Reviews

I definitely liked the Korean movie adaptation of this manga, which we have here under the name Antique Bakery (2008), much more than this somewhat "artificial" series for me. What was a plus was the cast, nice people and generally well acted, I liked less the small percentage of the BL component and on top of that, it was strange and completely against my skin that the children were more involved in the story, their disappearances and murders. If you don't want to bother and waste time with the often unnecessarily drawn-out and superimposed scenes of this project, I recommend watching Korea instead.

Rozhodně se mi mnohem více líbila filmová korejská adaptace této mangy, kterou zde máme uvedenu pod názvem Antique Bakery (2008), než tento pro mě tak trochu "vyumělkovaný" seriál. Co bylo plusem, bylo herecké obsazení, sympaťáci a vesměs dobře zahráno, méně se mi líbilo malé procento BL složky a ještě k tomu divné a úplně proti mé srsti bylo větší zapletení dětí do příběhu, jejich zmizení a vražd. Kdo nechce trápit a ztrácet čas mnohdy zbytečně protahovanými a nadstavovanými scénami tohoto projektu, doporučuji raději zhlédnout Koreu.

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A bit of a different revenge drama. Carter Wong plays Ping Fei Lee who has been accused of killing his brothers in the monastary. I felt bad for him b/c there was no evidence that he had committed any kind of crime; yet the head monk was screaming lock him up he's guilty. They said he killed all these people and stole some important Jade object that the Emperor had given the monks. He escapes the monastray and tries to find the real trader/killer. There's some subplot about the Emperor wanting to destroy the monks and the Shaolin temple. Not sure whay it was necessary. Lung Chun Erh played the Emperor's sister. Polly Shang Kuan played a student of a monk.

Overall the story is nonsensical but it was an enjoyable watch. I'm biased though b/c I like Carter Wong and Polly Shang Kuan. They work well together. The fight scenes were ok and I liked the short fight scene between Polly and Lung Chun Erh. I loved the fan work by Chun Erh too. I loved the Imperial costumes as well.

12/16/23

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The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line but revenge is often circular

The Jade Raksha started out as a typical revenge wuxia and then dug a little deeper to give it a nice twist. Cheng Pei Pei once again played a confident swordswoman but this time she was more anti-hero than hero. Three fathers died and three children swore revenge in a vicious violent circle.

Leng Qiu Han has been rampaging against the Yan family in a desire to make them pay for murdering her family. The problem is, she doesn’t know which one did the vile deed. She crosses paths and swords with Xu Ying Hao. Xu tries to convince her to find evidence as to which Yan killed her family instead of taking the lives of innocent people. Leng has no intention of discontinuing her blood-letting. Xu can’t hang around because he has his own revenge to fulfill against the man who killed his father which in turn will spawn a new cycle of revenge.

I was relieved that there wasn’t a romance between Leng and Xu as Tang Ching was twice Cheng Pei Pei’s age in real life. The film did seem to be trying to make Xu younger than Tang Ching’s grizzled appearance. Leng could be difficult to like as she sliced her way to the top of the Yan family because Xu did have a point. At first, I wasn’t sure if she was avenging her family’s death or punishing the Yan’s crimes against animals and fashion. Many of them wore some atrocious looking animal furs. Interestingly, Xu’s sense of morality didn’t make his revenge any more righteous than hers. In the end, many revenge plot points were finally pulled together in a long exposition dump in the villain’s dungeon of doom.

There was fun wuxia action to be had---running on water, fighting on the top of bamboo trees, bamboo pole vaulting over a flaming bridge, and light body leaping onto roofs. The sword fighting was average for the time period, nothing terribly inspiring. The sets and scenery set the mood for the different scenes perfectly. The dungeon of doom had a specialized guillotine for head and arms which was demonstrated. There were enough traps and torture devices that it made the virtuous Xu question the philanthropic lead Yan’s innocence. I loved that the secret door leading to the dungeon had a sign reading “Always Be Kind”. Of course, the sign at the gate of the fortress read, “Home of Mercy.” False advertising at its best.

