Two Steps From Heaven
Essex
Good/Evil twin; Amnesia; First Love; and many more tropes await you....enjoy
This was quite engaging through the first three episodes but then it lost me once the FL's character started acting like an idiot. In addition, the dialogue and plot lacked depth. The writers really dropped the ball on this because even with all the tropes being crammed into the series, it still had so much potential if only the characters didn't keep making illogical decisions. I've finished 20 episodes which I believe is the best I can do. Tapping out.XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
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One of the worst female leads ever
What in the fresh hell is this and who tf thought having a FL who was afraid of her own shadow would be good drama? My heart hurts from having to self-flagellate since I kept watching episode after episode even though I knew nothing would change. The FL would still be a walk over and the ML would still be a dreadful, verbally abusive jerk. It's kinda shocking that this series is just 7 yrs old because the story is dated and unrealistic, and no woman born north of the year 1990 would put up with all the crap that was thrown at the FL by what seemed like all the female characters in the drama.Next, what's with the ridiculous hairstyles of both leads? Wallace looked old and Tang's head and body looked like a mushroom cap and stalk respectively.
Update: I understand the movie adaptation (You Are My Sunshine) starring Yang Mi and Huang Xiao Ming is much better than this series.
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Fluff
Going through 24 episodes of the FL wearing ugly mummy jeans and tops has left me traumatized. I swear the wardrobe person must hate the lead actress for real otherwise there's no reason to style her character with such juvenile and ugly clothes. The story is okay-ish but there's an important element that's still unrevealed which will determine if this drama was worthwhile or not.I'll update the ratings and review upon completion.
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It could have been the best based solely on the aesthetics
The strength of MJTY lies in the cinematography and the various eye candy actors yet it still falls prone to the C drama Achilles heel where the audience is given a taut beginning that rapidly descends into hum -drum. Time and again the middle will drag and answers that could have been provided incrementally are dumped at the last minute. In addition, there was barely any chemistry between Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He with both performances verging on robotic, meanwhile, Ryan Cheng and Tian Jia Rui's looks and performances overshadowed the main leads.Also, the fight scenes were a tad acrobatic-ish (and boring) with multiple skirts flying amid the ridiculous gymnastics but overall a good drama
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What was the point?
I'd never seen so many not so good looking guys in one drama and even though I don't consider myself to be superficial, I found that the lack of eye candy in addition to such a boring slow-as-hell plot did nothing to assuage the ennui that crept in with each new episode.Frankly, I found this uninspired and at times ridiculous. For an ensemble cast of relatively talented actors, the script really let them down and gave them little to work with other than creating division and disharmony over whether inner beauty trumped the physical. That was further compounded by making our weak-looking love interests do acts that were cruel, demeaning, and vastly inappropriate (looking at you Teacher Mai). Was there a lesson in there somewhere?
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Laughable
This might be the first true Chinese soap opera I've ever watched. Every aspect of it from the plot to the camera angles and the overly dramatic reactions from most of the characters puts this firmly in that category. The unbelievable part is that this was actually filmed in 2015. 2015! Ayia, I couldn't help but laugh as the plot progressed. Nothing to see here folks.VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
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Terrible
What a mess. Gaaaaah, I hated this drama. I hated the FL actress’ face with her fish-like pucker lips. I hated the palace nonsense and lack of anything resembling a sensible story. I hated the almost dying and hapless Emperor. Mostly, I hated the way the youtube comments were all fawning over this non-existent love story. I mean, despite Cheng Yi’s valiant attempt to dial up the scorching eyes and pursed lips, it still couldn't create any chemistry with the skinny-noodle-like FL who, btw, we're supposed to believe is a martial artist (el oh el). Why do I do this to myself?Was this review helpful to you?
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Sigh. The most basic, draggy, idiotic story. Thank god it was only 22 episodes which I still ended up watching at 2x speed cos it gave nothing. The sassy FL was cringe that even the pretty ML couldn't appease the irritation I felt at the story. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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One of the worst things in any drama is when the writers purposely use miscommunication as a plot device. As in, a particular character chooses to remain silent instead of clarifying a dire situation. It's frustrating and needlessly angsty. More than this, I absolutely hate when supposedly smart characters act in ways that are contrary to who they are. This drama is littered with plot holes and deus ex machina moments where either leads walk into traps with eyes wide open yet our ML never uses any intelligent counter measures rather he and the FL just keep ploughing forward with no forethought. Then we have this arrogant FL who thinks she's so smart even though we can see that all she does is blow smoke up her own ar@e. I screamed many times at my screen while raining multiple curses on the writers who chose to give us such situations and characters. Did they think we are all idiots? I would have been content had they given us just one smart character but no, from the Emperor to the ministers and even the main leads....all we got was nonsense. Lastly, not even the “love story” could redeem this clusterfuck of a drama and I’m only watching this to the end mainly because of the hours invested. Save yourself and watch Yanxi Palace or Weiyoung.
