Drama Addict
New Zealand
At some points, it got a bit tiring when yet another scheming got them into massive hurt. However, the drama did keep me following episodes after episodes.
This drama deserves a place among the top Chinese dramas. If you like dramas like Yanxi Palace, you would like this.
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As with a lot of Chinese dramas, it does well on the hygiene factors: beautiful scenery and computer graphics, strong cast (with both Yang Zi and LiYing Zhao in it), good looking actors and actresses, lovely costumes, lovely music. But the story is somewhat lacklustre - it is just a regular story of guy from good sect and girl from demon sect falling in love and faced a rough journey to be together.
There are a lot of frustrating moments/elements:
1. The first: too long. Series 2 is a continuation and the total of the 2 series is 73 episodes. As expected, when a drama is that long, there are a lot of draggy moments and flashbacks, to fill the time.
2. The evil always survived and lived to create further havoc. It was not until the second series that they were killed off one by one.
3. The main lead was always doing good but the top sector leaders failed to see it, busy with their adherence to rules and rather questionable principles. But instead trusted all the traitors. A bit like the bureaucracy of a large organisation.
4. It is all the cliche stuff - save the damsel in distress or the guy in distress. Not all that well executed for it to feel romantic.
5. The 2 lead characters were all ready to die for each other, and so are the 2 wolf demons. But really, life is that romantic? And Xiao Fen did not even turn his head at the beautiful Lu except for a short brief moment when he met her at the gathering for briefing at the competition?
6. It is all about loyalty. Again, really? Loyalty, adhering to promises and gratitude are good values but should not blind anyone to right or wrong. Xiao Fen's stubborn silence about his weapon and martial art was a the verge of stupidity.
7. Very judgemental and self-righteous: expecting the other person to act as they wanted them to and believing they knew what was best for them, regardless of the wish of the individual. When they refused, they are labelled stubborn. Jing Yu went as far as to sabotage his bro and leaked his seeking the resurrection stone to the enemies because he did not want him to save Bi Yao, indirectly causing his turning away from Qing Yun.
6 and 7 could be about the Chinese culture but 7 is definitely not pretty.
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Quite average
This drama is short compared to most Chinese drama and makes quite light-hearted entertainment. The drama started well but become yet another run-of-the-mill later in the story. There are not much heart rending moments and bad times pass quickly. If you are looking for a drama for some casual entertainment and not some heavy-hearted emotional roller coaster, this is it.Contemporary Chinese dramas tend to present heroines who are shrews and strong headed and this is one of them. The heroine is pretty and won the heart of the hero, but she is such a strong-headed shrew - appeal to the feminism of this era. But if i were a man, i would find her a pain to be with.
This drama is overrated on Mydramalist. There are other better dramas which are much better than this, which deserves better ratings. I begin to wonder whether ratings were rigged by some viewers, or i have preferences that differ from the masses. Just cannot understand why such an average drama is rated at 8.1 when Legend of Fei and Legend of Xiao Chuo rated below 8; they are way better than this drama.
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Romance more than politics and war
Part 2 continued from when Niao Niao was betrothed to one of her three admirers, Ling Buyi. She was not happy as the marriage proposal was imposed on her by the emperor through the request of Buyi and she tried to sabotage the engagement. To make matter worse, the step-mother of her fiance had other plans for him. But this fiance had been enchanted by her ever since he first lay eyes on her.As with Niao Niao's mother, BuYi's military background stood in the way of how he related to him and Niao Niao was resentful that she was going to substitute a mother for a militant husband.
Buyi's father was the Marquis ChengYang and Buyi hated him, seemingly because he married the step-mother when Buyi and his mother were missing after the Gu city was massacred. They found themselves back to the capital after a year. But there were more to the story and BuYi had a hidden identity.
BuYi had been investigating the death of his uncle General Huo and the fall of Gu city. In Part 2, the mystery was unraveled and those involved in it was progressively punished but the biggest culprit, as all the evidence leading to him was destroyed. BuYi was left in desperation.
