Gripping and intense
This drama really dished out the gritty police world as they try to wipe out drug trafficking in Yunhe (and subsequently to other parts of the country).Beautiful cinematography that leaves everything to be desired, makes it seem like one long movie spanning 32 episodes. So well-done as it really adds to the mystique of the story and sublime plots.
I love the blend of young blood and veterans in the acting cast, I came for Wang Yibo and stayed for everyone. I had already seen Chen Xiao in A Dream of Splendor so I know he has the acting chops.
The trio of Chen Yu, An Ran and Yang Yi are bold, fearless and eager to perform their duties. Wang Yibo especially is always passionate in everything he takes on, he was already excellent in Chen Qing Ling and he was also excellent in this drama. His transformation from an eager beaver police officer to a passionate person trying to uphold law and order is wonderful to watch.
I especially love all the bits of Yibo’s screen time with Chen Xiao, the push and pull in their relationship is interesting.
The world can be ugly out there especially in Yunhe but you can trust the police force to try their utmost best.
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This review may contain spoilers
Crazy police drama with ups and downs
SUPER LONG DETAILED SPOILER FILLED REVIEWI’ve been waiting for this show since they started filming in 2020 so I started the show with high expectations which ended up not being met now that I got to finish it. I actually watched the last 7 eps through Youku’s express VIP but waited until the series finale to submit a review. Have to also note this is my first time watching a cop drama in general so I wouldn’t have watched this show if it weren’t for Wang Yibo.
Pros:
I like the show’s main cast and how they all have a part to play in the overarching plot about Yunhe being riddled with drugs that are ruining people’s lives. Pretty much everyone in the cast is someone whose life has been changed drastically by drugs so having a personal stake helped me want to root for the police’s goal to stop all drug related crimes. Of course, some character’s individual plots get alot more screen time like Captain Liu stuck between his duty as a policeman and his obligation to protect his nephew who has become a major drug dealer. But I would say Liu and his nephew were vital in blurring the moralities of the police as they are still human after all. I was actually surprised to find out the show didn’t have so many super black and white characterizations, but of course the good stay good and the bad all get punished in the end.
Everyone’s roles are pretty balanced in my opinion, as in no one is just written to be filler and do nothing. Even Chen Yu’s girlfriend ends up playing a larger role in the second half of the drama. The show’s pacing is also pretty fast as even the first 10 eps dump alot of major/minor character and plot info on you with no time to breathe so it might be very confusing at first, but once all the small fry are eliminated and the main villains are introduced it becomes alot easier to follow the story. I also believe the fast pacing has to do with Chenyu’s ambitiousness to chase after and connect every clue he finds about the drug rings–much to the chagrin of his superiors who have to yell at him in almost every episode for going too far. I’m just glad the show didn’t devolve into “young smart cop solves everything while older superiors sit back and do nothing.”
The supporting cast is great, especially the senior officers of the narcotics team who have all been through some shit in their careers. Other good things about the drama would be the consistent tone and rugged atmosphere and the setting being in two different countries. There are alot of suspenseful moments and big flashy stunts that every cop show is expected to have. I wasn’t expecting some brutal scenes though meant to shock the viewers so squeamish people might have a hard time watching this. Everyone’s acting was really good too. I didn't feel like any of the main leads were overpowering one another. The reveal of the true villain of the series was fine for me as I’m not the best at predicting plot twists. However for a Cdrama about police there are only so many suspects to choose from.
Cons:
Ok so despite all the good stuff I just said what really sticks to me the most from this show are what I would consider to be its major flaws. I really wanted to like this show as it’s Wang Yibo’s first serious role so the expectations were higher than average, but there’s just too many writing issues that impacted my viewing experience.
