Reset (2022)

amazing story at its core.

i went watching this show with low expectation. i don’t personally watch a lot of time travel, or time related plots in dramas. safe to say that this is at the top of the list.

the characters are complex on their own and they each have their flaws and imperfections which make them as real as they are.

the characters themselves are complex and we get to unravel and find out things on our own and with the characters as well as the show goes on. don’t think i’ve ever watched a show where the main leads or the characters have as much information as we have.

what made me happy the most is seeing the ppl in the bus having there own stories and plot per say. made me feel this feeling of sonder. the ppl we see in our daily lives have their own lives as well. they struggle and they accomplish just as we do as well. so you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover bc in the behind the scenes, we don’t know what’s really going on.

towards the end, we finally find out what is happening on the bus and those specific characters stories and feelings. i like to believe and spoilers: the daughter was the one who put li shiqing (our main character) in the time loop trying to save her parents from making a decision that she thought was wrong. that’s my take since we never get the answer on who put them in that situation and why it kept looping. also begs more question on why her? why didn’t the other passengers be able to do it as well? it’s very thought provoking bc although we get answers, we still can question on many things but it’s not in a way where it’s an obvious plothole, it just is.

i love our main characters. i think they’re both my favorite main characters ive watched thus far. they had tension and they had chemistry but it wasn’t forced, it flowed perfectly as it should’ve been. they are both different as they are but they both help each other and try to figure out ways. i think as the story goes on we see how li shiqing is very empathic and how she tried hard in many ways to save everybody, xiao heyun on the other hand wants to save himself. different ideals but they both aren’t wrong. again, thought provoking. but as characters do they change as the story goes on and i think we see the most in that for xiao heyun.

xiao heyun wants to save her and himself while she wants to save everybody.

he supports her in every shape or form possible, they both fail and try again. again i just love them so much. <333

i love this dynamic and it worked well with their personalities. the side characters had they’re shine and they shined beautifully. we get our happy ending but it’s in a way where all the characters got there happy ending and i feel as though it was the only ending we could have gotten and it should have happened.
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i know i wrote a lot and i don’t think ive ever written this much on a review for a drama but i hope this was a good review for you to read! pls if you have any recs that are similar to this show pls let me know bc i would love to watch more!!!

definitely recommend if you love to see character development, serious and funny moments. flawed characters and thought provoking ideas. good pacing and again just good characters.

thank you for making it this far! :D

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Short but sweet

I really liked this show. Like a lot

The whole premise of the show is this time loop situation but it doesn't really get repetitive. Probably one of my favorite cdramas. Characters were pretty developed. Ending was really good. The romance was pretty decent and satisfying too, it was like the perfect balance between a mystery, sci fi, and romance. Personally, I would've loved to see a little more romance, but that's just bc im a sucker for love <3 It gives enough though to leave the show feeling satisfied.

I dont usually rewatch shows, but I might rewatch this one!

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Hitting the ground running

I was highly anticipating this considering how glowing the reviews are, and yep, one episode in, I was intrigued.

The drama really jumps right in and never lets up. I'm really grateful this show has just fifteen episodes because it's just the right amount. For a time loop drama, it never got boring or repetitive, which is impressive. In ever loop we learned something new and we also got to see our main characters grow closer.

The acting is great across the board. The main leads' chemistry goes without saying, but I really want to give extra props to the main antagonist. The actress absolutely kills it and sends chills down my spine.

Maybe the only thing I would want is a little more time spent on the epilogue/aftermath. I liked seeing the side character arcs getting wrapped up, but wanted a little more of our main leads, whether it was seeing them return to their everyday lives and seeing how the time loop changed them, or reconnecting with the people on the bus, or even having a little fun with introducing a sudden relationship to their friends.

It also feels a little iffy to me that the final message of the show seems to go for a "and the police did their job and everyone got what they deserved" direction. While it somewhat makes sense, I wish there was just a little bit more nuance about social pressure, incompetent officers, and laws that need to be amended.

Overall, though, still a great watch. I understand why it's rated as high as it is.

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amazing, heart touching show

(Only docking points for rewatch value because it gave me a lot of anxiety while watching. If you don't mind or don't think that'll be an issue for you, consider that a 10/10 too!)