Again twists and turns happened. Five years after BuYi requested for posting to guard the Northern border, Niao Niao found herself considering marriage with Yuan Shen who had been patiently waiting for her.
What I like about Part 2:
- It continued the theme that the righteous won and the wicked were punished.
- So often Chinese dramas supported the unworthy heir because he was the legitimate eldest son - there was this fear of upsetting the Confucious moral ideal of loyalty but not this - the capable one who put in the effort to win eventually won.
What I do not like about Part 2:
- The last few episodes were a drag and a lot of trivia was added to the drama. This drama could have been completed within 50 episodes limit, without dragging Yuan Shen into a marriage consideration. And he could have been happily married to his selected lady.
- Like a lot of Chinese dramas, the ending was awkward. It wanted to give a final twist and it did not achieve that impact.
- I did not really like the way Niao Niao's response to BuYi pushing her away which resulted in a big rift between them. She should understand that he had a need to keep his investigation a secret as any leak could jeopardise his life and he was also trying to keep her family safe. The writer should work on a better reason for the rift.
- I felt sorry for Yuan Shen as I thought he was as worthy of Niao Niao as Buyi. Although much better at looking after his own interest and somewhat scheming, he was more able to understand Niao Niao and accommodate her, initially in a provocative way and later in more gentle way. But unfortunately, Niao Niao could not forget her true love. Hopefully, I had not given too much away with this comment.
- Too much save the damsel in distress by the main lead - should give some chance to the other two admirers to confuse who would eventually end up with her. Also, it was so cliche that he always appeared at the right moment when there was someone else nearer to her.
- The battle scenes were a bit lacklustre as compared to The Rebel Princess and some others.
I rated Part 2 a point less than part 1. Overall the full drama was worth watching if you are into romance story as this drama was more a romantic story - the politics and wars were just the backdrop.
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Suspenseful but slow-moving
Hmm... what should I say about this drama? This is largely an internal family rivalry story with politics at the court as backdrop. Generally very good but did not create not much of an impression. The story is full of suspense but a slow-moving start made me impatient and I went on to watch the last episode before I decide to continue. By then, it had spoiled the suspense. But for the viewers who have not done this, I am sure the suspense would have been quite worth the while.Overall the story is good but there were too many convenient moments when the hero appeared suddenly and saved the heroine. I thought some of the saving the damsel in distress could have been done by the rival lover giving it a bit more bite and contention.
With my experience, only a few dramas managed to hit 70 episodes without draggy moments. 50 episodes are usually the best to cover sufficient depth. This drama is full of draggy slow moments.
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Comedy and political conspiracy in one - Amazing is the word befitting.
This is yet another amazing drama released in 2021. The male lead is one of the most handsome Chinese actors I have come across. He has this refined scholarly look which I am sure mesmerised a lot of female fans, and for the male viewers: many pretty actresses. I was drawn into watching the drama because of him. He and the female lead both sang the theme songs as well - truly multi-talented. The soundtrack is sentimental and melodious - one of the best Chinese drama soundtracks. The two leads had this amazing chemistry - making the romance and courting scenes sensational. The pace was good with hardly any lull moments. The costumes worn by the lead actress were outstanding.The first half of the drama was about how the two lead characters met and sought to get closer to the other with ulterior motives and for political reasons. They fell truly in love in spite of their differences in talents and interests. As they struggled through self-denial, jealousy started to emerge as other parties stepped into the picture. The humour and funny scenes really cracked me up. The video clips at the beginning and end were too much of a give-away on this - should have left some suspense on who the duchess would eventually chose.
Tension however built during the second half as the conspiracy and fight for the throne intensified and it became chaotic, although with humour interspace throughout. The two went through thick and thin to save the Ban family and help the crown prince.
