2ndLeadsBest

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!

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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.

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Hard to watch

As much as this drama is filled w/ A list cast and A list supporting cast but the script itself its hard to like. The story started off intense with badass ML that even Italian Mafia can't mess with. Song Joong Ki's baby face wasn't exactly believable for the role but I still enjoy his acting. So as flames go up in ep 1 I am thinking K2 kind of drama coming up, hopefully he'll stop trying to speak Italian and just go into more action! Then came the over the top characters trying too hard to be funny. Most are just filler side characters that failed to be humorous at all. Maybe some people do enjoy this but the frequent switching back and forth between cool Vincenzo & idiotic forced humor really threw the whole drama off for me.

I love all the actors so I made myself watch through the drama however it was a struggle to be engaged in the drama. If they just stick to the story as an action drama instead of the absurd comedy nonsense it would've been a hit. My favorite part of the story is Jang Han Seo's character and the relationship developed between him & Vincenzo. Story deserves a redo!

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One of the best of 2023!

This is not your typical idol drama but it's definitely an eye candy fest. You'll see many so many familiar good looking actors/actresses all gathered in 1 drama.

This is a quality production in a very dark setting. Ep 1 instantly got me hooked with the female assassin concept which remotely reminded me of Bloody Romance. The cinematography, CGI & fight scenes are all really good.
Make up on the MLs are a bit overwhelming but it works well on the FLs with the dark costumes. Costume designs are very beautiful with lots of black and fine gold detailing. Even the plain monk costumes you can see the fabric texture detailing. Quite impressive.

Storytelling & dialogue is engaging to where full attention is required at least the first 1/2. Story revolves some power struggles , murder mysteries, assassin frenemies making me wish this series is longer than just 24 eps.
Only parts I don't care for is the sister of ML. OTP forced humor feels out of place for this drama. A few lines were funny I admit but most I can do without. 2nd half though she did grow on me to my surprise. It's been a while since I loved almost every character and every fight scene!

Overall:
2nd FL & 2ML out acted the ML & FL
2ML's brother makes a great trio dynamic
Ending is.... tragically messy to the land of no where. Hoping S2 will magically appear one day and answer all unanswered questions.........................

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ML's character officially killed the drama 7 ep in

FL actress is quite good and the storyline started out interesting. There's mystery of why she went into another world or did she? Going from highly privileged life to a girl with nothing. Her character is believable. I like the transferable skillset from her art major to hair and makeup is not so farfetched. She shows how resilient she is proving herself over and over again.

The ML's character initially is quite likeable. He's caring and helping her to survive in an unfamiliar environment.
However 7 ep in how the ML acted is so irrational making you think who write's this crap? That neck choke was way out of left field. It's not like she wants to stay here. Why go crazy serial killer on her? Doesn't help the ML isn't a great actor either. He's pretty much unwatchable after that.

I continued watching for the FL. Her emotions are on point and hits so I can see why she is such an upcoming actress. Her crying scenes are superb!

The story developed in a complete direction without things making much sense. Rushed ending to explain what happened and amend all relationships in one episode.....

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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. ...

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3 Strong MLs carrying the FL's acting

I've seen Sabrina Zhuang's prior works as she gets some interesting scripts. Its not that she can't act but it's just not amazing. Her expressions are pretty much the same in every character I've seen her in. The 3 MLs were all better. Huang Jun Jie's acting definitely gotten better over the years but the pairing didn't really spark any chemistry for me.

The story itself is quite enjoyable if you like less serious ancient detective genre types. (i.e Miss Truth, The Imperial Coroner, Maiden Holmes)

What I enjoyed:
1. Actual story - smart (but not witty) female litigator with the unique name of Tumi defends the powerless and fights for equality.
2. Bromance worthy between Han Wu Wei & Kang Zheng Yuan
3. Fan Zhi Xin (Han Wu Wei) stand out acting. His face is very expressive. I can't believe I never seen his works!
4. Father / Daughter relationship - I am a sucker for those
5. Decent fight scenes. This is not big budget production but I thought the fight scenes were not too shabby
6. Actual cases - no dragged out cases, not overly complicated, easy watch if even if don't fully pay attention

Downside
1. I wish Tumi was a bit less serious. Hardly any humor compared to other similar dramas.
2. Lots & Lots of words. My Chinese is limited so I may need subtitles and story focuses on arguing cases = lots & lots of tiresome reading subtitles.
3. Ending with no ending .... yeah I watch dramas so there are endings but which would you rather have? Not an ending or bad endings? It's a toss up. Waiting for S2 could be forever painful.