I have read a lot of time loop fiction but this was my first time seeing the trope in a show or movie, and Reset has set the bar very high. From the first moment of this show all the way to the end, it kept me on my toes, never sure what to expect. And somehow, each time, the show delivered. With each new loop, it never felt boring or like we were rehashing things we'd seen before, and I'm impressed by how many avenues the creators found to explore. Without going into detail, I had been okay with the second to last loop being the last, but I love that they tried one more time and that the outcome was what it was.

My favorite aspect of the show is undoubtedly the humanity and the connections forged between the characters. Shiqing and Heyun started out as total strangers, but by the end it truly felt like their connection was rock solid. And in each loop, the way that the other passengers (especially Lu Di, who was one of my favorite characters) stood up and tried to help any way they could, god it made me cry. The themes of compassion, bravery, helping out your fellow humans, they were done so well.

Though obviously I loved our main leads, I am very glad the show took the time to explore other characters and how they got to where they were, it added so much to the story. The last scene where everything comes full circle and there's finally some closure to be found, it was just beautiful. Absolutely amazing work all around.

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Recommended for viewers who enjoys suspense, mystery, brain-storming dramas.

*** Spoiler Alert (PERSONAL FEEDBACK)
Title : Reset – 2022 (Complete 15 Episode)
Personal Rating : 9/10

Recommended for viewers who enjoys suspense, mystery, brain-storming dramas. ???

Xiao He Yun (played Bai Jing Ting) A passenger that boarded the bus to commute to a meeting with investors for his game development project. Xiao He Yun is a kind person at heart, but when Li Shi Qing inadvertently drags him into the time loop, he struggles to take action due to being made all too aware of his own morality. Likening the time loop to a video game, he identifies that the condition for breaking the loop is to catch the perpetuator behind the bombing. He has sharp analytical skills and uses critical reasoning to help solve the mystery.

Li Shi Qing (Played Zhao Jin Mai) A passenger who boarded the bus to pick up books for her university courses. Li Shi Qing is a normal girl in every sense of the word, until one day her life is turned upside down by being trapped in a time loop. Despite her fears of the vivid memory of repeatedly dying, she is a very brave person who stands by what she believes in. She sees it as her duty to use her position of being trapped in the loop to keep trying until she's able to save everyone else on the bus. However, she knows that it's impossible for her to accomplish this goal on her own.

This is my first drama of Bai Jin Ting! I was researching a Top-Rated drama from China last 2022 in MDL and this is one of the tops. So, I tried it and got hooked.? Personally, this is one of the best short modern mystery, thriller Chinese drama that I’ve watched. Every episode was amazing and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Even if it is a never-ending time loop drama you will never be bored because every loop has a different situation. And you will start to think how the characters think.? like what they should do next, or which is the possible culprit.?

Overall, I enjoyed this drama because I like suspense, mystery, and brain-storming dramas. The leads have a slight romance and good chemistry. Bai Jing Ting was so good and because of this drama I started binge-watching all his other dramas.❤️ The drama pacing is perfect. The supporting cast from all the passengers to the policemen are all superb!??? Great ending too! ??

GENRE – Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi

LEAD CAST – Bai Jing Ting, Zhao Jin Mai

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Great for mystery lovers!!

Reset is a heartwarming drama that doesn't disappoint fans of mystery genre lovers.

STORY
Reset tells a story of Li Shiqing, a college student who gets stuck in a timeloop. In the timeloop she is in a bus that explodes everytime. She suffers from many timeloops before managing to leave the bus with a man, Xiao Heyun. Soon she is back in the bus, but this time Xiao Heyun is stuck in the timeloop with her. They together start to think ways to escape the bus, then realizing that they need to stop the bus from exploading and people from dying to leave the timeloop. They very slowly get fond of each other and in the end fall in love.

