Reviews

An Unforgettable Story

* THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS! *

I initially started this drama because I wanted to watch more of ZLS work! I started Hidden Love first, but dropped it because I personally didn't enjoy it. I started this drama and I am so glad I did.

This was an unforgettable story. I enjoyed every minute and watched all 56 episodes without skipping. Each and every actor/actress played their role amazingly. The Emperor was one of my absolute favorite characters. Zicheng was such a stoic, devoted, brutal character - just wow! Niao Niao was funny, clever and strong.

This drama has it all for me.
- Great story
- Amazing talented actors/actresses
- Made me laugh and cry
- Great character development
- Slow burn
- Action!!! (Honestly one of my favorite scenes was when Zicheng killed his Uncle - holy moly)
- ML is totally devoted and won't let any other girl in his way

My only complaint is that we never got the wedding scene we deserved! I think the ending was a bit rushed and honestly a few more episodes would have been nice to tie the story all together. But a happy ending nonetheless.
A must watch! Quite possibly the best drama I have ever watched!

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Samurai daddy take your kid to work day

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance was the first in a series of movies about a disgraced ronin caring for his baby son while seeking revenge on the people who murdered his wife and framed him for treason. This ronin of few words left a trail of spurting arteries along with piles of limbs and decapitated heads.

Ogami Itto was the honored executioner for the Shogun until one day the treacherous Yagyu clan decided they wanted his position for their clan. They murdered his wife and set him up on treason charges. The wily swordsman not only escaped the executioner's blade but won his freedom as long as he stayed out of Edo. Pushing a secret weapon laden baby cart, he had a sign reading "Sword for Hire" and "Son for Hire." No longer using his feared name, he and his son were now known as the Lone Wolf and Cub. An assassination job took him to a hot spring in a mountain village being terrorized by bandits. Playing a sheep looking after his lamb he found himself among captured travelers. It didn't take a fortune teller to know what the fate of the bandits would ultimately be.

Ogami had his own code of righteousness formed by his job and his responsibility to his son. It meant when he saw a woman being raped and her father murdered that he didn't step in, which didn't exactly grant him a halo. Nor did it stop him from servicing a prostitute in front of crowd in order to "save" her. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Like other 1970's movies, there was plenty of sexploitation. Had they toned down the naked women and sexual violence I would have enjoyed this movie more.

This film felt like they were setting the table for more courses to come. I was surprised how quickly the movie was over and how little happened in the present as there was copious use of flashbacks. Wakayama Tomisaburo was an accomplished martial artist and his skill showed during the fights. At least the fights I could watch when I wasn't closing my eyes during the severing of limbs and buckets o' blood spewing everywhere.

Lone Wolf and Cub reminded me of the Mandalorian only with more blood and flying body parts. Ogami's son could have given Baby Yoda a run for his money in the cute kid with a lethal daddy department . If you can overlook the '70s sexploitation and are in the market for an old school gore fest samurai with a baby who is also seeking revenge film, this is it.

8/31/23

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Not the best iteration of the "Itazura na kiss" story but entertaining and nostalgic enough

This movie is a new adaptation of the well-know "Itazura na kiss" story. I have seen quite a few of those, the first one being the Taiwanese drama with its two seasons which will always probably the best to my eyes, for sentimental reasons. The story in itself might seem simple and cliché as it is centred around the one-sided crush of air-headed Yuan Xiang Qin toward cold genius Jiang Zhi Shu but there are a lot of elements being it. That is why despite the plot being very straightforward in itself, I must say that it seems like a daunting task to try to adapt this story into a movie, and it was done in a not too shabby way, it just cannot hold a candle to some of the other adaptations I have seen in my opinion.

There are just too much to say in not enough time. The story has very little time to be told given the movie format and therefore it feel a bit like if the film tries to tick a maximum of the box (comedy, romance, more emotional points...) but without having the time to build up really on any of it. There are a bit too much of slapstick and heavy comedy for me given the length of the film and the secondary characters are not exploited well enough. They do not have that much screen time and it felt a bit lacklustre (or ultra-irritating in the case of the role of Zhi Shu's Mother).

