The Disguiser (2015)

Confession: I watched this because I missed the Nirvana in Fire cast too much. I was very reluctant to watch this because China produces piles and piles of dramas set in 1930s/1940s, and vast amount of them are terrible. I have faith in Shanying production team though. Not to mention it's a spy drama set in 1940s Shanghai, with a focus on a wealthy family who all seem to lead double lives, okay I'll roll with this. This drama is actually Japanese/puppet government vs KMT (the party in power in republic era, later fled to Taiwan) vs CPC (current ruling party of China), in case anyone isn't familiar with the power struggle at the time.

I must note that while there is a loveline in the story, I think it's horribly written, so if the family angle doesn't capture you, I don't recommend watching this for romance, because the romance nearly ruined the drama for me. Although it doesn't show up much (comes in around episode 8?), so I guess regardless, one shouldn't watch this for romance.

Hu Ge as Ming Tai is probably what draws most people to this drama. His character here is a spoilt 20 something who would have spent his days horsing around with his friends, picking up girls if he didn't meet Wang Tian Feng. He's immature, impulsive and thinks he knows the best, he does have some sort of character development but not by much. Don't get me wrong, he's very likable, his interaction with his sister, Ming Jing is adorable, and he does look very cool in various outfits; but he's fairly simple compared to other characters.

Jin Dong as Ming Lou is the other main character in this drama. It's him that I love despite this drama's many many faults. He's spectacularly layered as a double agent and he oozes charm. He is basically living in a web of lies and setting up more lies. To convince the audience that he's a double agent, he'd have to have microexpression or looks or something to show that he's not really working for the puppet government. On the other hand, these can't be too obvious or they would easily be caught by characters in the drama and he'd be expose. To begin with, his loyalty was already questionable, it's just he's one of the very few people who can do this and who are willing to.

Even though it wasn't meant to, his relationship with Wang Man Chun is the only romance that interested me in this drama. They were once an item, but Ming Jing broke them up (for reasons that you'll find out). It's almost the plot of Romeo and Juliet except they both changed and have adopted vastly different ideals. His relationship with Ming Cheng, Ah Cheng, is even more fun. I'm struggling to find words to describe it, it's almost mentor-like, since Min Lou is older and more experienced; it's also a schemer/executioner relationship on top of sibling affection and friendship. Regardless, it's a relationship with 100% trust in each other, and this is rather difficult to have in a spy drama.

Wang Kai as Ming Cheng, or Ah Cheng. To the outside world, he's an assistant, almost like a very competent butler. He's actually very much part of the family though. Like Ming Lou, he bears a lot of pressure working for the puppet government, but he wears even more masks because of his peculiar position in the Ming family. Liu Min Tao as Ming Jing, probably the most clueless one in the family, but she's a very capable lady who managed their family business since she was 17. She's graceful and fiercely protective of Ming Tai because he's the youngest and she felt more like a parent than a sister to him.

There are many many characters that I love, like the ruthless Wang Man Chun (played by the gorgeous Wang Ou, I need more drama with you in it please), the adorable Liang Zhong Chun who just want to live his life peacefully in times of turmoil even though his position really wouldn't have let him. The strict and almost cruel teacher, Wang Tian Feng, or the frail looking but actually fierce as hell Yu Man Li (Song Yi! you don't even have a profile on here ;A; <3), I should probably stop before I list all of the characters.

So, how's the story? I like the premise and I really do love the family angle. It's refreshing and their interactions are a lot of fun. The action scenes are pretty well done, even if sometimes, it seems things are done for the sake of looking cool. The schemes near the end seems confusing and might need rewatching, but I don't recommend looking too closely to it. Since all kinds of question and plot hole will pop up. I just accepted what the drama told me and called it a day.

Now I need to complain about my biggest gripes with this show, setting aside plot holes and unrealistic action scenes. Its goddamn stupid romance. I repeat, if there's ever a cut without the romance (if you can understand Mandarin, I recommend bilibili), watch that version instead because it's so so so much better.

