lilmeow

This must be a show for fans of romance

I think you have to really like romance to like this show. I figured this out after accidentally reading a bunch of comments where people were gushing about things that I was rolling my eyes about.

Basically, this is not one for fans of intricate plots, nuanced characters, meaningful conflicts, subtlety, or anything of the sort. It is remarkably light on plot- it’s basically just power struggles in the human realm and power struggles in the Spirit realm. The villain is lame and delusional, many characters are caricatures, and so many plot elements are just cliché.

The FL is the boss in this show, the supremely powerful sovereign of the spirit realm, but actually very lonely. Into this gaping emotional void steps our ML. Although he is the most capable among humans, as a mortal he should still be insignificant to her. However, he is such a total sap for her that he worms his way into her heart.

The romance gets played up right from the beginning, all flowered up and sparkly even before you think there should be anything there. He really should be beneath the FL, and she does seem to be the badass and in-control type, yet here she is flirting her days away. Said flirting includes things like “accidental” half-naked sightings and random, unnecessary physical contact, and of course those scenes with long gazes and slow motion that are simply forced into the plot before there’s any real connection.

So if you like romance, I suppose you might get a hit out of these “heart-fluttering” scenes. But if you want a properly built up and meaningful relationship, this is not it.

However, after I understood that the point of the show is to play up some epic romance, then I stopped cringing about it so much, took it easy, and actually almost enjoyed some of it. It wasn’t bad to watch at accelerated speed while doing other things (like exercise), and halfway through I switched platforms to WeTV which has user comments floating across the screen. I found these sometimes snarky comments to be excellent company and they helped me take the show less seriously, otherwise I might have exploded in frustration if I actually immersed myself.

Given all this, I do think the show goes through some phases of being more genuine or interesting. Duan Xu (the ML) grew on me after I realized that being shamelessly audacious is just part of his personality. I found his perpetual and somewhat tone-deaf cheerfulness in the Void arc to be quite endearing. There are also some side characters I like. Jiang Ai, for instance- her loyalties are unclear but I thought it sweet to see her giving He Simu love advice like a gal pal would. My favorite character is Fengyi, who is super cute and funny. It’s fun to watch the three devoted members of the shipping club- Jiang Ai, Fengyi, and Chenying- do their best to get the main couple together. Several side couples are also neatly paired up, which I felt pretty good about. I enjoyed watching the side characters and their relationships get some development in the 20s of episodes. And there are some decently heartfelt moments towards the end, like He Simu at her parents’ grave.

That said, at its core this show is an epic romance. The entire premise is built around it, and all the plotlines are feeding into it. Actually He Simu’s character is pretty inconsistent- sometimes badass, sometimes self-aware, and sometimes a transparent, lovestruck girl. It’s like they couldn’t decide which classic romance scenes they wanted her to play out, so they just rotated through them. But Duan Xu, he is fulfilling somebody’s fantasy of the perfect boyfriend, because he is SO devoted to her. Clearly she matters more to him than anything, he would give do anything for her. This overly romantic and idealistic kind of devotion is completely in line with the vibe of the show, and I think the target romance-loving audience might like it. But I prefer more realism.

As for the world-building, this imaginative world features spirits floating like jellyfish and the Spirit Lord riding on her staff. The CGI is pretty good and there’s a lot of great imagery, so it’s rather evocative and sparks the imagination.

But upon closer examination, the mechanics of the spirit world make little sense and are quite arbitrary. The idea of obsessions might have been a good theme, but it’s too open-ended and complicated to be a guiding rule (eg how does “collecting obsessions” actually work? If obsessions are keeping spirits alive, how can their society even function? How does He Simu, born a spirit, fit into all of this?) It’s not the first time I’ve seen this concept in Chinese lore (that ghosts are the lingering spirits of the dead who can’t let go) but I think it’s the kind of thing that’s best left vague. Start world-building around it and you’ll find more holes than you can patch.

The whole thing about the five senses is also not consistently executed and enforced. If you look at He Simu’s actions, she doesn’t seem to actually be missing all her senses all the time; she just selectively doesn’t have them when and in ways that fit the plot.

Acting-wise, I don’t think this is Dilreba’s best role. It was just too extreme, whether she is trying to be badass or cute or worried or whatever. Towards the end she has some better expressions. For Arthur, I have a hard time taking him seriously when he is trying to be stern and tough, it might just be his baby face (sorry Arthur). But I liked him better as his character evolves away from that archetype. My favorite performance is Ding Jiawen as my favorite character, Fengyi... I have seen him in other shows before but this is his most endearing role yet.

For production stuff, I thought the CGI is pretty good- it’s not the realistic type, but instead the pretty type- and costumes are nice. The cinematography seems very idol-style and there are many scenes that seem meant to just capture Dilreba’s best side or her looking like a queen. For the music, there are two songs in the OST that I really like (along with their instrumentals), and they are used well, so that I actually felt emotional at the proper moments despite not being that into the show. I wasn’t that into the rest of the OST or the BGM.

Overall... it is an idol drama with all the idol drama vibes, focused on some idealized and epic romance. Definitely appeals to some people but not to me, but I still made it through by watching with half attention while reading snarky comments.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





There are two endings to this show. A 6-minute “episode 41” rewrites part of the last episode to be the “happy ending” that many people want, accomplished via a deus ex machina miracle.

Actually, I didn’t think that the original ending is that sad or bittersweet. The ML does die, but he comes back as a jellyfish and follows her around as she explores the world, presumably to take form after some amount of time. I always thought this is a big plot hole in all these Chinese stories that allow those who can’t let go to come back as ghosts... just doesn’t seem like such a bad deal to achieve immortality this way.

Of the side character deaths, there is only one that made me upset. Fang Xianye dies in a lame way for no good reason. He is already forgotten by the end. None of the side stories get much wrapup, which is pretty disappointing (what EVEN is going on with Fengyi’s maid, what is she even doing here).

Chenying is the other upsetting death but he comes back as a spirit. Simu gives up her Spirit Lord spot to him... ok, given how much she hated her job, why is she subjecting this poor kid to it? Who even let that child on the battlefield in the first place?

Read More

Not bad for a shallow watch

This show doesn’t really qualify as a short drama, but sometimes it feels like one. The pace is quite fast. I think this is both good and bad- the cases are all rather short (a couple episodes, maybe) so you get quick gratification in finding out whodunit. Add to that the way the cases all feed one into the other, and the show is particularly easy to binge.

On the flip side, though, the case-solving is rather rushed- that’s how they can solve so many, so quickly. Rather than walking us through each case properly, the investigative team simply sniffs a corpse or two, uncovers a few clues, and then “deduces” a full-blown elaborate story. It’s a mystery to me how they got there. So in the end, this is a crime show that doesn’t really show crime solving. Instead I think the focus is on the stories that are uncovered.

A side effect of breezing through so many cases is that there are a lot of characters for the amount of story. Sometimes by the time the mystery is solved, I was still trying to figure out who is who. This is fine for characters who disappear, but a lot of the cases are interlocked, so many characters become relevant again and then you’re sitting there trying to remember who they are. Characters need more development to make an impression.

If you can look past all that, and all the other random plot holes, I did find the actual stories behind the cases to be pretty good. Interesting and often touching. Many cases have some element of the fantastical (similar to Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty). It would almost be a spoiler to reveal whether the supernatural is actually real in the show, so I won’t say more.