In terms of performance of the actors, I found that the male and female leads were both matching quite well the characters. I appreciated their acting in the more emotional and dramatic scenes where they did a suitable job but was less impressed by their comedic scenes. There was also not that much chemistry between them and the pace of their relationship is so fast that it makes it less believable. The secondary cast was mostly disappointing at best and really annoying at worst depending on the role played.

Despite those flaws, there a lot of the classical important moments of the romance that are present and provides some satisfactory moments overall (due possibly from my side to a strong nostalgy). There is just enough modernization of the plot and the set up to allow the story to fit better the current time and remain relevant as a teen rom-com. There is seemingly a lot of care that has been put in the filmmaking with a lot of vibrant colours, which make the overall vibe very rom-com colour-coded and charming.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a rom-com movie with a forced proximity trope between a genius, rich and cold male lead and an innocent, air-headed and clingy female lead. It is quite stereotypical and it has be done so many time, but it is still entertaining. If you have seen previous adaptations, you might find yourself disappointed like me as a lot was forsaken for the sake of brevity. If you are new to the story, you might no see as many flaws and be able to enjoy it for what it is: a cute and likely not that memorable romance.

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Pleasant enough vibe and premise, but awfully slow . . .

There's only one message to this show: young love has its benefits! It can motivate and mature and keep you safe and on track. Sure, this young love is wholesome, but it was also disappointingly standard: a driven, bit cold, good at everything male paired with an intelligent, lively, but in need of mentoring female.

On top of that, no progress has been made on the opening episode mystery. It really seemed the show was waiting until the last episodes to even address it. Sure, there is some underlying tension in how did we get from there to here? But, without any themes or conflicts or originality, the drive to finish this series waned. Time to drop.

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Marriage is not just about two people

I have a love hate relationship with MAME and her works. Don’t get me wrong, the production value is amazing. The OSTs are catchy. The cast is perfect. But then we get into the characters and the script, and I start to find more and more flaws. Good looking cast is not enough to make me love a series.

Sailom & Namnuea: Sailom is an idiot. I don’t see how else to put it. He is caring and sweet, but his friendship with Prapai definitely shows. And not in a good way. A lot of his actions are not okay. From non-consent, to manipulating Nuea, to lying and deceiving him, pretty much stalking him at one point… To be honest, Namnuea is not innocent in all of this. Especially when he responds to Lom while knowing full well that the man is engaged to get married. Lom knows the wedding is arranged, but Nuea doesn’t know this. He is going after a taken man. One whose wedding he is planning. Which does give me an ick. I think their relationship development would have been much better if Lom was honest with Nuea and would have told him the truth sooner. But by not doing that, it shows Nuea in a very bad light. The two actors are great together and have great chemistry, that is not something I can deny.

Yiwa & Marine: I do find the two adorable, but also quite awkward with each other at times. I still really enjoyed seeing them together. Marine is such a sweet character; she cares way too much about others and often ends up getting hurt because of it. Yiwa does care about Marine, a lot, but she also feels some sense of duty towards her parents, her mother in particular, and wants to follow their wishes. Her reasons are also selfish – she wants to be free to do as she wants and stay on her family’s good side, and that is something she can achieve through marrying Lom.

I hate to admit it, but Lom’s and Yiwa’s marriage makes more sense than it should. I can see why they are going through it. As it is said in the last episode, marriage is not just about two people while love is just between two hearts. It means they will make their parents happy and keep the peace in the families, but it also gives them the freedom to be with who they love. However, how the two planned to stay married is something I don’t think was thought through. What happens when the parents visit unannounced? When they want grandkids? When they want the two home and together for every important event? Both Marine and Namnuea would soon start to feel like side pieces, which is something none of them wants.

The ending was expected but also exactly what I wanted. I am not exactly happy how Lom ended up using Yiwa for his benefit, but at the same time, I can understand why he did. It’s also what she wanted him to do. He didn’t have to go to the extent he went, but he can be dramatic, so it was very in line with how I saw him.

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Seven Dramas in One!