The story is quite run-of-the-mill in Chinese dramas: love triangles, fight for the throne, jealousy, misunderstanding, rejecting the other in the belief it was for their good, tripping and falling into the arms of the other, saving the damsel in distress - all the common themes and tricks. It is the acting that makes this drama good. Of course, these are common emotions in real life with fight between princes for the throne a common historical occurrence in Chinese history.
The regret the drama left was the crown prince continued to look incompetent even at the end, which seemed not worth the fights to help him re-gain the throne. Somehow, I felt that the throne really should go to Rong, for he was the truly capable one. But this would be very much against the Confucious teaching of loyalty I guess. The writer could have given it a twist here.
With the ban on filming due to the pandemic lifted, loads of good Chinese dramas are released and we will see loads of it and this is one of them.
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Power-struggle, romance and jealousy
This drama will capture your attention within a short time into the first episode. The usual hygiene factors rolled in: handsome actors, beautiful actresses, good acting skills, great on-screen chemistry between the leads, exciting story, lovely cinematography and lovely ending theme song. I certainly put it among the top dramas I had watched.54 episodes is a good length for this story – sufficient to cover the story in sufficient depth with only a few lull moments. I had seen worse ones with draggy time-fillers.
Tiffany Tang and Luo Jin had this amazing chemistry and on checking the Internet they were married in 2018, no doubt falling in love while acting together in the numerous dramas they shared.
In this story, there were two classes of villains – the totally evil like the ChiYun family and the deceptive third sister whom you would hate throughout the drama, and those who showed a bit of conscience like the Tuoba Yu whom I empathised with at moments.
Storyline was quite sensible and realistic – no far-fetched scenes, at least none of those magical cure by internal energy transfer kind of crap, although there was a couple flying scenes in the first episode but the 'flyer' was aided by someone. These are interesting in fantasy dramas but spoil a period drama.
There were a few lovely music pieces like the ending theme song but the melody in the opening theme song is a little lacklustre.
However I must say a lot of similar themes were repeated over and over in Chinese dramas and in this – heros/heroines got framed again and again, disguise was so good they fooled everyone – wonder why no one picked up the difference in the voice, the villains were always lucky in their evil ways, and of course revenge which is a beaten to death theme in Chinese drama. If a couple of the framing scenarios were removed and the drama was shortened, it could work better.
I have a bit of a spoiler here – it had a sad ending although I cannot say it is a tragedy. The prelude of each episode gave away too much of how the story concluded although not the entire final ending.
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I had watched this quite a while ago and could not remember all the details but I remember the drama kept me chasing episodes after episodes. If you know the director of this drama also directed Ten mile peach blossom, Love and destiny, Journey of flower, you know the standard to expect.
Insofar, I have only been impressed with 6 actors who are masters with facial expressions and capable of wrenching viewers' hearts - Luo YunXi, Hu Ge, Wallace Huo, Wang Yibo and Zhang Zhen. The actors and actresses in this drama are great but are not in this league yet and therefore the drama is not of that emotional intensity.
Although I would not put it amongst the top league of Nirvana in Fire, Love and Destiny, Ten mile peach blossom, the Untamed etc it is nevertheless a very good production worth watching.
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Detective Story
Shen Yi was young and talented with potential to become a great artist as according to his art tutor. Additionally, he had the ability to read very accurately human behaviours.One day, a woman approached him to draw what a child on a photo would look like as an adult. This unfortunately led to the death of a detective Lei Yi Fei who was undercover to investigate a human trafficking ring.
Driven by guilt, Shen Yi joined the police force to help investigate into this case and to help solve serious crimes with his skills. There he met Du Cheng who was a subordinate and close friend of Lei Yi Fei who was killed. Du Cheng hated Shen Yi because he was unable to recall the face of the woman who approached him. As a result, they were unable to solve the case for over 5 years. However, the duo was forced to work together.
