Q I U
From Parallel Universe
Better than I expected
It is probably the most satisfying liveaction I’ve ever watched. I usually avoid Liveactions as 9 out of 10 LA are so poorly done, and cringey. Part of the reason why I enjoyed this chinese adaption is bc I didn’t read the original manga, but still as a normal sports drama, it exceeded my expectations.STORY
Brilliant!
Previously I watched Chinese adaptation of Prince of Tennis, which was just so-so imo, so I didn’t have high expectations for Hikaru, either. Besides, when I saw posters of Hikaru, they were like some trashy posters for typical bad dramas..
But then I saw so many positive reviews on Douban and here on MDL, so I gave it a try... I am surprised and got hooked. I went into this totally blind so everything was a surprise. I laughed watching those funny moments, and cried so hard while watching sad scenes.
ACTING
Splendid!
Most of them are new faces, I have seen ML in NiF 2 but I haven’t seen other main actors. Some supporting characters are from My Huckleberry Friends, so I am quite familiar with them.
All of them are brilliant. From main character like Shi Guang to minor character like Wu Di, all of them impressed me.
Director’s cameo as Lazy Monk was a pleasant surprise as well.
BROMANCE/FRIENDSHIP
Do you know what’s the best thing about this drama?
Of course, it is bromance and friendship.Friends motivating each other, helping each other out, and the best thing is bringing them out of their darkest moments.
Bromance? This is the best part of drama..
My favorite two characters are Chu Ying and Hong He. Ofc I loved Shi Guang.
MUSIC
I noticed that some songs are quite good, but I haven’t fully listened to them. But ending song was nice.
So here are some SPOILERS...( If you haven’t watched, pls don’t read)
I have some small complaints;
1.Hong He quitting Go?
It is a little disappointing, with many obstacles he has gone through to become a professional player. He just quitted like that? And from his dad’s expressions, I can tell that his dad wants him to continue playing..
It is quite a relief that Shi Guang said he will continue persuading Hong He
So the drama should have given a proper solution to Hong He’s problem before ending
2.Episode 34
I have already cried my eyes out in Ep 32 and 33, but Ep 34 was super hard to watch. Shi Guang was like I’ll forget everything about Go bc Chu Ying left.
I expected this but this arc was longer than I expected.
These problems are very small... so small that these didn’t change my opinion about this drama.
I would say it deserves high ratings and it is definitely worth watching.
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Cute, Meaningful, and Heartwarming
Omg I love this show, and why shouldn’t I love such a cute show?Here is a very short review:
This show is like Back to 1989(Taiwan show) female version with similar concept but better executed. As a huge fan of time-travel and youth(high school) dramas, this show was definitely my type. Things I enjoy most are mother/daughter relationship and main characters’ development. FL can be annoying at times but it is not unreasonably annoying and she has her own reasons for that.
Casts are not super well known, but acting is quality, especially our two female leads; Amy Chen and Zhaung Da Fei. Though male characters aren’t as important, Chen Jun He and Duan Xiao totally captured my hearts
High School part is well done and I’d rate it highly for nostalgia.
But again, it is not a perfect drama, and it has some flaws; some parts should be explained more clearly and Wu Zhi Xun character development is a little disappointing
But it is understandable...
Overall, I love it!
If you are a fan of time travel or high school dramas, I highly recommend it
And watch it for nostalgia, it is worth your time.
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Best Light on Series for me....
So many people comparing it with Bad Kids so here is my opinion:It is a well-executed drama with top-notch acting.
I won’t say it is better than Bad Kids because these two dramas give different vibes though written by the same author. But I’d say it deserves 9.2 on Douban and it is definitely worth your time.....
Story- 9/10
Story is like investigation+mystery, revealing clues in small doses in each episode
It didn’t use unnecessary twists like a good guy turning bad in the last moment...
Yet first few eps were a little bit confusing as multiple characters were introduced, but as the story continues, it gets better and better...
