Nice feel good show!

I quite enjoyed this drama. I went in not knowing what to expect as I didn’t read the synopsis nor watch any trailers. I am a fan of Zhou Ye and Tan Jian Ci and have enjoyed many of their dramas. This one was no exception!

What I liked:

This was a great cast. Everyone did well in the role they were given and both leads had a sense of realism that made you believe they were truly in love. Great on screen chemistry. I appreciate the versatility of the two leads. It gives them a chance to really show their acting range so they don’t become typecast in the usual drama types they go for.

I also enjoyed the OST. Many beautiful songs were sang and fit in well with the theme of the story. I especially appreciate the attention it paid to the profession of voice acting alongside of singing as it’s not something that is talked about much. It made me have a new profound appreciation for it.

Lastly, I enjoyed the overall story. It’s nice to see chill dramas that don’t have too much conflict happening. Gives an even balance to the highs and lows we feel with most of these dramas out here and allows us a chance to reset and prepare for the next drama. I loved the portrayal of all the characters and how normal they seemed. No whiny FLs, cold MLs, or strange plots that make you question the writers. This one was really fun and sweet. It was a beautiful love story but shows us that you can truly find love and build lasting friendships in some of the most unconventional ways and continue living a normal life.

What I didn’t like:

Although I loved the overall story, I still rate the story an 8.5 because there were some parts that seemed a little unreal. It was very prevalent with the FL being a little too reserved at times which sometimes made her seem more like a teenager in certain instances than an adult woman. She overall was very mature though. It is just a personal preference I have to see an adult woman act a little more adult-like but that is just my issue. Overall it didn’t take much away from the story because I still give it a 9.

This drama will not be for everyone. The story focuses on the day to day life of the characters. Some may say there is no real plot. If you enjoy the fluff/sweetness and slice of life dramas then give it a watch.

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No character consistency

This drama had potential, with a decent plot and the mystery elements but fell short in character consistency.

The Good

The drama started off strong with the 2 leading characters Pan Yue, played by Liu Xueyi, and Yang Cai Wei, played by Zheng He Huizi. The story was intriguing with the crime solving elements and decent chemistry amongst the characters. The acting was strong and made it an interesting watch. We also had Shangguan Zhi, played by Ju Jingyi, introduced as the obsessed 3 wheel who brought a twist to the story. The costumes and visuals were really nice and the OSTs were also good. That’s as about a good as it got and then it went downhill…

The Bad

The main issue was the lack of character consistency after the face swap. Besides her appearance, her character arc/personality completely changed from being either of the 2 characters. On the one hand, we understand that she is pretending to be someone else but at the core she should have pretended to be Shangguan Zhi. Yang Cai Wai was reserved, calm, independent, with her guard up. Shangguan Zhi was possessive, cold, calculating and mean. Introducing Ju Jingyi as the main leads, she was neither of these things. Once the two girls switched, there was a clear difference in the characters and it was hard to connect Ju Jingyi as either Yang Cai Wei or Shangguan Zhi. This further made things unconvincing to know that she was actually the original woman. I’ve seen Ju Jingyi in lots of dramas and have enjoyed some but can’t help but think that her character is a little type cast, in which she is a copy paste version of the same character in every show she is in. I don’t see clear differences in her acting style from one project to the next. The directors should have also known better to make sure that there was consistency with the characters because old habits die hard. No matter if their appearance changed, the underlying essence/nature of that person would not.

Some people or fans of the leads may enjoy this. I myself am a fan of Liu Xueyi as he is an amazing actor but I had to drop this one because even his acting could not keep me interested. Make your own decision on whether to watch. It was a no for me.

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As good as expected

This was one of my highly anticipated watches of the year and it lived up to my expectations.

The bad

The only things I didn’t like was the random forced love connections they were trying to make with our leading men. They were clearly not interested but glad it didn’t take the same approach like Blood of the Youth and force it in the end. Also, the acting of Chen Du Ling left a lot to be desired. During her crying scenes, I couldn’t tell if she was crying or smiling. Definitely didn’t move me. The third thing was the constant vicious cycle that Di Feichang had with Jiao Li Qiao.. That story arc could have ended earlier on but they sort of dragged that out for the sake of having a story. Lastly, the OST wasn’t anything special.