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Don't miss the Epilogues

Starting ep 2 there's mini epilogues at the end for about ~10 ep.

Underrated cute drama ruined by no subs but if you can understand Chinese and enjoys costume rom coms, this is a great pick.

Loved great cast & characters:
FL Shen Yu is super cute without over acting (which a lot of dramas tend to do). Her character is cute, witty & smart! I loved her expressions.
ML (Old Male Chicken) is a great looking actor and the young actor they picked is a perfect match too!
The back and forth dialogue between the leads is written pretty well. Of course with any rom com there will be the standard "catch & fall" moments but if its cutely done, its very enjoyable.
Zhou Yue - one of few females that can pass off as a male at least in a drama.
Gao Mo - Funny supporting character

If you enjoy dramas like:
Dr. Cutie
A love so Romantic
Chances are you'll like this one too but personally I thought the pairing & dialogue was better in this one.

The only down side is that like many C-drama ending's kind of a mess starting ep 20. There are also a few one dimensional bad characters that you can skip through.

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Lots of politics but must watch if you are a Zhang Ruo Yun fan

If you are a Zhang Ruo Yun fan this is a must watch and the fact that Wang Yang (the lawyer) is also a main character makes it that much better. They were my favorite pair in Joy of Life.

The story is unique but you can't get away from the politics so if you can't stand political dramas then this may be hard to watch. In addition the dialogue is quite complicated so hopefully translation can fully capture the meaning.

Loved:
1. Casting. Stellar cast and interesting characters
Shuai Jia Mo - Mathematical genius played perfectly by Zhang Ruo Yun
Cheng Ren Qing - sharp tongue lawyer that will help anyone for money.
Feng Bi Yu - Out spoken female character
2. Supporting cast. I love that many were not written as one dimensional good or bad characters
3. Few twists but not overwhelming
4. Overall story with a gratifying ending

There were no romances or side character's story lines so 14 episode felt pretty short. I wish the story could've been longer as I think many of the characters are interesting.

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Light hearted historical drama

Same category as:
Dr. Cutie
Romance of Tiger & Rose
Romance of Hua Rong
A Girl like me

If you enjoy this kind of silly historical dramas then you will enjoy this one. Started off strong with so many funny moments. I loved the nickname ML called her. "Xiao Jian Shang" Drama also had more than average cuddly kissing playful couple scenes which is quite refreshing. The best friend couple was also a good pairing providing some comedic moments.

Of course the overall plot didn't flow & some of the characters just randomly popped in & out with no rhyme or reason.

The downfall came around ep 20. After so many of the SAME character introduction trying to pull them apart, it got tired out. Previous rivals all were likeable somewhere along the way except the last one was unbearable. They should've just ended at ep 20.

It was still quite enjoyable overall.

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Only worth watching if you love the Leads

The only reason to watch this is because you saw the ML/FL in Love Better Than Immortality.

The story goes from mediocre to worse
The character development goes from bad to intolerable
The few good supporting characters goes from few to zero
Zhao Lusi's lovely voice gets dubbed & subpar at that

after ~20 the story just gets worse and worse. Obsessed people all turns evil over unattainable love as that's an excuse for bad drama

It could've been a great drama w/ the frame work. Magical land with CGI, fun magic powers, powerful healer with mysteries to be solved. Instead they focused entirely on evil obsession love.
Chu Tian Yao lives to be one the worst written characters ever in c-drama history. Completely unnecessary.

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Face change revenge drama. Insta Bro is great!

I kind of lost count of how many FL wronged and gets a chance at revenge dramas in the past 2 years now. I wasn't expecting much especially with the poster of ML Wei Zhe Ming in really bad hair.
Production isn't the greatest like these fake horseback riding scenes with hair not moving (at all) makes me laugh.

But if you disregard:
1. ML's bad hair days all day everyday
2. Typical female revenge drama storyline
3. Insta face change, Insta Kungfu
4. Mid way change dubbed voice of the evil sister
You can enjoy this.

This is better than other revenge dramas in that:
1. FL is smart & strong w/ her "insta" Kung Fu. Actress Xu Lu is doing a pretty good job.
2. Her insta Bro is a pretty darn good character.
3. Pacing is not bad. There are plenty of bad characters, but so far % of screen time is tolerable.

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Obviously not a thriller

It started out promising with the serial killer mystery then it was poorly executed on so many levels.