I was looking forward to this drama for many months. I read the book partially and didn't finish it because I wanted the ending to be a surprise.

I can't compare the ending of the drama to the novel obviously but I will share my thoughts on the drama as it's own.

The Main Leads:
Their chemistry is amazing. They have many cute and adorable moments both on and off screen.

The Story:
It's an amazing concept of finding one's true love again. However, I feel that may an extra 30 mins, a episode or a special clip would give a better insight about the ending-It's not confusing but as a viewer, you want a proper closure and not just one where everything wraps up in 2 mins with the leads.

I think this is a problem not unique to this drama but Cdramas as a whole. That's why I gave it a 9.5 stars when I've been giving every episode a 10 star up until the semi rushed ending.

The OST:
There are some nice OSTs in this but I don't know their names. Without any spoilers, my favourite is the most dramatic sounding one so guess it.

The Shengling Duo:
I just wish we got more time with these two on screen together.

Endurances:
You have to endure the annoying prince aka Xiu Ming. This guy is handsome but I don't want to be distracted in the drama plus I didn't like his character but I did feel sorry for him once or twice.

I couldn't care about Jin Lou's love story tbh.

Would I watch this again? Probably
I just wish there was more episodes for each lifetime because honestly, each lifetime would've been epic as a separate drama.

I am so looking forward to watching this pairing in another drama.

Lastly, to all the people who bullied YCY for her acting, she has improved and just because you are behind the screen, it doesn't give you the right to do that. Critic, yes. Bully, no!

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No matter where you are, or what you have become I will always find you in every lifetime.

I started watching this series because the drama is adapted from a novel written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang . She is the same author of the novels of Love between fairy and devil, Back from the brink and The blue whisper. I absolutely loved all the three dramas and when I heard that another novel of hers got adapted into a drama I immediately decided to watch it. So, I have already read the novel and I can say that it's quite different. I guess I am not surprised since this has been the case for back from the brink and the blue whisper too. But regardless of what others say, I personally liked the drama a lot more than the novel.
Reasons to watch:
1. Their unwavering love trust understanding and devotion towards each other. Both the male and the female lead unconditionally love each other and is willing to sacrifice their own life to save the other.
2. Lots of cute and romantic moments between the leads. For me this was a good blend of romance, comedy, action, adventure and angst.
3. The female lead is absolutely no damsel in distress. It may seem that the fl is weak as compared to the ml but that's not the case. She has wits and doesn't cower away when it comes to the safety of her loved ones. Also, they added a backstory to the main leads which was not there in the novel. It was to add the element of mystery to the drama.
4. Main cp were a lot more affectionate than the novel where they quarrelled a lot.
5. They added quite a few side characters to add depth to the story but except for the sml no one is annoying. And even the second male lead redeems himself in the last few episode that you might actually like him in the end.
6. Anyone who watches it carefully can figure out some the parallels between their lifetimes. So it was fun predicting what is about to happen in the future.
7. No matter what the haters say, this drama had quite a lot of screen time for our main cp as compared to some other popular xianxia dramas. It was only in the last 2-3 episodes that they got less screen time.
8. Lemme spoil it, every one got their own happy ending.
9. The cast did their best especially the male lead and the villain absolutely slayed their role
Cons:
1. A lot of people were saying that the fl cannot act. For me, she did pretty well. Her crying scenes were the only part where I felt a bit of improvement was needed. But she's young and I believe she will definitely improve in the future.
2. The first few episodes felt a bit draggy, because their first lifetime involved a lot of politics and the sml's scheming. But it quickly caught up around episode 12-13. In the end, I felt the main villain took quite a lot of screen time with his schemings but ig that was to show how evil he already was and how he was willing to commit even greater atrocities because he was greedy and had inferiority complex.
3. A last minute happy ending. Even though I am satisfied with the ending but it would have been even better if they managed to show us a few more glimpses after they reunited or at least focused on the male lead more. BUT THE ENDING PROVIDED PROPER CLOSURE TO EVERYONE and that is what is satisfying to me.
4. They chopped out a lot of scenes but you can actually find all of them