My Opinion:
The story was made very well. From the start i was interested in the story and what and who was behind the explosion. For me it did get a little bit tiring in the middle, because we got so many background info on characters that turned out to not be that important. Great example was Lu Di. When Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun suspect Lu Di, they stop him from getting in the bus and check his bag only to find a cat in it. That saved Lu Di and he wants to know how Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun knew what was going to happen. We get to know him and they tell Lu Di the whole truth, that they are in a timeloop and that maybe he is in it too now, since they saved him. Lu Di gets all excited and trusts them fully. He is happy to finally have friends and "to be able to be a hero." When Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun fall asleep and by falling asleep, go back in to the timeloop, turns out that Lu Di didn't join them in the timeloop. After this, they rarely talk to Lu Di in the other timeloops and we never get to see them being friends again. It kinda made me sad, since i liked Lu Di and he was so happy to finally have friends, but in the end there were not a single sign that Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun befriended him again.
What also frustrated me was that everytime they talked to the police, they were VERY nervous and hadn't practiced what they were going to say enough. A lot of time was wasted on police being suspicious of them. But overall i think this drama was great for mystery lovers. It was interesting and it had it's heartwarming end.


CAST

Zhao Jinmai as Li Shiqing,
She was a great pick for this role. She was very believable when showing the signs of her being traumatized, scared and worried. Her facial expressions and body language were great!

Bai Jing Ting as Xiao Heyun,
He acted out this very introverted person who had a lot of intellect. When Xiao Heyun progressed in the drama, so did Bai Jing Ting's acting! At first he was cold and there wasn't much personality in him, but he soon turned out to be brave and caring! Bai Jing Ting was the right pick for Xiao Heyun!

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The time loops were so interesting! I was afraid that the drama might get boring with the repeating plot but every loop brought some new information, which moved the story forward.

All of the actors did such a great job, especially the leads but I came to like the supporting characters on the bus too. I liked getting to know more about them, some episodes were focused on various side characters and their backstories. I was glad that we got a glimpse at how they lived at the end.

What I wasn't expecting was for the drama to touch on the sensitive topis of SA but it was very well-done.

There are still a few things that weren't explained so that's why I'm rating this 9.5 instead of 10 stars like why and how did the leads get into the time loop in the first place, why was the ML getting sicker etc.

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short, interesting and has a good ending

This was a pleasant watch. Finished it in less than 48hrs. The story was interesting and sort of mysterious. There were quite a few nerve wracking moments. Though i must admit that the 1st 2 eps were legit confusing but get through it and it's an interesting yet smooth journey. I liked the story, the unexpected turns and background stories. Nothing is what it seems. Deserves the good rating. Besides that it is short, engaging and has a good ending. I liked acting of all the important characters. Didn't bother about the osts though, wasn't important but bgm was suitable. The production was done very very well. My 2nd drama of this genre, and now i believe even more that this genre is best among all the modern dramas if done well.

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Annoying at times but redeems itself

I chose Reset to be the last of 2022 and first of 2023 - so rang in the New Year with Bai Jing Ting. I saw it was highly rated and was a short watch. I am giving it a 7.5 - a decent, interesting and original drama but with a few complaints.

This first arc of the show cultivates anti-police sentiment. It was frustrating to see the powerless protagonists go through the same cycles of questioning. I was not sure how much more I wanted to see them being badgered or accused of lying or how many manhunts I'd have to watch or how many sneers I'd have to see from the detective.

When the culprit for the explosions is finally revealed, I thought to myself, "Please don't tell me they are going to try to redeem or cast this person in a positive light."

But once the culprit's backstory was ultimately played out, I cried. Heartbreaking. I didn't expect their story to affect me so much, but it explained the descent into madness and I felt for them. The performance is what salvaged the drama for me to rate Reset at 7.5 instead of lower because when I was watching the first half, I was already writing a scathing review in my head.

I will say that I felt the romance addition was completely unnecessary. I was rolling my eyes. The story would've been fine being a pure thriller mystery.

Also... there ends up being no clear explanation for any of the time jumping or looping or why Bai Jing Ting's character's health suffers when the girl's doesn't. Things just happen and you accept it.

I think this can be good entertainment if you can survive what annoyed me. Shout out to Cat Boy - he was a highlight as well.

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very bingeworthy tv show!

ok so this is my first drama of both main leads and i mainly watched for the plot that many had raved to me about. this drama is definitely worth my time binge watching it! i've been a fan of this particular genre with relations to mystery and time travelling related stuff so this is def one drama i would enjoy. for the casting, i think it's pretty okay. however, im not sure if its because i watched this drama when its already finished but i kept skipping many scenes that i found "boring/unneccessary" as i was more intrigued with the ending lol. if you enjoyed this drama, i would def recommend to you "derailment"which is a drama related to time travelling but it isn't recurring time travel like this drama.

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