I love that every little thing,I didn’t understand in the early eps were all solved in the last few eps
The plot is heavy and you need to give full attention to the plot as it shows past and present days alternatively
Acting-10/10
Well, Actings in all Light on Series are top notch, and Long Night further proved it
Bai Yu’s acting in last few eps were brilliant and mind-blowing
Liao Fan acting is quite impressive as well
All Veteran actors did their best, I love the trio moments most, and how they helped each other
Others Aspects
In some parts, dubbing was a lil off but it is fine overall. Editing is good, far better than Crimson River.
I love how they show things like “Laws are sometimes useless, rich people doing whatever they want, and how corrupted some authorities are”
You know a drama is good when it makes you cry
I cried for at least 3 times, so it is def a good drama.
If you want a serious theme drama, this is definitely for you
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Best Detective Drama in Chinese History...
Watching this drama is the best decision I have made as it is so much better than I expected.This is probably the best drama I have watched recently.Here are my opinions on this drama:
Story: Story follows a beautiful girl, who was murdered in her apartment and several suspects telling the story in their own versions. I like how the story is executed, it is surprisingly very interesting as same event/ same thing was told in different versions by different suspects. Mystery part of this drama is very well done as I am on the edge of my seat throughout the whole drama.
It is one of those dramas where you can‘t stop clicking the next ep because each episode ended with a cliffhanger/surprise twist.
Acting: I know Angelababy’s acting has always been a hot topic in Weibo but I am sure this is her best work so far. She perfectly fits the MeiBao character and I believe it is very well done. I like all other veteran casts and am so satisfied that they did their best jobs.
Special mention : the Actor who played as MeiBao’s stepdad is so impressive as I feel disgusted by his words, and his expressions.
Other aspects: This drama also addresses several hot issues such as child abuse, domestic violence, PickUp Artsts, Unfair Law Enforcement, etc.
Cinematography is of high quality, camera shots are very well done and ofc the ending song is so good.
Though I mentioned so many good things, still there are some Plot-holes, but plot holes are not inevitable in detective dramas and they are not that obvious.
I’d highly recommend this drama to everyone who would like this genre, it is the best one released this year...
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This review may contain spoilers
This is not what I expected
(This is for ep1-22 as it was written when I was watching)I am not dropping this drama but it really disappoints me with the way the plot is going, so I am gonna do a short review.
Story- I’d give first 11 episodes 10/10, but ep 12 onwards 3/10. If you are currently watching, you can understand why. First 10 or 11 eps are brilliantly done, capturing our hearts with heart-warming family scenes, but ep 12 onwards, I didn’t enjoy that much anymore.
First reason : I don’t understand why they are using the same logic again. I don’t believe both of the non-biological brothers like a girl whom they sincerely treated as a sister before. It creeps me out though Song Wei Long and Zhang XinCheng are good-looking.I still feel awkward when Ling Xiao tried to kiss Jian Jian in her sleep, it was so sudden and it is really creepy.
Second Reason : Something’s wrong with Script writers, They should just go with family scenes and it’d be a very good drama but now what did they do? They put all secondary characters in a loop relationship. Tang Can likes ZiQiu’s friend but ZiQiu’s friend likes Qi Ming Yue. Qi Ming Yue likes Ling Xiao but Ling Xiao likes Jian Jian.It is so messy.
So why didn’t I drop this and still watching?
Reason : Because of spectacular acting and I am curious how they will solve such messy relationships.
Edited (After Watching Final ep) -the story picked up again at ep 29 or 30. I really like Zhang Xin Cheng’s acting here, he did a very good job expressing his emotions.I really love certain scenes, such as family and friendship moments. But again, I still don’t feel right with Romance aspect. I still feel awkward with Ling Xiao x Jian Jian couple moments, she was still calling him “brother” and I still can’t imagine them as “Lovers”, as their interactions are sometimes like brother & sister. I had to fast-forward those couple moments and watch other scenes, which I still find interesting.
It wasn’t that bad for me to drop it but I surely didn’t enjoy as much as others. I still think it could be done a lot better if they mainly focus on family moments.
