This review may contain spoilers
DISCLAIMER: This review does NOT contain any particular spoilers, however, it will discuss the FINAL SCENE of the show. Since the ending does not really reflect the overall experience of this show (at least in my opinion) I believe you can still read this review if you are not overly sensitive about spoilers.Alright, you have been thoroughly warned. Let's do this ...
This show popped up randomly on Youtube and the premise sounded amusing enough for me to pick it up. I must admit that I was positively surprised by this very sweet and light-hearted show. Keep this in mind if you want to enjoy this show - don't take it too seriously or it will drive you mad (plot holes ahead!).
The two main characters are very adorable together. All cliché boxes had been diligently ticked: The female lead is sweet, innocent, but has some inner magic/strength that even she herself doesn't realise yet; the male lead is smart, cold, but very kind and loving when he is alone with her.
The plot kicks off when the heroine accidentally travels through time and finds herself in some point of ancient China (the time is never specified and I'm not proficient enough in Chinese history to determine this via the clothes). All of this sounds very familiar to the generic drama-fangirl, however, the twist here is ... wait for it ... she is transformed into a cat.
Did this knock your socks off? ... Yeah, didn't think so.
So the story isn't exactly the most inventive one but the overall vibe is light-hearted enough for it be bearable (no melodrama ahead, thank the drama-gods!).
So why am I feeling so conflicted?
Well, since this is a Chinese drama with magical elements the stakes inevitably end up being ridiculously high. Yes, you guessed it, the cat has to save the world (and lo and behold! - another cliché box is ticked!). But that's not even what has me feeling so conflicted about this show ...
I love a good plot twist like any other drama-junkie out there, however, the ending of this show was so strange that I just can't help wondering how a group of people actually invested time, effort, and money into making this atrocity. Did really no one look at the script, or even during filming, tap the director on the shoulder and ask them whether this is seriously how they wanted the show to end?!
As a rule of thumb (and this might be just my humble opinion): PEDOPHILIA SHOULD NOT BE PRESENTED AS SOMETHING GOOD, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER!
Yes, I know, it's not exactly displayed as pedophilia in the show, but the implication is there, and that alone gives me the creeps. And let's be real: they will not wait until she's of age ... just think about Celine Dion ...
So there it is. That's why I'm feeling so conflicted about this show. I truly enjoyed it - except for the last couple minutes.
Would I recommend this show? I'm not sure ... I guess, I'd say, yes. But please! Don't get carried away by the supposedly romantic ending. Because it definitely is not.
Thank you for reading. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to find myself some grilled fish =^.^=
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I can say the journey watching was worthwhile. Yet i felt a bit let down by the ending.
The other thing is both male leads and female leads are great actors. They both fit their roles. Female lead has a beautiful infectuous smile and adorable like the cat she could turn to. Male lead was nice to see him thaw and trust in female lead. Their affectionate scenes were great but the more intimate ones like kissing werent done well.. not sure if its a directing issue.
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The cast and acting is good. The male lead and female lead have a lovely chemistry that I liked a lot which kind of saved the drama for me and made me want to finish it even though the later episodes almost let me loose interest. I like the cute romance of Ru Xiao Lan and Qing Mo Yan. Sadly the side characters are superficial at best. You don't get to know more about them, which often made it hard for me to comprehend their actions.
The music is okay, nothing outstanding but fitting.
I wouldn't rewatch this drama except for the cute scenes between Qing Mo Yan and Ru Xiao Lan. While it started really good and promising it sadly couldn't keep it.
I recommend this drama if you look for something short and cute in between since the episodes are only about 25 minutes short. Don't have high expectations though.
