Reviews

10/10 Ship Name

I'm starting off this review saying that it is a 10/10 for the ship name XD

Only watched 1 episode but like it so far! Nail's character which is straight up confident, knows-what-I-want, sassy which I loved about Uea from Bed Friend. Probably second time I've seen such a character so far! I love dramas where there is minimal "shyness" about a relationship so this is so refreshing to watch after Bed Friend.

Not sure how this is going to turn out but I hope they keep the premise simple as it is now or at least, not flip the boat. The root colours though...

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This crime drama is bad on so many levels, don't waste your time and energy with it.

"Chase the Truth" is a crime drama starting Wang Zi Qi and Su Xiao Tong.

The Synopsis: Police detective Chu Yi Han goes undercover to infiltrate a criminal organization, hoping to find his mother. By chance, he encounters Gu Lin Na.

This drama is bad on so many levels I wasted time watching it.
1. Bad production quality. The resolution is so bad with fuzzy blue for desert scenes.
2. How can the main characters, ML/FL, survive a big explosion without major injuries or death? Unreal. The hospital stays for both characters were short, and they were back in action. Stupid and unreal.
3. I like the ML, but he acted better in the Romcom Genre, but not in the action-adventure type.
4. The FL can't act; the same goes for the supporting cast.
5. Sha Xiao Fei (played by Zhao Xun) is really annoying. All he did was yell to make himself appear as a tough guy. He played the same role in "Chasing the Undercurrent."
6. Everyone in the ensemble, including the ML, yells to appear tough. I don't think you need to do that to show the character is tough. It can be done through facial expressions and body language.
7. No romance between the main CP.

I gave it a 3.5 rating; don't waste your time.

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He fell first, she fell harder.

Funny Female Lead - check
Cold Male Lead but soft inside for the female lead - check
Side characters Depth - check
Character Development - check (THE BEST)
Revenge Plot - Check
Angst - Check (Will burn your hearts in the last 8 chapters)
Death impact - extreme check
Trust & Love - Check check
Romance - *squealing* 10X check

Heaven has its own way, it will never let lovers separate.

I started this one believing in Zhao Lusi and all those reviews and found a treasure for sure. The character development as mentioned above was the BEST part of this drama. We will come a long way from viewing the mischievous 15-year-old troublemaker to seeing her grow into a 20-year-old young lady. The ML though stays the same but with much trust and a lot more conversation skills.

I felt her sadness, rage, issues, and scheming through the screen. The urge to seek revenge from people who did you wrong out of their own insecurities was most of the plotline, and I simply love how every time she gets back at them. It might seem childish to a lot of times but those were a lot satisfying. I might sound wrong, but you will feel it every time you watch it. Her sorrow seeing her mother prefer her cousin every time will stab your heart the same way. The ultimate showdown for me from her mother was when she talked about her daughter in front of the same people who taunted and looked down on her when ML asked for marriage. The feelings were too much to make out how to digest the scene. She was trying to protect her daughter, hurting the same daughter in the worst way possible. The way FL loves everyone despite all this, her way of showing affection is conversation and acceptance and I love it.

His eyes speak more than he does, that's our ML, he gave his heart to her, the first time he saw her and there was no going back. He seems cold and calculated and he IS; just not for the FL though; he turns into this warm and safe place for her that will give you the ultimate butterflies. He was a 10 in all ways possible if only the abandoning didn't subtract his points, but it did. It was nerve-wracking to follow his revenge plot and when he at last loses everything he found, it drove me over the edge.... His decisions over abandoning and revenge seem logical trying to keep her safe, but when things that hurt start making so much sense it hurts worse.

Their love and romance, leave out all those painful moments in the end, they BUILT up one of the healthiest relationships in this drama. The way he has her back every single time, the way she treats him with so much sincerity>>>>. The way she stood by him even when he beat those officers whose daughter bullied her, knowing it was a wrong move. (was a hell lot satisfying). The only concern she had was he was not willing to share his problems or should I say plan of revenge with her. She would have happily stood beside him to let him pave his way through it. Every single viewer knows that.
When people say love is not about rush and adrenaline. It's warm and safe-- their relationship is what they mean.

My ultimate favorite is the emperor. He was such a fanboy of our Zisheng and of course the first and foremost ship leader. The way FL's mom and grandmother's perspective and attitude changed to the end.
The last 8 chapters will make you CRY that's for sure.
Even with tears and so much angst, this drama claimed a very special position called "Close to my heart". I came running to write this review right after completing both the season.

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when a bad character ruins it all

To be honest I had high expectations for this drama! started out strong and then went flat really fast. I like the parts of the fighting but not the politics and all the scheming.

