Cute, well packaged love story

OK, I have a bit to add to the halfway review I wrote below after finishing this series.

I will not change the rating of 7.0. I think that's about right because despite all of the big names coming out this summer, to me this is actually the most complete cdrama aired in 2023. The screenwriters showed ambition in adapting the book in almost its entirety, expanding from the family squabbles arc all the way up to the conflict for the throne in only 40 episodes. However this could have been an 8.0 drama imo if they had made one major change: Strengthen the villain character of Luo Zishang and his underlings.

In this drama Luo Zishang becomes a bit of a 2d evil guy. A great drama requires a layered and strong villain. The first arc of this drama was the most satisfying and well paced, being driven by Guo Jiusi's personal growth challenges. However after that our ML and FL by become basically a little bit mary sue, basically perfect people. So the latter arcs in Youzhou and in the palace are about court politics and meant to be driven by the plots of Luo Zishang. However it's made less interesting because Luo Zishang doesn't actually present that much of a challenge. He should have been able to do more but in terms of resources and brains he just can't compete.

However there are no other major problems overall. There are definitely plot holes induced by the scale of the story. And I wish the ML and FL in particular were less airbrushed. But in general what was needed to be done was done, and the ending also tied up many things better than I expected.

=================================================================================
Past the first episode, the pacing and production value of this drama is excellent. I thought it was strange there isn't any big names in this drama, but Bai Jingting is actually outstanding and has a very natural and charismatic performance. I haven't seen any of his previous stuff but for me, he earns a star and a half for this drama by himself. I guess I have a weakness for dramas where the leads have some family squabbles and start a business.

The bad: the pacing of the first episode or so may be a bit slow. But past that part, it's definitely bingeable. Song Yi is alright at acting, but her character is a tedious goody two shoes type at times. Lastly, the drama of political conflict that comes in around episode 15 or so is a bit overdone, and almost unrealistically tragic.

The good: pacing and plotting are generally good. Starts off from the ML and FL's squabbling to true love story which is quite cute. Then expands to the circumstances around their families, and the FL's business ambitions, with a natural pace. It's not the most tightly plotted but it's pleasing enough. Also the cinematography and costumes are very beautiful and shows the high budget of this drama.

The great: Bai Jingting's superb acting shows the growth of the ML. We can always tell he's a good guy but his wonderful character development holds together the storyline throughout, even in moments when the plot is weak. He is equally compelling when portraying the ML's immature sides as his heroic ones, without becoming preachy or naive. His expressions, tone of voice and little mannerisms when he's trying to express something are on point.
The genuine relationship between ML and FL is very sweet, if a bit idealistic. There's enough going on with Liu Yurui's business ventures that she is the rare cdrama FL with just as much plot around her as the ML has, and it's quite interesting too. Side character are generally well acted such as Gu Jiusi's lovable mom and dad, and the villain (Liu Xueyi's best acted role that I've seen so far).

Read More

look cool and say poems

Both Zhao Lusi and Yang Yang are very good looking in their ancient costumes. The fight scenes in this drama are pretty good, the budget of the series was not lacking. But that's about it. This starts off almost like an exact copy of the story of Shan He Ling, but at least that had an OK first half. Here, two people who just happen to be the top martial artists in The World travel the jianghu both trying to sacrifice their lives for the other person, and a cast of side characters for the most part sigh over how perfect and wonderful they are. The villains are basically just straw men and the plot seems to have been sacrificed to help the leads look cool and say poems.

Read More

first ~20 episodes are almost perfect

I only picked this up because of Sun Li, but I thought the premise wasn't too interesting. I certainly wouldn't have expected that this work would turn out to exceed Zhen Huan. Her acting in this one is just impeccable.