First gripe about this show is Chen Yu’s characterization and development (because I care about him the most). I get that he is young and impulsive and eager to find the truth out of duty and personal reasons, but he’s a bit too reckless for most of the show. He isn’t even a fresh graduate either but he just keeps willingly getting himself into dangerous situations that could cost him his job, but I think his talent and plot armor is the reason why he gets to keep getting away with it. I just feel like that impulsive side of him didn’t really match with the early setup of him kinda haunted by an operation that failed 3 years ago because of his mistake that led to his superiors getting lifelong injuries. I wanna root for this dude but he’s pretty crazy. I’m not kidding you Chen Yu does alot of investigative stuff on his own without permission, even breaking and entering a suspect’s office which leads to him being suspended. But even while suspended he’s still meddling with police operations and STILL disobeys orders and so he gets rewarded by being taken off suspension. There are just so many episodes of Chen Yu doing something reckless then getting told off then repeat until episode 25. I think his growth moment is supposed to be requesting Director Lin to let him do a dangerous undercover mission to infiltrate the bad guys near the end? Beats me.
Second flaw is that the drama does alot more telling than showing, and by that I mean we are told the two male leads Chen Yu and Wu Zhen Feng are supposed to be close friends but they don’t really do a good job at showing it and convincing me. I know their relationship or bromance isn't meant to be the main focus of the story about busting drugs but sadly it is a big part of Chen Yu’s personal motivation to eliminate all drugs as he feels like WZF is his responsibility and chases after him for a good chunk of the show because of that . I don’t feel as emotionally connected to their bond from only being told they were childhood neighbors who only reunited as adults after WZF’s dad’s death 3 years prior to the show. By that time their relationship was already getting rocky due to differences in opinion. We mostly only get Chen Yu’s pov of their relationship so for 25 episodes their estranged friendship feels one-sided with Chen Yu doing all the chasing and pleading with WZF to cooperate with him and the police to clear his dad’s name and catch drug dealers but WZF is just constantly being stubborn and rejecting his help because he believes his underhanded methods are faster. It took a failed operation and scolding from an accomplice for WZF to actually start changing as a person, but he is mostly in undercover drug dealer mode after that from CY's pov. This back and forth goes on for a long time it made me question Chen Yu’s dedication to this dude.
The big plot twist however is that WZF has been working with the police deputy chief since the early episodes but it just feels weird that WZF’s big moment of clearing his dad’s name (which Chen Yu has been wanting to help with since 3 years ago) happens without Chen Yu. It is kinda sad to see WZF spill everything he knows about drug dealers to ChenYu’s bosses rather than the protagonist who has been begging for his trust for many episodes. It gets even crazier when WZF officially becomes an undercover informant for the police but CY is not meant to be trusted with this information which leads to an incident that could have been avoided if they just told him. At the point where CY gets suspended he is starting to understandably feel like he has been used by WZF after all the times he tried to reach out, but he eventually realizes that WZF has been undercover since a few episodes back and I think that is supposed to be the “I forgive him” moment. To me being an official informant in the second half didn’t really excuse how poorly he treated Chen Yu at the beginning but oh well. Ok but after that realization, in episode 26 the two just somehow jump straight into properly coordinating as policeman and undercover spy for the next big operation and they really play it up in front of the drug dealers with WZF calling CY “xiongdi” repeatedly. Some time later when the coast is clear they are suddenly bickering like old friends and sharing snacks in a car when their previous onscreen interaction didn't end well. The mood whiplash felt so jarring because I personally feel like they really needed to have a more climactic confrontation scene that would finally put them on the same page as that would make for a better transition to their cooperation for the port raid. TL;DR I feel like 75% of the drama shows them chasing, arguing, and mistrusting one another, 3% repairing their old friendship in a super subtle way and then 22% cooperating for the final raids like brothers in arms.
It is because of the weird pacing of those two’s friendship I didn’t really feel much when WZF is bleeding to death on Chen Yu’s back in the last minutes of the finale. And if you’ve read other reviews I HATE THIS ENDING SO MUCH IT PRACTICALLY RUINED THE SHOW FOR ME. I watched the finale a week before it officially ended with Youku’s fast pass only to find out that there was a special bonus epilogue. But that didn’t do anything to answer questions except prove that WZF managed to survive. But it confuses me to no end that the “official” ending to this show that had good pacing is a cliffhanger of WZF bleeding out and we are only TOLD the fates of every criminal. The criminals the show spent sooo long to capture only get a fast explanation of their sentencing. The ending is just so abrupt I expected with all that buildup since the beginning and the personal stakes on why they need to get rid of all drugs in Yunhe we would get to see proper aftermath of the biggest drug raiding operation that’s been done, but nah we get nothing. Just a small nitpick but I also wanted to see Chen Yu and Yang Ling reunite because they literally have two moments in the final eps where Chen Yu promises her a “happy and normal life” after he finishes his mission. Would have been nice to see the main casts’ efforts to eliminate drugs pay off after suffering so much but I guess that wasn’t the plan for this drama.