As with a lot of detective stories, this drama held a lot of mysteries, surprises (or not so much of a surprise), and suspense to hold your attention. However, in some, it felt a bit shallow and a bit simplistic. Nevertheless, it is still entertaining.
Each crime story ended as the culprit was captured without any mention of what happened in court or the sentencing. I suspect this was to be very diplomatic and not to be drawn into any controversies.
I am typically generous with my ratings and my rating usually ends up higher than the average rating on mydramalist if I like the drama. I am a fan of Tan Jian Ci and I chose this drama because of him. An average rating of 8.7 is very high on mydramalist.com; this would place it among the top rated dramas. However, on my rating scale, it is worth 8.5 which to me is very good, but not among the top league of dramas I had watched.
Still, I say, it is worth watching if you like detective stories.
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Interesting drama but a bit cliche
This was the first drama that Lin GengXin and Zhao LiYing reconvened, years after Princess Agent which they co-acted and was a huge hit. The sequel of Princess Agent never saw the light of day after much talk - I suspect it was pretty much toast. This drama was very much like a compensation and definitely appealed to their fans.ShenLi was bestowed the title of General Bi Cang and was a powerful God of War. When pressured into a political marriage, she ran away and was seriously injured. She fell to the mortal realm reverting to her phoenix body and was mistaken as a chicken. A human chicken seller picked her up and sold her to Xing Yun, a sickly human.
Strangely Xing Yun seemed to be able to tell that she was a phoenix, spoke to her in her language and treated her injuries. Shen Li was suspicious of his identity and distrusted him. Aside from her clan trying to capture her, they faced threats from a human lord who was out to get them. Back in the celestial world, trouble was brewing. Unknown forces were gathering strength to take over.
Of course, there were plenty of secrets to be uncovered?. Why was Xing Yun well-versed in celestial battle formation and yet had no celestial power? What was ShenLi's mentor and head of her clan hiding from her? Who was behind the trouble in the celestial world?
On the whole, the story was interesting. However, having watched as much Chinese dramas as I have (many of which are fairy tales / xianxia) the story was somewhat cliche and felt very much like more of the same. Additionally, the ending was somewhat lame.
A rating of 8.7 is very high on mydramalist. While waiting for the rest of the episodes to be released, I was distracted and went on to watch In Blossom, with Liu XueYi and Ju JingYi as leads. This had a much lower rating of 8.1. But I thought it was more interesting. I felt that the fan base had a lot to do with it. With Lin GengXin and Zhao LiYing as the lead actors, it definitely boosted the rating of the drama. It rated this drama 8.5 and In Blossom 9.5 (the opposite to their ratings on this portal).
Overall, it is a very good production and is worth watching. This is especially true if you had not watched much of Chinese fairy tale dramas. Otherwise you might just felt the same as I had - cliche.
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Feel good factor
The best part of this drama was the outstanding cast. Chemistry among them was great - the married couple (main leads), the sworn brothers and sister - of which there were many. Liu YueYi was outstanding in the portrayal of the villain and he got me really hating the character. Aside from this, the story on the whole was interesting although you could find numerous illogical parts in them and too many coincidences.Gu JiuSi 's parents were in a hurry to find him a bride before the emperor's decree arrived for him to marry the princess. Mistaking the joke he played on Liu YuRu who he actually disliked as an expression of true affection, his parents hurriedly arranged for them to get married. The marriage was immediately accepted by YuRu's greedy parents as the Gus were very wealthy. They were married much to each others anguish. YuRu was in love with another and JiuSi thought she was a very scheming girl. There were numerous funny incidents arising from this.
However, their lives were thrown together as they had to weather through thick and thin, first trying to escape the predatory Yangzhou governor who were out for their wealth and then in YouZhou where they had to fight to defend the provincial capital from the attack of Prince Liang. Their paths finally took them to high positions in the country capital where more dangers awaited them.