This was not my favorite Cheng Pei Pei role though she was fine in it. Leng's kill first, ask questions later attitude and penchant for jealousy made the character difficult to connect with. As I mentioned, Tang Ching seemed a little too long in the tooth for the hero but he did well as the swordsman who wanted to do the right thing but made some unfortunate choices. One of my favorites, Ku Feng, gave depth to the story as a blind father with a dark secret. Get in line, buddy, there were plenty of secrets to go around. And plenty of revenge. The film showed that the road to revenge is not always a straight line or as simple as it might seem.

16 Dec 2023

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Great with a but….

Let me tell you my opinion on this drama. The storyline is divided into three parts: falling in love, death, and rebirth. The male lead may not be conventionally handsome, but he fits his character well. However, it was the second male villain lead who stole the show with his pure and tragic love. The female lead, Ni Ni, is perfect.

I found the third part of the story unnecessarily long and skipped parts after episode 55. But the first part, which focused on love, was my favorite.
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I must say, Nini is an extraordinary, gorgeous, talented actress. While some may compare this drama to eternal love, I believe it's like comparing apples to oranges. Despite the director's penchant for peach trees and wine, the storyline is entirely different. Gods and goddesses were very different too.

This is a memorable drama. I am trying to figure out why people compare this show so much with eternal love, but I see two distinct stories. It is as if we say all dramas are the same because of some similarities. If so, all costume dramas are the same.

I was completely invested in the story until the very end. However, I strongly feel that the constant introduction of villains has become tiresome. Additionally, the plotline involving the girl who left for the demon tower and returned as a general killed numerous immortals, and yet survived, was beyond ridiculous. The story could have been improved with a more realistic and believable portrayal of events.

Although I'm grateful to the scriptwriters for providing a happy ending, I can't help but feel that the lack of explanation for the protagonist's return after 300 years falls short of my expectations.

The demise of the female lead character, followed by her rebirth, left me feeling uneasy. Although I understood the reasoning behind it, I couldn't shake the feeling that killing her just to bring her back again seemed morally questionable. Additionally, the genuine love the villain had for her only added to the tragedy of the situation. In my opinion, an alternate ending that allowed for a reunion of the two lovers after death would have been much more satisfying. Admittedly, I may have taken some creative liberties with the storyline, but I couldn't help but root for the secondary male character to find love and happiness in the end.

The costume designers deserve immense praise for their outstanding work. The costumes were stunning and added an incredible dimension to the overall experience. Let's give a round of applause to all the support roles, they truly deserve it!

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Filler KBL

I didn't love it, I didn't hate it -- it'll inevitably be one of those filler series I forget about after this review and move on to the next. Now even with saying this, Jun and Jun still proved itself to be a decent series with a decent plot, beautiful actors, and some petty nice chemistry.

Let's Dive In.

Jun and Jun are friends who end up separating as kids and become close again when Lee Jun is hired at Choi Jun's company. The premise is fun, and so are the first couple of episodes. It just starts to drag by episode 5, with way too much office jargon and a bunch of characters that I just could care less about. I skipped through the majority of the end, only stopping to see the lead's resolution, including his smexy hyung and the idol guy. All in all, the leads had okay chemistry, nothing crazy. Individually, they played their characters very well so the connection just works out because these were good actors. Also, some very well-done physical chemistry, which is what really drew me into their relationship.

This is me being nit-picky but some continuity errors were glaringly obvious, and for whatever reason, it bothered me more than it usually does. One example is Lee Jun holding an empty milk carton that's open but then offering it to Choi Jun later on, closed. Same with my problem with characters picking up drinks (mostly coffee cups) that have nothing in them and it's obvious.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - Was pretty funny and had some comedic gold moments. It's good until it becomes boring with too many scenes taking place in the meeting room going over blah blah blah that none of us care about. Romance is okay, but the physical chemistry is good.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Great! Each character played their role individually very well. Hyunwoo is gorgeous, has nothing to do with his acting, but thought I'd throw that in there. Also off-topic, but Hyeongseop's (Simeon) filler teeth bothered the fuck out of me.