I actually didn't have a lot of problems with the love interest to begin with, aside from its cliche situation and cliche lines, it's disappointing that we don't see anything new, but it make sense for the character (wealthy young man). I just can't deal with it when love interest nearly ruin an operation, putting everyone in danger because...because...I don't even know, some kind of upstanding morals? That's not the first nor the last time a character does stupid thing in a drama but it still infuriates me. Not sure if it infuriates me more because I ship some other ship that won't happen.

I never quite bought the love between the two characters and that's weird because I bought the friendship, the familial relationship and even bygone romance, but when it comes to the very visible ongoing romance, I never cared about. I have no idea is it the chemistry or is it the actress' acting ability (because I haven't seen her in anything else).

Side note, I must bring up the fact she was injured during the course of filming and therefore had to use a lot of doubles (5 different people I think?), close up shots while she was clearly in pain. I really respect that she tried her best to film despite being in severe pain and not wanting to delay filming or straight up change actress. But a lot of c-netizens are wondering maybe the drama would have been better if she was swapped out. She had fair amount of scenes but latter parts had to be re-written, her close up shots/acting were terrible and in the end the product was subpar.

Anyways, I've rambled long enough. My 8 honest goes to all the characters I loved in this drama, the amazing Jin Dong and spectacular team behind this drama, it sure has been a ride. Now I'm off to catch up 20 years of c-drama. WHY MUST YOU BE SO LONG c-drama.

This is my first review so if you have any constructive criticism or want to flail about dramas with me, feel free to message/comment.

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I always been absolutely in love with spy stories, specially when in comes to WWII. this masterpiece tells story of Ming family, an old and prestigious merchant family of Shanghai during the Japanese occupation time and their efforts to protect their country from Japanese invaders together with their love for each eachother, difference of opinions and their confrontations. I am still fascinated by the family bond between them who gathered together and made Ming family which was more than blood made on love and understanding.

writing is genuine, with a fast pace, full of traps as it was a dangerous era for spies and patriots. as the drama unfold new twists come and you are always kept on your toes to know who works for who and who will survive this.

And for the cast, If you are like me and after Nirvana in Fir left impatient with the desire to see more from Jin Dong, you have a heavenly time here. Ming Lou is what Mei Chang Su was for Nirvana in Fir; He is mysterious, mature, sharp (cynical even at times) with the mind which able to see the slightest details of the possibilities ahead. He is one of the most complicated character of the dramaland and a delight to watch. He's my bais in this drama. and his interaction with his sidekick Ming Chen (played by Wang Kai) is one of the best I've seen ever. the only disappointment for me was the romance story between funny Ming Tai (played by Hu Ge) and stiff communist girl, he fall in love and I didn't get it! but all the way women of the story are badass too and cool to watch. I wished Ming family adopted a girl too just imagine such a badass she would have been.

in a nutshell it's a spy drama plus great twists and some historical lessons on China in that tumultuous era. It has drama, family, friendship, comedy and an exceptionally intellectual plot.just be aware that story is kind of draggy in a few last episodes. and maybe a bit rushed ending, still a great drama ride.

for rewatch value I started to rewatch it again just as I finished it.

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I must go off topic and ask why the creeper photo for the poster? Anyway...

I genuinely didn't think I'd finish this but here we are, at the end. I finished yet another Chinese drama with over 40 episodes, my gosh, I think I need a drama doctor.

I don't think I've ever struggled to figure out a rating as with this drama, It could very well be an 7 and also a mere 6, so I settled for an in-between that I am only moderately content with

The drama thrusts you into what I presume is 1940s China under Japanese imperialism. This isn't your typical flowy dress historical as at this point, from the setting and clothing in the drama, there seems to be a huge western influence in China. We're talking guns, suits, music and that iffy shade of green army wear. The story focuses on the Ming family and the role they come to play in liberating China.

Let's start by making this clear in that I really gave the writers the benefit of the doubt as intricate plots are interwoven with nauseatingly cliché scenes that as I cringed and wondered what in the world was happening, I came to the conclusions the writers were to some extent really playing with this genre.