Male lead is the third son, not highly looked at due to his mother being a lowly servant. He is a general and has his own clan/army. He fights and try to establish/regain cities. He meets the female lead who is a bad ass assistant general to the Cui Army. She has the wits and the brain, her character definitely carried throughout the drama.

Its your typical drama about fighting and re-conquering the cities so that they are under control. There is also annoying royal palace schemes, like the brothers hating the male lead and trying to fight for the throne. Of course the king is stupid and useless, his character is a waste of time lol

One of the most annoying characters came from the Cui army. He was the god son, which the outside world knew as the Cui's son. The Cui army is very strong, they didnt want others to find out that they actually had a daughter so they used the godson to fake the Cui's having a son. The female lead is the daughter. But basically the fake son is obsess with the female lead and wants to marry her at all cost, even if it means to betray the Cui's. His part took so much time and so not needed.

Romance... what do i say... The leads dont have any chemistry. Sure they might be cute together but their kissing scenes lack a little chemistry. They actually have quite a few kissing scenes but not which gave me the tingle in my heart. Its mostly the female lead initiating the kiss lol

I felt like they could of stuck it at 30 episodes and it would of been decent... I prefer the drama with bailu, Kunning palace a lot better.

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Too boring to continue because the plot is bad and not much exciting.

"Welcome to Milele Village" is a medical drama dealing with an African country. I didn't like the plot and have watched 4 episodes.

The Synopsis: By chance, Ma Jia, a doctor from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, joined the 25th Chinese medical team to aid Sanna and went to Africa. Faced with completely different environments and huge cultural differences between China and Africa, Ma Jia experienced both persistence and giving up. He adjusted and corrected his mentality to gradually understand what it means to be a Chinese foreign aid doctor in practice. During the two years of foreign aid, during the physical and mental training, and under the scrutiny of emotions and low spirits, Ma Jia and his partners in the foreign aid medical team were stationed in "Maile Village," experiencing happiness, touching reunions, separations, and exciting experiences.

I am not interested in continuing, so I am dropping it. I think the acting is okay, but not exceptional.

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Refreshing and unique

The story of this drama is unlike any other I have seen. Each of the short stories in the beginning left my jaw hanging in how well they were written. The production and directing are also amazing! Everything fit so well together. The acting was exceptional and each of the characters were so unique. To my knowledge, this drama doesn't follow any tropes I have seen before so I highly recommend it if you are looking for a break from the standard, formulaic dramas. I will say, it is important to get a good translation for this drama, otherwise the dialogue and story become confusing. I did take a pretty long break in the middle of the drama, and it was hard to get back into it, so I don't recommend doing that either.

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Great acting, confusing plot

36 episodes. 10min each. 2 seasons.

First time watching 10-minute episodes. That was not a satisfactory experience. At times, I thought I skipped episodes because it made no sense.

- The third Prince was at times evil and others a lover. He loved Qi yet murdered her. He loves Xuan yet sets her up to be raped
- finally, the Fifth Prince becomes Emperor and makes promises to share rooms with Li… yet she disappears for a years
- out of the out-the-blue King of poison becoming her mother
- Qi/Li was a maid but a kung-fu master and genius doctor
- the mystic master coming out of the blue
- the second Prince who existed only to be killed

So many things made no sense or were left blank or ridiculous.

I want to highlight that, while the performances of the actors and actresses were great, I couldn't help but notice a stark contrast between the physical appearances of the main couple. She looked like a mature woman while he looked like a young man. Unfortunately, this was the only drama where the female lead had a prominent role, despite being in the industry since 2021. She deserves better. My guess is that her voice and physical appearance don't seem to be a good fit for young adult dramas which are the most popular, as they prefer a high-pitched teen voice and a youthful face. Perhaps she would be better suited for contemporary dramas. It is sad because she is an excellent actress.

The male lead was outstanding, but his appearance was more fitting for teenage or young adult dramas. While their acting was great, the chemistry between the two leads felt off, probably because they didn't match well.

I strongly believe that adult actors should look like adults, not like teenagers. Sadly, we don't see this often in costume dramas.

Overall, it was a watchable drama, but I don't see myself rewatching it anytime soon.

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It is good legal melodrama with not too much legal jargons. Deal with human stories.

Fearless is a legal melodrama about a housewife who passed the judicial examination through self-study, starting Rayzha Alimjan, Wang Yang, and Chuai Ni.

The Synopsis: Luo Ying Wei was initially an office worker who passed the judicial examination through self-study; however, she suffered multiple blows: her marriage fell apart, and what's worse, her husband Liu Ming took on huge loans, leaving her deeply in debt. Luo Ying Wei is not one to give up, as she chooses to fight back using legal means.

I like Wang Yang a lot because he is a very talented actor who can act in a variety of roles. In this drama, he plays a sleazy lawyer who seems to care about making money and does not appear to have compassion for his clients. He met his match with Luo Ying Zi (played by Rayzha Alimjan), who is opposite him. She is a strong and confident young lawyer who puts him in his place.