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Great drama but TERRIBLE ending
I loved watching it. It was unique and the fact that the girl is independent and strong makes me love it even more (and also the fact that she is the main female of The Sleepless Princess). It is a time travel series that anyone will love because it doesnt contain a lot of betrayal and hatred which is why its perfect if you want to take a break from the classical dramas. It was like a breath of fresh air. The girl is so cute because although shes human whenever the guy teases her, she acts like a cute little kitten. HOWEVER, the ending was horrible. It was not pleasant to watch the ending. After the ending I decided to make another up in my head which is : !!Slightly Spoiler!!!! If you continue you will see my own made up ending which hints the original ending!!
The girl will grow up super fast so that they can be together in the end
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This review may contain spoilers
Don't watch unless you're ready for a really bad ending!
Please note! This spoils the story to an extent!The story really started off great! It kept me interested until the last 3 or so episodes, but I continued watching since I was almost done anyway!
Overused niche where the leads fall in love but it turns out that they are enemies, then they try to sacrifice themselves to save the other - this isn't really the part that bothered me, though!
BAD ENDING SPOILER!
The FL ends up sacrificing herself to save the ML - She is reborn and the ML has to raise her as from a baby - This gave me shivers of DISGUST! In stead of rather making it more romantic and having them meet in a different life - he now raises the one he loves - Which is pretty much equal to pedophilia and grooming! I don't know why the writers came up with this disgusting idea, but it is the most horrible ending I've ever come across.
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This review may contain spoilers
Such a waste for some great actors !!
Great cast (ML= Xu Kai Cheng, of whom I'm a fan++) but completely crazy storyline!!The screenwriter wanted to do something original and quirky, but one wonders what he smoked....
Plot: A 21st century FL is magically sent to the Dali Temple, in the form of a cat. She helps the leader of the Dali Temple survive the poison he is suffering from, and they become allies against a conspiracy for the throne. All this, with many spells, various magic, etc.
- Great actors, but wasted!
- permanent inconsistencies (empress banished, then back to her position 2 episodes later without any explanation, etc.)
- final reincarnation (just for the FL!) as a baby :( :(
What a total waste !!
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This review may contain spoilers
End spoils the mood
Concept of the story is good but I think impact of direction of the story is less. A girl suddenly enter to the another world . I think in few episodes the story should show that she is struggling too much to go back to her world and gradually she gets some hints of going back to her world . In this male lead think her as an enemy first so he creates trouble for her Every time and doing this he involves himself too much in her difficulties that suddenly he develops soft corner for her in his heart and eventually fall for her .at that moment he comes to know that she is looking for hints to go back so everytime he creates obstacle for her inorder to stop her and because of this she comes closer to him and love story start,in this duration he suffers with poison and come to know that he needs cat's perfume which would destroy her and he starts make her away from him .and this way the struggle starts .Something like this story should be.
But she got clue fast , not at all it was looked that she wanted to go back as soon as possible.
Above all this
The end ,was disappointed.
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This review may contain spoilers
A bit of fun
First of all if you like shows with airtight plots then this isn't really for you. This is a fun show and the acting is great but there are plot and continuity holes you could sail the Titanic through! that being said I did greatly enjoy it.The plot is not overly complex and the characters are not bogged down with angst and overly complicated choices that could save or end the world. Those kinds of shows have their place but this one just goes for the enjoyment of watching a show. I have only ever seen the ML in 'Well intentioned love' before and thought he had good comic timing which was shown as well in this show, his facial expressions and tone of voice where great. The only thing I would say is sometimes his body language was a little stilted, although that might be the character. The FL I have never seen before and her depiction of a woman with cat tendencies had me laughing alot.
The music. Well I must say I have watched alot of Chinese dramas with OST's that have stuck with me more than this one. It doesn't seem to jump out at you when you hear it or stick in your mind. It's good enough music but nothing special in my mind. Certainly not up there with some of the fantastic ones.
This show is a simple, fun show that you can stop and start, pick up easily after not watching it for a few days and turn off with a smile on your face. It's a bit of good fun and that's why I enjoyed it so much and would say to others to give it a try.