This is only my opinion and I mean no offense to all of Go Ahead’s fans
Just because I didn’t like it, doesn’t mean you won’t like it. There are still a lot of people who love it but I won’t recommend this drama if you expected a heart- warming family drama like I did.
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This review may contain spoilers
Could have been better....
A drama full of shortcomings but surprisingly they ain’t enough for me to drop this drama. I have mixed feelings about this one, here are my opinions:1.Story : A typical fantasy drama with flawed script-writing and editing. The drama started quite well, with a certain amount of funny moments. Scenes in Academy are fun to watch but after Ep 12 or 13, it isn’t that fun anymore.
Pacing became a problem after Ep 12.At times, I feel like the story was progressing too slowly but at some moments, they were cut abruptly.They wasted so much screentime on 2nd Couple and Love Triangle stuffs,so main story didn’t progress until ep 20.
Then they have to put so many important parts in a few episodes, thus unnecessarily rushing the important scenes.
2. Acting : Acting is quite decent. Xu Kai, as always, is impressive and cheesy. He more or less carried the whole drama.Wu Jiayi, though criticized by a lot of Netizens, I don’t find her acting that bad.
3.CGI effects
Effects are mediocre but after watching so many C-dramas, it no longer matters that much to me
***Plot Holes***(These contain spoilers)
1. Why doesn’t Su Youlian look surprised at all when she knows Li Xuan’s identity?
This is very poorly done, she should show certain emotions (Maybe it was cut), still it isn’t acceptable.
2.Why would Su Youlian need a rope to go down the mountain when she has wings?
Poor Logic but hmm...
3.Li Xuan’s friends were surprised when they knew that it was Xiao Feng Ming behind the murder but after a few seconds they said Xiao Feng Ming is in power and even Lord Zi can’t beat him, so aren’t they talking things like they knew the real perpetrator is Xiao Feng Ming?
I would take this as a bad editing
4. Where is FL’s master when Li Xuan’s identity is known?
That’s unacceptable, he was literally the most annoying character and I want to see his reaction but hmmm disappointing
Overall, I would rate it as an average drama, it isn’t that good but not a trash either.
It could have been a lot better, but still disappointing.
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Revenge, Revenge and Revenge .....
Firstly, I wrote this review, just to vent my frustrations. Anticipated Ren Jialun x Zhang Huiwen for a long time but what I gained at last were frustrations.Here are some of my opinions:
1.First of all, editing is just terrible. It was like they cut down a 70 eps drama to a 45 one.First two episodes showed very poor editing. Surprisingly though the story got back on track in the mid-eps, it went flat in the later episodes.
2.Writing is very inconsistent. I doubt if the scriptwriter is having mood swings while writing the script. The story is mainly about REVENGE but ML’s mindset doesn’t look like he wants to revenge at all.
They showed FL’s father Rong Jing Feng as an evil villain, but then in the later episodes, he isn’t that evil anymore.
Rong Su (FL’s sister) plotted against FL for dumb reasons in the early episodes but she is always ready to die for FL in the later episodes.
Is it that easy for character to change from being evil to kind-hearted/less evil?
3.Both Ren JiaLun and Zhang Huiwen has already proven that they can act well in their previous dramas but I can’t find any sentimental attachment between their characters. It is not that they can’t act, it is just that they lack chemistry.
4.Tropes are not properly done.We all know that certain tropes are required in a drama but if they are not properly done, the story became a mess.Yes, it was a mess.
My suggestion: If you are a die-hard fan of one of these leads, watch it. If not, it will be a complete waste of time.
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The Queen slayed it .....
Tbh, I went into this drama without any expectations and I felt so satisfied after watching the entire show. I am hesitant to watch modern dramas with more than 24 episodes, because I have seen too much draggy plot where ML and FL fell in love, broke up and then reconcile again. But We are All Alone is an exception, though having 36 episodes, I never felt bored watching this.Things that I like in this drama;
1.Realistic Truth of Drama Industry
I have wanted to watch a show about drama industry long ago, but never found one. This show portrays FL as an agent, encountering ups and downs in her career. Those ups and downs are not unpredictable but very realistic, they show about realistic truth of making and producing dramas, the ugly side of rumors and fandoms.