The good

So many good things about this show. I still give an overall 10 rating even with some flaws because it was a uniquely written story that kept me engaged all the way through. There wasn’t a single throwaway episode. I appreciated how they kept the story progressing even when completing side cases. Many of those still connected to the larger story. I also loved how our 3 men used their real voices. It made things so much more authentic and the conversations and interactions between them seemed so natural. Definitely one of the more interesting and most fun leads in a show. Each had a different personality and brought something unique to their trio. Of course the acting was top notch in here. Besides Chen Du Ling, everyone else did such an amazing job, especially our 3 male leads. Hands down, this is the best show I’ve seen for them 3 to date. Next the fighting scenes were amazing. I wish we had more. It’s refreshing to see leads with good coordination and real martial arts pull off the scenes. It elevated the show for sure. Lastly, the visuals were beautiful. Pretty good CGI, costumes were good, high quality wigs with no visible lace fronts that I see quite a bit in CDramas. Also no CDrama tropes that most of us come to dread.

Watch for yourself but this one goes down as one my favorites. Make your own judgement.

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Good for romance

This was a typical romance drama with a predictable plot. There are many full length dramas with similar themes that are done better (e.g. Romance of Tiger and Rose, Different Princess, Romance on the Farm, etc) but this was an entertaining watch.

The good

If you are looking for romance, this has it. Lots of kissing scenes and the main couple had good chemistry. Very heated, very electric. This drama played up the parody aspect which gave way to comedic relief. Lots of pretty people, if that’s what you are looking for.

The bad

Outside of the romance, it was a basic, recycled story and didn’t stand out or add anything new to the genre. The acting was mediocre, had bland characters and production was low budget with some editing mishaps.

I enjoy short length series as in between fillers to some of the larger productions and can sometimes find good stories with actors who have potential to make it big. This one has a lower rewatch value for me but was an okay one time watch.

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Resident Evil with a hint of The Walking Dead

This was a pretty good watch for me. It reminded me of the Resident Evil games and if the failed Resident Evil Netflix show was done right. It definitely has a slight hint of The Walking Dead with the story plot of you turn even when you die because it’s inside of them. I worry about Season 2 and that the story’s direction will change too drastically with the introduction of new characters and no real end in sight.

The Good

The acting was very good amongst the entire cast. No one person had to carry the rest. I also enjoyed the production value since they seemed to put some effort into the blood, gore and CGI creatures. Also, there was a lot of action even though it’s being filmed in one location. At times, it felt like they were in different locations because of how large the apartment complex was. They were never truly safe and it was all about survival.

The Bad

Too many characters. A lot of dramas of this nature suffer this same problem with too many characters and not enough time to focus on each. I would have loved more of backstory on some of the characters but with so few episodes, there wasn’t time for that. Also, Song Kang was the number one lead here but it’s hard to tell at times because he sometimes gets little screen time. More focus was placed on the rest of the leads. Not sure how many seasons this will be but there wasn’t much movement in the plot in this first season. Would have liked to see more on the creatures, motivations, potential cures, testing, etc.

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Everyday Relationship

Let me start by saying this was a pretty decent story that depicts an everyday type of relationship. The story wasn’t mind blowing but it wasn’t typical either. My review is based on a fresh take since I’ve never seen the original Korean version of this show.

The Good:

Adding on to my original comment about the story not being typical, there wasn’t a lot of CDrama tropes nor was this a fluffy romance tale that didn’t depict the negative sides of a new relationship. If you’re a person that likes more realism in shows, this one may be for you. The acting was okay and I feel that each character was well represented and casted appropriately for this type of story. Lastly, I enjoyed the OST as the songs were very chill and had a sense of mature romance which paired well with the scenes.

The Bad:

Although I enjoyed the story, of course there were still some nuances that frustrates or makes you question the characters/writing. This is a slow burn so if you do not like the draggy bits, this may not be for you. Next I will say again that the story was okay… it’s a good and bad thing because sometimes the characters were a little dull and either expressed odd emotions or not enough emotions for the situations. It led to a little bit of over acting or under acting at times. Lastly, there are parts where it becomes monotonous and nothing new or exciting was happening. Again, it’s a slow drama that depicts everyday life when dealing with relationships so it could be boring at times.

This won’t be for everyone but check it out and make your own decision.

