If it wasn't for Tie Xin Lan, I would've given it a much higher score
So, overall I really did enjoy watching this show. There were so many times I laughed out loud and the action scenes were great! If you like dramas that are mostly about family issues and conspiracies, you will love this.Jiang Xiao Yu was such a likable character and the actor who played him was cast perfectly! The dynamics between the two brothers made me love this show and the intense reveals towards the end really got me in my emotions.
And I LOVED the female characters in this show! They were so cool, funny, fierce, and gorgeous!
That being said, I legit took off 2 points just because of one character: Tie Xin Lan.
Omg yall, I could not stand her character!!!! I liked her at first but then as the show went on, it just went downhill.
She was the most useless person on the show and I could not understand her role in this drama. I was constantly annoyed at how she literally had zero ability to do anything except stand around. There was no character development at all and I also felt like she had no personality tbh. Yea... I just could not vibe with her character in this show.
But anyway, if I were to take her out, then YES this show was great! The story/plot was good and overall acting was good too.
And I really appreciated the comedy that Jiang Xiao Yu's character brought to the show. It made it so much fun to watch!
That's all :))
Was this review helpful to you?
Probably worth it if you like wuxia and have the time.
edit: I saw this pointed out in another review and remembered I also wanted to say this.This series treats almost all female characters pretty badly. Either they're portrayed as awful people (cold, hateful, bitter and bitchy), or they're "the few good ones" and their cool fighting abilities suddenly vanish. (of course, how else could they be saved by the male protagonists?)
The "awful" women also tend to change their personality entirely once they fall for a man.
And listen, I do enjoy a tsundere who will punish the protagonist for being a snarky little shit. So there were a few characters that did this kind of thing and I liked that.
But overall the women in this show are not handled well.
/////////
As many other cdramas this is way, way too long for its own good.
The show has issues with pacing at the beginning and towards the end.
The overarching story is stretched too thin and it just doesn't support itself over 44 episodes.
You very quickly realize what has to happen at the end and then you're just expecting it to happen. Everything in the middle is supposed to be character development and a few training arcs.
But there's not that much development and not that much training. Some of the smaller story arcs are fun, but aren't amazing on their own and do little for the overall plot.
There is some nice foreshadowing, establishing of characters and setting them up for future events.
The fights are not as common as you might think and they vary in coolness.
Having only seen one other adaptation of Handsome Siblings (the 90s HK movie which is wildly different), I can't say if the issues I see lie with the material being adapted, or the adaptation.
There are a few uncomfortable plots and characters, but nothing too terrible.
I have to say one of the most villainous things one of the main characters ever does is chew with his mouth open. All the time.
Truly, the evilest man alive.
It's not awful, but I expected something better from a classic of the genre.
Was this review helpful to you?
Chen Zhe Yuan who is a young actor of 23 just starting in his acting career is amazing. I loved how he brought this character to life with humor and seriousness in his acting, he has so much energy and enthusiasm. Hu Yi Tian 26 another young actor did amazingly well too. His character is the very opposite of his co-star CZY. I'm impressed with both. I noticed there were a lot of actors who were over the age of 49 and was very happy to see that they are some of the best in the Chinese art of acting. The two main female stars Vicky Liang and Liang Jie also both young 23 and 25 portrayed their character as they should and did great.
The Visual, Fantasy, music, suspense, costumes, hairstyles, the set design was beautifully done. The Martial Art scenes were pretty awesome. The romance chemistry was not there but I thought Vicky Liang was the only one with good chemistry towards CZY but one-sided. I did not like the RAT! This was great all around... um... the ending though...
I really don't understand those who gave a low rating.
Was this review helpful to you?
I gave up after 30 episodes, despite the fact that I love Hu YiTian's face. I started watching this drama because I like Hu Yi Tian but the rhythm in is drama is just too slow. Too many unnecessary conversations and scenes. It's a pleasant surprise for someone of my age to see Gallen Lo Kar Leung again on TV. Reminds me of the good old times of HK TVB series. Vicky Liang is very pretty. She carried the character well.
Costumes and scenes were decent. Story plot was ok.
I don't think I will continue or rewatch and it's a shame.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This drama is a remake and another adaption of a novel. Although I never read the novel, I did watch a previous adaption. There were definitely some scenes I love here and scenes that I wish they added.What I like about the drama is the cinematography, the scenery and different palaces and underground caves, etc. Its a huge upgrade from the last 2005 adaption of course. Yi Hua Gong actually looks like a gong for sure - it's so pretty! The two Yi Hua Masters are the same as the 2005 adaption but too bad we don't see much of the The 2nd Master's kindness in action here.