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I'm a Pet at Dali Temple? More like, "I'm a Hostage of a Sexist Drama"
When I think about dramas that I wish didn't exist on this material plane, I'm a Pet at Dali Temple comes to mind. I chose to watch this after enjoying Gia Ge's exceptional performance as a cat-human in Make a Wish. I'd also just finished a surprisingly successful streak of pastel-filtered sweet romances (they're not usually my thing, I have trouble paying attention once everyone gets cozy), so I thought this would fill that void nicely.But, boy oh boy, was I unprepared for the misogyny! While I love the enemies-to-lovers "bickering couple" trope, it doesn't work if it's entirely one-sided, as it is here: the male lead frequently and persistently berates the girl he professes to love. In a toxic cycle, Qing Mo Yan withholds pertinent information from Ru Xiao Lan, which makes her deeply unaware of herself and the world around her, then punishes or yells at her when she inevitably acts out of ignorance. She isn't given any narrative space to mature because he's insistent on keeping her in the dark and treating her like a child.
And as if the verbal abuse wasn't repulsive enough, there's also the noticeable age gap in characterization and performance, between manly Xu Kai Cheng and girlish Hu Yi Xuan. Unsurprisingly, the character of Xiao Lan is underwritten and cliche, since she's supposed to be mischievous, carefree, and juvenile in her blind kindness, like every other female lead in a fantasy C-drama. Meanwhile, Mo Yan is mature, responsible, and measured in his trust in others, like any normal grown adult. This giant difference in personality and experience might've been reduced, had the actors generated any persuasive chemistry, but they don't. Without any sensuality or sense of deepening emotional intimacy, their romance takes on a creepy sterile quality, making them seem more like father/daughter or brother/sister. None of this is helped by their aesthetics. Although Xu Kai Cheng and Hu Yi Xuan are actually only four years apart in age, he looks far older while she appears far younger.
The ending, which I won't spoil, puts the rotten cherry on top of the disgusting sundae, further proving that this show thinks its creepy father/daughter dynamic is part of its appeal.
After watching this and A Well-Intended Love, until it became a horror movie, I'm left scratching my head at Xu Kai Cheng's choice in projects. Does he look for sexist scripts or do they just find him? I've heard the rumors about his struggles with honesty and fidelity in his personal life, but you'd think that would be an even bigger reason to steer away from projects that gleefully demean women, or...not.
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Disappointing but not bad
The story was going so well, but the writers wrote the end so badly that i just had to give this a 6,5 star rating instead of a 7,5.If they put some other plot cliché at the end i would gladly take it and end it with a smile, but seriously... very disappointing. I won't go into much detail for the ending part, since it would be a spoiler, but be warned that it is a let down, specially if you start this with some kind of expectation. I'm not saying its bad, the plot idea is very good, but imagine getting into an amusement part attraction with the promise of a good time and it never comes. That's how i felt by the end of this.
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A Children Fantasy Theme Drama
Hu Yi Xuan was really good in as the Sleepless Princess (2020) and I liked how cute she turned into little animals during times when she could not sleep. Because of this, I chose to watch her (2018) drama "I'm a Pet At Dali Temple". Bad choice for me. This time, she turns into a cat. Nothing personal, Xu Kai Cheng and Hu Yi Xuan are really good actors. But, I did not enjoy the story and the direction of the acting, which were quite fluffy, predictable and 'kiddish' at times. The drama carried a strong children fantasy theme with an ending that left much to be desired, if not deem strange.Not difficult to give this drama a miss.
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cat theme drama? This is must to watch hardly find better
its first good cat transformation drama I seen till now. Others dramas with cat theme was trashy.At start this drama was at very good level enjoying scenes, interesting story, funny, nice coupling
Sadly in later eps quality went down and ending didnt helped too. Still its worth to see.
plot - Modern girl[FL] which grew with grandfather learning yingyang and talisman magic gets transported into another world or maybe timetravel to past. Moreover in process she changes into cat. There she finds her new owner[ML] and way to change back to human form.
genre - romance , historical, fantasy
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