Under the Power (2019)

Just don’t even try to make any sense

Story: just not sure. Maybe a family wrongly held hostage - power by evil family for decades... sorry I’m still scratching my head.
Acting: FL as childish in eps thru 50; ML - he’s the only reason ton continue. Most nonsensical was the doofus 2nd lead - he should be with the child. The bicolor evil guy was good, his web of evil was tight. He delighted in strange delights.
Music: really?
RW: why?
Overall: some good fight scenes. The story just never got nailed down fully. Revenge, twisted love, classic emperor antics, poor character development. Why 55eps? Skipped half. Better flushed out story and 24eps. Maybe. Not powerful enough to be under anything. Watch at risk& skipping is advised. Good Luck

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Amazing

I put this drama off a lot, I heard there wasn't any major kiss scenes or anything. But after I watched this I realized it didn't matter at all. It was amazing. The chemistry between the main couple were amazing. I just have to say it was a great ending even though the last 5 episodes made me cry my eyes out. This is a great c-drama to watch, especially if you have time. The comedy in this show also made it amazing. I thought it would be dry, but I laughed a lotttt. There was a few episodes where I was just proud. "Women Power". Those episodes made me look at this drama in a whole new light. Having badass females were amazing. Lastly the OST.....THE OST WAS ON TOP. Anyway this is a must watch if you have time to watch.

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After All It Was David Who Beat Goliath

Watching a 2019 show in 2023 just hits differently; especially with 55 episodes lol. I haven't watched a series with that many episodes since 2020. Only reason I watched it is because I wanted a series where Allen Ren actually was convincing in acting, because what I've seen of him thus far wasn't all that great. Other than looking constipated while saying his lines, I wanted more substance and a trusted source recommended this.

Pros: In the very beginning, I wasn't at all sure he could pull it off, but once he fell for FL, I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to emote and really give his all to his character. Seven Tan I really like and think she does a great job when it comes to strong feisty characters be they in costume or modern dramas; though here she too annoyed me a lot in the beginning. But I actually have to say that the character that caught my attention the most was the morally gray Zhan Lanye; many a time these kinds of characters are played by men but here though she was basically obsessed with the main antagonist, killed many people, but still had a soft spot for SX and helped her out as well as get one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle to turn on big bad. It was good when all of the characters evolved because in the beginning you wanted to hit a few with bricks like Xie Xiao (I'll talk more about him below). All of the people the leads met along the way that became their friends or extended family were great. The big bad, Goliath aka Yan Shifan though a vicious, obsessed, greedy killer, was a good villain up until he crossed a few lines, then you just wanted to off him immediately. The storyline actually for the most part was decent until in the late 40s and early 50s of episodes; this series could have done much better with just 40 or 45 episodes. LY really was the David that brought down Goliath, I just wish it was more satisfying. Costumes especially for the embroidered guards were quite rich and beautiful.

Cons: The tired trope of "your father killed my family so I have to take revenge on you even though you were like 10" was first introduced in the late 40s and into the 50s and it was a mess then on out. Killing off a good character essentially without rhyme or reason in the last few episodes was just dumb. As mentioned up top the character XX was essentially a 12 year old in an adult's body. Some people called him comic relief, I considered him fast-forwardable. His crush on the FL going onwards past two rejections was pathetic. The love triangle or quad took like 40 episodes to resolve and had really blockheaded men I wanted to smack. It was just unnecessary from the main plot. The emperor was a very peculiar man; didn't trust anyone supposedly but really let himself be led by the nose by the Yan family for decades, killing innocent people just on words and false evidence. Ironically the actor looked older in this series then in The Blood of Youth where he too played the emperor which was filmed over a year after this was released. Maybe it was the wig.

One concern I had was how they threw rape around with the bad guys like it was nothing. Especially with that one who wanted SX and had 9 lives; stabbing didn't kill him, falling off a cliff didn't either, but some poison in some noodles in a jail cell and adios. Very unbelievable. Big bad was also pro rape and torture but his death was a total copout in the last episode. Beheading? Really? Y'all tortured smaller fries but the one who had orchestrated it all....nothing, zilch? Not to mention his nasty foot fetish and obsession with Dr. Ling plus what he did to Jinxia.

That last episode was taken from some LSD playbook and didn't make any sense. Why would LY act so rashly and out of character? I watched it being very confused. Many of the interior sets looked like they belonged in a carnival funhouse or a Bollywood musical. And lastly, why the closeups of the leads' eyes? That reoccurring theme looked ridiculous and had me laughing; the camera would be so close you could tell Allen Ren was wearing contacts and Seven Tan had an occasional pimple. No one needed that.

Would I recommend it? If you like the leads and good mysteries, then yes. But the fast forward button may be required especially with certain characters and when the plot took a downward turn in the late 40s.