Xiao Yuer is a self-proclaimed no.1 smartest man in Jianghu. His personality is quite fun to watch, he's cunning and is a sweet talker. He's able to get what he wants, although sometimes he makes it a little too dramatic. I initially thought the actor playing Xiao Yuer seemed good but I soon realize there were a bit of over-reacting in some areas. However, he's still young so there is room for improvement.
Hua Wu Que is your typical handsome man in every drama. A powerful one I might add. His mission was to kill his own brother unknowingly. When the two became friends is the start of Wu Que becoming a normal human with feelings - although he likes to hide it a lot. We see Wuque and Xiao Er bond as friends, but we barely seem them bond as brothers. I did not see a connection there. Not even after it was confirmed they were brothers, they didn't even call each other "哥" or "弟" :( There was even one scene I was looking forward to that was in the previous adaption, I was hoping it would be in here as it happens after they found out they were brothers. It would have showcased how much they love being brothers and how heartbroken if one had died. But it didn't happen because in this version, one of them died differently.
Speaking of Hua Wu Que, the actor Hu Yi Tian needs to work hard on his acting. He lacks expressions, and even if he expressed something it always come off as unconvincing aside from his smiles. I don't feel any connection with him and Tie Xin Lan. I always felt like Tie XIn lan loved Xiao Yuer from beginning til the near end of the drama.
Overall, the acting is not amazing, but tolerable.
As for the romance in this drama, there's barely any between the main leads unless you wanna watch angst until the last episode or so. That's when each brother accepted their love for their woman respectively. The supporting characters like Hei Zhizhu and Meng jiu had better love story than the main leads. haha
The way Xiao Yuer and Hua Wu Que found out they were brothers was a bit anticlimactic for me. What if she was lying? You never know from someone who wants all of her former one-sided love's family dead. :/
I would recommend this drama if you haven't watched the previous adaptions, although be warned it can get draggy.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Disclaimer: I didn't watch the original versionSo I recently binged the entire series on Netflix (whoops lol) and I have a few things to say about it.
1) There was definitely a lull in the story
So after the first few episodes of introductions, there was a large amount of time being dedicated to a plethora of extra storylines and adventures. Although they were (kinda) justified and tied up in the end, I got bored super quickly and ended up skipping a lot of the scenes.
2) Characters?
When Hua Wuque was first introduced, he was NOT what I was expecting. His character just did not fit the situations and made no sense. He was extremely kind and gentlemanly, BUT he kept on interfering with other people's lives *facepalms aggressively. I mean I get that these plots are meant to make him more aware of the life outside of Yihua Palace but ughhh....
Tie Xinlan.
DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER!!!!
I was planning on liking her original character (the type who could fight for herself and still have femininity without excessive girly-ness), but suddenly her fighting skills VANISHED,
THEY VANISHED INTO THIN AIR!!!
I was so confused that even Jiang Yulang could fight her (and beat her!). I clearly remember at the beginning of the show that Xiao Yuer couldn't beat her...
Su Ying: She just loved Xiao Yuer too much too quickly- it just didn't make sense.
3) The "ending"
It was very ungratifying. The screen legit zoomed out after the two couples went on their way and that was it.
No afterscnes.
Nothing.
Just the same ending song as the past 50 episodes.
I was pretty disappointed with the ending... but that's just my personal preferences.
4) Everything else was pretty good
ESPECIALLY the music :)
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Xiao Yu’er
I had low expectations given the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. The cast and the “handsome siblings” won me over, even if the storyline wasn’t that stellar.I’d have to say that this drama made me a fan of Chen Zhe Yuan. I saw him in Hidden Love and was shocked he was the same actor portraying Xiao Yu’er, which he nailed. Depending on the situation, his facial expressions were expressively spot on, especially towards the latter episodes.
The story could have been stronger and the drama shorter to make this story more fast paced, but regardless, I enjoyed watching it for the bromance between the two brothers. It started it well, got slow in the middle, and finished strong in the end.
The good
- Chen Zhe Yuan as Xiao Yu’er
- bromance between the brothers
- well choreographed martial arts
- Yan Nan Tian’s comeback
- Su Ying’s smarts that rival Xiao Yu’er’s
The bad
- could have been condensed into 30 more substantial episodes
- storyline could have been stronger
- Tie Xin Lan’s character started off tough and capable but somehow just became weak and helpless
Was this review helpful to you?
