2ndLeadsBest
infront of a computer screen
Semi Dark comedy delight
I didn't expect this from a C-drama. Story started with a heavy topic but in a comedic way mixed with some artistic visuals and deep troubled thoughts. ML and FL did an awesome job acting out the characters. They had good chemistry and even though it's a short watch the character development was strong. With OST like these, I wished the story expanded as the dialogue was very good.Don't worry it's not truly dark but it does touch up on subjects of suicide, gang life, rape, friend's family betrayal with hope around the corner.
Was this review helpful to you?
Typical revenge drama but very enjoyable!
The recycled revenge drama script continues to be the trend. It's one of the better ones though at as the production quality is very nice. It gives off a darker vibe with vibrant colors. Make up / costume design especially unique. Lots more dark reds right down to the makeup & wardrobe of the ML. Compared to a similar drama like Story of Kunning Palace I think this drama did a better job in terms of storytelling, casting, & production. So even if the script is nothing new, and lots of unbelievable scenes, it's still a great watch!FL/ML pairing works nicely IMO. Both are equally mysterious and calculating. The acting's convincing especially the FL's crying scenes.
FL : I am not familiar with her prior works, but dancer background brings that special grace that non dancer background actors can't fake.
ML: I watched some of his prior works and he can act but in terms of characters, this character is the most interesting thus far
Killer Ex husband: His acting is outstanding. Character is more complex than the ML.
Slow romance:
Their encounters were not overly forced, and the development of the relationship is slowly brewing which I am enjoying. Ep 9 on the leads finally starts to have more interactions. The chemistry becomes more evident in ep 11!
Ending..... UGHHHH honestly the last episode was NOT needed. Did they REALLY need to send ML away for yet another battle? Really could've ended before that.
Was this review helpful to you?
Niche comedy drama
If you only enjoy idol costume drama you'll just need to avoid this one. This is a niche comedy drama probably only Chinese speakers can understand.The whole cast has a local accent, not like an imitated one but natural sounding heavy accent.
Story starts out with Chang Zai, a timid cook (ML) just want a wife. He end up standing in for his Twin brother Chang Hai as the legendary sect leader navigating his way through the world of martial arts. I don't think there's really a directional plot because most of the episodes are just silly every day happenings.
Most of the comedy pokes fun of the martial arts world and not everyone will find it funny. I personally enjoyed it on the side and thought it was pretty entertaining.
Was this review helpful to you?
Best Costume Drama of 2022!
I am so sad that it ended. I honestly could use another 30 ep of this.Sure the drama started out with all the excessive ladies gossiping & doing evil things trying to get the ONLY bachelor in town but aside that minor flaw the story overall was executed close to perfection.
Why the perfect 10
1. ML/FL amazing chemistry. I've seen every Rosy drama but this pairing with Leo Wu was perfect. Leo Wu is just a talented actor since a baby.
2. Supporting cast. There were so many supporting characters that I equally loved in this drama notably:
- 2 Generals by ML for comic relief.
- Mom and Dad of FL. Dad is so funny and the mom's facial expressions always on point. I actually loved her character
- The Emperor and the 2 wives. The emperor especially was entertaining.
- Brother / besties of FL
- 2nd ML , 3rd ML (Yuan Shen) started out annoyingly funny then through character development became a worthy 2nd/3rd lead.
The whole cast was incredible.
3. Story . On the surface it's about love and revenge. However it's got:
-Plot twists. Not overly complicated. Not overly outrageous
- Best character development of main and supporting cast. Shao Shang started as a playful 15 year old. She went through varies struggles to learn about herself and the meaning of true love.
- Family dynamics, relationships between friends, family members
- Strong female characters
4. Beautiful costume, cinematography & music provided that dream land feel.
5. Rewatch Value. I already rewatched 3x.
6. Happy Drama overall. Not like traditional dramas where every character dies because let's face it, SAD endings sucks.
7. Ending of every episodes. Actors playing some games.
8. No cheesy voice dubbing. Unless it's due to actors having thick accents then I would always like to hear their own voices.
Sadly I really felt I want more in the ending not necessary story continuation but more of grand happy ending scene.
Was this review helpful to you?
Started out strong, downhill ep 12 on
The moment she left the train, all logic lost.The story started out fun & interesting, so I thought it was going to be as strong as the drama "Extraordinary you."
Favorite aspects of this drama:
-ML Byeon Woo Seok did an amazing job and surprised me with that singing voice.
-FL Kim Hye Yoon always does a great job with these kinds of roles.
-The pairing is super cute, great chemistry
Not so great....
-Weak supporting characters & stories.
-Pacing started to slow down midway, and the constant crying scenes got repetitive. Nowadays the most annoying trend is for dramas to replay scenes that JUST happened 10 seconds ago as if viewers need a reminder.