The detective team grew on me. It’s great to see a father-son relationship; father-aged characters rarely get main roles and I really enjoyed his interactions with everyone. There is also a budding romance which is not done too well, like you can see the signs here and there but they are subtle, and then when they suddenly get together it’s rather abrupt. But romance is not a huge part of this show and I was fine with it.

The FL herself is bright, cheery, and outgoing. I found her quite likeable but a bit anachronistic, which the show glosses over. At the beginning, a lot of her expressions and reactions seem exaggerated in an attempt at comedy- it’s not really my style of humor, but I still liked the lighthearted vibe. For better or worse, the comedy dies down as the show goes on.

The FL does her best to be useful, but the character who actually comes up with all the magical deductions is Jueming, the ML (or one of?). He is fairly likeable, but mostly I just wanted him to tell me what happened. Overall I liked the team but I wasn’t in love with the characters, and I don’t think it’s a particularly character-driven story.

I do like that this show isn’t afraid to let “good” people do “bad” things. Even people on the protagonists’ side can do wrong things or have prejudiced ideas. There are also some pretty good plot twists and reveals. So the various cases, along with the central mystery (Jueming figuring out what happened to his family), kept me interested.

My main complaint is probably that some things are handled in ways I simply don’t agree with. I couldn’t help feeling that many of these tragedies only happened because society and the law have failed the common people. The characters don’t seem to recognize this or have much empathy. Of course, our modern values are different (eg our opinion of how much a life is worth) and it’s better for a show to stay true to its setting. But my favorite shows still acknowledge my modern values, maybe with some sympathetic character recognizing where the blame truly lies. The closest this show comes is refuting the idea that somebody is predestined to crime via birthright, which seems pretty basic to me.

Acting-wise, I think everyone did ok. Some of the show felt overacted, but it might just be the fast pace pushing too many dramatic scenes too close together without enough “normal” scenes in between.

The production seems decent for a smaller drama. The sets and costumes are nice, there are plenty of extras, and even the props look real which I find is important for these murder shows. This show does have a style of acting out hypotheses, memories, and descriptions whether they are correct or not, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s past, present, or imaginary. So this led to a little confusion, but it’s not too bad.

The music is alright- the BGM is used well to set the mood and includes some nice orchestral pieces. I thought the OST is ok but I didn’t love it, though that might be because it mostly only plays during recap scenes (flashing memories, which the show seems to use to say goodbye to characters) and I am not a fan of those, as I would rather watch more story.

Overall I think this show is not bad for a shallow binge watch and can be finished in decent time, especially if you watch it sped up. The stories are decent but don’t expect much from the case solving, or to particularly fall in love with any characters or ideas.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The show’s ending seems to be a setup for another season. Jueming is shown walking off with the FL, discussing the next mystery he wants to tackle. Of course, the leads do manage to first resolve the big case of the show and bring the ultimate villain to justice- it turns out to just be another corruption case, which is not that interesting but at least easy on my emotions.

The show actually dares to (probably?) kill off one of the main characters. But we don’t see any follow-up or confirmation of this, or Jinglan and Jueming’s reactions. As a standalone ending it would be pretty unsatisfying with loose ends, but my guess is they want to do a S2.

Read More

Beautiful show and learned about ink, feel-good story is just ok

The Heir follows a familiar story pattern that is not new, but is as feel-good as ever. A cheerful, hardworking, fearless, [insert more positive adjectives] young woman of prodigal genius overcomes various obstacles to bring happiness to herself and everyone around her. Her protagonist halo glows so brightly that there isn’t much suspense; the show is mostly about cheering her on and feeling good when she succeeds.

I think this show’s high point is its production. You can tell a lot of effort was made to bring this time period (Ming Dynasty) and place (Huizhou) to life. Its portrayal is vivid and detailed, with beautiful settings and a lot of atmosphere. The streets teem with extras, the food looks delicious, the costumes get dirty, old people have freckles, the FL’s fingernails always have ink, etc. There are also so many little details surrounding the daily life, like all the little tasks they do, it creates a nice slice-of-life feel.

We also get to learn all about ink-making. Shows that focus on a single industry will really play it up and put it on a pedestal, which I never found that relatable (sorry, I just don’t share the passion for ink!). But we can still admire the devotion of the characters, and it’s a fun way to learn about a new topic and the culture embedded within it.

As for the story... Li Zhen, the FL, is both capable and likable, so it’s fun to watch her underdog successes. As she makes her way up the career ladder, she faces off against scheming competitors, mean-spirited family members, natural disasters, and the like. She sometimes gets discouraged and shows real emotions, which makes her relatable and adds some humanity to an otherwise overpowered character.

The ML is also likable and good support for her, but he definitely seems secondary. He is also just on his own mission separate from hers. The romance between them is a good level for people who want just a hint of romance but nothing too played up. The FL and ML don’t even interact that much for the first half of the show, which I didn’t mind and barely noticed. Their relationship grows naturally and subtly as they work together and develop a solid friendship. Later there is some noble idiocy on his part, but luckily she is the kind of brave FL who stays true to herself.

I was happy with the growing relationship, but it’s only one part of Li Zhen’s life. Of the scenes that really left an impression on me, most were Li Zhen with her mom or her grandfather, rather than anything with the ML. At one point when Li Zhen is struggling in the rain, I thought the ML would magically arrive like every other show, but instead it was her mom- made me tear up. (As a side note on the mother-daughter idea, the story arc with the Princess and her mother is also quite sweet).

Female empowerment is not an outright theme- except for occasionally throwing sexism at Li Zhen- but it’s still a show where the writers seem to like women. I especially like that the female side characters are generally well-written, having varying roles and degrees of power as well as different relationships with each other (often positive). Li Zhen herself also just overshadows the ML, often being the one to save him, and she handles without him what I think is the biggest conflict of the story.

Those are the things I liked. Unfortunately, I just also didn’t find the show that interesting.

The thing is, the plot is kind of repetitive and the conflicts do not feel meaningful. The FL has so much plot armor, there isn’t actually any REAL question about whether or not she will triumph. And the villains are rather one-dimensional and uninteresting, just cartoonishly bad people. Normally I like bad villains because it’s less emotional load, but these were just too excessive. Fourth Aunt, for example- poorly written but rather well acted- spews nonsense that makes no sense and nobody ever argues logic with her. And the most prominent villain simply gets more and more unhinged as the show goes on.

I just honestly did not find it that interesting to see over and over, villains acting super evil and Li Zhen coming up with ways to squash them, or win over hearts when she can. Even among the side characters, many are likable (“good people”), but there are only a few that I actually found interesting- and one is already gone within 6 episodes.

The entire foundation of the show is also weak, since the tragedy that anchors the show (the Tribute Ink scandal) is full of holes. Ink does not spontaneously combust; why did nobody look into who set the fire? Every time somebody directed more misplaced vitriol at Li Zhen, I could understand it as a plot device, but I still had to roll my eyes.

So in general, the show is not too stressful (not too many deaths either, beyond the first few episodes), but also not that interesting or meaningful. I watched most of it at 1.25X or 1.5X speed. I just don’t really need to spend THAT much time watching people curse the villain or praise Li Zhen.

For the acting, I think it’s really good. Both Yang Mi and Elvis Han had some great expressions and captured the right vibe. This show also has a lot of older characters, and I love watching older actors because they’re generally more experienced and quite good.