The story itself is not very special, but it was executed very beautifully.
2. Strong Female Lead
I would not want to see a dumb and unreasonable female lead in this kind of drama. Fortunately, our FL is so strong, and solves things out with her own capabilities. Qin Lan is perfect in this role, she can act very well and I would say the casting choice is very well done.
3. Production value and Acting
I don’t like those Chinese modern dramas with dubbed voice, where the voice is off. But this show uses their own voice, and it was recorded on-set.This makes me love this drama more.
I would say this is the best Godfrey Gao’s best drama I have watched and sadly, who would have thought that it would be his last drama?
Besides ML and FL, all the supporting casts did a very good job as well.
What I don’t like in this drama:
1.Overly Dramatic Lin Xiang
Lin Xiang character played a very important role. She causes all kinds of troubles for our FL, and this is her character, I understand. But sometimes, I feel like she is portrayed as an overly useless character. I think there won’t be an A-list actress as useless as her character portrayed.
2. Too much screentime for FL’s Dad
I would say, I enjoyed the storyline but her dad’s screentime is a little too much. But that’s understandable.
I’d recommend this drama if you would like to escape from lovey dovey stuff and see the life of a career woman. Kudos to the production team and director for making such a high quality drama.
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Fast-Paced and less time-consuming
I have always liked fast-pace, investigation dramas ,and this one is only 12 eps so I decided to give it a try. Here are my opinions on this drama;Story- 8/10
The story is nothing special, but the way they executed is innovative. I was so confused at first, because they were showing the two time periods at the same time, but later I get the direction of the plot.
Still, it is not perfect, at times it isn’t very logical but isn’t most of the crime dramas like that?Thus, I was able to get over those little shortcomings.
Acting- 9.5/10
Story didn’t make the drama special but acting did. Zhu Yawen is impressive as always, he can act either as a funny guy, or a serious one. Thus, I was not surprised by his good acting as I expected it from the beginning. Jin Chen, on the other hand, is a true gem. She is stunningly beautiful and can act superbly.Her chemistry with Zhu Yawen is on fire, their chemistry alone makes the drama worth watching.
I would say, they made the right casting.
Production value- 9/10
The production quality is also top notch. Actors’ voices ain’t dubbed, and cinematography is well done.And there ain’t western foreigners as villains (I am so sick of portraying Foreigners as villains)
Rewatch value- 7/10
It is one of those dramas that you will enjoy at the first time, but not at the second time. I won’t probably watch it again but I will look forward to future works of Jin Chen.
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Legend of awakening (or) The Failure of Plot Twists
I don’t normally watch the currently airing dramas but I gave Awakening a try since I have anticipated it for a very long time.There are a lot of good/ bad comments so I am going to give my opinion;1. Story- The story itself is not very bad, it has its twists and turns. But the execution of the storyline is very poor. It has a very promising start, very interesting till episode 20 or 30 but it suddenly went downhill. Some episodes contain no proper message and they are there just for the sake of dragging the story. I’d say there are too many cliché scenes as well, it was such a huge disappointment.
2. Acting & Chemistry- The casts are not bad but not very outstandingly impressive either. You can see many bad comments about Cheng Xiao , I’d say I like Cheng Xiao as an actress, the acting is not that mediocre but her character in the story is not very likeable.
The main problem is the lack of chemistry. Chemistry between (Lu Ping) Chen Feiyu and (Qin Sang) Cheng Xiao? No.
Chemistry between Xifan and Ling ZiYan? No
I couldn’t feel any emotional love between these two pairs. Su Tang and Mo Lin are not bad tho.
3.Who is the real villain?