If you’ve read this far I appreciate the time you took for my review. I liked this drama for the not so black and white direction it took on the war against drugs in modern day society, interesting characters and how they all contributed to the overarching plot that never slowed down but the lack of emotional impact from the two main leads and the abrupt ending made this a 7/10 for me. Drugs are bad.
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First of all this is a very serious professional drama it succeeded in showing how real police in anti-drug department work and how is live like for drug dealers and there is so many things i like :
- the production quality is TOP ,the filter gives this a drama a movie like look,no skin smoothing and no unprofessional mistakes done everything looks like real like and nothing is too bright or too dark
- the characters whether it's the main leads or the supporting roles no one is there just to be there each character has a goal and a story and what i like the most is how they're not shown in a black or white right or wrong perspective they're shown as real complex humans who make mistakes and have their reasons (even the drug dealers)wich is a plus for this drama
- the acting : im not gonna talk about the old actors because they've perfect they've been actors for so long and they know what they're doing but for the leads I'd say they've done an amazing job,yibo suits the role chen yu so much the young but also fierce and ambitious vibes he acted that so well especially facing old actors in the industry,same goes for chen xiao he portrayed wzf perfectly i could feel for him all the time plus there was some golden supporting roles acted by really good actors it makes the watching experience so smooth
- the story and the pacing were perfect i never felt like any scene was unnecessary everything makes sense and the way they tell the story makes you feel so exited plus it's so real and interesting i learned so much while watching
- the camera work...nothing to say here you watch and see
-the relationship between the characters makes me feel like im watching real people and not a drama
Finally we have few more episodes until this drama ends i hope it gets a reasonable ending and overall im glad they were able to air it regarding that it has so many sensitive topics even tho im pretty sure so many things couldn't get through censorship
And thanks for everyone who worked to make this drama because it wasn't easy at all if you watch the bts you could see that they used real sets and the actors even filmed dangerous scenes themselves but in the end hard work pays off.
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8 Reviews Later & This Was Sadly Underwhelming and Lackluster
When this series was first announced back in 2020, I was very much looking forward to it because I have done a lot of research on anti-narcotics units internationally and though knowing this was fiction, wanted to see how they would be portrayed in China. At the time Wang Yibo was the only actor I knew and wanted to see how he'd handle this type of tough genre. Sadly, neither came close to delivering the goods. 8 reviews later and this was sadly underwhelming and lackluster. Let's begin with the pros as usual.Pros: Favorite character was WZF, he had a very chaotic start where you didn't know whether he was coming or going and he had few scenes in earlier episodes. However, when you finally understood what he was doing and why as well as how hard it had been for every inch he made forward (especially when he had the snot beat out of him practically every episode), you were rooting for him. Plus this year, I finally saw his actor in something where he did very well which peaked my interest once this dropped and he delivered despite the odds. Director Lin came in second as a man who could go from furious to placating in a blink of an eye. Loved how he was both a father figure to all of his underlings and still maintained his professionalism. YL didn't seem like much but as the series progressed, her emotional acting was very well executed. I had seen the actress in a drama earlier this year where she just didn't fit (for me at least) as an antagonist but here she did a really great job and her raw portrayals were palpable.
The main antagonists once you got a grip on who the leaders or mid leaders were rather reminded me of the old Italian mob La Cosa Nostra. That "family" came above all else and no matter what, you don't rat out family and you don't kill them or see them harmed. Even though the Marilyn Manson lookalike and WH were ready to kill others to save themselves from the other's family, they would do anything to bail each other out. Very rarely did the antagonists get that much screen time in other dramas, but for them at least it served a purpose that you understood their bonds and loyalty.
Other favorite characters included poor YY, Anran, plus all the other helper cops and complicated LK. The sets were a believable jungle and the OSTs matched the theme and genre of the series. The fight scenes were well executed and that ending operation was nice though wish they didn't jam it into the last 15-20 minutes.