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Hauntingly Tragic

Let me start by saying that the production and visuals in this show were some the best that I’ve seen in CDramas. The beautiful colors, lighting and massive landscapes made the show more real and raw. The OST was also great. Love the song about the Fox as it had such a haunting meaning behind it since foxes are known as tricksters. It summed up this story very well.

This drama takes the cake as one of the top tragic stories in CDrama that I’ve seen to date. I can appreciate the consistency with the story and the fact that it wasn’t turned into an enemies to lovers plot, which would have made no sense given the nature. The bulk of the story was well written along with the superb acting throughout but where it almost lost me was in the meat of the story.

I would say the story took a while to progress around the middle and had too much filler details within. This show could have been cut down to about 30-38 or so episodes and focus on less of the main ML’s revenge plan. They could have cut a lot of those details out and focused more on the story between ML and FL.

This story isn’t for everyone since a lot of people prefer happy endings but I’d recommend a watch if you don’t mind that.

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Story Doesn’t Flow Well

This movie had potential to be a great story as the setup of the plot was decent. The story quickly went downhill early on.

Story

As my review title mentioned, it does not flow well. The story is sort of all over the place and is confusing at times. It was hard to gage what they wanted the story to focus on or what they wanted the main plot to be. There were also parts of the story that weren’t very logical and they seemed to force some of the disputes that were unnecessary.

Acting

Acting was over exaggerated at times and fell very flat. No one person stood out or did an amazing job. It was just okay.

I can see why this movie received lower ratings but thought I would give it a shot anyways. As I always suggest, watch and make your own judgement because some will like it and some won’t. This one wasn’t for me.

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Pretty Typical High School Drama

I’ve watched several High School dramas and can say that this one doesn’t stand out from the rest. The premise is setup the same as most of the others….The FL, who has poor grades, is in love with the ML who is one of top students, aloof , most desired and doesn’t know much about love. I wouldn’t really consider this a romance drama as this was only a small subset of the overall story. There were only bits and pieces of romance sprinkled in. In my opinion, it’s more of a coming of age story that deals with school, social pressure, family, friends, etc.

The good

As expected, Ding Yuxi did a really good job as He Xinliang and stood out from the rest of the cast. I wouldn’t say everyone’s acting was great but some did a decent job. The overall show had a feel good story with a happy ending which is good to see in CDramas.

The bad

Everyone’s acting wasn’t great. 2nd FL who plays her sister was very stale and monotonous throughout. She had no real expressions. The same goes for the 2nd ML who was her original love interest. He also didn’t do well with expressions. There are more to name but will switch focus…too many misunderstandings throughout this drama and situations that seemed very exaggerated to me. The main conflict between the 3 girls seemed way too childish even for high schoolers and could have been resolved if they just all talked it out. Also, there was a sense of predictability in this drama and it’s probably because it’s a basic plot that is somewhat recycled. Next, the ending seemed rushed. Would have been nice to see more before the time jump on the final episode to answer some questions to things and situations that were mentioned. Lastly, the OST wasn’t much to write home about. Songs didn’t really stand out.

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A little disappointed in this drama but decent enough

I started this drama in 2022 not knowing anything about it or not knowing any of the cast as I was new to CDramas in 2022. I finally finished this drama in July of 2023 after having watched a lot of CDramas and several other shows by the 2 leads. Why did it take me so long to finish? I initially stopped watching this drama after about 6 or 7 episodes in the beginning because it wasn’t keeping my attention but decided to revisit it for the 2 leads.

The Story:

Despite the odd English Title for the drama, I was originally intrigued by the plot and thought this would be a great Wuxia and hopefully without a lot of the CDrama tropes we see in romance Wuxias with the strange falls leading to random kisses and the predictable love triangles. It was nice to see that they didn’t focus so much on those aspects in this drama although we may have seen 1 or 2 instances of the long stares and the awkward contact between MLs and FLs. It’s still not a romance heavy drama and focused the main story on the self discovery journey of the 2 leads.

One downfall to this drama is there were a lot of throw away episodes that made this drama longer than it needed to be. It could have been cut down to 24 to 30 episodes max. There were some side plots that dragged out too long and could have been summed up in 1 or 2 episodes but dragged out over 5 to 6 at times. Also episodes 29-34 were filler episodes as they seem to try to play more on the unnecessary romantic stories they forced on the MLs, leading to drawn out boring conversations. I enjoy a good romance, just was done poorly in this one. I did not like the ending of the final episode, it just sort left things hanging.