It is where the twist failed. I can understand ,the director wanted to surprise us by telling us that the villain is not who we guessed before, but it failed. It failed to the point that I lost focus. One villain killed ML’s parents and another villain is gonna destroy the world, who should ML choose? Just suicide lol
4.Character-in- depth
Su Tang, portrayed as ML’s younger sister, lacks character background. We don’t know who she is or where she comes from, I thought the Director is going to surprise as by telling us that her parents are someone powerful? But, no.
5.Music
The songs are very good.
6. Overall
I fast forwarded a lot of scenes for the sake of completing it. It was a disappointment since it could have been done much better. I kinda regret that I wasted my whole month for this drama.
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1. Very Inconsistent writing
The scriptwriter doesn’t probably know what he is aiming. A friend, who is very close to heroine, is good a moment ago, then turns bad at another moment. And it seems like scriptwriter is doing everything possible to drag the story. I will give you a few example;
Su Yin- played by Tong Li Ya, firstly a very good friend to FL, then for stupid reasons that no one is able to accept, turns bad. And they never told us before that Su Yin was a skilled martial arts, then she is able to fight everyone at the mid-episodes.
Xiao Chun- another one who turns out to be a joke. First a very dumb one, but became really capable after Su Yin’s teaching , then became Nian Geng Yao and suddenly a general.
2.Nonlogical scenes
Some of the scenes don’t make sense, and seems like really a joke to me.
A woman who is recently out of labor, then gets up,travels a certain distance and is still so strong to reason with her husband.
ML timetravelled to the future- I’d be able to accept if he jumps to the wall and timetravelled but he suddenly disappeared under the sun? So ridiculous
3. Very poor sound system
They used so much BGM, which overshadowed the dialogue.
Overall
I still continue watching because I want to watch Yang Mi and FSF, Fastforwarded the last few episodes because I can’t stand anymore. The only positive thing is Yang Mi and FSF’s chemistry is on point.
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1.Wuxia/ Mystery Storyline
As a big fan of Wuxia, I have watched all sorts of Wuxia dramas.But this kind of Wuxia/ Mystery dramas are very rare. The plot is not unpredictable but interestingly executed. It has its twists and turns and a certain amount of cliffhanger at every episode.
2. Superb Chemistry/Acting
I would say the actors are kinda new faces to me. I have never seen the male lead before.Though I have watched Female lead in Eternal love of Dream, her role is only a few episodes.
But both of their actings are top notch, their chemistry is on point. 2nd Male lead and other support’s actings are very impressive as well.
3.Impressive Cinematography
I don’t know it is whether a high budget drama or not but the fighting scenes are beautifully done. The cinematography can give a kind of Jianhu vibe.
4.Overall
Osts are quite well done too.Overall, it is not a perfect drama but I still like it. It is not time consuming and fast paced.
I would recommend it to all wuxia fans
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This review may contain spoilers
After watching for 42 episodes, what I gained at last is pure frustrations. I was hoping a better romantic plot but my wish didn’t come true. I had waited quite a long time for english subs, so that I completed this relatively old drama just now(2020).But there are still some points that I find it fun to watch, Here are some of my opinions on this drama;Good points;
1.Colourful casts
Well, I am surprised by the supporting casts which seem like a collection of soon-to-become famous casts; Dilraba Dilmurat, Sun Yi, Vengo Gao, Sophie Zhang, and Merxat Yalkun, Guan Xiao Tong in one drama. This is just wonderful.
2.Character of female lead
Female lead(played by Jing Tian) is joyful and easy going girl.She is strong and has quite amazing problem solving skills.It is quite fun to watch this kind of strong female lead character.
3.Love Triangle & multiple side couples
I am not a fan of love triangle but I must admit that I like this one. Deng Zhi( played by Li Jiaheng) is captivating, personally I find him more interesting than male lead.
Other side couples are even better than the main couple too.
Bad Points
1.Romance
Romantic entanglement is poorly written.ML spent most of the early episodes by missing his old lover.Even after he is together with FL, he is still missing his old lover.Besides, I find ML pretty useless and indecisive. His time with FL is mostly spent by scolding and lecturing FL.