As with every action, suspense, shooter type of film, bullets will never hit the leads. The leads here in fact, rarely ever run for cover and when they do, it's rather comical because they've evaded hoards of bullets being shot at them out of sheer protagonistness (no, that's not a word). They of course can shoot bullets to nowhere and I swear those bullets will manage to hit someone. The gun usage is indeed your stereotypical action shooter gun usage.

We are also for a modest part of this, given a frustrating female character who constantly needs rescue and made the initial eight episodes of this a very painful experience but for once, I listened to the voices in drama land urging me to stick it out as she becomes quite the character. Nicely done, drama land.

Amidst this, romance is thrown in and my toes curled as an actor hurled sweet nonsense lines along the cringe worthiness level of “you are my sugar plum” and I questioned reality as these lines were so excruciatingly cheesy, I just can't imagine the writers not being aware of this. It seemed cliché scenes were thrown in here to help nurse the uber macho and high paced scene and also honestly, I just can't get over this *writer's f**king with us* feeling.

The main reason for a good rating is when this drama picks up, it genuinely picks up and becomes an enjoyable ride. Take the genre as it is and this drama is quite addictive. It has it's moments of suspense and brilliance although albeit sometimes the plot was far too convoluted. Amidst this is well fitted splashes of humor and heart warming scenes that just made even the most cynical side of me annoyingly melt. The Ming family have some of the best interactions and I was screaming, “adopt me with my mother's permission please.”

There is just quite the solid plot in here that really grounds this drama and it makes the genre really feel like the writers wanted to absolutely play with it yet also create a strong plot.

I do think the drama could have ended four episodes earlier than it did. The last four episodes milked the this plot like a saharan camel. I don't know if there was some broadcasting requirement in regards to that but it really pulled the screw out of this machine and made the drama feel quite loose.

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False face must hide what false heart doth know.

The biggest draw of the Disguiser is its best loved Nirvana in Fire cast. Paradoxically, this spy thriller could not be more unlike Nirvana in Fire yet at the same time, it cannot be more like it. Boiled down, it is another memorable bromance built around a family that sacrifices for a worthy cause; in this case the kind of country they want for their future generations.

Set in 1940s Shanghai during the time of the Japanese puppet government, the prominent Ming family is caught up in the struggle between Japanese, KMT and CCP forces. Ming Jing, the matriarch is formidable in terms of how fiercely she both disciplines and loves her three brothers, whom she raised. She is the family peacemaker and the one the brothers deceive to protect. The Ming family hierarchy is hilarious - both Ming Tai and Ming Cheng fear oldest brother Ming Lou, who is in turn terrified of Ming Jing.  Since the youngest Ming Tai is Ming Jing's favorite, he is actually the most powerful brother! Although both Ming Cheng and Ming Tai are adopted, their bond exceeds that of most blood siblings and the individual relationships between the four siblings are well dimensioned and developed. The remarkable chemistry between this veteran cast effortlessly draws us into feeling a part of this amazing and perfectly imperfect family.

As far as spy thrillers go, this is suspenseful, fast paced and action packed. While the action shots are visually thrilling and artistic, it is quite incredible that protagonists seem to be completely bullet proof and villains take way too many fatal shots to die. The overall plot errs on the side of being overly intricate and fails to convince that so many pawns have to be sacrificed so callously to ensnare the enemy. That said, some of the most powerful, shattering scenes are at the moment of truth when it dawns on the players they are pawns and when the villains realize they have been played. All the villains are introduced early on and are layered characters with their own individual strengths and weaknesses that make them very, very dangerous; especially Wang Ou's gorgeously unstable, oddly naive and sadistic Wang Manchun. This casts an shadow of imminent peril around our beloved Ming family's idyllic private moments.