There were many illogical parts which you could poke holes at. Why would the Empress Dowager insisted on marrying the Princess to JiuSi who was already married by then, when there were so many eligible bachelors including the Crown Prince of the new dynasty? Why did the emperor appoint the treacherous Luo Zishang as the Grand Tutor when there were better choices? What kind of medicine could make a person looked dead and then revived? This seemed to be a favourite tact in Chinese dramas and was so cliche. Why chose to stay at an inn which was obviously owned by the governor? The explanation that it was to be right under his nose so he would overlook was so illogical. And just by selling cosmetics, one can get so rich in so short a time, really?
And there were too many convenient coincidences. JiuSi and YuRu fainted on arriving in YouZhou just as Zhou Ye arrived to find them. YuRu arrived back in YangZhou just as Ye ShiAn was at the checkpoint to let them through. YuRu's mother fell of the cliff to be rescued by Ye ShiAn. If it happened otherwise, they would be toast. Always at the edge of danger, rescue came. Coincidences happened in life but just not so frequent and so fortunate.
Many things were not explained. How did Luo ZiShang rise from an orphaned beggar to be so influential? Why did he mistook the wrong father?
There were however some suspenseful parts which would make you clench your teeth and swear at the foolishness and stubbornness of some of the characters: General Zhou's wilful rejection of the emperor's attempt to connect, and the young Crown Prince's stupidity in not being able to see through and handle the Grand Tutor's scheming.
Finally, there was the feel good factor at the end. The capable and righteous became emperor, not yet another child emperor who was there because of lineage.
Overall, in spite of my nitpicking, I think this drama was very entertaining and worth watching.
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Xue FangFei was the daughter of an integrous magistrate who was wrongly accused and sentenced to death. She was murdered and buried alive by her husband whom she loved. The husband was a very conflicted personality - in the drama, you would witness his struggle. Rescued by Jiang Li who eventually died due to ill-treatment, she took on her identity.
She assumed two huge responsibilities - how to get Jiang Li's stepmother to admit her crimes, and to investigate and exposed the mastermind behind the extermination of the Xue family. To return to the capital, she made use of Duke Su, known for his ruthlessness, and for which she received both help and retaliation.
Of course, you have Wu JinYan (Xue FangFei) of Yanxi Palace fame as the lead actress, acting once again an intelligent woman seeking and upholding justice. And then, there was Wang XingXue (Duke Su) who had a flair for selecting and performing well in good dramas. His last four dramas were all above rating of 8 on mydramalist.com; the Kunning Palace was one of them. He is certainly very young to have earned these accolades.
The plot was interesting as both FangFei and Duke Su had their share of scheming and being schemed against. You watched wondering what they were going to do next to counter the traps set for them, and whether the dangerous schemes they set for their antagonists might backfire. And for sure sometimes they did. When Duke Su handed over his army tally to the Princess to entice her brother to hasten the rebellion, you would expect him to have also a back-up plan to re-secure his power besides relying on the army from an ally. But he did not - I thought this was a pretty dangerous and foolish gamble.
This, as I understood, was the adaptation of a novel with some significant changes from the original story. The original was more of a supernatural setting but this was more down to earth.
It is worth pointing out here that the sound track was outstanding - one of the best in Chinese drama and witnessing a return of good music pieces to dramas after the pandemic. I love the theme songs and the two instrument pieces played at the entry examination.
Whenever there is an actress who is significantly older than her male counterpart, or acting a maiden much younger than herself, there is always the question whether they would be able to bring out the chemistry. Very often they do. So I would say to viewers not to discriminate on this basis. The camera, make-up and excellent acting can often overcome this.
There was however an unexplained scene - how did FangFei escaped from being buried alive as she was tied up and knocked unconscious. It showed Jiang Li finding her near a river, but how did she get there?
While the story and plots were relatively original, the themes of fighting for the throne and revenge for misjustice were a little overused and somewhat stale and cliche. They made good stories for a period drama, but would be nice to watch something of a different theme for a change. However, if you have not watched as many Chinese dramas as I have, this would not affect you.