Then at the later episodes, his old flame suddenly appeared, and his decision making skill is pretty useless.
I am quite frustrated with the portrayal of the male lead after all.
2.Poor Chemistry between the two leads
Though I like Zhang Zhe Han in Legend of Yun Xi, I find that his acting is stiff and have poor chemistry with Female lead. I can’t find the couple’s sweet moments either.This is probably my first time that I don’t want FL to be together with ML.
3. Plot holes
I think several points in plot don’t make sense. For example, FL wasn’t well-versed in literature at first, but after learning for one or two months, she suddenly became a very good teacher.
Her reunion with her brother is also poorly directed, it can be made much better.
Overall
First few episodes were quite good. Though I don’t like the romance part, I still like how FL survived in the palace and many supporting casts.
It can be made much more better but what’s done is relatively an average drama.
This is just my opinion, if you have free time, you can try it.
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Not as bad as you think....
As a fan of both Yang Mi and Wallace Huo, I was so hyped about this drama when I saw that it was going to be aired, later I saw that the ratings are not very high but anyway I gave it a try. Yeah,it was not a perfect drama but it is not as bad as people rated. Overall I still enjoyed it thoroughly,Here are some things that I like and dislike;
1.100% solid acting
A lot of people said Yang Mi’s actings is not that great, but in my opinion, she was doing fine.She perfectly delivered what she had to deliver, weak when she was young, then became stronger and her eyes show how determined she was to protect her loved ones. You can say whatever you like but I still think Yang Mi is one the greatest actresses in mainland china. I cried when she cried, laughed when she laughed, this is how a good actress drew me into the plot.
Wallace Huo, one of my top 3 chinese actors, is superb.From Chinese paladins to Battle of changsha, he has acted in almost all kinds of dramas. Of course, needless to say,his acting is solid.
2.Draggy, Painful but acceptable plot
Well I agree with most of you that the plot is very draggy. 60 episodes for contemporary dramas is just too much, there are many scenes that can be cut.Yes, it is very painful too. I was never a fan of painful plot but maybe I like this one because of Yang Mi and Wallace Huo.I endured painful scenes, skipped some scenes, and enjoyed the happy ending.
3.Beautiful costumes and good cinematography
Yang Mi, throughout the drama, wore several beautiful republican era costumes. I feel satisfied only by watching this.
Cinematography is nice as well.
4.Songs
Songs are great.Jane Zhang and Yisa Yu, two most famous mainland chinese singers sang the osts. It was indeed very good.
5.Rewatch value
I won’t watch the whole drama again for sure, but I will watch the sweet moments between Fu Han Jun and Shen Qi Nan.
6.Overall
Overall, it is a good drama, though it can be made much better. If you are a fan of either of the two leads, you should watch it, it won’t waste your time.
Anyway, I enjoyed it and Fu Han Jun will remain in my heart forever.
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1.Solid acting from the casts
Though the casts seem rather new faces to me, their actings are quite solid. The male lead looks quite young in the drama( but actually not very young), his acting is impressive.
Iriene Song(though I don’t like her in Ever Night) looks more cute in a modern drama, she has a baby face and her acting has much more improved.
2.Friendship
This drama doesn’t have much romance, I don’t think it needs romance as well. But their teamwork, solid friendship, affections, unity all made up for that lack of romance.
3.Watchable but Draggy plot
The plot needs to be a little shortened. Though we can all predict who will win and who will lose, I still enjoy the matches. But the plot is too draggy while showing the preparation period (I understand that animes are like that). I don’t also like the unnecessary conversations between Da Chi and Jiale (bromance but looks like they are flirting )
There are unnecessary fillers as well, so I skipped some of those scenes.
4. Overall
As I mentioned above, it is fun to watch though.It doesn’t have a dramatic plot but I still enjoyed watching it.
If you don’t have any other interesting drama or tired from those breakup, dramatic plots, it is quite an option to choose.
7.5 is the best rating I can give, 8.7 is too overrated for this one.
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