Although it starts slowly, the first twenty-ish episodes of Nothing Gold can Stay are the most tightly plotted I have seen yet in any cdrama. The intelligent villains act intelligent, the plot devices are realistic, and the characters for the most part act rationally and reasonably and have an interesting personality without becoming cliche (which is one weakness of Zhen Huan, being that there were so many concubines in the story). The core mystery of the plot is Wu Ping's death, and this is unravelled in a very slow and satisfying manner while Zhou Ying's character is built up into someone we can respect and cheer for. Another bright spot is that this drama has a relatively good portrayal of the early manufacturing and trades in China (with admittedly a tendency towards simplifying and glorifying things).

Towards the end, the storytelling becomes a little looser, but in general it is satisfying. I do have a couple of important points I didn't like. Firstly, I think the risks Zhou Ying takes on early in her business are unrealistically large for the amount of capital she has. Most of the time she takes on her competitors by offering a completely crazy deal or encountering a really big coincidence. It requires some suspension of belief, e.g. the crazy trade deal with Tu Er Dan (also... does every male have to fall for the protagonist?). Secondly, Shen Xing Yi's story was not resolved in a satisfying way for someone who was so important throughout the entire story, and his actions towards the end were not logical. Lastly, the main villain Du Mingli (directed by the Prince) planned his work so carefully at risk of death, but somehow made major blunders near the end. The Prince really treated Zhao Bai Shi so much more leniently.

Despite these nitpicks there are so many good parts in this drama. The ill fated love between Du Mingli and Hu YongMei, the genuine relationship between Zhou Ying and Shen Xing Yi which actually makes true progress from irritation to love, and the wonderful characterization of Zhou Ying's reliable yet unreliable father were highlights for me.

Read More

A series of unfortunate events

There was a lot of hype about this drama which may have raised my expectations too high. Unfortunately though the start of this drama was quite strong, it declined in quality a bit in the second half. The shining highlight of this drama is the performance of the three kid protagonists, which is probably a combination of good casting and scriptwriting. However the rating is held back by the story becoming quite loose near the end.

In the first half the plot is quite crisp, and we can understand how Zhu Chaoyang's encounter with his childhood friend starts to lead him into a web of lies. We also understand the reasoning for the decisions that the kid trio makes, though some of them seed big problems later.

This is not the case in the second half, when Zhu Chaoyang starts to take more ownership of his lies, and to manipulate the people around him. I have an impression that they were trying to strongly suggest similarities between Chaoyang and his teacher, Zhang Dongsheng, but this didn't work out for me. As well, near the end, events take on an almost artistic feel -- as if they are not grounded in reality. The revelations we have about events such as how Dongsheng's parents divorced seem to come and pass in a haze. Things happen and then there are many shots of the children looking blankly at the camera. Though the naturalness of their acting worked well in the first half, it seems to suggest a lack of direction in the second half.

One more weakness is the lack of connection and backstory for the villain Zhang Dongsheng. His motivations are a bit underdeveloped for us to be able to sympathize with him. For someone who is supposedly rational, he murders very easily in the very beginning of the show. We are meant to interpret this to be because he really is in love. However, after that first initial double murder, the ending of the show brings a whole series of crazy events where he alternates being a competent adult and a brutal killer.

Overall the drama is really well done in terms of production, acting and plot. I hope more cdrama like this can be supported!

Read More

still the best cdrama of all time

I have now watched the full 76 episodes no less than four times. This is the only cdrama I have rewatched more than twice. But it's still so good and I discover new details every time.

If you're into palace dramas, like me, Zhen Huan Zhuan is just really carefully plotted, shot and acted from beginning to end. Sun Li put on an incredible performance but Jiang Xin (Hua Fei) and Ada Choi (the Empress) are both amazing as well. My only major nitpick is that some of the minor concubines are annoying and simple, but it's balanced by the detailed and complex main characters.

We start off the show when Zhen Huan is just a clever young girl, who has ideals about romance. Coming into the palace, all the concubines want the same thing. However Zhen Huan is an idealist, so she still overcomes the scheming of her rivals and falls for the Emperor. But in the end, the other concubines are not the real enemy.

Zhen Huan's journey from naive girl to the powerful but lonely empress is masterfully depicted by Sun Li, who can convey changes in emotions through the smallest changes in expression. It's really her greatest work. But I am still hoping someone can make another one like this.