The production, as mentioned previously, is excellent, really bringing the show to life, as befitting a show that wants to educate its audience. The styling is nice and not over-done. I also really liked the music, especially the BGM which is used well for effect. I especially appreciate the playful BGM which let me know when I can take it easy, and the uplifting one that plays when good things are going to happen. The OST is also nice but is not over-used, probably because this show didn’t overdo it with the dramatic scenes.

Overall, although the show does many things well, it unfortunately suffers a fatal error of not having meaningful conflicts or just being that interesting overall. It seems mostly good for soaking in the setting and getting to know a time and place and industry. I’d give the story a 6 or so (somewhere between “not that into it” and “entertained but not masterpiece”), but +0.5 for great portrayal of female characters. And then the production is so good that I’ll rate the overall show higher than the story. ...I also happened to watch this when I was home sick, and discovered that it’s perfect for a dazed binge when you’re not feeling too good or thinking that clearly and just need something external to make you feel better.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is... hm, I thought it was happy. How could it not be? Nobody who just spent 42 episodes watching an invincible protagonist win all her battles wants anything less than Happily Ever After... surely the scriptwriters know that.

The strange thing is, everything is working out and then with 5 minutes to go, the ML is suddenly sent off to battle. With one minute left he comes back, walking across a field towards the FL. Textover tells us that Li Zhen essentially retires after all this, no mention of the ML. It was so odd and unnecessary that I googled it, and it seems many people consider this an open ending a la The Double (ie the vision is implied to be an illusion because he died).

Well, I chose to take the ending literally, like he actually returned. But it is a strange bite-sized chunk of story that is easy to ignore if you prefer that method instead.

Read More

Is an outstanding woman just an average man?

I originally skipped this show when I back-wrote all my reviews, because I disliked it so much. But I’m feeling extra petty today, so here goes.

What bothers me most about this show is its casual sexism. It’s not the obvious kind that we can all agree to rage about; it’s a more subversive kind that quietly reinforces implicit biases and sends insidious messages about who is capable of what.

Here is a female lead who’s clearly supposed to be capable and strong. But, it turns out, she’s only capable FOR A GIRL. Whether it’s her technical abilities or skills in the game, she only stands out because of her gender- there are still a bunch of guys who are casually as good as or better than her.

As far as I remember, her technical abilities are limited to fixing a laptop at the beginning (btw I am an electrical engineer and that made me facepalm, like at least hand the girl a multimeter). Later she joins her boyfriend’s startup, but she doesn’t actually do anything real, whereas the rest of the company is full of genius dudes. I think it’s kind of telling that his career and professional successes are so central to the plot, whereas her story arcs mostly deal with love triangles.

As for the game, sure she’s pretty good, but obviously nowhere near the ML. His (male) friends are all pretty decent, yet most of the girls in the game seem to only be there to hit on guys. And what even is this game? At first I was excited at the premise because I’ve played quite a few MMORPGs, but it turns out this game is all about in-game marriages and couples quests. Errm, what? I’ve never played a MMORPG where the gender of the character is even relevant. And, just sayin, most of my guy friends like to play female characters.

Well, one thing the FL DOES stand out for, even above the ML, is... dundundun... her looks. What even is this college-wide beauty contest? Is this a real thing in Chinese universities? Surely I don’t need to go into why this is problematic. And yet they are all sooo into it.

As it turns out, looking pretty is her ticket to respect. It is abundantly clear in this show that women are judged heavily based on looks, the pretty ones get admiration and respect, and the less pretty ones get bullied. ...it's definitely annoying that beauty seems to be what matters most for women in this show. But actually this premise isn’t what bothered me the most, since it’s more a function of the society they’re portraying rather than the reality of the show.

It's just that the reality of the show is also problematic. The FL is good, the ML is better. The ML is amazing at everything and admired by everyone, always in control and always winning. He’s just somebody’s stereotype of a dreamboat guy, and I guess part of that is taking care of and saving the girl.

For the plot itself, I thought the first part of getting the couple together was alright, kind of cute. But then the plot moves on to things like the raging success of his underdog startup, and an endless stream of love triangles. The love triangles are no contest from the beginning, and seem meant instead to just highlight how amazing and desirable the leads are. It’s a whole bunch of whiny men and whiny women with ridiculous love brains.

Even if you don’t have a problem with the gender dynamics of this show, I still think the plot is not very interesting. I was at least mildly entertained at the beginning with all the game drama (my issues with the game nonetheless, I still liked watching a girl impress people), but they stop showing it, and then it’s just a bunch of petty real-life drama with resounding successes from our leads. I think the show relies a lot on you the viewer being proud of how amazing the leads are, and having fun watching them put everyone in their place. Clearly that didn’t work for me.

As for the acting, I was kind of annoyed by the FL’s voice actress making so many breathy little noises. Zheng Shuang is also creepy skinny, like ED (eating disorder)-trigger-level skinny. Yang Yang does an excellent job being too cool for school, as usual. It was probably more about his character, but sometimes I just wanted to smack that confident smirk off his face. Neither of them do that well in the in-game reenactments, which are particularly awkward.

Ok, so what did this show do well?

I like the friendships with the roommates, on both the ML and the FL side. These friendships are all really healthy and supportive, no backstabbing or cattiness or anything. I love how the girls laugh together at the ML's excessively confident courtship style and try to figure out the situation together, like gal pals would. I think anyone who’s lucky enough to have a pack of good friends like that would really appreciate their dynamics. The side stories about the friends are also not bad.

The other thing I really like is the flash of scenes as they approach college graduation. It's so nostalgic, I actually cried. Very on point and reminded me of my own last days of uni.

I saw somebody say, you have to understand that Bei Weiwei was still revolutionary for her time, because she was a strong FL that didn’t need saving. I admit I wasn’t watching Cdramas in 2016 so I don’t know what standards we’re comparing to here. But I almost think a FL who passes off as strong but, it turns out, only stands out because she can do all these things WHILE BEING FEMALE, is actually worse. This only reinforces the idea that the standards are different and we should expect less from our girls.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





I’m still putting this section in, but I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that everything goes well. The show is way too fluffy for anything else and it's not like anything in between failed. His company is a raging success, she is signed up to work for them after graduation, they get married and buy a condo, etc. Friends do well too.

Read More

Demons and humans and their complicated interactions

This show features an imaginative world where demons and humans coexist. The people are as skeptical as we’ve always been, so in a fun reversal of normal dynamics, our protagonists sometimes need to deal with the incredulity of a disbelieving public.

The FL, Banxia, is not particularly smart, strong, skilled, anything- she’s often afraid and needs to be saved. She is, however, very reasonable. I often thought her words, actions, even thoughts and feelings, made perfect sense given her position and abilities, and I agreed with her behavior throughout. All these traits make her relatable and likable. I still didn’t love her, but I found no fault with her- she’s got what she’s got. And she does get braver throughout the show.

As for the ML, Xuanye- I really like his vibe. Even despite his tragic past and impressive abilities, he has this casual, down-to-earth style. He’s not trying to act cool, he just talks and acts like a normal person. Most of the time he looks harassed, but sometimes he also looks flabbergasted, incredulous, exasperated, taken aback, etc. And sometimes he looks genuinely happy. He’s low-key, selfless, and very likable.

The romance between them is done well. It grows naturally, and between Banxia with her healthy communication and secure attachment style and Xuanye avoiding awkward conversations like the plague, it’s not too flowered up or overdone. I also don’t like awkwardness so Xuanye really saved me here. There are still awkward scenes, like with side characters, but they are on purpose for humor and actually funny.