Cons: The plot ran amok for over half of the episodes, the editing was uneven and felt like some weirdo deja vu. The amount of foot soldier drug dealers and who they ultimately answered to was very hard to keep up with. There was zilch chemistry between CY and YL as bf/gf and they essentially felt like siblings the entire series even at the end when he told her he loved her twice. Felt completely empty and devoid of anything that would seem like a relationship. There was also almost no real connection between the leads. We know what the story was but it was just not happening with their interactions; the "trust me/tell me everything you know" talking in circles got old quick. It felt like there were missing links somewhere between them. The first of the two major drug busting operations essentially looked like a rocket launch sans rocket; just too much.
Didn't believe the character of CY at all; he spent the first 10 episodes essentially yelling his lines and afterwards there was very little emotion--aside from the continued yelling though a lot less--not in his eyes or tone inflection. His face was literally like a stone even when he frowned. He smiled so rarely that it seemed like almost an afterthought. That crying scene everyone was talking about, looked super forced on his part but Director Lin sitting next to him just captured the agony of that scene with his tears. I wanted to cry with CY considering how close to the situation he was in that scene but I didn't feel it from him, YL and Director Lin on the other hand were gut wrenching on all sides.
The main villain was under everyone's noses the entire time it was so obvious it was ridiculous. He and the woman who I thought he treated as a daughter until he kissed her (eww) and her macho guy plus the other big bads were relatively lackluster as villains as they were arrogant, twitchy eyed, or walked stiffly; impression that I got was like "if I don't blink and walk in a robotic manner, I'm super evil." Just missed the mark; he was no John Gotti.
The ending....which one? The "is he dead or not" one? That just zooms out and then roll credits or the 3.5 minute one that was randomly added by the show's Weibo page as an extra with CY and WZF fighting thugs together in some carnival funhouse-like atmosphere a year later and running around haphazardly while making "funny faces" throwing colored dust on the chasing said thugs while people are tripping, chickens and feathers are flying everywhere. Glad he survived, but that was one weird and totally from a different genre and series "happy ending". Was it just me or did they run out of wardrobe for CY because WZF wore his usual while it looked like CY was essentially wearing Wang Yibo's SDC clothes because I remember watching him in that outfit on SDC4. Didn't jive with the character's wardrobe (earth tones or police uniform) from the series at all. Fault lands on production for lack of cohesion there.
Would I recommend it? No, I wouldn't and I'm sad to say that because I wanted this to be good. Though I know actor fans will watch anyways and that's fine plus action is good where you can get it, the messy and schizophrenic plot (special no thanks to those 8 reviews) is just not worth it.
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One of the nicest dramas I've watched in 2022 despite some hiccups
Personally, I dislike dramas that have dark stories, but Being a Hero somehow kept me hooked on right from the beginning.This is one of the nicest dramas I've watched in 2022 despite some "bugs", and almost everyone's acting is good, especially the Villian/ Villian-Victim characters. I have to be fair and say that Chen Yu, Yang Yi and Anran's acting sometimes fall short, especially Anran. Her best acting was when she went undercover to get close to Wan Mengmeng. Chen Yu gets better towards the 2nd half of the drama (not the romance ones though lol), and Yang Yi did a great job when he played dumb to stall Yang Xingquan (I was really hoping he didn't stay there alone without telling anyone else though...?).
This is a majority unpredictable story of revenge, trust, betrayal, friendship and a daily test on your view of what's right and wrong, what's real and what's not.
I love how I am unable to guess most of the storyline until the back episodes, and this is probably why I got hooked to continue this drama.
"Bug 1" : When WZF was being buried alive in ep 11, one scene changed very quickly and I got confused on how WZF went from being "in control" to suddenly begging for his life (?)
"Bug 2" : There seem to be very short lost scenes in 2 episodes, as 2 scenes do not seem to connect.
"Bug 3" : This drama is generally fast-paced, but the last episode was draggy and a little odd at parts (like the story doesn't flow for 1 or 2 scenes.
"Bug 4" : The final scene showed how each Villian is punished, but some of the names are of people who already died. Have to say that this bug is really bad. ?