Read More

simple concept, wonderfully done

I finally got around to watching this one and it's actually pretty great. I wasn't sure what to expect because it's a lot of the same cast from Joy of life, but this series is actually much more fun and clearer to follow.

The bad:
I don't have too many nitpicks here. I think some of the young cast is not as good at acting but in general the leads are pretty well done. At times the hero is overpowered, but to be fair time traveling should be a pretty big advantage.

The good:
The play on gender stereotypes is the main theme of the show and not new but the screenwriters are not too heavy handed. Lastly the hero fights his way through the story using mostly logic and doing reasonable things. His clever solutions to problems are very enjoyable, particularly the "I am your father" sequence, though they involve a lot of luck too.

The great
The ML and FL have a very cute relationship that develops in a really natural way. In fact the relationship between the second FL and the ML is pretty interesting too, and has an organic, awkward dynamic that it's hard to find in cdrama land. There is also some very clever wordplay that unfortunately only comes across in Chinese.

Read More

the best live action adaptation of prince of tennis, hands down...

For those of you who don't need Eng Sub, the full title is available here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV14W411M7yP/

The tennis ball animations are laughable and the camerawork is very old school, but the story of this show is just so well adapted and so well acted! Rather than being a retelling of the anime, this joyful show explores Ryoma's weaknesses, his interpersonal relationships, and how he grows to overcome his character defects in the context of a noisy but supportive team. He starts off the show as a talented prodigy who thinks he's the lord's gift to his team, and can win a championship on his own. But the things he breaks and the people he hurts along the way, who hurt him in turn, give him a rich redemption story as he strives towards his athletic goals.

I really miss the Qin Junjie of this show, he was so suitable for the main role and he showed Ryoma's character arc so well. That being said, basically everyone especially the tennis team is very real, complex but also convincingly teenager. The natural cast of characters, each with their own problems, colliding in the context of the tennis championship, is even a bit reminiscent of the cast of shows like the Wire... I wish there was more cdrama I could say that for.

Here are no fancy effects or airbrushed heroes. All the same, the raw merit of the story consistent from the beginning to the end and the natural acting made each episode worthy of savoring.

Read More

Rules for thee but not for me.

***** a review for part 2 only******

I was unexpectedly taken with Part 1, especially with the refreshing performance of Shaoshang's mother and Consort Yue both of whom I still adore. Thus Part 2 really disappointed me.

The main reason is that Part 2 is mostly filler. Primarily, a lot of driving force behind Ling Buyi's revenge was resolved early on in Part 1, so we kind of lost the 'bigger plot' and began to introduce random plot lines that were not foreshadowed in the previous part. Unfortunately this means that there was a huge focus on the romance. Which is a very cliche cdrama romance where Ling Buyi is manly and overbearing and defeats all the 'bad guys', and random plot points are invented as new points of conflict.

The biggest issue with this is that Ling Buyi starts to show us who he really is. And if you think about what he's done... he's not the hero. He's basically a villain disguised as a troubled good guy.

Let's just compare him to the first 'enemy' that he vanquishes in Part 2, which is the Third Princess. What is she guilty of? She pushed Shaoshang into a river and got a snake to bite her, and she said brainless things like 'it's just a human life, nothing more'. She's very cut and dried case of 'stupid and evil'. A 2d villain.

But what does Ling Buyi do in retaliation? There's a reason we have laws and a justice system in civil society. But Ling Buyi takes the law in his own hands, he is both judge and executioner. He kills all the male consorts of the Third Princess. He parades her friends tied up in the streets because of their role as a bystander. He hangs the father of one of the friends up in front of his house for hours, berating him. Is this 'justice'? Maybe this is what Shaoshang means when she says that if someone hurts her, she'll "get thousand fold revenge" later in the show, because she certainly seems to completely support what he's done.