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Depressing
I was reluctant to let go of the characters from Story of Yanxi Palace and was hoping The Legend of Haolan would sate said longing. WRONG!I understand this was an adaptation of true events which meant the writers and creators were restricted in what could be changed, however, the plot was needlessly dragged out with each episode seemingly a reoccurrence of the previous one. Li Hao Lan, the titular character, was played by one of the best Chinese actresses yet even she couldn't breathe life into such a mundane character who was 1-D and completely inept at palace schemes. Time and time again, she's framed for some crime and is saved by either of the two male leads and obviously, this got old very quickly. The actors were hampered by the bad script and nothing could save the series from being average.
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Interesting
A lot of this was about greed and obsessive love which led to many years of heartache and grief for quite a few of the main characters.Our ML's family has grappled with rumors of a hundred yr old curse that afflicts the bride of the firstborn son and with him about to enter an arranged marriage, the bride's family decides on a hare-brained scheme to circumvent said curse.
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Someone help, I think I cracked a rib
Indulge yourself in this hilarious faux-crime drama and ignore everything that looks like plot contrivances. I haven't laughed this hard in forever and I mean the full-bellyache tears running down my face-kind of laughter. It certainly helped that the drama did not take itself too seriously even though there were some heavy themes being showcased. I will def rewatch it whenever I need a little pick me up.XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
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Sigh
I believe in the theory of six degrees of separation as much as the next person; however, the sheer number of coincidental meetings between ALL the main characters just left me gobsmacked.The ex-wife had an identical twin sister whom she'd never met but suddenly they run into each other at a car park and end up switching cars. The ex-wife is on the verge of a breakdown and the twin is heavily pregnant and was being pursued by dangerous people who wanted her dead, instead, it's the ex-wife who gets pushed down a ravine. Even though she survived she had no memory of her past and when she runs into a guy who turns out to be an ex-boyfriend, he took her into his home and gave her employment at his law firm.
It turns out this ex-bf is the brother of the woman who had an affair with ex-wife's ex-husband. Ex-husband is the CEO of the company that employed the pregnant twin and it was ex-husband's brother-in-law who had attempted to murder the pregnant twin.
Still with me?
Ex-husband's BIL had a brother who was a doctor who rented a room from the ex-wife's mother. The pregnant twin had by now given birth to a daughter who needed serious medical care for a rare disease and it just so happened that only the BIL's brother offered this treatment.
Even writing this review is making me chuckle because what in the af were the writers inhaling?
Anyway, now the ex-husband sees his ex-wife, only she's lost her memories and no longer remembers him. Meanwhile, he's still dating the woman (the aforementioned sister of the ex-BF who took ex-wife in) with whom he'd had the affair, and this woman was hell-bent on ensuring only she got the ex-husband.
And so the wheels went round and around for fifty episodes. Rinse and repeat. I was cursing the me who decided it was a good idea to watch this. Oh, well.
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Brain numbing
This was a solid 7 stars until episode 36 when our formerly strong female lead who was proficient in martial arts became a damsel in distress who couldn't even save herself from 2 guards when previously she'd fought off over a dozen bandits simultaneously. It's as if the writers took a hiatus and came back with amnesia and decided 'What the heck, no one will know that we've made her stupid(er)'. Secondly, the baby voice and random infantilizing of the FL were so gaddamn nauseating and idiotic. 🙄🔫I implore C drama writers to please stop with the stupid female characters.Lastly, the romance was toxic af but because the male lead was hot we're supposed to forget he kidnapped the FL and effectively ruined her reputation. Then there was the obsessive and unrequited love quadrangle that basically turned supposed teenagers into psycho killers.
Anyway, it's watchable but maybe turn off your brain and just take it as it comes.
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Good, unproblematic romance
It's been a year since I watched it and it must have left a deep impression since the story is still quite fresh in my mind. I loved the reincarnation of an ancient soul having to adapt to living with the one who resurrected him and the hilarity that ensued was solid.OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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