Music; 7/10 - It wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Recommend because Hyunwoo is seriously beautiful, but other than that, you're not missing much.

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An excellent adult series from Thailand, time-consuming, full of tension and in which I literally bit all my nails. The director invited some of his favorite actors from the 3 Will Be Free project and there are no more illogicalities, shootings and murders in the story, which I acknowledge with gratitude. No BL, but a thriller, a drama with a gay component, beautiful actors and actresses, from the cream of Thailand. One huge scumbag, surrounded by other scumbags, scumbags and cheaters. Intrigues such as you can hardly imagine, where Mexican or Turkish soap operas or tons of crime drama series on Czech televisions and retired actors, who always solve everything, dig into this story. It had a gradient, gradation and some well-known actors from BL projects (Dan, Tin, Mikey, Fight) or even real gays (Touch-gay friend of Eva's father) can be seen. All the characters are played very well, the main gay couple is Pitch and Matt, and another gay couple of supporting characters - Eva's father and his friend - plays an important role in the intrigue. I didn't expect to be so engrossed in it, I recommend it more to those who are looking for fun, suspense, adult concepts and don't want teenage Thai schoolboys walking the corridors in shorts and school uniforms.
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Výborný dospělácký seriál z Thajska, časově náročný, plný napětí a u kterého jsem si obrazně ohryzal snad všechny nehty. Režisér si pozval některé své oblíbené herce z projektu 3 Will Be Free a v příběhu již není tolik nelogičností, stříleček a vražd, což kvituji s povděkem. Žádné BL, ale thriller, drama s gay složkou, krásní herci a herečky, z prostředí thajské smetánky. Jedna obrovská mrcha, obklopená dalšími mrškami, vyčuránky a podvodníčky. Intriky, jaké si sotva dovedete představit, kam se hrabou na tento příběh mexické či turecké telenovely nebo tuny krimi seriálů na českých televizích a vysloužilými herci, co vždy všechno vyřeší. Mělo to spád, gradaci a vidět je některé známé herce z BL projektů (Dan, Tin, Mikey, Fight) nebo i skutečné gaye (Touch-gay přítel Evina otce). Všechny postavy zahrány velmi dobře, z těch hlavních gay pár tvoří Pitch a Matt a dále důležitou roli v intrikách hraje i další gay pár vedlejších postav - Evin otec s jeho přítelem. Nečekal jsem, že mě to tak pohltí, doporučuji spíše těm, co hledají zábavu, napětí, dospělé pojetí a nechtějí náctileté thajské školáčky chodící po chodbách v kraťasech a školních uniformách.

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The project is certainly not top-notch, but I was amused, somewhat crazy, funny, light and cute in the way the actors went all out in a certain physical contact, including "hands-on". Actors - nice guys and that girlfriend played fourth fiddle there. And one more interesting thing. The various stories, what about the uncut versions, I have the cuts as well, but they are meringue, cuddling. The series was perhaps the last one before the well-known stricter Chinese regulation, and after it projects with BL and gay themes didn't make much of a cut... what a shame.



Projekt jistě není úplně top, ale pobavil mě, někde malinko ztřeštěný, vtipný, lehký a roztomilý v tom, jak do určitého fyzického kontaktu včetně "ošahávaček" herci šli naplno. Herci - sympaťáci a ta přítelkyně tam hrála čtvrté housle. A ještě jedna zajímavost. Ty různé povídačky, jak je to s uncut verzemi, mám i ty střihy, ale jedná se o pusinky, mazlení. Seriál totiž byl snad poslední před známým zpřísněným čínským nařízením, a po něm si už projekty s BL a gay tematikou moc neškrtly ... velká škoda.