The way Jin Dong portrays Ming Lou, a double agent whose "false face must hide what false heart doth know" stands out among superb performances all around from this exceptional cast. He wears many hats - traitor, patriot, mastermind, mentor, disciplinarian, manipulator, liar, brother and family man. His true feelings and loyalties are revealed only in almost imperceptible changes in expression or gestures as he fluidly manipulates his chess pieces into doing as he wishes. He is the picture of sincerity and devotion as he turns the deadly Wang Manchun into a giddy, lovesick fool with his sweet loving lies. Alas, she misses that flicker in his eye that says he actually loathes and pities her. He keeps Ming Jing in the dark to protect her and only lets Ah Cheng get the closest look at his game plan and true intentions. I don't know why Wang Kai always gets saddled with the role of the most loyal but most obtuse one but I get Jing wang vibes every time is onscreen. I am glad this time he is teamed up with Jin Dong and not Hu Ge. I love their relationship - Ming Lou is at surface a tough mentor but by communicating outcomes, he actually gives Ah Cheng agency to execute his missions as he sees fit. His approach with Ming Tai is completely different - he keeps him at a strictly need to know level and at arm's length but gives him the most difficult tasks with much more limited degrees of freedom to make decisions. Ming Lou is an incredibly complex, smart character but not unrealistically so that things always go as planned. In this high stakes game, the enemy is not stupid and is capable of learning from mistakes. Some of the most riveting moments are when the brothers are cornered and forced to choose between family and their mission, their ideals, their country.

Hu Ge as the sophisticated, dashing and deadly assassin Ming Tai aka the Scorpion takes the meaning of eye candy to a whole new level. Paired up with his life and death partner, the vivid and lethal Yu Manli, they cut a flamboyant and bloodthirsty trail through the highest echelons of their enemy. Hu Ge delivers some extraordinary and memorable moments as Ming Tai, notably his love hate relationship with his lunatic, radical mentor Wang Tianfeng and his complex bond with Yu Manli. However overall, I did not love some aspects of his portrayal and how this character was written. Although I don't mind Hu Ge playing the 20 something Ming Tai initially, this character must be able to grow up and mature, which he does masterfully to become the leader of his espionage unit. It pains me to complain about Hu Ge and to be fair, he was short-changed by the scriptwriting and casting. But the frequent regression into his younger self; a spoilt, pampered and immature youth doesn't sit well with me, especially towards the end and after everything he went through. It does not help that his arguably unnecessary love interest Cheng Jinyun is portrayed by a complete plank of an actress. They did not connect and the romance was so irritating I kept hoping she would tragically run into one of the many stray bullets flying around. Casting a mannequin would have been better than this boring and totally expressionless actress. This is made more stark by the fiery, intense and palpable connection between Ming Tai and Yu Manli. Song Yi absolutely stole the show with her insane, bad-ass articulation of this psychotic, relentless assassin And her chemistry with Hu Ge is off the charts. She is the character I cared the most about in the drama, the one that scared me and broke my heart at the same time.

While hardly the masterpiece that was NIF, this is still an excellent drama and a wonderful way to reconnect with a fantastic cast. Not to mention... ahem... Hu Ge in black tie... I rate this a solid 8.5.

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I watched this before Nirvana In Fire so went in without any impressions of the cast (minus Hu Ge, though I hadn't seen any of his dramas since like 2006). China loves shows about the Republican era/Japanese imperalism, and I have probably seen tons of them due to the fact that my grandfather loves those shows and we spend a lot of time watching TV when I visit, so I wasn't expecting anything new with The Disguiser, despite knowing that it was getting some rave reviews. Despite that, I was super impressed with how slick and polished the first half of the show was - the acting was (mostly) fantastic, the pace was good, and the spies' double/triple identities were well done.

I had huge hopes for this show - if it was well done to the end, it would be a game changer in terms of production quality - but alas, it was not meant to be. Plot holes, annoying characters, and a slower pace killed the second half - and I do think that the show was trying to be smarter than it was, which ultimately didn't work very well. That doesn't mean this was a good drama - I think the performances from the cast and the first half cements this as one of the better c-dramas, but I think I was just disappointed by how low the lows were, considering how good certain parts were.

Story:
The setup was pretty good - the first few episodes set up the characters nicely and you understand the different dynamics at play. I liked how the story unfolded as Ming Tai starts on his journey as a spy and adult. The plot was pretty intricate the and the writing was fairly tight, and I loved seeing the mind games the characters were playing with each other. The antagonists (especially the Chinese ones) had interesting stories and characterizations as well.

