Are You Safe (2022)

Strong Start that Petered Out in the Middle But Came Swinging for the Fences at the End

Wanted something cybercrime-CSI-ish and this seemed to fit the bill. Didn't know anyone in the cast save for actor who played ZY and Xu Lu a bit from previous series. Had a strong beginning that petered out in the middle only to come out swinging for the fences in the final 3 episodes. Definitely needs a season 2 with the same cast to properly finish the cliffhanger.

Pros: Probably the first drama ever that I will say had a really catchy opening theme that I didn't fast forward before I get into favorite character and other things. It made you actually anticipate what you were going to watch even when that failed to deliver. Favorite character was the ML or QH; man had the patience of a saint and his straight path towards justice and finding out who wronged his best friend and Godmother were beyond admirable. Next favorite character was Ms. Lin the lawyer; even though she didn't know until pretty much the end that her boyfriend was a class A douchebag, she never changed her morality or ethics towards her partners or friends.

Though I liked CM in the very beginning and once he got on board with QH, his whole arc with MT was very unnecessary. The two ladies who worked in QH's office were alright additions and out of the villains, the only ones that made any real sense were MPC and LB, though the latter needs season 2 to figure out. Had some semblance of comedy here and there and meaningful moments of care between the protagonists.

Cons: This plot took a nosedive in the middle and became very boring and confusing. The MT/CM arc (shoving a relationship into somewhere it didn't belong) just like the MT/General arc were unnecessary and very confusing. We assume it was the General who scammed Godmother in the beginning though there's no real confirmation or admission of that. ZY also an alright character; great in the beginning but then was dumbed down into an arrogant and dumb kid who spilled personal information to complete strangers online. None of it made any sense given the industry he worked in and the responsibility placed on his shoulders. He regrew his brains towards the end.

For seasoned hackers, they couldn't pick up on pretty obvious things and it just slowed the entire show down. When they "killed" the General off, he should have stayed dead. Bringing him back just to give the running of the bulls ending some semblance of action after a lackadaisical middle that was constantly seeing QH getting nailed by one villain after another by pretty much brain dead problems, was honestly laughable. Instead, in the last episode the General nearly beats QH and CM to death and then is just nonchalantly arrested. And still the LB plot was not exposed so the reasoning is that there will be a season 2? Writer and director must have gotten drunk together.

Would I recommend it? I'm not sure to be honest. TJC did a great job as QH, so much so that I want to see him in other, better things. So if you're a fan of his, maybe you'll like this too. The beginning and end were the strongest even with the open-ended cliffhanger finale, the middle could have been totally cut and you probably wouldn't have missed much. So decide for yourselves.

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Fun filled interesting mystery drama.

One of the wonderful thing about 'AYS' is that leads are very good especially Qin Huai (Tan Jianci). They wouldn't let you bored. Tjc & Rjc did nice. Tan Jianci acting & his expressions are handsome in portraying QH.♥️♥️

It ended too soon. Actions scenes are good. I feel like someone is still hiding something. Qin Huai is not fully safe. Ending like this leaves craving for more. Wish there could be more.

Its an interesting good funny & intense mystery drama, spreading safety message of internet. Enjoyed it. Hope, there will be a Conclusive part-2 of Are you safe, with JianCi back as Qin Huai. ♥️

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Very Informational!

First things first…the ending informational snippets are so cute and very helpful…it’s soo good that the entire cast were involved in those.
Now coming to the drama aspect
Story: To say the truth it’s nothing new…it’s just showing from a different angle…2 best friends with shared dreams…and something happens to one and other tries to find out what happened and how he disappeared and never giving up on their dreams…and of course the 2nd dude would play the noble idiocity card…didn’t want to involve the 1st to not hurt, completely ignoring the 1st’s feelings and demons he is facing. I’m glad the 1st has a cute little friend(3rd) by his side who helps him a lot professionally and Emotionally. Of the 3rd is a lil naive and often gets the other w in trouble.
Keeping the cons aside I loved the dynamics b/w 1st and 3rd more than 1st and 2nd. Kudos to actors.
Acting: Qin hui: the main musketeer of the 3. The attacker in hacking..ahem cyber world…the one trying to live up to his dream/cleaning the system from cyber attacks. The actor beautifully conveyed the feelings and inner conflicts the character has to project. Making me love his character a loot. The dedicated musketeer till the end. Kudos to the actor.
Zhou yu: the cutest and dumb character I’ve ever faced. The young prodigy.Can’t move on from his character. All the time I found myself hoping he would stop spilling the secrets out. That is understandable coz he’s still new to the dark cyber world. Always eager to learn and show off which I find very cute…even his jealousy seemed cute. I’m biased I guess..he he
Chen mo: the dark knight…the defense knight…I loved his dedication to find the band that conned his mother, as much as going abroad and working as garbage collected to do so…don’t like his character as much as other two but every thing fell into place once the 3 come together
Others: the original company team, 4 of them qin hui], zhou you, tang, ding are love love love….one perfect happy family… mu tong is not needed at all for the drama… I guess they need to have screen time for Chen mo…remaining did their job ok ok…not much to complain…
Overall: it’s ok for 1 time watch… maybe I would rewatch qin hui and zhou yu scenes or the office dynamic scenes…but not all.