Speaking of funny, I wouldn’t call this a comedy, but there are legit lots of hilarious moments. The humor is incorporated well so it doesn’t feel forced, I thought the funny moments were really funny.

As for side characters, this show had quite a few that I really like and who also show up regularly. I think in general the side characters are done well, have personalities and screentime, though I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them- some of them still get forgotten.

For the plot, some of the story arcs feel a bit drawn out, just going on for too long. I actually watched a lot of the show at 1.25X speed (this also because Banxia talks really slowly). But I think the story arcs get better as the show goes on, and I found the last one very exciting. Some of them made me anxious, but they end up mostly resolving in ways I was satisfied with- the protagonists and I seem to agree on who is good or bad, and who deserves sympathy. The ending got some hate but I don’t think it’s that bad, see below for more details.

A special shoutout to the world building. I wasn’t always too impressed by the CGI of the demons, but I think the dynamics of the world are well-done, showing how demons and humans can be both good and bad, and the way prejudice and power dynamics play into their dynamic. The show even does some explaining about how demonkind works, which is pretty cool.

Acting-wise, I really like this role for Allen. Some of his expressions legit made me laugh, and his smile also made me smile. For Song Zuer, I think she’s a decent actress, and having the patience to speak that slowly is no small feat. I wasn’t a huge fan of the way her mouth seems to be hanging open a lot (just not the most flattering look?), but small quibble.

I didn’t always love the CGI in this show, but I thought the fighting is quite good, top half of what I’ve seen. It’s excessively acrobatic but the hand-to-hand is actually quite solid. The costumes are alright- I really like Allen’s styling (he looks like he came out of an RPG) but this is not my favorite style for the ladies and I didn’t really like Banxia’s hair. For the music, I liked some of it- maybe one or two of the OSTs and a few of the BGMs- most of it was not my favorite, but okay.

Overall I think this is a pretty good show that I enjoyed watching, though not a masterpiece that I love. I did sag on it a few times but I think it was mostly due to anxiety, and then things ended up resolving alright. It ends up being a good mix of warmth and trauma. I would watch a sequel, though I’d be surprised if we actually got one.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Ah yes, the famous “sad ending” that everyone keeps ranting about in comments. I honestly don't think it's so bad. Everything works out except the main couple are willingly separated at the end. You can see the wheels turning, though (his dad examining the broken travel pass artifact, Banxia asking for directions, etc).

In more detail: excessively tragic events towards the end are undone for the last two episodes by time reversal. Time reversal is one of my least favorite tropes, but this one is actually pretty well done- everyone seems to be roughly the same person, and the same story arcs still happen in some form. This also gives us 2 episodes of closure to see how many (though not all) of the side characters fare in this redo, which is a nice second chance and wrapup for some of the story arcs (...I am still sad about the little black cat, though).

Plus, there are echoes of the original timeline in the new one. Mainly, Xuanye still remembers everything, which puts him in a heartbreakingly bittersweet situation. Luckily, Banxia regains her memory too, so the two of them get maybe ¾ of an episode to catch up and say goodbye. I do think it’s a bit forced melodrama to tug at heartstrings (cmon, how did that artifact break?) but it’s not bad and leaves the story open to a future reunion.

I did google the “original ending” intended by the writer, and agree it’s much better. In this ending, Xuanye forgets everything after the time reversal, but Banxia regains memory and goes to find him, they defeat enemies together and he also remembers everything again. It’s much better all around from character development and closure points of view, and they totally could have fit in another story arc with 4 more episodes... but, whatever, we got what we got. Rate a show for what it is, not what it isn’t.

Read More

A cute and fluffy romance with e-sports background noise

At its core, this show is pretty much just a fluffy romance. The setting chosen for it to play out is a high-performing e-sports team, which recruits apparently the first female player ever in the industry.

Tong Yao, to her credit, takes her job seriously and knows what she represents. I always find it fun to see a strong female character defy stereotypes and take on a male-dominated field. It’s fun to watch her relationship with her team and love interest grow, as they go through victories and setbacks together. It’s not too overdone or sappy either, just cute.

I do feel the show gets a little worse after the two of them get together, a little over halfway in. The ML kind of turns into a total sap for her, and it made me like and respect him less; I feel people should care about things beyond their latest relationship infatuation. I’m also not that interested in seeing various examples of how much he likes her. (Also, who goes straight from sobbing uncontrollably to making out?)

A lot of the conflicts that the characters deal with come from the glow of celebrity, and I enjoyed seeing the “lives of celebrities” from the back like this. We may all know intellectually that being a celebrity is not actually that much fun, but it’s a good reminder to see that fame and glory come with a price.

The show also has some great side characters, such as the other members of the team. I was disappointed by the amount of development they got, though. For example, K gets one story arc devoted to him and it lasts less than an episode. It’s too bad that the side characters are given lovable personalities and just enough development to make you care, then get ignored for long blocks at a time. There are also two very cute cats, and I also wish we saw them more.

My favorite part of this show might be seeing the e-sports in action. I didn’t know much about this field before, so I was really interested to see how the system works. The game they’re playing seems similar to League of Legends. Although the show received criticism from Chinese viewers for inaccurate portrayals of the e-sport world (namely not taking it seriously enough), as somebody who didn’t know anything about it before, I still enjoyed this bit of exposure and getting an idea of what it’s about.

But e-sports and its culture, celebrity life, and lovable side characters aside, for better or worse the main focus of the show seems to be the two leads and their relationship. I’m not a huge romance buff and while I enjoyed watching their push and pull as they get together, I started to get a little sick of their romance after awhile.

The acting is ok. Chen Xiao as Tong Yao doesn’t have many expressions, but it might just be her character. I was legit horrified by her nails, though. She is a professional gamer- sure, she can push keys with such long nails (they even show it!) but I can’t imagine it’s doing her any favors. If you are going to show a profession, you should take it seriously.

As for the other production, this was the first Cdrama I watched as an adult, so I was a bit thrown off by the face filters and the dubbing. Her mom with the smooth face was kind of creepy. I might be less horrified if I watched it again now.

There are also some animated sequences acting out the game they’re playing. I think these serve a purpose in conveying the passage of time spent playing the game, in a way that feels action-packed and exciting. But in and of themselves the scenes are hard to follow and don’t contribute to the story.

Overall, this is a cute little romance with a fun setting. Not everything is perfect, but it’s a light watch that generally leaves you feeling good.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is alright. They win the championships, and although there isn’t really any view of their lives after this, it’s not hard to imagine that they just keep on doing their thing. I wasn’t exactly satisfied, but it’s not too bad; I feel the show isn’t set up to need a grand tie-up or closure since it’s more slice-of-life.

Read More

Heartwarming as expected, but some stories felt unfinished

Based on the description for this show, you’d already know you’re getting a heartwarming story of an incredible (real) woman who overcame obstacles to give young women a path out of poverty. So there’s really no need for me to go on and on about that. I cried a lot, the good kind of tears.

Clearly the show has a great story to work with, and it generally tells it well. But I still thought they could have done some things better with the narrative focus.

The show follows Zhang Guimei as she struggles to set up the school (funding, recruiting teachers and students, etc), then it follows the first class of students, and then it follows a second class of students some years later. So aside from Zhang Guimei herself, there are other characters whose stories you end up getting emotionally invested in.

I don’t know how much is dramatized and/or fictionalized, ie how many of these other characters are real. But I did end up caring a lot about them. In general this is a good thing, because it’s what makes this an interesting drama and not just a documentary.