The directing was beautiful - this was a show that was, to some extent, very focused on flash and style (they had incredibly beautiful outfits), but it still delivered in substance as well, with several poignantly shot scenes. I love the Ming family and the heartwarming moments that they had in between all the violence and tragedy.

The ShanYing team has said before they haven't really done much with romance in their productions, and I really, really wish that they had decided to scrap that altogether here, because the romance REALLY hurt the quality of the drama. I think I skipped all of Jinyun's scenes starting from episode 20 on, because not only did the actors not have any chemistry, their love story just didn't make any sense. Jinyun's character was also too one-dimensional and made some infuriating decisions, and you never really understood why Ming Tai fell in love with her. I love romance in my dramas, especially in action dramas, but this was one where we could have survived on the love between the siblings alone. And actually, somebody made an abridged version of The Disguiser with all of the romance scenes removed and you don't miss very much at all.

Acting/Cast:

Just like Nirvana In Fire, the ensemble cast was (mostly) outstanding.

To me, Jin Dong was the star of the show - and admittedly, he got the most interesting character in Ming Lou, but his performance was absolutely outstanding. He absolutely owned the role and was able to inject his natural charisma and magnetism into the character.

I love Hu Ge, but I do wonder if both he and Ming Tai may have fared better if the production team went for a younger actor (and I know they wanted Hu Ge, but just sayin'). Ming Tai was a spoiled rich boy and I think Hu Ge did the best that he could in acting as a character who was in his early 20s, but Hu Ge isn't the Hu Ge of ten years ago anymore, and the actor that he is now is much too mature to play that kind of character. Ming Tai was also the least developed character - despite the fact that he is a spy and there is some character development, he wasn't multi-layered like some of the others. But again, I think Hu Ge did a good job, and was especially phenomenal in his scenes with Wang Tianfeng.

Wang Kai's role was a particularly interesting one, and I loved his bromance with Ming Lou. I do think he had more to work with in Nirvana In Fire, but he had a memorable turn as the ever-loyal Ah Cheng. Liu Min Tao killed it as the big sister of the Ming family - she was bossy, naggy, demanding, entitled, and kind-hearted and loved her family. She had some heartbreaking scenes, and Liu Min Tao added such a natural warmth and elegance to her character.

Other standout performances were from Wang Ou as Wang Man Chun (she was such an awesome antagonist), Yue Yang as Liang Zhong Chun (also so, so good), and cute Song Yi as the tragic Yu Man Li (she was still a bit green as an actress, but I loved that there was such a difference between her looks and her abilities). But my favorite performance, aside from Jin Dong's, was probably Liu Yi Jun as Wang Tian Feng, who was absolutely amazing as Ming Tai's mentor. It was such an intense character, but you never felt as if he was overacting. He didn't have a whole lot of screen time, but man did he make every minute count (I squealed when I saw him again in NiF).

Now for Wang Le Jun as Jinyun...I know the actress was injured during the shooting, and that she was in constant pain, so some slack has to be given, but oh my goodness, I cannot remember seeing a drama where an actress has consistently hurt the drama's quality in all of her scenes due to bad acting. Some of this wasn't entirely the actress' fault - the character was also poorly written, but Wang Le Jun's wooden acting didn't help to add any sympathy or understanding to her character. Also didn't help that for whatever reason, Hu Ge lost his acting skills in his scenes with her, which is so, so weird because he has always had good romantic chemistry with his co-stars. While I am grateful the production team moved away from their scenes later on, the damage was already done.

Overall:

This was a good drama - it had some outstanding moments, some great characters, and memorable performances. I just felt like the entire ride was an absolute roller coaster and I never really got over some of the low points. It's one of those dramas that I mourn occasionally, especially when I'm watching a really good drama, because it will remind me what could have been...