Overall, I was debating whether to give it a 9.5 or a 10. Eventually I settled for the former for the last two reasons above.
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Don't be cynical about love
Overall, I rate this drama very well. An interesting story, a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music.The story centred around Ren RuYi and Ning YuanZhou. The former was the leader of the female spy ring of the Kingdom of An, who was presumed dead. The latter was the newly reinstated head of the LiuDaoTang, the spy ring of the rival Kingdom of Wu. King of Wu lost the battle with An and was captured and imprisoned. The King of An demanded ten thousand ingots of gold for his release, to be delivered by a Wu prince.
RuYi was running away from being captured in the Wu kingdom and ended up hiding in YuanZhou's residence. Meantime, Yuan Zhou was appointed the leader of the delegation to deliver the the gold to An. The only prince capable of travelling to An was also the Regent ruling in the absence of the King of Wu and it was deemed too risky to lose him. Motivated by promise of rewards, Princess YangYing volunteered to be the 'Prince'. YuanZhou engaged the help of RuYi to coach YangYing on the ways of the An. So this delegation of people oddly thrown together had to make their way to An and rescue the King. How many would return safely?
What I like about this drama?
1. In a way, this story was along the similar theme as A Journey to You, a theme of a spy in the opposite camp who developed a Stockholm Syndrome. But the story development was a lot more interesting and the ending was a lot more appealing.
2. It was sad and cheerful at the same time - it spiced up your senses. Who could say that the world is perfect. Therefore we don't expect a perfect ending for everyone. Many did not make it back to the Wu Kingdom. But we rejoice that some found their own happiness eventually.
3. The story was interesting and original in its own ways. No plagiarism observed. and certainly different from 'A Journey to You'.
4. There were a lot of philosophical lessons in the drama. Many were very in tuned into human nature. I laughed at the lessons in relationship that ShiSan was teaching Chu Yue - somewhat crappy, somewhat wise. And in episodes 18 and 19, the lead characters were trying to sort out where they would eventually settle after their missions. This is so apt even in contemporary real life settings.
5. Chemistry between YuanZhou and RuYi was very well played out by Liu ShiShi and Liu YuNing. When RuYi insisted that YuanZhou was her choice of the father of her child and insisted on only a physical relation with him with no emotional attachment, it was hilarious.
6. The second male lead, Allen Fang, YiLun also brightened the drama a lot, acting as ShiSan. He was hilarious. It is the first time i saw him as a comic character, a departure from his usual stony face character. Hope to see him as first lead in a good drama.
6. All the hygiene factors were there: a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music. And the opening and ending theme songs were beautiful.
What I do not like about this drama?
1. While there were some wise lessons to be taught in the drama, there were also some crap. RuYi was name calling her disciple as the illegitimate child when this was his Achilles' heels. Yet he accepted her ill-treatment and fell in love with her - I could not understand this. So one was masochistic and the other sadistic? And they complement each other? No compliments and encouragements - no wonder there are so much anger in some people. Imagine being criticised, beaten and name called all the time.
2. The final pretence was not convincing. How did someone surrounded and stabbed by the enemy soldiers survive?
For the last two points, I took half a point away from a perfect 10 but highly recommend this drama.
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A lovely combination of fairytale, romance and adventure
This is a very entertaining fairytale drama (xianxia in Chinese terminology). And the kids will love it with the mix-in of cartoon-like and half-animal characters.What I like about this drama?
- Story is interesting. Although it does not have that extraordinary surprise or twist, it does conceal a lot of mystery which are revealed as the drama progresses.
- The bad guys lose and the good guys win. This approach always work for me as it appeals to my strong sense of justice.
- Good looking cast. This is likely the most prominent drama that Neo Hou acted in since 'A Girl Like Me' which was hilarious. He is undoubtedly the best looking actor in this drama. Zhou Ye is very pretty too, she is outstanding when she is dressed as the dark aura master. Acting as a Taoist girl, she is more like the girl next door - a bit plain.