I just wished they saw these stories through more and gave us more closure on each of them. It felt like a lot of them were just abruptly dropped and forgotten. I felt this way about the teachers and both batches of students. I wanted to continue their stories and find out what happens to them; but after their story arcs end, we might see them around but we don’t really know how they’re doing.

If the show wanted to tell several sets of stories with different characters, I think it would have been better to just move on fully each time. Seeing familiar faces around makes you want their stories to continue, and that is denied. Would it be that hard to give us a few scenes showing how the teachers have adjusted to their lives after several years? And I was happy to see Gu Yu return for the second set of students, but her story there also feels incomplete and unfinished as we are abruptly pulled away to follow Zhang Guimei’s declining health.

It’s not that Zhang Guimei herself isn’t interesting. She is, and I like that the show presents her not just as some sort of saint. Actually she’s shown to be very stubborn and sometimes difficult. I think some of her actions were actually quite questionable- like leaving a student to live outside in the cold and rain for weeks, thank goodness nothing happened to the girl (somehow it all gets painted as “good” for the girl... hrm). Either way, I sometimes found myself a little frustrated at Zhang Guimei, but I still like this realistic portrayal. You don’t usually get a legend without some difficult traits.

The acting is quite good, too. And the settings are pretty. It was filmed in Yunnan for some beautiful mountain scenery. There is a lot of speech in local dialect, making subtitles especially important.

Overall I’d say it’s a good show, but I came in expecting that based on the description. I think it would have been better if they followed some of the side characters’ stories more completely. Of course we don’t want to take away too much focus from Zhang Guimei, but if you make me invested in a side character’s story then I will be invested, that’s just how that works.

BTW, the CCP are heroes in this show and Zhang Guimei at some point uses CCP propaganda to motivate her students. That really did happen, so regardless of how you feel about the communist party, they are good guys in this show and be prepared for some loud CCP propaganda.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Zhang Guimei is still alive right now, so although the show’s final arc shows her struggling to continue despite declining health, nothing really big happens. Right before that, the story arc for the second set of students ends rather abruptly and left me wondering what happens to everyone- at least with the first set, we kind of knew- so actually I was a little disappointed with this ending. It felt incomplete. But I suppose the main hero is Zhang Guimei so it makes sense for the show to bring the focus back to her.

Read More

Watchable, but not as good as the donghua

I absolutely adored S1 of this donghua/anime, which is funny and sweet. While waiting for S2, I went ahead and read the novel. I found still funny but somehow a lot less charming, and I actually soured a little on the story after that.

Given this history, it’s difficult for me to rate this drama on its own merits. Not only is it hard to look past differences and comparisons- and I do think it falls significantly short of the donghua- but I also can’t un-know what I know. Maybe I would have liked this show better if I didn’t already know what would happen... or maybe, if the show had been better, I would have still liked it a lot. Who knows.

Since I can’t be objective, I’ll be brief (by my standards, hah). The FL is cute and sensible, and it’s nice that she has “modern” values- this means she dislikes death, innocent people suffering, etc just as much as we audience do. The ML is a little darker, but he’s always on her side even if keeping secrets. Their dynamic is (or is supposed to be) that of playful co-conspirators, which is cute to watch.

There are likeable side characters, and the villains are easy to hate. The humor is pretty good at the beginning but mostly fades away by about halfway. The plot is basically palace politics, but there are some clever elements like the two layers of transmigration, how the protagonist of one story can turn out to be the antagonist of the next, and the way their modern experiences are woven in. I like that the transmigration is addressed directly as being lonely and scary, which also makes you glad they have each other.

All this sounds not too bad, but in the end I couldn’t make myself care about the characters and I wasn’t really rooting for them- either with each other or against their enemies. So it was just not that interesting or captivating.

The acting is alright. I think Wang Churan could work on her expressions a bit. She seems to do a lot of gazing prettily, but I would have preferred a more down-to-earth, spunky Yu Wanyin. Cheng Lei is fine but I didn’t feel much for him or his character. I also had a big problem with the voice acting. Way too many breathy little noises- especially, but not limited to, the FL.

The music is pretty good, both songs and BGM. The costumes also look nice. Overall the show is decent, but as somebody who came in knowing the story, I was pretty bored and watched the whole thing at accelerated speed.

And because I can’t help it, here’s my comparison with the donghua and the novel. I place the drama somewhere in between in terms of enjoyability. It somehow misses a lot of the charm and lightheartedness of the donghua. The drama version FL is a lot less endearing, and the ML (who’s dark side is significantly toned down) is less interesting. I went back to watch the donghua after the drama and immediately felt much more attached to both characters.

The drama of course has a longer runtime. Most of the extra material in the first half, as far as I can tell, is people speaking slowly, and drawn out scenes meant to play up the romance. I thought that was unnecessary and makes their relationship less cute; I prefer its more subtle development in the donghua. As for the novel, it explains things better, but it’s the least warm and fuzzy, and I’m glad they tempered it a bit for the visual versions.

The overall story is the same for all three. In terms of plot, from donghua to drama there are some small changes, which I mostly didn’t like but they were fairly inconsequential. I just don’t think the drama adds substantially to what I got out of the donghua. Even the music- I like the drama’s, but I still like the donghua’s better.

As a note, the donghua S2 is still airing and I do think the story naturally gets darker and less fun in this second half. But from what I’ve seen so far (~9 eps), they’re still doing a good job maintaining the cute, lighthearted tone.

Finally, an explanation of the two layers of transmigration- I didn’t pick this up for half of the donghua S1 and I don’t think the drama did much better, so this might help somebody. Xie Yong’er is a transmigrator with knowledge of one trashy novel, but herself is a character in the trashy novel that our real heroine (Yu Wanyin) has entered. Therefore. Xie Yong’er is trying to change the events that occur in the novel she read, while Yu Wanyin knows what she does and tries to change on top of that.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending within the transmigration world is fine, I'd consider it a happy ending with sacrifices. There are several unfortunate deaths of people you probably like, but at least there is over half an episode of wrap up and people being happy together. It is choppy with no sense of time, and wastes screentime on some drawn out scene with a flamboyant costume, but still ok.

The annoying part is that they completely chop off the reunion in the modern world to a 1-minute sequence on the subway. It has no context and makes no sense. I heard they filmed something else and somehow it got edited to this.

The book version is way better, in which: they get another 10ish years happily together in the transmigration world before he dies; she lives out the rest of her life in that world (decades) and leaves the empire to her child; after dying, she comes back to the modern world, and immediately goes to look for him; in the past 10 years (he transmigrated 10 years before she did), he’s used the knowledge she gave him to build a company and bring the trashy novel back to its popularity, thus allowing her pre-migration self to see it and get the chance to transmigrate. Then they get together and have sexy time.

Read More

Similar but better than the first

There are currently three or four seasons of this show out. I found the first season a decent enough watch, but not fully captivating, and ended up taking a several months break before watching this one. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this second season a lot more.

The overall approach is similar to the first, with 8 distinct cases (mostly murder) and little filler in between. The cases are fairly elaborate, sometimes with several intersecting schemes that our protagonists need to untangle. Not everything makes sense if you think hard enough, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to think that hard.

The biggest reason I like this second season better is that I found the cases a lot more emotionally investable and interesting. More sympathy for some characters and dislike for others, more intrigue to know the truth. The exception is the large-scale but poorly motivated revolution in the middle, which I found pointless and boring.