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Under the Power Review and Wish for Season 2

Overall: I finish this TV show on the Ifun.tv website already. I would say that this TV show is one of my favorite. I would recommend this TV show if people are looking for new Chinese drama to watch. Too bad it's over, but the people that were wondering if Under the Power is over on YouTube, it's that it has only 41 episodes out , but still waiting for the other episodes come out. I would say that I love the colors, music, clothing, and the main roles. I wonder what happened to Lu Yi(陆毅)and Jin Xia(今夏) afterwards. Wish that there's season 2 if they decided to make season 2.
Short character details:
Lu Yi (陆毅): 22 years old cold, rude, and obnoxious. He takes his work seriously, and abide by the rules. When he interrogates people he does not hesitate to use any type of force. At home, he rather loves music and spends most of his time reading. He is actually rather warm compared to what others view him as.
Jin Xia (今夏): Obsessed with food and making money, and she is very calculated when it comes to earning and receiving money or bonus. She is good at fighting, and even though she has a side kick right next to her, he always let her do the fighting and the interrogation. She is goofy around her close friends, mother, and master but takes her work seriously when she steps in the field.
The Romance:
The relationship between these two developed really well, and I like the fact that their relationship did not take 40 episodes to realized their feelings. There were small little things and detail from each episode that add up to their relationship, so it does not take long for the romance. I like the way how they took their time to developed their feeling for each other in this drama. I get it when Lu Yi (陆毅) was trying to protect Jin Xia (今夏) from the bad guys trying to hurt her and exposing her identity in the TV show.

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Childish, annoying, no chemistry, plot all over the place… complete disappointment!

I have to be honest, the show I watched was a complete disaster. The plot was unclear until mid-season, there was no chemistry between the lead characters, and the love story didn't even show up until episode 33. The flashbacks became nauseating, and the point of view was used to justify a love that had no foundation. The show had ghosts that were not even ghosts, and zombies that were not even zombies, making it a big mess TV drama created for teenagers. The main heroine's acting was annoying and childish, and her childhood friend was no better. The heroine was almost on the verge of death, and a sip of tea was enough to bring her back to normal within minutes.

The only saving grace of the show was HanDong. Allen's character was annoyingly poker-faced until mid-season, but he had depth, and the actress who played him did a great job. The show was also saved by a few secondary character performances, but HanDong was exceptional in his sadistic villain role.

The leads in that match were terrible. It's unacceptable to portray a 12-year-old love story with a 30-year-old man, and even if the character claims he is 22 and she is 17, it's clear that he looks way older while she looks like a spoiled brat teenager. Such teen romance dramas should be avoided by Allen. The casting was a complete miss, and individually, the actors were good (except Seven Tan in my opinion). However, it's evident that they had to work with a terrible script and directors. It's beyond me why this show is popular, and I have no clue about it.

I cannot help but think chemistry with the main characters would have been way different with Zhao Lusi… such “Love a Thousand Years”.

I really didn't think the casting was good. I also blame Allen for this. It seems like he really dislikes kissing his partners. His acting also seemed very forced and not convincing at all. It almost makes me wonder if his contract specified a minimum number of kisses and hugs. I felt the same way about the drama "One and Only."

The amateurish play from the female lead, abysmal editing, poor casting choices, substandard makeup, gratuitous close-ups to force-feed us the supposed romance, misplaced props, glaring plot holes, lack of on-screen chemistry... One measly kiss accompanied by a one-sided love confession, countless flashbacks, and hand-holding? Are you kidding me? And don't even get me started on the anachronistic music cues that make no sense. Oh, and let's not forget the characters wearing summer clothes during a snowstorm. This is unacceptable.

After reading some top reviews, I can't help but shake my head in disbelief. The childish play between the two main characters completely ruined any chance of enjoyment for me. If you're looking for a teenage drama, be my guest, but if you're an adult, save your time and move on to something better. I won't make the mistake of watching any dramas directed by Yin Tao and Liu Guo Tong again. Did they write the script based on fan feedback? The show was poorly executed, yet somehow it received praise from the public. It seems I must be living in a parallel C-drama world where quality and substance still matter.

The female lead did not make it any better. If the same actress is cast as a main character again, I will make it a priority to remove her from my list. It was an excruciating experience, and I only continued watching to see the Han Dong villain's final moment.

I hate childish play, voices and actresses. Watching her break up with just two sentences was painful and unconvincing. It was a juvenile play, lacking the depth and maturity required to evolve a character through dramatic events. In my opinion, there is a clear difference between youth and innocence and the kind of character development that genuinely captivates an audience.

The movie failed to deliver any romantic moments. Just one kiss on the lips amidst all the drama. It felt like watching a grown man holding a child in his arms, which was quite disturbing. The use of eye drops to show emotions on screen felt fake and forced. Overall, the drama was painful to watch.