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Ming Family are the best family

Of course I knew about this drama after watching Nirvana in fire the first season and fall in love with the actors who are the same actors in this one ,,, I wanted to see the best friends from Nirvana as brothers in the disguisers
But I was in for a treat it had more Bromance and Brotherhood than Nirvana also it has amazing family love and caring
It was enjoyable to watch how the brothers love each other ,, care about each other and Protect each other
sometimes I felt that the male lead acted like a childish grownup it was ridiculous sometimes but it was for a reason
the story was smart and interesting ,, kept me interested the whole time despite the awful romance story of Ming Tai
he had one cold distant love interest that made me cringe in every romantic scene
I cried and laughed and enjoyed every episode with this amazing family of grownups who were manipulative yet their hearts were always for their family and country not any one else
I recommend watching it so much if you like family drama with spy and action story but skipp the few awful scenes of bad romance

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Rebelling is a family Business

[Review written originally in December 2020]
That was an interesting Spy drama, the whole family "Business" and each of the family member being unfolded to us piece by piece or scene by scene, was the main tag here. The older brother is already pretty far in the game, so they introduce to us Ming Tai the youngest brother as a start point. We see him as a newbie till he became a skillful man in the hands of the Revolution, rebels against Japan. Ming Tai is loved by too many characters in the history and spoiled by some, so that bothered some watchers, but not me, make mistakes as a newbie is normal, him being recklessly is part of whom He is, and makes the story more realistic, BUT yeah, He acts like a 5 years old brat form time to time, let's deal...(He is about 25 years old tho)

Ming Lou was in another level of Calm Male Lead. The older sister could have had more scenes. Ah Cheng is always there, but we see few action scenes with him in the beginning, it gets a little better by the end. The interaction inside the family and how the power goes between hands are cute, funny and strong many times. Ming Tai girlfriend received too much hate online toward her looks, that was unfair, she is okay, for a communist (I'm joking)!

There is no Bromance in here, is really a family regular brothers interaction and the little romance that has here are just some kind of convenient plot inserted. Must add: Too many gunfire scenes , the death and murder tag is all over the place. There is just too many things to comment here....Ming Tai mission friends and the communist part for example!

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Amazing spy thriller with a great storyline, high tensed actions and emotional moments. This drama is very well directed, filmed and performed. There are lots of outstanding scenes in here you will enjoy to rewatch (action scenes, emotional ones, funny moments and unbelievable lines between actors). I rate a 10 out of 10 for the last 4 episodes that are really tensed, emotional and give you a tremendous outstanding show.
In this spy drama the enemy is the japonese invader. The action takes place in Shanghai during World War 2. This gives good opportunity for spying actions and double agents purposes. The historical background is very important here cause the disguiser, Ming Lou (Jin Dong) has 3 different identities : he is officially part of the pro-japonese Shangai's government, undercovered Shangai's KTW ( kind of Chinese CIA) leader (code name Viper) and hidden leader of Shangai communist underground forces (code name Cobra). This character is of course mature, mastermind with great understanding and capabilities. He is playing a chess party and every piece of it should be sacrified if there is no other way.. He belongs to the wealthy Ming's family directed by Ming Jing (Liu Min Tao), the authoritarian Old Sister (hidden communist). The 2 siblings also have an adopted little brother they raised up since he was 3 or 4 years old, Ming Tai (Hu Ge). He is spoiled up a lot cause he is more treated as a precious son rather than a brother. Ming's family members have very strong and deep loving bonds and feelings and this is quite important for the whole plot and actions and psychological issues. At the beginning of the drama, Ming Tai is a student and gets kidnapped and trained in the army to become a brilliant KTW spy. Once he becomes a spy in Shangai, the real plot starts and it's just amazing.
I won't say more about the story but it is brilliant and will take your breath away.... I loved Ming Lou character who is perfectly performed, high in emotion and in turmoil but also cold and mastermind when needed. Hu Ge is also great playing a 20 years old guy but he was actually 32 when filming this.... so it 's a bit weird ! All actors where so good in this drama and I especially loved Song Yi who was really gorgeous in Yu Man Li's character. While watching this show, you will laugh, you will be thrilled and may shed a tear...

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This drama is amazing, has a complex and exiting plot, is well acted, the characters have emotional complexity and evolution, and the story is fast paced and full of plot twists. And if you already watched Nirvana in Fire and loved the cast, The Disguiser has a great part of the same cast.