1. Plot was predictable and there was no mystery even before midway.
2. "Romance" Why bother with the romance if you are not even go build the connection . That "I like you" came out of left field
3. No stand out likeable characters .... well there was 1 and he was killed.
4. Excessive yelling - ML cop character's yelling didn't make the drama feel more intense but rather it was just noise.
5. Mounting evidence ..... That's how they wrapped the obvious crime.
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a recording
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a witness
Do you admit your crime? no? here is a video of you ... in the act .............................

Just watch "Children of Nobody" instead

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MaoBuYI OST elevated the series

Rewatched for S2 prep

There was a time I thought Deng Lung and Yangzi's chemistry in Ashes of Love was so good that nothing can top, but Yangzi played this character to perfection!
Her chemistry with Tan Jian Ci is next level. I never seen Tan Jian Ci so beautiful, not to mention the emotional level required for his character requires way beyond all his other roles. He can switch from loving eyes to pure hatred in a blink just using micro expressions.

Knowing how the book ended this is one drama adaption that I hope that it WON'T follow the book's ending. (I am in denial). In my head I am thinking can they make 3 different endings like how some Kdramas does it?

Yang Zi's chemistry with Zhang Wan Yi is not as captivating as Tan Jian Ci because Zhang Wan Yi's line delivery felt a bit too modern. Their chemistry does grow later on, and I am sure in S2 it will be fire!

OST ALL so good, but the best one is still MaoBuYi's OST "有你无你"

Most memorable scenes (for me):
ANYTHING with Tan Jian Ci (Xiang Liu)
Ep 14 34min The Discovery
Ep 17 33min Boat scene
Ep 19 31min Poison special (cute turnaround)
Ep 22 14min Xiao Yao protecting Cang Xuan with her life. Both actors were gut wrenching good!
Ep 25 Behind the mask
Ep 30 3min 1000 dagger scene
Ep 30 32min MaoBuYi's OST "有你无你" Most of the song was played & hit so hard
Ep 32 Full moon light
Ep 39 29min The parting

If it was so good then why the 9? Well, there was that blah:
Every scene with Mr. boring Tushan Jing. Yes, I know she's searching for Mr. safe stability, but the weakest chemistry is with this guy........................ since 4th guy came in the picture late and it's more of a drinking buddy than anything.

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The teacher that brings hope to the special 5

The end of ep 1 reminds me of this video I saw many years ago: Social Inequalities Explained in a $100 Race. Where you start in life may be out of your control but how hard you race in life is up to you.

Since I don't particular like heavy content so I wouldn't have started this if weren't for the cast.
Zhang Ruo Yun is always a solid actor in all his roles. In recent years he took on more serious roles. Here he plays someone who looks a lot older than his actual age with a painful past he tried to escape from.

The students: played by actors Zhang Cheng and Wang Qiang did a great job in the drama "Cross Fire" (One of my unexpected favorites) Here they are part of that special 5 students and play completely different characters.

Story starts with Lei Ming (ML) returning to be a teacher. He wants to assemble a special class of 5 out to prove his unconventional teaching methods can help these kids make it to the top college.

The special 5 + the troubled Shen Yao:
1. Li Ran, an orphan living in the basement where his grandma works as a housekeeper. The son of the owner is the top student (Shen Yao) in the same grade but with a sick twisted mind. Li Ran fix electronics on the side to help with the bills.
2. Cheng Yu Shan, her mom remarries to a guy who only cares or his biological son. On the outside she's fearless and fends off all the unwanted boy's attention. One day she finds hidden cameras, she trembles in fear. She sits in her small room looking outside of her small window feeling completely trapped. The camera work was so well done for that scene.
3. Yu Yang, he's the bully target of many kids including the twisted top student.
4. Zeng You Zhen, she may not be living in poverty but she's constantly trying to please the girls pretending to be accepted. She has a secret she's trying to hide.
5. Jiang Qing Lang, he comes from successful parents in an unhealthy relationship, clearly not happy despite all that success. The overbearing mom character clearly that you'll want to skip through is his ultimate source of torment.
6. Shen Yao, he is not part of the 5 but he is such an interesting character. Outside he is the perfect student, but you see his anger brewing inside expressed in self-harm and doing bad things to others. His story finally unfolds in ep 23. This is the 1st time I've seen Li Ming De in a serious emotional scene, and he did a great job.

The content is not overly heavy but definitely meaningful. It touches upon self-harm, parental abuse, suicide, depression, teacher student dynamics & so on....

Only thing I don't like is ep 30 with the older version of the kids. Not relatable at all. They used the same actors for the teachers might as well use the same actors for the students. But they didn't and it was just not good.

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