I also didn’t really like the over-reliance on fantastical CGI creatures, which felt like a cop-out attempt to continue the “strange tales” theme. Whereas the first season properly worked in hints of the supernatural (to be debunked), these cases mostly deal with real things from the beginning. Except the weird animals. But they’re still decent stories even without the spookiness I’d come to expect. And the show is pretty good about punishing bad guys, though it also kills off some good guys, which makes it realistic but not overly stressful.

The overarching story has Lu Lingfeng and company ejected from the capital after one case, just like before. The demotion is a casualty of the intensifying power struggle between the princess and the crown prince. This framework comes into play a few times, but the show is mostly about the cases. The way it’s woven in is well-done.

The characters are very similar to the first season. Lu Lingfeng still has some personal development to do but has come a long way. It’s all fairly consistent; good writing. There is a little friction in the party at times, which adds some interest. The couples are still together but there isn’t much romance, which I was happy with. I still am not too attached to any of these characters and there is a bit too much pride in the nation and pontificating about the good of the people, but I found them all likeable enough and was mostly interested in their work.

The production seems to have gotten a budget bump- at least the fight choreography is quite good, with some very creative sequences. I was impressed. And although this wasn’t shot on location, the scenery is also quite nice. The “West” they are sent to seems to refer to the northwest of China along the Silk Road (the Hanzhou they pass through seems to be Wuwei in Gansu, and they later make it to Dunhuang). Think desert and camels- yes, real camels!- for some unique and pretty settings.

For music, songs are not used much and I only remember two of them. But I think the ending song- though not personally my style in and of itself- really captures the feel of this westward journey very well, and I ended up liking it because it’s so evocative and fits this show so well. What I remember of the BGM is also pretty good, but I didn’t notice it that much.

Overall I enjoyed this show, except for the one story arc, and am looking forward to watching Season 3.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





There’s actually not much to spoil, but this is a standard section I include with all my reviews. This show ends by setting up for the next season. The final case is just another case and then they are on the road back to Changan, where power struggles and more trouble awaits.

Read More

Entertaining with good cases and solid historical backing

The third installment of this show is currently trending, so I decided to start from the beginning.

As the name implies, this is a detective show set in the Tang Dynasty featuring cases with eerie, fantastical elements. The supernatural elements are more a reflection of the common peoples’ interpretations than reality; this is ultimately a historical and not a fantasy. While some things are left unexplained, and some explanations are plausible but not actually realistic (eg very specific drugs or human skin masks), there are no actual ghosts or monsters.

I have to thank another review for informing me that Detective Di was a historical figure who inspired lots of detective stories, otherwise I would have wondered why they keep namedropping a random person who never shows up. He is only alluded to, but this show does feature other real historical figures like the Crown Prince and his aunt the Princess. Their power struggle is not the central storyline, but our protagonists can’t help but get caught up in it; it is woven skillfully into the story.

All the necessary historical and political background is adequately conveyed by the show, but it’s still fun to read up and compare (Princess Taiping’s wiki page is helpful, if anyone’s interested). The show seems to stay pretty true to history while embellishing around the details. I especially like the portrayal of these historical figures- calculating, ruthless, decisive, but still human, a mix of good and bad. Unlike caricature rulers fabricated by dramas that can, they are exactly what I imagine real historical rulers to be like.

Su Wuming, main protagonist and disciple of the famous Detective Di, is very likable. He is smart, thoughtful, and calm, the kind of person who always says and does the right thing. He is also lowkey hilarious, like BS-ing his friends with a straight face kind of funny. He’s the kind of character you aren’t worried about, since you can’t imagine him ever failing.

On the other hand, the other main protagonist, Lu Lingfeng, is not so likable. He is arrogant, prejudiced, and rash, and some of his initial work is classic bad investigation. It didn’t bother me too much, though, because with Su Wuming around to gently guide him, he rarely gets away with it. Jerk behavior is much less annoying when it gets called out. Overall he’s not that bad- think difficult person who’s trying to do good- and is willing to admit mistakes, clearly a total setup for character growth.

As for other characters, Pei Xijun gets off to a rough start in terms of audience likability. She is obsessive and rather bratty at her introduction. She later improves and even finds a way to add value- the screenwriters come up with all sorts of creative ways to utilize her artistic abilities (some of which were a little hard to believe, I'll be honest). I ended up finding Xijun tolerable, but she never really grew on me. Probably because her annoying habit of fawning over a guy, though significantly toned down, continued to persist, thus so did my bad first impression.

Xijun’s romance is not that important, but I found it a little cringe when it did show up. I didn’t really like how the male characters have so much going on, but female characters come with romance plots attached. Perhaps this is more historically accurate though, when marriage was a relatively bigger part of women’s lives. I did not particularly like the romances in this show, but at least they aren’t too played up.

The band of friends also includes a few other characters with distinct skills and personalities. Chicken Fei, for example, is the doctor and resident drunkard; Xue Huan is the cute and lovably earnest kid; Yingtao joins later, and it’s nice to have another capable female character but her role isn’t that big.

The characters are decently crafted and some have progression. But for some reason, I had a hard time feeling any particular emotional connection or investment in them. I liked them enough but did not particularly feel for them. So this show ended up being, for me, just about the curiosity of the mysteries and watching them get solved, rather than an emotional, inspiring, or thought-provoking journey.

The plot covers 8 different cases. With 4-5 episodes each, none of them are simple; I enjoyed watching the methodical investigation and the intricate truth slowly emerge. They are interesting, well set up, and well presented, with enough details given for the audience to follow along.

The cases are pretty much independent but have an overarching umbrella in the progression of the characters’ careers and any personal growth. Maybe because of this structure, the show stays strong to the end, finishing with just another case rather than trying to tie up some grand plot.

That said, the last case was not my favorite. Its villain isn’t really developed as a character so I had no strong emotions, besides feeling a little sorry for him. Like the rest of the show, it’s more about watching them uncover clues and solve the case.

Overall, although the cases are entertaining to watch, I still felt like this show is missing something, perhaps some greater depth or meaning. It seems more procedural. I’m not sure if it’s just me not connecting with the characters, or maybe the lack of any consistent themes- the only one I can maybe think of is “Serve the country”, which isn’t really that interesting. Or Lu Lingfeng learning not to be a jerk, which is obvious. Some of the cases have decent emotional depth within them, for the characters involved, but it only lasts for those episodes and then they are gone. There's no common thread or deeper insights carried beyond. I think such a vibe makes sense for a show like this, but personally I like something more thoughtful and personal.

Acting-wise, I thought everyone did well. Yang Zhigang as Su Wuming is notable; his slow and distinct speaking style is good acting, but it also kind of took a long time and I found 1.25X speed is perfect for listening to him talk. This doesn’t have idol drama vibes so there is thankfully not much of actors trying to look cool, overacting, slow mo scenes, etc.

The fighting is not too flashy or elaborate, but it’s pretty solid. The costumes are realistic. Some of the CGI looks fake, but it’s not a big deal. The background music is pretty good for setting the tone, but I don’t actually remember it that much; the music didn’t really stand out. Maybe more music would have helped me feel more emotionally connected, but it’s hard to say.

This show is definitely worth a watch if you like mysteries or relatively accurate historicals, just don’t expect some emotionally deep or thoughtful journey.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Not surprisingly, happy ending, the case is solved and Lu Lingfeng gets great honors. 20 min or so of wrapup, including a few minutes of cute vignettes at the end that might have been cuter if I actually liked the love stories.