This are some positive points:
- This is a spy story placed in the second sino-japanese war, there are different bands and all of them have their own intelligence. This is basically a game of power and no one has a clear identity, so there are discoveries every time.
- For me the best thing were the characters, there is a great variety among them and all of the principal ones are complex and have both, pros and cons. There are lovely characters like Ming Tai, Ming Jing or Yu Man Li, and there´s also this ruthless and crazy Wang Man Chun.
- Different tones, the comedy moments were on point, the dramatic ones too, and there are lots of exciting ones. Apart of the variance in the story everything is well used at the good time and nothing is exaggerated.
- I loved the dynamic inside the Ming family, just see them for me they are the second best thing.

But there´s nothing perfect in this world and the biggest “bad thing” here is caused by ideology, this is a Chinese drama so obviously in this kind of set there will be a negative characterization about Japanese it´s completely understandable, but one thing is portray them as evil people and other is portray them as incompetent idiots. And I have seen some comments concerning to this and yeah if Japanese really were that dumb they would never had opportunity to dominate the territories they occupied in the past, but if this history needed dumb Japanese we cannot do anything about it but to enjoy the drama.

Why the rewatch value is low comparatively with the other aspects? Well this drama is like a mystery book, once you discover the secrets the charm is lost. This is the kind of story you can enjoy with a bigger understanding about everything, yes, but I think is better to wait some time before consider watching again.

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Far from being a masterpiece like NIF

I like the idea of them being reincarnations of the NIF characters. If it were canon, I would say that I fell in love with Jingyan in all his lives.

Now, let's move on to the negative points. First off, addressing the elephant in the room, everyone knows that soap operas are products of the industry designed to preserve the status quo. However, the conservatism and classist maintenance in the script of this drama really got on my nerves, especially since it's a republic drama. On the surface, Ming Tai's rejection is because he doesn't like "used" things, which is already quite sexist, but that's not the real issue. The real problem is that Man Li comes from a poor and unknown background. It seems sweet that Ming Tai falls for a communist girl, but the script doesn’t pair them together for that reason. It’s because she is a middle-class girl from a family of doctors, more suitable for someone like him who grew up in the elite.
Secondly, this character shouldn’t have been played by Hu Ge. I like Hu Ge and have been following his transition to art films, but here he's pathetic. He’s tolerable in the action scenes, but whenever he needs to act like a spoiled boy, it’s cringe to watch. He visibly looks like a man in his thirties trying to portray a young adult who just left adolescence.
There’s one more thing, though I won’t consider it a flaw of the drama because it stems from my own perspective. I don’t like Ah Cheng’s relationship with the family. As a brazilian, it’s expected that I would not support paternalistic relationships. In some scenes, I felt uncomfortable for him and wouldn’t blame him if he developed a critical view of how that family truly treated him.
To clarify, as I know some people have difficulty interpreting certain opinions, my criticisms do not disregard the "realism" of the drama's context, but rather focus on the tone with which the drama addresses these points.

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Another excellent rendition of a Spy Story

Totally loved this! Ending was much better than Arrows on a Bowstring. Characters and storyline were also similar and the schemes and plots really blew my mind off! Never expected all those twists.

The only thing I felt could have happened is that the production team could have dramatised all the planning and action of each of the assassination instead of just seeing the final action. I would really like to hear and see how they actually plan each assassination instead of giving it an after-thought preview (those of you that have watched this will understand what I mean). Nevertheless the story was well executed.

The cast was great and similar to 2013's Aarows on a Bowstring and also 2021's The Rebel. Ah Cheng's character was superbly weaved and the numerous roles he had to play were simple yet profoundly impactful. I'm looking forward to more of Wang Kai's dramas.

This drama series has had a very good balance of conversations and action, something that every good spy drama should have. On top of that, a satisfying Dram should also have a good ending and this drama did enough of it though I wouldn't say it's entirely satisfying.

I have always loved this genre and will always do. These types of dramas really have so much depth and meaning that it's really worth spending time to watch every single episode - this drama falls under one of such dramas. I will go on to watch more of these 战谍 drama and will write my reviews for each of them accordingly.

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