This is my first time watching anything with the FL, and I like her acting ability. She did a great job playing Luo Ying Zi, and Chuai Ni did a good job playing her legal partner as well.

I enjoyed this drama, and its flow was good as well. I gave it a 7.5 rating.

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I have no patience for the bad plot and the ML didn't do a good job (imo)

"Wonderland of Love" is a historical Rom-Com by Xu Kai and Jing Tian. The kung fu is awesome in this drama, and Jing Tian did a good job playing the army lieutenant. However, I dislike Xu Kai's character and acting ability.

Xu Kai can't act, in my opinion, especially in historical dramas. I dropped every historical drama he was in, like Snow Eagle Lord, Lost in the Kunlun Mountains, Court Lady, etc.

I have a higher tolerance for his modern dramas like Falling Into Your Smile and She and Her Perfect Husband, where I finished the dramas but not historical ones. He is very handsome but a one-dimensional actor with the same facial expression for every emotional scene.

I gave it a 6.5 rating because I didn't like the plot and could not continue after watching 8 episodes.

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Don't waste your time with this...

Seriously, this story with all it's used cliches might have been great to watch in 2000 but in 2023... Uff...
I do like some fuffy and easy going drama from time to time but this was... uff... Everything could have been handled within 3-4 episodes if they only talked with each others.

A best FM-Fried who has NO fuc***** idea on how to build up a relation ship is giving advises and the FL is using these advises...
34 out of 36 episodes are full of misunderstandings, misunderstandings & (you might have guessed) misunderstandings.
The ML is kind of the worst actor in such dramas I've seen for a long time and I can hardly find any real chemistrie between those two Main Leads...
Not to start of that annoying mother of FL - "Hey, go have a Blind date with someone. If you don't like him, just tell me, i won't force you..." - "Ye mum, i don't like him" - "ok, but go on a date... ".
You could probably name any cliche you've seen in such dramas and this will most likely used it aswell...

There are only a few Reasons you might wanna watch this
- Supporting Family of the "richer" part (Kinda rarely)
- FL is just gorgeous, problably 1/10 most beautiful acress in asia region
- the little niece is creating some funny moments with her misunderstandings

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An Interesting Alt History of Edo Period Japan

I will preface this review by saying I have not read the manga which ran for 17 years, nor watched this year's anime on Netflix, nor seen the prior drama series from 2010, nor the prior two movies. I imagine that one's experience of this series could vary widely based on how much of the prior material you have encountered.

The premise of this drama is that Japan experienced an on-going plague starting in the reign of 3rd Tokugawa Shogun in the early 1600s that reduces the population of men to one quarter of that of women. Thus, part of what Ooku explores, in general, is what that change in demographics might mean to the roles of men and women. What would Edo-period Japan have been like if women were in charge?

This drama is roughly divided into three chunks covering incidents in the lives of the woman who took over the role of the 3rd Shogun, and then 5th and 8th Shogun. The 8th Shogun serves as wrapper for all the episodes as she reads about the lives of these prior two Shoguns. The manga continued through the 14th Shogun, and so this drama does not attempt to cover the entire run of the manga, and, indeed, one presumes Season 2 will cover more of underlying material. Nevertheless, this series (like many other manga and novel adaptations) does suffer a bit from trying to cover too much of the original material.

The cast is huge and the production fairly lavish though we comparatively rarely see what life is like outside of the Shogunal residence in Edo. Like many Roman and Chinese emperors, the Japanese Shoguns in this period seem to be fairly isolated within a system meant to protect them and insure the continuation of their dynasties. And, indeed, the Ooku was the quarters for the Shogun's concubines during the Edo period, and so becomes the quarters for the male concubines in this alternative history, and so part of what the series explores why and how men come to serve as concubines, and how the system works (and sometimes fails) to produce heirs to the Shogun.

The series does address some interesting and perhaps surprising issues over the course of this season, but I do think the quality and interest of the three sections are fairly even though they cover entirely different themes and have have mostly different casts of characters. There are some striking moments scattered throughout the series, and the performances vary from solidly professional to quite good. If you enjoy alternative histories and Japanese period dramas, it's well worth watching.

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did not reach expectations

i dont undertand why this drama got such high rating. the story is bland, forgettable and overdramatic. it started out pretty well but turned super cliche as episodes went by. the childhood and trauma trope is SO titing and repititive that it felt like they were dragging the show at one point. the acting, also could have been much better. the genre is romantic so i expected some butterfly worthy scenes but nah, there was something missing. it has MANY kissing scenes but none of them got that spark TT i think if it would have been my 1st drama i would have never watched another drama again

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