The characters

This is a loaded topic because you have some good with some bad. I’ll start with the female characters… none were that interesting.

Tie Xinlan was sort of just there. She was in the way most of the time and didn’t add any real value to the overall plot. Not much character growth from her as she didn’t add much in the beginning either. Her acting was also subpar…not much in the way of facial expressions.

Su Ying… I don’t even know why they added her character at the end of the show. Though she was supposed to be the match of Jiang Xiaoyu, their “love” story was very forced and the 2 actors had 0 love chemistry. Their back and forth banter was okay but still unconvincing. I adore Liang Jie in The Eternal Love series as the connection she had with the ML in there is worth a watch.

For the male characters…

Jiang Xiaoyu carried this story as his character was fun and charismatic. So much character growth from him while still staying true to himself. Chen Zheyuan did an amazing acting job here. He embodied the character well with his troubles expressions and lightheartedness throughout the show.

Hua Wuque only showed slight character growth and Hu Yitian seems to take on a lot of emotionless character roles. I thought he could have done better than hat was betrayed because he didn’t portray many emotions here. I can compare his character to Wang Yibo’s character, Lan Zhan in the untamed but although dull and tough, he expressed so many emotions without having many spoken lines.

Production/OST

Overall production value was average. Some camera shots were grainy and blurry at times but had decent fight scenes and CGI. The OST did not stand out.

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Lost me

This story lost me. Started out pretty decent with the translation vs translation app battle but it went down hill fairly quickly.

First off, this show being about top notch translations was odd. The quotes that were read at the beginning of each episode was very laughable. There were lots of grammar errors and it was poorly spoken English. I study Mandarin Chinese so I can understand that learning a language completely opposite your own is a challenge. I know my pronunciation isn’t perfect but I also don’t market myself to be the best either. Wish they could have found stronger speakers to make it more believable.

I left this show for a couple of weeks thinking I would eventually come back to it but that definitely did not happen.

Honestly, the characters in this show were forgettable and rather dull. The main conflict between the couples seemed like child’s play. It was also unnecessarily drawn out and came off very shallow. I’d like to think that most adult relationships have deeper rooted problems that keep them apart and don’t drag out over so many years but maybe that’s in my bubble. Their issue didn’t seem like it was enough for a 36 episode show. This show could’ve been wrapped up in 20 or less episodes.

Basic production value, forgettable OST, and mediocre acting. Make your own judgement and watch for yourself.

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This one isn’t for me.

I was really excited to see this drama as I’m a XZ fan and have enjoyed his dramas. He’s a great actor. I’m not as familiar with Ren Min but I think she was doing a decent job in this show and I will definitely check out more of her work. In the end, I still dropped this after 11 episodes.

The good

All the cast members did an amazing job. I’ve seen most of the main/supporting leads in other projects so I had no doubts here. The production value is really high with really great visuals. Their costumes are typical for Xianxia but they fit pretty well here too.

The bad

The story is dragging for me. I find myself falling asleep during each episode and if that happens, then the drama isn’t strong enough to hold my attention. It’s one of those slow build up type of shows which if done well, can work. I just didn’t quite like it with this drama. The story also has a typical Xianxia feel from what I’ve seen so far. It’s a love to hate story that we typically see with Xianxia following a forbidden love/doom. Lots of CDrama tropes with the way they set up the camera shot for the romantic scenes and you will find this is most Xianxias. Story doesn’t stand out from the others.

If you are okay with these things then definitely check it out or if you are a fan of the leads, then watch. Make your own judgement on the show.

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Beautiful Story

This was a beautiful watch and one I’d highly recommend. The plot was a creative time travel drama and loved how they connected all the dots without leaving holes in the plot. The acting was done very well from each of the major players of the story. I was very drawn in and invested in the highs and lows of this drama as it’s very relatable since everyone wants to be accepted, loved and to find their happy ending. The OST was beautiful and paired well with the drama. The production and visuals were pretty standard but doesn’t take away from the show.

I know there is also a remake Korean version that I’ve also seen bits of and there are some minor differences but overall either story is a recommended watch.

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