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Undeniable Chemistry, Questionable Storyline

Alright, my opinion on this drama may be a bit unpopular (and quite controversial)— it wasn’t a masterpiece. If anything, the acting, production, cinematography, and soundtrack made up for the drama’s main weakness— its plot.

Before jumping into the negatives, there is, without a doubt, not a single flaw in the casting. Here we have a lineup of seasoned actors and actresses, so role immersion and the ability to express the characters emotions were executed very well. It had a good balance of romance, lightheartedness, and a touch of melo. Intimate scenes were produced very well— courtesy of the leads sizzling chemistry! Although the drama may be a bit slower in pace, it wins the trophy for having the most natural and well-developed "relationship development" between the leads. My BIGGEST pet peeve is going into a drama where the leads are doing the hanky panky 10 mins into the pilot episode… like, do y’all even know each others names? Take notes screenwriters.. cause' this is how you do it! If there was one thing I could change, it would be including more variety into the soundtrack (since one song in particular was quite overused throughout the drama and wasn’t befitting for a few scenes).

Alright, now onto the meat of the review. What went wrong? To start, the premise of the drama isn’t entirely unique, though it does retain some of its own creative flair. It had a strong start by captivating watchers in its worldbuilding of 1920s Chiang Mai. However, my main complaint for this drama slowly became its worldbuilding, which also ties closely to some of the major plot holes you could practically ram a truck into. For instance, who was that person appearing in the modern House of Palatip? Could this be Jom from the past, switching souls with Jom of the present? Also, Uncle Stan heard Jom "calling him" the night before his first visit in the morning— Who was that? A hallucination? When Uncle Tan said this, is it the incident Jom experienced after laying a drunk Khun Yai down to sleep? if so, how does that timeline work? What’s up with Jom hearing the voice of Uncle Tan? Does it tie with the Jom appearing in the modern House of Palatip? How on earth did modern Khun Yai gain the memories of his past? Oh— and don’t get me started on the PAST PAST timeline before the 1920s Chiang Mai era.

Man, that was a handful. Just thinking about that plot, which seems so simple, churns my brain into a slimy mess. Clearly, I didn’t expect to have to exert THIS much power into understanding this convoluted plot.

Nonetheless, it’s definitely a bingeable one. If I had to be honest, I was hooked for the first 4 episodes and gradually lost interest later on. It is a bit disappointing how open-ended the drama left off. If there is another season planned, hopefully the writers can tie some of the loose knots and clarify the worldbuilding a bit more.

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Worst Kdrama Ever

Worst Kdrama ever. It wasted my time. I don’t understand how the FL could end up with the robot when there’s a perfectly human being around!!!!!!!!?????

The whole idea of the FL and the Robot being together was that, the male model of the AI was an asshole and toxic in drama. But…. and so what??‍♀️

BTW, am not hating on the actors. They are very talented but the storyline does not make sense no matter how much everyone wants to explain it to me. I still do not approve!

What a waste of time and money downloading this garbage of a drama

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Psychologically Intriguing. What Voids Can/Can't Be Filled?

Psychologically intriguing and emotionally haunting; a seemingly "happy" ending on the surface but in actuality very precarious as it was hollow. The story lingered in my mind and I really wish there was more of it.

21 minutes long. The script and directing/editing was smartly done and to-the-point. Acting, cinematography, and music supported the storytelling well.

The 11th SungKyu wants a nice home and family so much that he stands in to fill the voids the other family members have. But he is a shell of a person himself, can HIS void be filled? Maybe over time, but we don't get a clear-cut answer, and that's why my thoughts on this short film keep percolating and drive me to dissect it.

It's well done and good for one watch if you're in the right mood for it.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS below!
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I can easily understand SungKyu learning how to interact, and puting effort into play-acting, with the mentally fragmented mother (who can't accept that one of her real sons is gone).