-Ep 12 on the script went south as the FL made illogical decisions. And if you just go with those decisions she comes back to current time, shouldn't she try to find the SAME one-dimensional suspect? Girl has a cop friend/2wk ex/15 yrs 2nd lead she can ask..... Running away from the killer situation is not really fixing the source of the problem.
Downfall of many fluffy romances with strong beginning is the sloppy writing at the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing script
I love the leads in many of their roles, so I was excited to see the pairing in this promising drama.No fault to the acting but the script is too absurd.
Matched up with some overly annoying support characters like the Madam Yoo , the ex wife of ML, the Mother of 2nd ML, Female office worker.... it was really hard to watch.
The plot of raising an orphan child bride just served no purpose.
Then pops in the ex wife adding to the annoyingness of the whole story
The few parts I did enjoy:
ML's character in general. His awkwardness and comments in the beginning episodes were hilarious. The more awkward he got the more FL finds him cute.
Gay roommate/BFF/BF/Husband. His character is the most lovable.
Pretty much those are the only factors why I continued with the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] made it!
Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] : HAHAHAHA AI Face passes idol drama level acting! Although, I am not sure if Zhang Hao Wei didn't get cancelled that he could do any better with this boring EX character.Drama is watchable if you enjoy SPECIFIC actors. However put this next to Blossom 九重紫 that's airing right now, it won't compete. From a script, storytelling, characters, couple CP, cinematography, etc etc all fell short. However, if you watch it because you are fan of ML/FL then its enjoyable.
I am big fan of Zheng Ye Cheng. His Peking Opera background makes him a solid choice for these Heroic characters in costume dramas. He doesn't need constant doubles for horseback riding scenes, fight scenes, wire works, walking scenes, kneeling on the ground scenes.... (ahahaha like that 流光引 dude)
So I watch most of his dramas just for him, but he has zero CP w/ all the FLs thus far (expect for the Sleepless Princess).
As great as Tan Song Yun is, the pair just didn't work for me. Again, personal opinion.
Story is typical as is the dialogue. The evil character is always that actor.... Kind of lost count of how many times he played that type of character. It definitely did not need to be 40 episodes.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch
3 people found this review helpful
Make you miss S1
Everything felt differentActing was still ok but the connection didn't feel as strong. Was there really feel of character development? Not really to me.
New addition was a fail. He wasn't funny and maintained his annoying status all the way through.
Evil characters - they out acted the good characters. I really enjoyed them actually. Kim Hieora played a crazy one eyed b*8ch really spiced up the show. I absolutely loved her acting. Kang Ki Young (one of my fav. supporting characters) who always played as the comedic supporting role really pulled off the evil role.
The story had too many loopholes that makes you ask why didn't ... that happen? Made no sense. Sloppy writing honestly.
Still semi enjoyable. if you just focus on the stunts and action. Prob should quite at S2.
Was this review helpful to you?
Love is a repetitive script
Watch if you love the leads as they are both big stars but literally its the same script over and over again. If the story , dialogue is good then a repetitive script with typical otp cliches can be done right. This is not that. Not only that the story was pretty much done for by ep 30 but they dragged it out by another 6.Cliche story goes:
1. A boy who likes a girl in secret ever since a million years ago and never had any other love interest
2. The boy orders the girl around but is secretly helping her
3. Girl is COMPLETELY ignorant and cannot see he's helping her but thinks he's a bully instead
4. Girl is supposedly smart but yet let every one boss her around
5. Mean girl who can't get a clue or won't give up even after the leads got together
6. 2nd Lead who never had a chance but yet won't give up
7. 2nd Lead's confession is 20 ep too late? why not what? and of course the girl had no clue
Supporting couple not strong as well.
Few fun moments but majority is rather dull so if you are a fan of the leads then you might like it. Else skip for a better cliche love scripts that's done right.
Was this review helpful to you?
Started out promising, kind of a mess ending
Drama is packed with good actors and the story started promising (for mystery thriller fans)A questionable murder with multiple suspects. Victim actress has plenty of reasons to be loved and hated so who could be the murderer and why? Is it jealousy? hatred? revenge murder? Combined with a troubled detective unable to move forward obsessed with the case. This is the standard recipe to a promising murder drama.
However, 10 ep in, the story gets overly twisted and complicated. Twists are good but shouldn't be over 3x. Quality over quantity but apparently, they can't stop with the "But way here's another twist plot."
Characters started out likeable, but more & more became unlikeable.
Felt like a hot mess heading to the ending. I did enjoy the solid cast and the real acting.
Was this review helpful to you?
Another great collaboration between Rong Zi Shan & Zhang Song Wen
This drama is definitely not as same level as Bad kids, but the collaboration of Rong Zi Shan & Zhang Song Wen is just so good.If you enjoy dramas such as:
Bad Kids, The Disappearing Child, Homesick.