Special mention : The final scene made me wail and swear and hence I marked down this drama's score after finishing Up 32.
However, after my friend shared with me about a Short Special released just yesterday that shows the "real ending", I decided to come back and submit my first-ever review after watching it.
Lastly, I'd like to relay a message to everyone who cursed and swear at the last episode like me : Please go and watch the Short Special. You'll feel better lol. (Though they should have made it the real ending lol...)
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don’t let the topic fool you
I watched this a while ago when I got sick, no reason why I started it except seeing chen xiao and a few other actors I like (liu yijun). Normally, cop dramas aren’t my cup of tea, I still watch them but not to an extent of getting invested in them but I still went in. To my surprise, it was really fresh to see polices getting involved with drug circles, at least in the scope of what I have watched before. Guessing who could be the informant among polices was rather amusing. Furthermore, the chemistry of the characters hit off really well. For example, younger and rather impulsive but smart police officer, chen yu, and a long-time captain of yunhe counter-narcotics who’s always stressed out because of his subordinates and senior, lin dezan. You might think the whole show might be “oh so serious” because of its theme and colors, but such relationships brighten up the whole drama and make it fun and wholesome. Wu zhenfeng is one of the most different roles chen xiao has ever tried and I couldn’t even recognize him when I first saw the drama. His wu zhenfeng is pretentious (not in a bad way), got beaten up and did a lot of questionable things but he made it all quite charmingly, you can’t help but root for him. Chen yu played by wang yibo was rather relatable, his character brought the perspective of the viewer into the drama, wondering along with him, which is why at times I got a little distressed at chen yu’s impulsiveness but it was only because he carried it well. Wu zhenfeng questioned the polices while chen yu stood for it. The two characters were like cat and mouse, chasing and running; their development really took the longest, which is a shame cause I wanted to see more of what happened later but by that time, the drama has already ended. Lin dezan played by actor wang jingsong was remarkable, he’s got to be my favorite character from the beginning to the end, you will know when you watch it. Him and Mr. Yang (played by liu yijun) also had a situation similar to chen yu and wu zhenfeng, and it’s good to see them in parallel. Guo xiaoting’s ling ling also brought the freshness to the drama, played a key factor between lin dezan and mr. yang. The villain characters were quite human like rather than being portrayed as “absolute evils” which kind of weakened the plot but also brought certain richness to it. All in all, characters’ chemistry and acting are solid 10/10.Writing & Editing: Both started off really well for the first half. Every episode kept me seated, wanting more. A little until towards the end, the writing kind of became messy. Flashbacks were repetitive, and the characters can’t stop referring to what happened 3 years ago. Repetition of such events kind of robbed the backstories of certain characters, like how close chen yu and wu zhenfeng were, how did ling ling and chen yu meet, how close were wu gang and wu zhenfeng, etc. However, I feel like a lot more of it was made up in the story between captain lin and his nephew. So for this department, it would be 7.5/10.
Cinematography: night scenes are beautiful. The red & blue hues are very mesmerizing.
IMO, I do really wish there were more episodes so that all the backstories of the characters can be covered. Nevertheless, a lot better than I assumed despite the theme and I had so much fun watching it. Some moments were amusing and made the drama a whole a lot lighter and relatable, despite its heavy topic.
Would I recommend? Yeah, why not? especially if you want to try something else than murder mystery. Would I rewatch? Rewatch value is low since this is suspense drama but I still would rewatch it for the sake of characters.
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The Drama Worth The Wait
love how the production really persistent with the craft. despite the censorship, the drama keep showing the taboo topic of drug effect, the real life of narcotics police officer, drug lords stories, even critized the c c pacting
the acting of both male leads Yibo & cheng xiao so great. love the brotherhood chemistry between both of them. Yibo show excellent acting skill with senior actors like wang jinsong, their scenes really fun to watch
ost
the soundtracks suitable for crime investigation drama like this
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Suspense and Intrigue all the way!