Also the cgi and the ost's were pretty good. Whenever the bgm called emotional vocalization was played, it made the scene so much more powerful.
SO NO MATTER WHAT THE HATERS SAY, IT'S STILL A 10 OUT OF 10 FOR ME

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It's just okay

Most of the show was pretty cringe esp Toy and Boss. It reminded me of the BLs back in the SOTUS era with ridiculous misunderstandings, cheating for no reason, bad kisses, and contrived pairings. The characters were 2D in a lot of ways - they didn't really grow as characters throughout and their personalities were just 1-2 character traits on steroids. The only thing I really knew about Tawan was that he was nice/caring and naive, for example. It's a bit too simple =/ And the Mayom and Nadia pairing made no sense, really. No depth to the liking or decisions.
There were a few saving graces - the uncles, Cheep and Dej, the motorbike crew, Fueng, Jo, and Sing, and the beautiful scenery when they went up north. The uncles were phenomenal and a bit more dynamic - they were humorous, insightful, and showed an array of emotion and concern for one another. The motorbike crew was absolutely HILARIOUS. When they got off their bikes at the festival, I literally couldn't stop laughing. I liked that they were insightful and the right amount of nosey, making sure that Mork was taken care of and he didn't bottle his feelings. And of course, the ride up to Chiangrai -- the house, the forest, the cliffside. Ugh, it was SO beautiful.
The one hole that's bothering me the most...Did someone go back to get the uncle's truck!? He just abandoned it in the middle of the road LOL

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Not the usual kind of XianXia

First of all, I would like to mention how positive I am about Yang Chao Yue's acting performance. I have seen her in Dance of the Phoenix, Heroes, Sisterhood and The Journey of Chong Zi and I was not satisfied with her performance in any of the dramas. Whether it was the script or really her acting is hard to say.

Ding Yunxi never disappoints - I've watched all his dramas so far and have to say that he delivered again. Personally, I think he conveyed the role as well as the emotions very well.

The visual effects were beautiful and an absolute eye-catcher.
The costume designers really went out of their way to show differences between lives and the way they dressed. My personal favourite is definitely the Demon King arc.

Personally, I really enjoyed the story and next to BTTB, LY7T will be my second favourite Xianxia this year.
Even though some may find the story too rushed at the end, I found that the fight at the end ended without exaggeration and was carried more by emotions and decisions of the individuals.
It also made sense to me that Chu Kong sacrifices himself in this life, as he had already given her the opportunity not to die again 30,000 years earlier with his Qiling. The decision for Chu Kong to sacrifice himself this time also makes sense because it would not be logical for Cang Hai to sacrifice herself and for Chu Kong to die in the process.

We can rejoice that we have another XianXia drama with a happy ending this year, even if we don't know what will become of them.
My impression here was that Chu Kong still remembers her in this life. That means it's up to our imagination what their future will be.

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A perfect mix of Martial Arts, Emotions, Mystery and Suspense

The friendship that Li Lianhua, Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng have given us is truly a special one, as three individuals who would not come together like that, work together due to circumstances and become the most unlikeliest trio in this story.
To be able and watch them going on this journey together, grow fond of each other and be there in any kind of sitution ist really an eyeopener. We as human beings can learn so much because of the three - nothing looks like it seems.

Every episode was so thrilling to watch and that is why, it was really hard to wait for the next episodes to come out. The story had so many twists that even normal situations turned out not like we would have assumed them to be.
This story has the perfect mix of Martial Arts, Emotions, Friendship, Mystery and Suspense.

Cheng Yi delivered as usual. When he plays a role, he plays it out to the bitter end and makes sure that we are able to feel the character's emotions ourselves.

I have seen Zeng Shunxi in many other dramas and must admit that his portrayal of the young hero Fang Duobing is on point and he delivered the young, naïve, rich character who does not have that much life experience yet very well.

Xiao Shunyao did an excellent job of bringing Di Feisheng to life and making us realise that for Di Feisheng, Li Xiang Xi/ Li Lianhua is his absolute number one and he is determined to keep him alive no matter what it takes.


The actors worked hard for the action scenes, which you can see in their delivery.