Therefore, I cannot recommend this show to anyone looking for quality storytelling.

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Meh drama saved by the leads' acting/chemistry and the OST.

The script and the production value were meh. Your typical period drama with politics and that whole "someone's dad killed someone else's family so the kids can't be together" sort of trope. The CGI was TERRIBLY done. The cases were also pretty meh and didn't have a crime drama thrill to it. The only thing that really kept me going was the leads' chemistry, but I knew this going in anyway (because I read reviews here) so I just soldiered on.

That being said. The leads' acting. Seven Tan IS Jinxia (you'll see the resemblance to her character in Go Ahead), and Allen Ren's versatile acting skills made him the perfect Lu Yi... age 8 to 22 (you'll see what I mean when you get to that arc OMG HIS EYES.)
The leads' chemistry was really A+. Like we almost feel bad for shipping the two because the male lead actor, Allen Ren, is happily married with a kid in real life -- so the bunch of us fangirls are like SHIP THE CHARACTERS, NOT THE ACTORS the whole time. Like there wasn't a lot of real hardcore skinship in the show, but the rumor is that Allen Ren's eyes can make any scene seem like an intimate bed scene. The way Lu Yi looks at Jinxia already makes my heart flutter like crazy. And his lines... he somehow makes very sappy lines sound... sexy?

Let's talk OST -- we got period drama OST god Zhou Shen's opening song, and Allen Ren himself sang the closing song... and Seven Tan also sang one of the insert songs (named after her character, Jinxia/"this summer")
Songs are amazing and worth looping even after the drama ends. Also, I'll be rewatching some of the leads' romantic scenes... my heart <33333

Also, highly recommend watching the behind-the-scenes if you speak Chinese. Lu Yi was dubbed, and Allen Ren's real (younger-sounding) voice gives Lu Yi's lines a whole different *ADORABLE* feel. Oh my god he is so cute.

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Perfect Chemistry Between The Characters

I binge watched this for almost a week and only 3 episodes more to go, I cried and laughed with the characters and I can't wait to see the ending. After this I will wait for the completed English translation of the novel and I'm gonna relive the experience again through another media and perspective. I got so carried away by the actors and actresses' acting that I feel like I was there with them throughout their journey. The characters have depth and not half-hearted in their actions and talk. Now that it's almost ending, I got hit by many emotions and I slightly regretted that I watched this too fast, lol. All the feels are coming to me now and I feel a bit suffocated by the fact that the ending is approaching ahhhh. The posters are very beautiful and picturesque, especially the one where Lu Yi and Jin Xia standing face to face behind a see-through curtain, waking my melancholy cells and making me teary eyed. I'm really glad I chose to watch this during my break because even the very small portion of scenes of a not so good CG effects are bearable and earned me a good laugh. I recommend you to watch this if you're looking for a happy ending drama with just the right amount of happiness, sweetness, angst and suspense in each episode. And let me tell you this, this drama makes me wish for a partner so bad because of the sweetness and straight forward affectionate love.

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Though great acting lacking in story drive.

I find this Drama fight sequence and reason for them are ridiculous. For example Hero team members always fight to disable the opponent where as villein team fight to kill..why??? Dropped @ EP32

I find this Drama fight sequence and reason for them are ridiculous. For example Hero team members always fight to disable the opponent where as villein team fight to kill..why??? Dropped @ EP32


I find this Drama fight sequence and reason for them are ridiculous. For example Hero team members always fight to disable the opponent where as villein team fight to kill..why??? Dropped @ EP32

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Don’t let the cover photo fool you. This series is a bona fide romance. And it soars above the rest of the field thanks to the talents of its leads, Ren Jia Lun and Tan Song Yun. While neither are classically beautiful, they are a perfect match in terms of their youthful looks and acting styles.

Ren Jia Lun’s strength is that he can act with his eyes. You can literally map his Lu Yi’s growing feelings for Jin Xia through how his eyes for her changes over time. He has this gaze that is just for her and her only. Since Lu Yi is rather cold and inscrutable, Ren Jia Lun needs to convey just enough emotion without being too obvious. He does exactly that and so much more with his nuanced performance. You can see how love gradually changes Lu Yi from a ruthless man who is just doing his job to a man who wants to do the right thing.

Tan Song Yun is cute as a button. The squeaky dubbing and wide-eyed acting work against her at first, but she eventually settles into her role as the greedy, gluttonous, sharp-witted Jin Xia. She matches Ren Jia Lun glance for glance, gaze for gaze. She does comedy well and has me laughing so hard every time Jin Xia pulls some stunts that grate on Lu Yi’s nerves. Unlike Lu Yi who undergoes character growth, Jin Xia remains her kind-hearted, heroic self even through the worst of times. That’s not a bad thing, as she is the moral anchor in their relationship.