I am impressed with the storyline, production and acting skills in this drama. The story has multiple twists and turns and kept me in suspense for a lot of the time. The dedication of the narcotics officers to their work is not undermined but sometimes come into conflict with feelings of trust and loyalty amongst family and friends.Wang Yibo surpassed himself in this drama. He conveyed the steadfastness of his character, Chen Yu but yet managed to unleash the feelings of despair and pain when his loved ones and colleagues are overwhelmed by their tasks. There was a memorable scene of Chen Yu breaking down alongside his superior Lin De Zan. The acting skills of the supporting actors, both heroes and villains, are no less commendable!
I will recommend that you watch this!
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It' worthy
I swear I started the last episode thinking "if anyone else dies, I'll never watch Chinese dramas again."Until more or less min 38, I thought "Well, maybe this time I'll be lucky"...
Looks like I'm gonna have to keep my word, right? ?
I don't know what the Chinese writers think, because they always kill the characters. That's terrible and frustranting.
So I'm super disappointed with the ending.
Apart from that (although it turned out I was already expecting...) and some actors whose representation cannot convince me, no matter how acclaimed they are, I liked this drama.
It is not a repetition of thousands of others, although it has many clichéd elements. But I think it even managed to surprise in some moments.
Overall, I think it was worth losing time watching it.
Except for the end. lollol.
I really hate the ending??
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The cast delivered superb performances. Wang Yi Bo and Chen Xiao dressed the character spectacularly, making their characters captivating. In the final scene, actor Wang Yi Bo managed to convey all the feeling in his eyes, although the scene was speechless, his face said it all.
The direction produced good scenes, good photography, knew how to take advantage of the scenery and the cast's ability to act, but makes a somewhat confusing editing.
Costume fits the theme and the soundtrack is pleasant.
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Whoever fights against drug trafficking organizations is a hero
Nothing has to be perfect in this kind of drama, the most important thing is how the show manages to captivate your attention to bring you to the next episode. Being a hero is one of those dramas you want to watch at once to know more about the relationship between the two main characters and what will happen to them.One is a cop (Chen Yu) who works at the counter narcotics detachement, he is supposed to be the good guy. The other one is some kind of a mysterious character ( Wu Zhen Feng) who wants to rehabilitate his father's honor (he was believed to be a drug dealer as he died while drug trafficking). He looks like the bad guy who seeks to connect two organized bands that do not longer work together. He uses extreme means and doesn't seem that successful. All we know is that he wants to avenge the unjust death of his father and looks for a drug boss named Dong.
Theses 2 characters are childhood friends but their bond is not that clear. When the drama begins they haven't been in touch for 3 years and Chen Yu is convicted that Wu Zhen Feng is a drug dealer and drug addicted. And we think so too. We don't know exactly who is Zhen Feng. We might see him as an informant, a cope undercover, a fool who aks for death. We don't know. As the drama goes on, we can see how police forces are investigating but also how drug organizations work. We also have some scenes where we are explained that drugs destroy families and people, and whoever fight against drug trafficking oranizations is a hero.
I was really interested in watching Wang Yibo and Chen Xiao working together. I was not sure of Wang Yibo's acting : he did a good job in the Untamed but not in Legend of Fei. Surprisingly, I found him very good in here. He was perfectly suited to his character and could express the right emotions when they were needed. Chen Xiao is a great actor but I think that Zhen Feng's character was a bit difficult to deal with. He had to endure the will of the drug dealers and was a little passive at times. I would have liked to see him in more winning fights. I also would have liked to see more scenes between Wang Yibo and Chen Xiao. Their characters have many things to say and explain and share with us. I would have liked to know more about their past lives when they were like brothers. So, a bit frustrated here ....
I would say a word about the OST. I really liked it. The closing theme is really moving, not surprising at all it's sung by Ayanga : Bear.
This drama has good pace, good actors and good storyline. Sure, you'll watch it till last episode.
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Ending matter so much
This isn't usually what I go for yet it has sparked hope for other Chinese dramas.Chen yu were my favourite character but still waiting for my smile from him as it is rare for him to be carefree. At times I wanted to yell at him myself because of what he did but we didn't get that chance. Yang Yi was a true friend of his willing to put him with his actions with no explanations
WZF was a compelling character with his story that I enjoyed watching him but at times he made stupid decisions one is not ever fully trust Chen Yu
The ending, I like cliffhangers usually as it makes you question what is happening yet I wanted to see what was going to happen as there was no explanation
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