You'll want to watch this one.
Story pacing is very good. Being 16 short episodes, there weren't any filler episodes.
Likeable lead characters and good story overall.
Expect the annoying bold letters (Yellow in this one) absolutely spelling out everyone's outcomes, but that's how censorship goes.
Was this review helpful to you?
Happy 7 Happy Watch!
This is one of those silly dramas with stupid humor if that's your thing. It might be a good break between serious intense dramas.80% of humor is blah but there's 20% that really hits! I am not sure if this works if you can't understand Chinese because 1/2 of the humor depends on the accent and word play.
Initially I watched for the FL: Bu Guan Jin. She's one phenomenal actress known for her animated expressions. Her character portrayal with her fake accent and expressions definitely don't disappoint.
I don't know if she gotten plastic surgery or just the makeup is overly heavy, but she looks almost unrecognizable here. Yes she's gotten prettier, but I much prefer her natural looks in "Dear Diary" Still! Wonderful actress!
Supporting character Fan Zhong Ju (Actor: Li Yin Wei) would be the 2nd character that delivered the funniest scenes.
As you get through 10 episodes the characters will grow on you and the drama becomes funnier. I end up loved all the characters and the pairings. Sweet funny all the way to the end!
Was this review helpful to you?
Ep 37 she finally wore flats!
I started watching this drama for Dai Xu. It's been so long since I've seen him in a good drama like Burning Ice or the Legends.But this drama is about a gifted housekeeper who can walk in high heels anywhere.
High heels walking on grass
High heels walking in the country side
High heels pushing a wheelchair down the slope
The FL "gifted housekeeper" can fix apparently everyone's problems (other than her own). She's a psychiatrist, a nurse, a nanny all in one. Much of the drama lacks focus since it's about everyone else's stories and not really about her.
I keep watching this for sometime of development but it never really happened.
Honestly the basis of the story line isn't bad. Had they drama focused more on the slow burn development between the FL and the Man bun ML (who will grow on you) then the drama would've been more watchable.
Instead I had to skip through the filler lines and creepy 30+ year old calling "MOMMY" left and right. ...
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond your average Youth Drama
I found this Drama by chance because I enjoyed some of the prior works by the cast. This is not your typical youth drama that you can play on the side because you'll miss out on all the funny moments. It's a shame that this drama is under the radar as the subs are terrible. However if you do at least understand partial Chinese this would be a great pick even if you don't care for debate. Also I watched S2 before S1 and I am glad I did because if I watched S1 I would not go for S2 as the acting was so bad. S1 & S2 are completely independent stories because I saw a few same actors playing completely different characters (like Ma Nan & Tao Hao's ex)What I enjoyed:
1. Cast. After watching Zhai Zi Lu (in "My Calorie boy") & Wu Jai Yi (from "The Letter from the Cloud") I thought the pairing would be super cute. Great chemistry between them and love the pace of development from friends to couple.
Ma Nan (Wang Ze Xuan) - I've only seen this actor in supporting bad guy roles, but his character was my favorite one in the show with the best one liners. Honestly it's a shame he hasn't been in good ML roles.
2. Actual story. Yes its the typical don't give up till you come out of the gutter and reach your goal, but there's actual depth to the script. I liked how they tied the debate topics to what the characters are going through.
3. Comedy aspect - Lots of laughs every episode mixed with subtle and OTP acting but all so entertaining!
4. Coupling - Very rare do I enjoy all the match ups
5. Ma Nan's Ending - Classic!
Could've been better:
1. First 10 episodes were really good and then the pace slowed down. A few episodes felt like pure fillers almost out of place.
2. Scene transition isn't always smooth like the development of supporting couple just went silent for a long time then all of a sudden they are together.
3. Team 1 Yin Nan's character came in as an one sided antagonist and then the great face off never really happened.
4. Team 2 captain Yan Ze, his voice was so mono tuned, it was hard to watch
5. Tuan Zi's doll dresses .... YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
How about S3?
Was this review helpful to you?
ML Lipstick ultra Fail
I can't believe so many good reviews for this. The story is nothing new which means script needs:1. ML & FL Chemistry which none that I could feel. I've enjoyed both of the leads in other dramas but this pairing didn't work for me at all
2. Dynamic characters with witty dialogue and..... Lead characters were flat.
3. Great supporting characters, they had potential but not a lot of time were spent on them
Too many scenes with major lipstick fail on the ML. One restaurant scene his lip liner was 5 shades off from his spotty lipstick. It was just all too distracting. Other scenes his lipstick was heavier than the FL. Maybe it should've been a lipstick commercial instead.
Only character that stood out was the Lee Jae Woon, the rich friend and of course ALL other supporting characters were more interesting than the Main couple.
Was this review helpful to you?