A little disappointed in this drama but decent enough
I started this drama in 2022 not knowing anything about it or not knowing any of the cast as I was new to CDramas in 2022. I finally finished this drama in July of 2023 after having watched a lot of CDramas and several other shows by the 2 leads. Why did it take me so long to finish? I initially stopped watching this drama after about 6 or 7 episodes in the beginning because it wasn’t keeping my attention but decided to revisit it for the 2 leads.The Story:
Despite the odd English Title for the drama, I was originally intrigued by the plot and thought this would be a great Wuxia and hopefully without a lot of the CDrama tropes we see in romance Wuxias with the strange falls leading to random kisses and the predictable love triangles. It was nice to see that they didn’t focus so much on those aspects in this drama although we may have seen 1 or 2 instances of the long stares and the awkward contact between MLs and FLs. It’s still not a romance heavy drama and focused the main story on the self discovery journey of the 2 leads.
One downfall to this drama is there were a lot of throw away episodes that made this drama longer than it needed to be. It could have been cut down to 24 to 30 episodes max. There were some side plots that dragged out too long and could have been summed up in 1 or 2 episodes but dragged out over 5 to 6 at times. Also episodes 29-34 were filler episodes as they seem to try to play more on the unnecessary romantic stories they forced on the MLs, leading to drawn out boring conversations. I enjoy a good romance, just was done poorly in this one. I did not like the ending of the final episode, it just sort left things hanging.
The characters
This is a loaded topic because you have some good with some bad. I’ll start with the female characters… none were that interesting.
Tie Xinlan was sort of just there. She was in the way most of the time and didn’t add any real value to the overall plot. Not much character growth from her as she didn’t add much in the beginning either. Her acting was also subpar…not much in the way of facial expressions.
Su Ying… I don’t even know why they added her character at the end of the show. Though she was supposed to be the match of Jiang Xiaoyu, their “love” story was very forced and the 2 actors had 0 love chemistry. Their back and forth banter was okay but still unconvincing. I adore Liang Jie in The Eternal Love series as the connection she had with the ML in there is worth a watch.
For the male characters…
Jiang Xiaoyu carried this story as his character was fun and charismatic. So much character growth from him while still staying true to himself. Chen Zheyuan did an amazing acting job here. He embodied the character well with his troubles expressions and lightheartedness throughout the show.
Hua Wuque only showed slight character growth and Hu Yitian seems to take on a lot of emotionless character roles. I thought he could have done better than hat was betrayed because he didn’t portray many emotions here. I can compare his character to Wang Yibo’s character, Lan Zhan in the untamed but although dull and tough, he expressed so many emotions without having many spoken lines.
Production/OST
Overall production value was average. Some camera shots were grainy and blurry at times but had decent fight scenes and CGI. The OST did not stand out.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Feel like watching another version of untammed
Starting of the story was good . I felt like one of their parents should alive . I bored after watching first 10 episodes . The reason i watched it till end because i wanted to know how they both came to know that they are siblings. The story was somewhat resemble to untammed . In untammed thay first were enemy and they became swore brothers .in this first they became enemy but gradually became friends but due to some reasons one wanted to kill another and suprisingly that other knew about it . The difference in this drama from untammed that this story had a love story which completed at the last part of the last episode , I means to says that both the couples accepted eachothers at the very last part of the last episodes . I didn't like the story much .Was this review helpful to you?
Top notch bromance !!!!!!1
Hua Wu Que and Xiao Yu are non-identical twins separated twins. Hua Wu Que is manipurated by his masters that xiao yu is their enemy and he has to kill him personally.The main story line was pretty good however it was less interesting in the middle I would have dropped the series if xiao yu was not this cute!!!!!!!!!!
The chemistry between the leads was not that great however it cam be compensated by the bromance within the male lead. Xiao yu was very charming, clever and cute whereas Hua Wu Que is handsome, powerful and strong.
You can watch this series for the male leads both are great actors and have done their best in their roles.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Can love transform into hate?
What happens when your lover disappoints you? Can love turn to hate? What is the limit of that hate? That is what the Chinese drama “Handsome Siblings” explores, as an evil princess, obsessed with her entitlement to the man she wants, is outraged when he has the audacity to elope with her humble servant maid. She kills both her ex-lover and the mother of his twins in her jealous rage and curses their twin boys to a fate of rivalry. Separated by the princess at birth and not allowed to know that they are brothers, one boy grows up in the palace and learns wind style kung fu from the elites, the other twin grows up in a city of criminals, learning all sorts of lies and magic trickery. The evil princess attempts to brainwash them into believing that they are from enemy clans and that their life goal is to kill each other, so that the ghosts of their dead parents can watch in horror as their sons torture each other in pure evil spite for their dead spirits.The twins face difficult fates that are destined to collide. But what happens if they are able to realize that they are brothers?
Handsome Siblings teaches meekness, care, brotherly kindness, a respect for karma and the universe, empathy for people who fall into evil ways, and the virtue of not lusting after power, money, and pleasure. It teaches that in the end, the universe will reward the just and punish the unjust.
More philosophical reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas
Was this review helpful to you?
