal realm, where Sima Jiao falls in love with Tingyan in 1-2 episodes, depriving us of the realistic romance that made the show special in the first place. At this point it felt like the writers were just ticking off things from their to-do list. The mortal realm also features a big drought that majorly impacts the characters, but it's introduced and resolved all in the span of, like, 10 minutes, so it all feels very bland. And of course, the fight in the last episode is laughable ... or frustrating, depending on which way you fall.

I really wanted this to be a 10/10 drama. If it had resolved in the demon realm, I probably would have given it a 9. I think it poses serious conversation around whether it's worth telling a whole story if you're going to tell it poorly, or whether it's worth to cut it down to something smaller and do a magnificent job from start to finish. It's all depends on personal opinion, but I much prefer the latter.

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heartwarming story

japanese bl series never disappoint. the story is really great, the story is about a smart, innocent, popular kid who fell in love with a troublemaker. it's not just a High school love story, it's even more. usually in other high school bl series nothing much happens actually they just fall in love and then what? do they stay with each other forever? do they join the same university ? do they spend their life with each other forever? we don't have any answer for this. But in this series there is highschool love story and even we see about their university life and also about the after university life. they fell in love in highschool and then they break up but they meet with each other again and they still had feelings for each other and also jin asked hirukawa about marriage. even though they couldn't marry each other because of the law they still loved each other forever. a really good story, a really good plot, the acting is great and it's a must watch series.

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That moment in life when you realised you turned into an adult

LIKE

When Chen Ting got slapped - that felt so good

My menses is here!! HILARIOUS

Wow the tears my god when Hai Chao scolded He Lan

The family bond is so close when one is in trouble the other two let go of everything and run to that sibling

DISLIKE

I have never wanted someone to disappear so much please just leave Chen Ting I beg you

MUSIC - personal fav

無畏 Wu Wei - 馬頔 Ma Di
雨 Yu - 沈以誠 Shen Yi Cheng
我會守在這裡 Wo Hui Shou Zai Zhe Li - 毛不易 Mao Bu Yi

REWATCH VALUE

Will re-watch when I have time some day

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RECOMMENDED THIS DRAMA !!

HEE YAN KEREN BGT CUK, DEMI UNGKERR. first time w nonton dracin kayak gini. HEE YAN IDOL W SUMPA, LITERALLY DIA RELA NYAMAR JD COWOK BIAR BS NGEREBUT BALIK TAHTA YG HARUSNYA PUNYA DIA TP MLH DIREBUT SEENAKNYA SM HE RUFEI SAMPE MATANYA SEMPET BUTA. wkt matanya buta, asistennya si he rufei asli disuruh ngebunuh hee yan ajg. untungnya ditolongin sm sifu nya. emg si rufei2 ini ajg bgt. LITERALLY HEE YAN RELA KENA TUSUK 2 KALI DLM 1 MATCH N DIA MASI BISA NGELAWAN MUSUHNYA. GMN ORG2 BS CURIGA KL LU CEWE SDGKN POWERNYA KEK COWO. kl ga gara2 xiao jue nganterin pulang n lu ketiduran sampe ga sengaja nyandar di punggungnya naik kuda, gamungkin xj tau kalo lu cewe. qi mubai ngeselin bgt, TAPI LEBIH NGESELIN HE RUFEI SAMA XU JINGFU. MEREKA BER2 TUH BNRN KEK MEKI TW G. APALAGI HE RUFEI LITERALLY BENALU, PARASIT, HAMA, BEBAN PARAH!!. dia ngambil jabatan orang lain yg bahkan dia gaikut ngerasain susahnya buat dapetin jabatan jenderal. USAHA BOS USAHA. COWO KO CUPU,BEBAN KELUARGA LG. kasian cewe w :<. TAPI BENERAN INI BEST KOLOSAL WUXIA YG PERNAH W TONTON, TRUST ME KALIAN GBKL NYESEL NONTON INI N I'M SO PROUD OF HER AS WOMAN ;>

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Opposites attract

This KDrama feels like a series from 2015, but with a much more expensive budget. The travel part was lovely, but I feel like it could of still worked if it were filmed only in Korea and Japan. It has a slow romance, crazy family background, great leads and has a "one of the leads falls first, but the other falls harder" type of story. I loved the love story, honestly I don't remember a KDrama from recent years which made me feel like I was actually watching a couple falling love (great chemistry is not the same thing).

The Hong Sisters are mostly known for darker stuff, and there is a storyline here which was hidden from the trailers, and may surprise some viewers. It is not exactly a rom-com, so be warned. So I would recommend it, but not for those who expect a fluffy rom-com, this is a romance drama with some comedy and horror elements.

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