Romance aside, we get to see one of the most twisted, sickest villains in Yan Shi Fan, played by the versatile Han Dong. Though Yan is somewhat human in his tenderness towards Lin Ling, he is a beast to almost everyone else. I like watching the interplay between him and Lu Yi, with each trying to read and outmaneuver the other. Very often writers would downplay the bad guy to make our hero look good; thankfully that doesn’t happen here. Yan is a true threat with a clear advantage over Lu Yi in terms of experience and influence in court. Even though Lu Yi smartly avoids his traps, it ultimately takes a group effort to end the stalemate and bring him to justice. It’s fitting that Yan’s own arrogance plays a part in his downfall.

The series generally does a good job in fleshing out the characters, their personalities and motivations. While the plotting isn't perfect, it manages to avoid many of the pitfalls. It doesn’t dumb down our couple or throw any stupid misunderstanding in their way. There are no OOC moments. Without giving away spoilers, I will say that the ending is one of my all-time favorites. It’s serene and simple, but effective in capturing the essence of Jin Xia and Lu Yi’s love. Theirs is a love story I will remember for a very long while.

The only thing that keeps this drama from being a nice round 9.0 was the secondary couple's romance. It drags the story down and forces me to use my FF button.

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One of my favourites

I only watched this show because I liked period pieces, however I'm not a fan of crime dramas so I nearly skipped over it. I'm very glad I didn't.
I had never seen Allen Ren (Ren Jiu Lian) in anything before and Wow i'm glad I got to see him in this. He played Lu Yi fantastically. Not only the 'normal' Lu Yi who as the second in command of the Jin Yi Wei, a pretty emotionless and stubborn buy. In fact Lu Yi is actually introduced in a way that is more traditionally that of a villain than a hero which show how dark he is at the beginning. However AR also plays the character going mad as well as regressing to a childlike state (which I had to say I found cute) and not many actors could do such a thing. The actress playing Jin Xia was also great in how she balanced a strong female character with her almost childlike personality.
The chemistry between the couple was amazing on screen (I have heard it said that AR has no kissing clauses in his contracts, well he didn't in this show), you could tell just from looks and simple touches that something was going on and the two characters were meant to be together.
The costumes and music were also fantastic as were the sets. However there were things that let this production down a bit.
The story started out great and was something very different to most shows, however it soon turned into the well used 'my family hurt your family and I need revenge' trope that people can see coming a mile away. This change in direction ruined what could have been a really good story and made any surprises for the audience impossible.
Also some of the secondary characters seemed a bit two dimensional to me. Xie Xiao in particular never seemed to evolve much, all the way through he was obsessed with what he wanted and never seemed to understand anyone else's feelings. First it took him far to long to understand the basic concept that running away from his wedding might hurt the other person and then he took far too long to understand Jin Xia didn't like him (despite her telling him often enough).
Little things like that can make this show rather annoying in places but generally it's a fantastic show to watch, especially when it focuses on the two main leads or is early on when they are simply solving crimes and the cliché storyline hasn't come to light yet.

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What a Roller-coaster, amazing one.

I don't know why but I feel so giddy when I watched this drama. Ahh yeah because of the roller-coaster it's giving me. The way the plot progressed even until 40th plus episodes was very satisfying to me.

Male Lead, Lu Yi, a cold-blooded imposing Imperial Guard but a righteous one. Very wise, always keep his composure and loyal to everyone he befriended. When he fell in love... I definitely enjoy seeing how his always fierce, frowned face turned soft whenever he looked at Jinxia. He loved to tease jinxia and bossed her around. Ofc he was very protective of her. The way he was wounded then got up, run and rode the horse when he knew the FL was in danger just very impressive. He was also so sweet to Jinxia, he took her to go on dates together.

Female Lead, Yuan Jin Xia, a very skilled baillif, friendly, hilarious and quite the smooth talker. She was also a very forgiving person and brave in defending who was wronged. When she fell in love with Lu Yi, she loves him fiercely and openly. The length she went through for Lu Yi was so admirable and that earned lifetime devotion from Lu Yi. Not to mention, the way she bravely fought the enemies was marvellous.

Very thankful to whoever involved in making the Embroidered/Brocaded Uniforms because it was so pleasing to the eyes and sooo stunning.

I love how it showed other characters life too. It was a rough start for Shangguan Xi and Yang Yue but they made it and they were so cute. I didn't see any progress about Dr Lin and Uncle Gai tho humph. The adorable Lan Xing Quan and the impetuous Xie xiao.

I feel like this drama definitely deserves a 9 star from me but... The ending was cute, it just for me, I'm greedy, I want to see them get married, their married life, and I want to see how was everyone doing.

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