The production, as well as the production design and costume designers, have worked hard to show the difference between the current dynasty and the Nanyin Empire. It is obvious at first glance which belong where.
They have also given the characters from the Blood realm characteristics that distinguish them from the current dynasty.

Regarding the OST, I have to say that so far it has always been the case that when Liu Yuning and Modeng Xiongdi have provided the soundtrack, I have been absolutely thrilled by the story.

Of course, I don't assume that it's because of the singer, however, I can say that Liu Yuning once again sang a very great song.

In general, I liked the OST in the drama very much, which is why the drama is rounded off perfectly for me with the OST.

I hope that everyone will enjoy this drama as much as I did.

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Thirst scenes and smiles as far as stream can reach...

"I'v wanted to lick your muscles since the first time I saw you" is pretty much what this drama has to offer... As we enter the story of the at times slightly annoying wedding planer and the groom with a wedding plan to do the planner.... Spending more time showing the audience his upper body muscles than fully clothed or talking making this an entertaining watch but ot a lot more.

The story itself is okay, it is not good, not bad, it has some sweet and fun moments, a prolonged misunderstanding making most of the viewers think of the geney in Aladdin begging him to just tell the planner the truth and put him out of his misery... but also done in a very evil yet playful way.

The cast and characters are lovely, all in need of an acting lesson or 10, and while I will admit that I was entertained and found several of the cast a pleasure to watch their mimics where often wrong or felt forced focusing a lot more on making scenes where people lick each other than actually delivering dialog beyond smiles and gazes that is.

And well I guess that is the point here the story and delivery could have been a lot better if the focus was on the delivery of dialog instead of making people thirst. That said some of the dialog was actually pretty good and there where actually moments of meaning here and there...

So if you are in the mood for some sweet moments and misunderstanding with a lot of heat this is a really good choice. But if you are sensitive to bad acting or in need of any type of depth you might as well skip this watch.

P.S. Lom (Sunny) may need some acting lessons or better directing but still gets a 10 from me and th eMCD PPL is off the charts

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How to destroy a well built story in the final episode

Step by Step is a cute, slow-burn office romance about a new employee falling in love with a guy, who later becomes his boss (that's all you need to know, really).

The story in the beginning is really nice and well built. We can see grown ups falling in love slowly. Because they are boss and employee, which isn't easy, and because they both have backstories. I am in love with Jeng and Pat, who consider what their feelings might do or mean. The two of them grow stronger together, push each other to become better people and they both make mistakes and learn from them. For once, we have a love rival appearing who actually gets a shot - and it doesn't work out. Not because Pat is destined to be with Jeng or because Put is a villain. They just are different and things have changed between them.
The side couple was a great story, too! They are friends and scared of the next step or don't know how to take that step. And then one of them is in a relationship, which creates even more problems. All the characters are so real and I loved so much about the series. The acting and writing, some of their conversations and quotes... At times, there was too much about business for my taste, but it is an office series, so it was to be expected and okay.

What cost this series so so many stars - and made me write the review - is the ending. It took the writers one episode with overlength to destroy the whole series they had built so carefully. What we built over 11 wonderful episodes and what made this series so great was thrown out of the window with full force in the end. Pat becomes a hotheaded boy who overreacts and Jeng a shy mouse who won't speak up for himself. And then they jump in time - for whatever reason - and we are back to zero. How did they expect the viewer to buy that the trust they'd allegedly lost in each other after their big drama would be back after a bit of a timejump? If it wasn't bad enough for Pat to get over Jeng, why did he wait to meet him for years? And they did Jaan and Jane dirty, but sending them off to Japan and not letting viewer see their happy end in an OVERLONG EPISODE!! I am still so angry.
I did enjoy the lovey-dovey scenes of Pat and Jeng once they "resolved" their issues. They were cute, they played the roles well. But I couldn't forgive the writers for simply causing a big drama to get some tears and then ending it the way everybody wants it to end.

All my love goes out to the actors, who did a great job. Chemistry and acting were great, I enjoyed everything between them. But that last episode would have been better off not written.

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