This show already has a sequel and a threequel, so clearly the fun continues. It doesn't really matter how satisfying an ending is when you know there's a follow up.

Read More

Short but not that inspired

This is a short drama that I found somewhat mediocre. It’s got a little silliness to it, but I wasn’t that amused and I don’t think it’s meant to be a comedy. I’d say it’s a straightforward romance story.

The FL is a goddess jumped into a mortal body. She is sassy, has attitude, and stands up to bullying, but unfortunately she lost all her powers so she’s physically not that strong. She’s likable enough, I guess.

I’d consider Change Feng and Fu An to be ML and SML, if only because they both like the FL. What’s more unusual is that they share one body- you sometimes have to guess who’s currently present in said body, based on bearing, attitude, and voice. I think the actor did a pretty good job, but sometimes I guessed wrong.

The two of them have very different personalities and separate consciousness. I never fully figured out how it works or what’s going on, but they are definitely different people. Yet even with distinct personalities, I didn’t have too many opinions about them. Just not that emotionally invested.

The falling in love part is rather abrupt and I’m not sure when, how, or why it happened. I think there is a half-assed attempt at enemies to lovers. I did like watching the ML all flirty after they get together, and they have pretty good chemistry, it’s just that the relationship is not built on much. There is the SML sadly pining on the side but nobody seems to care.

The show is a little confusing and chaotic at the beginning, but they do manage to convey enough necessary information to follow along. Considering its length, it was actually less choppy and rushed than I expected. It ends up being fairly straightforward; the FL’s mission is not that complicated, and there aren’t too many twists and turns. I actually never quite figured out what was going on with the sacred fruit, but in the meantime, there are some evil humans to counter and defeat. There is even a “touching backstory” that gets revealed, but it’s too short and underdeveloped for me to really care.

At 8 min x 20 episodes, I was excited to be able to binge an entire show in one evening. But after seeing what I got, I think I should have just picked a well-rated movie instead. It’s not bad for mindless entertainment, but afterwards I didn’t feel great- it felt like I’d just watched a couple hours of filler.

And right, the subtitles are not good and can create confusion. Knowing some Chinese is definitely helpful. The subs aren’t the worst I’ve seen, and the wording is not the most difficult; just some knowledge of conversational Chinese, paired with the English and Chinese subs, should be enough.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





I think this is a happy ending, but I’m not totally sure what happened. The ML dies, and apparently the FL gives up immortality (poor sifu, guess she doesn’t care about never seeing him again). I think this act somehow revives the ML, though the terms of this deal are unclear and for some reason it takes a chance meeting for them to reunite.

I have no idea what happens to the other guy in his body. I guess he is supposed to live.

Read More

Girl pretends to be boy, shoots lots of guns

This is the first Republican drama I watched, and I found it so interesting to see the portrayal of China in the 1910s. I know the image of the West (or at least America) during this era, and it was fascinating to see those influences in China of the time.

To be honest, I didn’t think this costume/hair/makeup styling was the most flattering for anyone, either male or female. But still interesting. And for me, seeing the costumes, sets, and culture of 1910s China was actually the highlight of this drama. I thought everything else about it was just ok.

As others have mentioned, a big portion of the story is fluff. It’s largely about Xie Xiang, the FL, navigating life in the academy as she pretends to be a boy.

Xie Xiang is sensible and likable enough, and it’s easy to root for her. It’s fun to watch a strong female lead overcome odds with hard work and tenacity. I also like that she doesn’t have some grand patriotic goal; instead, her motivation for doing this difficult thing seems to be more just being lost, confused, and sad, which is a lot more relatable.

That said, it’s completely unrealistic that she would be able to pull it off, and they get around this by just glossing over all the details. We never find out how she passes the entrance medical exam; her wardrobe/wig transitions happen lightning fast, often with no place to change; she somehow survives training by overtraining; etc. The whole thing is less impressive because it’s too fake.

As for the male leads... well, I could not stand Gu Yanzhen. He reminded me of every single annoying guy in my life, it was almost triggering. I don’t think he’s a poorly written character- he has a distinct personality rather than generic hero. He just hit too close to home for me. His self-centered, irresponsible, and/or love-brain behavior made me so angry, and the worst was when the FL actually seemed to like it. No joke, I took a year-long break near the end of this show because I found him so frustrating.

I was on Team Shen Junshan all the way, but unfortunately, I already knew from reviews who is ML and who is SML. Well, at least this character is fairly mature and not frustrating to watch, and he stays in the game for a long time.

Qu Manting is listed as a lead too, but I don’t think she's as central. This show has lots of characters like her who have their own stories, which I think is nice, because then if you don’t like one there’s always the others. Plus, real life is more like that- everyone is the star of their own story. As for Manting herself, I found her sometimes admirable but mostly annoying.

While momentous world events are happening, our leads and their friends are preoccupied by a ridiculous number of love triangles. Love triangles are not my favorite, but I found it entertaining enough. It’s at least not that stressful. The students do have some military exercises, but they are low stress due to heavy plot armor. It feels kind of like a video game, the way they mow down NPCs but nobody with a name ever gets shot.

The last 10 or so episodes are when things start to get serious. There are lots of gunshots and explosions. After being coddled by fluff for so long, I didn’t quite enjoy this. I also liked Xie Xiang a lot less near the end, partly because she’s dating a loser, but maybe also partly because she becomes less important- she just doesn’t do as much to help herself or those around her.

That said, while I was not too enamored by the plot as a whole, I did enjoy the side character friends. The other students at the academy, for instance, don’t always play huge roles, but it’s fun to watch their banter and camaraderie. My favorite, though, is probably Tan Xiaojun, Xie Xiang’s best friend. Xiaojun is not particularly special or heroic, but she’s a good friend, and that’s all most of us can strive for in our own lives.

Acting-wise, everyone is praising Xu Kai... well, I guess he did a good job, but I was too busy being annoyed by his character to notice. I thought everyone did fine.

I very much liked the background music to this show, which is heavy on piano and solo violin. It’s quite lovely and fits in with the mood and period. The actual songs aren’t used very much, which on the one hand is good because it means fewer cheesy filler scenes, but on the other hand seems like a shame- I really liked that second closing.

As a final note, I was afraid there would be lots of propaganda, since we’re seeing China on a modern-ish world stage. And there was indeed a lot of patriotic talk and nationalistic pride, especially towards the end. But mostly this is still a show that’s meant to entertain. It’s historical fiction, telling the story of a group of people as the world moves and shakes around them.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





There are three hard-hitting deaths as we approach the end. Probably carefully chosen for emotional impact. Everyone else gets to keep their plot armor, including several heavily injured people who somehow escape from an exploding building.

The wrap-up only lasts maybe 5 minutes, so it’s no wonder that not everyone is covered satisfactorily. Most disappointing, our lead couple literally goes walking off into the sunset, no indication to where. Well, I didn’t like them that much anyways, I guess. At least Shen Junshan seems to turn out ok.

Read More

Very shounen

Duoluo Continent reminds me of an RPG, or maybe shounen anime. Courageous young man embarks on life-changing adventures with his friends to get stronger, uncover the past, and save the world. It’s a classic shounen formula. (They don’t quite get to saving the world here, but you can tell it’s coming, in some sequel we’ll probably never see- afaik the listed sequel is not actually a sequel to this drama.)