We know he's never been a law abiding kind of guy and in Part 1 it was foreshadowed that he was feared for his brutality by prisoners of war (something which boosts his manly image, I suppose). But it's really hypocritical for him to condemn the 'evil' and 'law breaking' bad guys in Part 2 and then turn around and do things that are just as bad, or worse. Who in the story has murdered more people directly than Ling Buyi? We can count those masterminds on one hand.

There are other faults with Part 2, but this is the greatest one imo: Ling Buyi (and Shaoshang by association) basically abide by the law when it suits them and defy the law when they wish to take "thousand fold revenge". They are not some 'good guys' in this story, but we are expected to pretend they are, and even to root for them. Rules for thee but not for me.

Read More

A very limited adaptation

This drama benefits a lot from the plot of the source material in the beginning and from the eye catching performance of Wei Kexing (newbie actor Gong Jun). However it ultimately falls short due to the budget level acting of most of the cast and most importantly, the adaptation lacking necessary plot points from the book.

It's very clear that the budget is limited here. Firstly they don't have a single good big name actor. Gong Jun is charismatic but his inexperience shows when he is trying to portray more complex emotions.. Huang Youming as Ye Baiyi was fine and well suited to his role. The wheelchair kid was the best villain in the story. Almost everyone else had noticeable flaws. For a veteran actor, Zhang Zehan is better when he's not trying to depict any emotion however this is the case for most of his roles. The general acting level was hard to tolerate as the series went on because the story stopped being supported by the level of the plot.

In general the way the screenwriters chose to begin the series was promising, revealing a good trail of clues up to around the point when Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu reveal their true identities to each other. However by that point a lot was changed in the source material and the logic of the plot fell apart as a torrent of characters was introduced in quick succession. Wen Kexing's new backstory is ok but a lot of the background of the ghosts, background of Tian Chuang and so on were omitted making it hard to follow the motives of such a large cast. The writers tried to make up for this by majorly playing up fan service between the leads but this lowered the quality by taking away necessary plot development time.

Read More

promising start, but cliche finish

Summary: a superbly well acted crime drama, but the main characters are a bit glorified, and the plot doesn't make sense

The show starts off in a promising manner-- a man is discovered carrying a body in the subway. We seek the villain who killed this man. At first it's quite interesting to follow Detective Yan Liang's journey to uncover the backstory of the murder, and he gives us a bit of a Sherlock Holmes vibe by making many unlikely associations (which nonetheless are entertaining).

However, the villains turn out to be just a bit too evil and all-powerful, and the (as it turns out, group of) heroes turn out to be completely self sacrificing people who had to resort to a rather irrational suicide plot in order to catch the attention of the law. Just how many people is it worth it for a rational villain to cover up a prostitution ring? It's easy to get watchers to be on your side when you make the antagonists so blatantly evil. The protagonists are also rightfully elevated for sacrificing years of their life. Yet this kind of pure sacrifice doesn't get at the root of the problem, which is how does it reflect on the law that people have to stage murders to make change?

However I was very impressed by the acting overall, especially by Bai Yu's acting here.

Read More

a show which causes high blood pressure

A nuanced story with excellent acting, this setting will be especially familiar to people growing up in Chinese households. There isn't really a villain in this story except for Wan Chuanjia, but this guy really takes the cake. The pacing imo in the first ~20 episodes is on point (not too fast, introducing the cast slowly), and although Xingfu faced many obstacles, I found the plot well thought out. In terms of Zhao Liying's shows, this is probably the best acting work of hers that I've seen, though her character here is very similar to Minglan.

However! The irrational way that the characters except for Xingfu and maybe Guan Tao act might be realistic, but it is really frustrating. The elderly villagers are stuck in another time, most of the time incapable of reasoning and sometimes really disregard human rights. Small problems and defects of character seed thousand dollar lawsuits. The most irritating for me is Wang Qinglai, although his situation is understandable, but he really seems so small-minded and incompetent next to Xingfu. Chuanjia is meant to be careless and detestable, but sometimes Qinglai can surpass him imo.