- CGI and special effects are very good. Costumes are good too although not too elaborate but befits the characters.
What I do not like about this drama?
- The selection of actors for the various roles are good except for Zhang Lan and Chen Yi. Kenny Kwan who acts the parts of these twins is very good looking and does the part well. In age, he is old enough for the character, but in looks he appears younger than his son and daughter. It looks a bit weird when his son addresses him as father. Perhaps the roles should be reshuffled. He is better acting Lu Mu Sheng who captures the heart of SuYing.
- The on-screen chemistry between Neo Hou and Zhou Ye as leads is good but not as endearing as between him and Guan Xiao Tong in 'A Girl Like Me'.
- The ending is not properly explained. How did the new dark aura master vanish and then resurrect?
I am deciding whether to give it a 8.5 which is what I would usually give to a drama of similar quality, but decide to give it a 9 instead for its overall production.
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Wow... easily the best Korean drama I have watched to-date in a modern setting.
I have always a bias towards a period drama - falling for their beautiful costumes and ancient architecture. So when I started on this drama, I was kind of sceptical and it was more of a time filler while I waited for other period dramas with excellent rating to be release online. But wow.... I was carried away. It is intense, with all the elements which made it exciting and interesting.As instructed by the third generation Vice-Chairman, Yoon Hyun Woo retrieved a slush funds kept overseas by the Jin family who controlled the Soonyang conglomerate. He was killed while on his way back. He woke up back in time in the body of the youngest of the founder's grandchildren, Jin Do Jun. He was able to capitalise on the memories of his previous life to become exceedingly rich investing and divesting at the right moment and won the attention of his grandfather who had been very cold toward his father, mother and their children as he disapproved of his father's marriage.
What I liked about this drama?
1. The story was very interesting - a mix of family rivalry, commercial competition, corporate takeover, collusion of money and politics, romance and rejection - all worked in for the perfect effect. And an excellent lesson in the post-World War history and economic development of Korea.
2. The cast was fantastic. Some of them acted multiple personalities in the drama. The lead actor, Song Joong Ki, of course did very well, first as the subservient Yoon Hyun Woo and then as the daring Jin Do Jun, which brought the story alive. The second lead, Lee Sung Min acting the grandfather was absolutely outstanding. He first acted the charismatic, domineering, ruthless business leader, then the feeble pitiful confused old man very convincingly. The support actress Kim Shin Rok was excellent too - acting the overbearing Jin daughter then a drunkard when she lost all her money.
3. It was very dramatic and there were hardly any dull moment and it was jammed packed with happenings. There was perhaps an episode when things seemed to get a bit dull as we witnessed Jin Do Jun succeeding in investing and divesting as he ride through the economic boom and bust - with more of the same happening. But that was quickly turned around and the pace of the drama resumed.
4. The ending was brilliant. I was wondering how the writer was going to deal with two of the same persons living in the same era and it was very nicely handled. There was the sadness of someone killed and someone living again. It was also brilliant how a revenge turned into a case of justice.
5. The music was very mysterious and dramatic to match the development of the drama.
What I did not like about the drama? Cannot recall any - definitely going to watch it a second time and come back to fill in, if any.
Further thoughts about the drama: The grandfather Jin Yang Cheol's insistence on primogeniture, the passing of inheritance to the eldest offspring definitely triggered the intense rivalry in the family. Parents have to be careful not to invoke feeling of jealousy among their children. If grandfather Jin had treated his children more fairly and encouraged a feeling of win-win and interdependence, there won't be such intense rivalry to the detriment of the family. Perhaps it was his sense of indebtedness to his eldest son who went to prison to save the business and his bringing up the eldest grandson which nurtured the closeness, that brought about this.
Thumbs up all round for this drama.
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