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cyberworld (a new genre for the shows produced)

This theme of cyberworld is really unique. It is indeed a really good and something really new to see in the spectrum of various typical romance cdramas being released every year. There are really less dramas that actually have slight to no romance, which frustrates me a lot. Romance is really not my cup of tea, which is why when I saw this drama I was ready to watch it. When I saw that Tan Jian Ci was appearing in this show after Under The Skin, I was anticipated high standards for this show and it did better than expected...The problems and cautions addressed in the show was really helpful even in real life. The way people use Internet these days...show that many people are carless on they use and are not aware of the consequences behind it. One of the reasons why this drama gave me some knowledge through the 31 eps. Though one of character (She Ge) presented poor reasoning towards his hatred to Qin Huai, which is quite annoying for an antagonist. This is one of the flaws of the minor characters. But, the trio was really harmonious through the end. The other secondary characters(Guo Yao, Auntie Ding) helped Qin Huai improve his laid back personality and helped him realize his negligence towards them and started to value all of his employee and Mo family as a whole, which enhances Qin Huai's character development.

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It´s not a romance!

I think it wasn't just me who got the feeling that... something was missing. Something like a second season. Or at least a few more episodes.

There was no final conclusion to Qin Huai's story (romance, Arsenal and seniors, for exemple). If it was on purpose to leave it open for another season, great. Otherwise, the final is in the air. What is pity.

I thought it was a very good drama, very focused on online safety. It showed well what you should never do (often through the role of Zhou You) and the tips at the end of each episode were really cool.

Although it had a certain jargon that was incomprehensible for those who don't know anything about computers, programming and so on, I think that in general the language was very accessible.

I really enjoyed it and really hope there will be a second season.

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Am I safe? No. I am dangerously bored

After what felt like 437 full length episodes but was in fact only 31 half hour episodes, I’ve crossed the finish line of this interminable slog through the lands of Mediocrity and Predictability.

I don’t know why I finished this series. It was kind of like ordering too much food and then finishing it all to make it look like it wasn’t too much food, and then you want to lay down and die in the end. The answer is that you should have stopped at the beginning. I should’ve stopped this series 30 episodes ago. You, if you’re reading, should not start.

The one saving grace is the short PSAs at the end of each episode. Those were well done. I’d like to thank the PRC, I learned a lot.

What was not well done: the absurd torture death machine in the last episode (did a script page get swapped?); the irrelevant drama about Ma Ping Chuan’s daughter and her apparent catastrophic failure in school at the age of 5; not wrapping up the plot lines with lawyer Lin’s boyfriend, MPC and the crew in a cohesive way. ALSO AT WHAT POINT DID CHEN MO AND MU TONG HAVE CHEMISTRY? She has more chemistry with his mom.

This failed to overwhelm. In fact, it was quite bad.

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Looking into the world of hackers, scammers & beyond, whats not interesting about watching cyber heroes named the “Three Musketeers” who come to the rescue to take down the bad guys in their own game?? What originally sounded like an interesting straightforward premise turned into a complicated cat & mouse game that ended up becoming more of a frustrating watch than a thrilling and exciting ride.

In the first half it was fun & humorous. I loved watching the predicaments that the 2 MLs got themselves into & the dynamics between them. Even loved the little skits at the end spreading awareness & tips on how to keep your personal info safe & secure (that was a nice touch)! But as soon as the show started progressing more to find out the truths behind Huai & Chen Mo’s past, thats where the plot started to get really messy for me. Too many characters started appearing; mostly evil and too many problems kept arising. I don't mind some good thrilling challenges here & there between good and evil to help progress the story but there was just too many one after another, over the same issues between the same people that it felt so repetitive & frustrating. It just seemed unnecessary.

I think Im in the minority but truthfully….the young kid Zhou You was soooo frustratingly annoying to watch primarily in the latter half of this show when Chen Mo; Huai’s best friend from the past reappears in his life. Zhou is just too nosy & frankly too reckless (which I guess you can argue its due to his age and him wanting to constantly learn & get better but it shouldn't be an excuse for it). However his recklessness & arrogance is what gets him into trouble which then causes Huai to be put into tough situations. His arrogance which seems to stem from an insecurity of wanting to be recognized as good; to feel validated has constantly made him make tons of mistakes throughout the show. And I partially blame Huai & Chen Mo for being too trusting and easy on him because clearly he wasn’t learning from his mistakes as he kept doing them over and over again. He’s trying to help but when you look at the bigger picture in the grand scheme of things, majority of the issues the mains go through IS BECAUSE OF HIM….Any logical person would know, especially in his field…DO NOT trust people via online so easily, don't click on suspicious links and DON'T be sharing secretive & confidential work to random strangers on the internet but clearly not Zhou….who casually shares everything online like its everyones business.

Waste of 31 episodes because really did anything get resolved?? You solve one problem (debatably)…but end up with 2 more by the end (one of them still being one of the original problems presented in the beginning of the show) Will not watch the second season because frankly…they could've solved everything in this season instead of reaching for 2 seasons…there was too many twists and turns just for an unsatisfying ending imo.

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