Unfortunately, as the show progressed past ep ~30 a few kind of unrealistic plot points were implemented including Wan Chuanmei's story. The Wan family children are really the root of evil in this series, what they did is really too unjust, they almost become 2d villains. However that's not to say some of the side stories have no flavor, for example I found Qingzhi's difficult relationship with his father in law to be relatable and well depicted.

Read More

worthy plot driven psychological thriller

I didn't know anything about construction, but I really enjoyed this. It's tied for best Sun Li drama with Nothing Gold can Stay, for me -- the two protagonists have a similar feel.

The facts straight up: the first four episodes were no good. Too many people introduced and seemingly random things happening. That is why it doesn't get the full 10.

However, subsequently, the story really started to take on life and center itself on Su Xiao's struggle. From that point on, the plot was really well executed, especially building up to Su Xiao and Mr. Chen's epic conflict. Slowly it showed more and more of the whole company. This series is more tightly plotted than Nothing Gold can stay; being more introspective, having longer to flesh out characters and having only one male protagonist. Also it has a lot of time lapse sequences that are very natural to the plot.

The pacing is also great, unhurried up to the last minute. Up to episode 39 I was thinking to myself, there's no way to resolve all this within the next two episodes. And I was right, because it didn't give Su Xiao quite as satisfactory an ending as I would have hoped. It seems like some of the original content was cut, which is a shame. However the ending we got in that very last episode was still acceptable.

I do have small nitpicks. Everyone values Xia Ming so much even when Su Xiao is imo more competent than him. Maria and He Congrong's stories are incomplete. Wu Hongmei's ending didn't make sense. But these are small nitpicks, all in all, well done and impressive!

Read More

disorganized and preachy

Before I started, I didn't understand why there were so many negative Chinese reviews. However, unfortunately now that I tried watching I understand... for a production of this value, where the actors did pretty well, I just couldn't being myself to keep watching more than halfway...

The good: Acting was pretty good overall. Leo Wu and Liu Yuning were better than I expected, this being my first time watching their stuff. And Dilraba is professional as always. The little boy Emperor was very cute and the Khan was on point.

The bad: the highlight and defining plot line in the first ~ 15 episodes of the show was Li Changge's revenge. However, after that unravelled somehow, the writers seemed to kind of give up. For the rest of the show we just got a random smattering of the usual cliches in quick succession: great justice inflicted upon the land, love triangle, random betrayal, parents dying, badass swordsman shows up and looks cool etc. Whenever the plot stalled, they seem to kill off another character and bring in a new one... The original characters also lost their original purpose, with Li Change training a new sword technique under a new master for no reason, Ashile Sun leaving his pride and joy of the Eagle division to wander around in love, Hao Du a competent warrior content to be delegated to the Princess' bodyguard, etc.

The really bad: Aside from Li Change, the other female characters were basically unbearable. Sorry but I can't stand Zhao Lusi's character. Zhao Lusi seems often cast to portray female characters that talk to others like a teacher would talk to kindergartners, a mix of idealistic preaching and repeating obvious facts over and over. And yeah, her character was just so useless it made me a bit angry... Unfortunately, Li Change is not that much better as a character. When Ashile Sun blamed her rash actions for causing the Eagle division's situation and his stepmother's death, I had to agree. The whole rescue that Li Change 'planned' was basically pure improvisation. And Mimi, what a purposeless character that reinforces negative stereotypes about women. It's always the female characters that get this dumbed down treatment.

I guess I should stop here with all this crankiness, I've already let myself write too much.

Read More

if you're into family squabbles it's delicious

***this is just a review for part 1***

I didn't have a strong impression of the actors or the story before I started this, but it's actually surprisingly addictive! This was probably Tencent's best slice of life since the Story of Minglan. I felt like tencent got their money's worth out of the cinematography, the costumes and the music because the story and acting is actually satisfying as well.

The first thing to know is that although it's set in a ancient palace setting, this drama is not really about big plots but about the relationships and squabbles between the royal family and kin. At least in this first half, only the ML's story hints at a bigger evil plot. The main story is about the FL, and it comes in three arcs: 'parents come home', 'engagement #1' and 'engagement #2'.