I feel sad at his decision to be physically intimate with the brother, SungWoo, though. Sad for both of them because it seemed the result of individual desperation. Maybe they both end up being what the other needs and have a healthy future together, but that seems a fragile hope. More realistically, SungWoo may develop feelings while SungKyu's interest would remain in question; does he really care, or is he trying to fill his own void, or is he just maintaining his place in the family?

And whatever drove SungKyu in that scene, it doesn't seem to have given him much. The next morning, SungWoo feels accepted and is noticeably lighter and happier but the smile that SungKyu returns slides off when he's not being looked at, and his eyes remain vacant throughout. SungKyu said he was "nobody" and seemed to remain empty himself even as he filled in what the other family members needed.

For me, it's really hard to leave the story at that moment because I crave more emotional resolution, so I likely won't re-watch. I am glad I saw it once though.

I found Bearr's MDL review good and insightful too.

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Captivating Drama

This drama has gained its well-deserved popularity, and it's easy to see why. The cinematography, effects, storyline, theme song, as well as the performances of the actors and actresses, all contribute to a meticulously crafted production. The overarching narrative, centered around the love story between a devil and a fairy, is straightforward, yet what truly captivates is the intricacy of their journey into love.

I acknowledge that some may find the voice of the female lead challenging to appreciate, perhaps deeming it childish. However, considering the character's age and the natural quality of the actress's voice, it becomes understandable. For those who may have initially dropped the drama due to this aspect, I assure you that it improves over time, and you'll acclimate to it. The characters are portrayed with depth, and the chemistry between them is truly exceptional, to the point where one might believe they are genuinely dating in real life.

Expressing my sentiments about this drama is a bit challenging because it's simply awesome. If there were one word to encapsulate the experience, it would be "awe-inspiring." Perhaps, had the female lead's powers been showcased as more potent, aligning with the early hype surrounding the goddess theme, I would undoubtedly rate this drama a perfect score.

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Unexpectedly Engaging

This series, while lacking the extravagant effects and cinematography found in some premier dramas, has carved out a distinct place in my appreciation. Initial expectations were modest, but the narrative quickly proved engrossing. The character dynamics, marked by diverse behaviors and beliefs, contribute significantly to the show's appeal.

The male lead, initially portrayed as naive and easily swayed by the leader of a sect, undergoes substantial character development following the dismemberment of his body. While his subsequent actions can be frustrating, they align with the evolving storyline. Notably, a scene depicting his stabbing of the female lead, despite prior instances, offers a nuanced portrayal.

The female lead emerges as a standout character, reflecting relatable responses to challenging situations. Her character evolution is commendable. The on-screen chemistry among the cast is palpable. Noteworthy is the captivating performance of the female lead actress, particularly in her poignant crying scenes, which I find mesmerizing. Despite my limited knowledge of her previous works, I must express a preference for her acting prowess over that of the male lead.

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An Honest Series Review

This is a high-budget drama boasting exceptional cinematography and effects. Frankly, it proved challenging for me to complete, spanning a three-month duration, and my overall sentiment leaned more towards frustration than satisfaction. While the drama's quality is not the issue, my struggle to persevere stemmed from the actions of the female lead character.

I acknowledge her reluctance to risk falling in love with the devilish male lead, yet her choices appeared to inadvertently contribute to his descent into darkness. The male lead's singular flaw, an inability to feel love, is understandable, but he manages to develop genuine affection for the female lead despite her questionable actions. Rather than harboring animosity towards the female lead, I recognize that her character was portrayed in this light, and I empathize with her caution given the devil's role in her family's tragedy.

The primary deficiency I observe lies in the realm of communication. Other characters in the narrative fall into either the category of annoyance or likability, forming the crux of my verdict. The acting, particularly by the male and female leads, stands out as top-notch. They adeptly convey the readers' sense of annoyance and frustration. In conclusion, while the drama is commendable, I would hesitate to recommend it to those seeking a portrayal of a healthy relationship due to the evident lack of effective communication among the characters.

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