The bad: the first two episodes are confusing because it's hard to tell what the plot is. Ling Buyi's revenge story comes in intermittent bites, so it's also hard to follow in the beginning. There are a few annoying cliche characters such as the straw man villains Ge Zhi and Wang Ling but they have limited screen time. Lastly, Yuan Li as a character seems superfluous.

The good: the pacing is very good-- very casual-- and we alternate between serious plots and lighthearted ones. The costumes are beautiful... I especially like Chen Shaoshang's pink outfits, the material is very 'fairy girl'. Almost all the characters are likable and have enough screen time to be interesting, e.g. I really like the relationship between the doting Emperor and Ling Buyi and I really liked Wan Qiqi as a character. Although he's romantic in a cliche way sometimes, some of Ling Buyi's scenes are indeed satisfying -- he is both competent and attentive.

The great: A great story needs a convincing antagonist, and Li Zeng does an excellent job at portraying Shaoshang's mother who is a main antagonist in arc 1 and also when needed at key moments of the other 2 arcs.

Read More

Three top actors, three childhood friends, one cliche angsty romance

I came looking for an epic revenge plot since political intrigue is actually my preferred genre. Although I wasn't expecting Langya Bang level, it turns out this is not a plot driven drama, or a mystery, but above all a love triangle romance. The way that everything happens requires suspension of disbelief because the plot is clearly there to facilitate the romance and make the characters look cool. So to summarize in one sentence: this drama is very similar to 'Who Rules the World' i.e. the infamous "Double bking drama", but the leads have a bit more personality.

The setting requires patience. Pirate Ren Anle/Di Ziyuan enters the palace with 30 000 soldiers she collected in order to carry out her revenge plan, developed over ten years: to find the truth of her family's crime... using the strategy of acting like she's stupid and in love with the prince to infiltrate. And it works. The Emperor knows she has no experience but appoints her, a woman who doesn't know the basic articles of law, to vice minister of judicial review. OK, money opens doors... so the emperor basically shrugs and invites his enemy into his home.

Seems promising for Anle to now show her ability and carry out her grand revenge plot. Anle and Han Ye are meant to exchange blows, using but also competing with each other. However the big difference from revenge drama like Langya Bang is that the leads are simply put, not smart! So the plots are not clever or exciting; it's not an epic face off between Han and Di forces, but just a mid off, and a slow one. Ten hours in and we haven't made a speck of progress on figuring out why her family was killed off.

Take the first case Anle solves for the kingdom. The Prince does nothing except hang around her all day so they can make sizzling eye contact when he could have basically solved the case himself in an hour. Unfortunately she is isn't the brightest either. Her way of solving the case is basically to convince the evil sidekick not to be loyal which for some reason takes 3 full days and gets some innocent ministers flogged in the process when she could have betrayed the rich young master the very first day. By the way the Prince also takes credit for the case and gives a flowery speech about justice though he did nothing and arguably even delayed things.

Then Han Ye, who as we've mentioned is a bit slow, begins to find Anle's origins suspicious. To distract him, Anle has the incredible idea of bringing forth "fake Di Ziyuan". This makes the love triangle spicier, but how does this stop him from investigating her backstory? Well conveniently, in this drama, it just works. You get the idea-- plots are so basic that you wonder why everyone can't see through the "10 year revenge plot" from the beginning. By the way if it was this easy to come down the mountain Ziyuan could have just changed her name temporarily in order to investigate her parents' murder years ago, and avoided all this angst. Speaking of which if Han Ye really cared why didn't he look into it himself?

I do think Dilraba is very suitable for this flirty role and Gong Jun is not bad. Anle actually has a lot of chemistry with Luo Mingxi (Liu Yuning) who unfortunately doesn't do much, besides lurking charismatically in the background and occasionally popping out to remind Anle to do the revenge. So the acting is not bad, and there's plenty of flirting, fan service and pretty sword fighting, but there's little plot to speak of. Good for fans of romance I guess.

Read More