What I like most about this show is the world-building, which is particularly RPG-esque. There is a set framework to the Soul Master system, but everyone has their own spin. It’s always fun to see what a character’s martial soul is or what new skill they’ve acquired.

They do try a little too hard to be cool sometimes- like strike a pose and show off your rings, which as far as I can tell, is the equivalent of flexing. It looks cool until you consider its nonexistent functional purpose. But that’s a minor quibble. I still think the system is well-structured, letting everyone have their own unique identity within a set framework.

The world itself is also beautiful and imaginative- lovely forests, sweeping CGI cityscapes, an exotic-feeling desert town, etc. And it is enhanced by some great music. I really like the instrumental BGMs, and the uplifting, pop-y songs (like that boyband-sounding opening). Altogether it invokes strong vibes of grand adventures, epic journeys, and lifelong memories.

What I like less… I wonder if it’s because I’m neither young nor male, so the shounen formula doesn’t quite do it for me anymore. The show just somehow feels a lot more simplistic than what I’m used to. The relationships and emotions all seem pretty straightforward.

The main character is Tang San. He seems to be your typical shounen lead: strong for his age but still needs to level up, a good guy trying to do the right thing, mysterious and special family lineage, etc.

Except, he is also really weirdly overprotective of Xiao Wu, to the point that it’s a little frustrating. It makes no sense and he behaves really stupidly sometimes. It was starting to make me like Xiao Wu less, even though she didn’t do anything wrong.

Xiao Wu, to her credit, just responds back: I can protect you too! She somehow manages to be cute without being annoying, which I consider a rare feat. I think it’s because she comes off as genuine; credit should go to the actress. However, as a character, she’s still not that deep. She has her secrets, but the show didn’t quite build up around it the right way to make me feel emotionally affected.

The rest of the band is nicely gender balanced (which I appreciate!) and they’re mostly paired off. Each person has maybe one or two characteristic personality features. Team spirit / loyalty / teamwork is a huge theme, but you know they all love each other and will stick together through anything. It’s got the same vibe as teenagers together on a sports team.

There are also some pretty great adults. The headmaster, for instance, is kind of hilarious. But in the end, the show isn’t that much about them.

The plot itself is fairly linear, one quest after another. Lots of stuff like, fighting to prove themselves, or overcoming obstacles through determination. I occasionally felt frustrated watching what I thought was stupid behavior, but framed as praiseworthy (eg returning a baby alpaca to its mom- I don’t understand the fuss, just give it back. Or, charging into another school and attacking people for no reason- how is this not recognized by all as a punishable offense?)

Aside from that, though, the plot is interesting enough. I was captivated for a while, but eventually my interest began to wane. I think I just wanted something deeper from the characters and relationships. I believe they were all children in the original (which I didn’t watch/read), so that might have made it all make more sense.

Acting-wise, I like Xiao Zhan as much as anyone, but I felt he overacted a few times (eg sobbing at his dad rather than trying to reason with him). It’s not just him, though- some other actors also felt kind of unnatural at times. It might be more about the script, or the fact that I didn’t emotionally connect to the story. Then it’s just weird to watch actors saying flat or cheesy lines so earnestly.

I think the actress playing Xiao Wu must have some dance training but not martial arts. Her movements have dance-like flourishes- suitable to her name, and pretty to watch- but some of her kicks were not real kicks, which made me want to facepalm.

The fighting overall is not bad though, very CGI-based. It’s more fun when they still are showing Martial Souls. Towards the end I think they got a little lazier and resort to things like blasts of energy.

Overall it’s not a bad show, I just think shounen is not my thing anymore. Maybe when I was a teenager I would have liked it, but now I want more depth and connection to the characters, which I found missing.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending feels more like a beginning. There is a whole donghua/manhua series behind this show, and I don’t know how much it’s true to them, but you can imagine that the story goes on and turns into an epic saga. This is clearly just the first chapter. The characters resolve the major conflict of the season, and all major secrets previously hinted at are revealed, but there is obviously more.

I would say it’s satisfying enough. I always find it frustrating to have to drop a story partway, but at least you know that the saga continues, which is better than an actual bad drama ending. Personally, I didn’t like the story enough to pine after it or even look up all the material behind it.

Read More

A decent watch with good thematic focus

This show is a decent watch, but for me it didn’t quite move beyond just decent. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t set off my imagination or make me fall in love the way my favorites do.

Let’s start with characters. To begin with, I really like Mu Qingge. We get about 5 episodes of her upfront. She is always smiling; nothing can ruffle her. It works so well because it’s paired with a good deal of confidence, ability, and a sort of infallibility. Altogether, you get a warm and kind character who truly loves the world and can save it, too.

Her adopting Su Yishui as a disciple feels a bit like a good-hearted person taking on a difficult foster child. Their relationship really does resemble parent and rebellious child, and later Su Yishui gets a taste of his own medicine. It’s a fun joke in the first third-ish of the show.

While I love Qingge, the FL is more accurately Xue Ranran. An interesting thought exercise: if you take the same awesome personality but strip it of its amazing abilities, what do you get? The answer is, apparently, a really cutsey type character with too many doodads in her hair and a penchant for babbling about her crush to strangers.

Don’t get me wrong. As far as FLs go, Ranran isn’t bad. She’s quite smart- with or without abilities, she’s able to use her plot-armor-level intelligence to work her way through many situations. She’s brave, uses her abilities well, acts with kindness, and is anything but useless.

But she is also really cutsey. At first I thought they changed voice actresses, because her tones were so different from Mu Qingge. It’s not the worst cute-acting I’ve seen, but enough to annoy me. She is also totally obsessed with her crush. I mean, I get that she’s a teenage girl, but it doesn’t make me admire her.

Gosh, I think I missed Mu Qingge as much as those two guys.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t quite get behind Xue Ranran, which took a lot away from my enjoyment of the show. To be honest, I would have been disappointed if Su Yishui just fell in love with Ranran for who she was. Luckily for me, there’s room to interpret it as him being into Qingge rather than this cute-acting teenage sap. But still- at the point they did get together, I actually lost interest and took some time off watching.

On the other hand, I found Su Yishui, the ML, to be a very compelling character. I’m used to a gradual reveal of backstory, but here we already know the “past” even as the protagonist (Ranran) is still figuring it out. I liked this because it allowed me to appreciate Su Yishui as simultaneously the cold, knowledgeable, and strong figure of authority that Ranran sees him as, as well as the traumatized, guilt-ridden, and despairing lost soul who doesn’t actually have all the answers. It makes for quite a complex character, and I really empathized with him all along the way.

The villains are sort of a rotating cast- including some characters you feel sorry for despite rooting against, leading to some mixed feelings- until the final villain is revealed about ¾ of the way in. The late-reveal final villain works here because it’s foreshadowed throughout, and also ties in well thematically. This villain has the setup to be thought-provoking, but ends up being somewhat one-dimensional and lame by the end, which is too bad.

Characters aside, the plot is decent. It gets a bit loopy at times, like people sacrificing for each other back and forth and back and forth, but “sacrifice” is sort of a theme so I guess it’s only fitting.

And one thing this show does well is maintain good focus on a few decently thoughtful themes. Sacrifice, for example: pretty cliché, practically the definition of drama. But here, as we’ve been with Su Yishui on this entire journey and watched him deal with the aftermath, we start to think a little deeper. By the time he’s lamenting his lack of choice, we’re ready to clap for him because it’s something we’ve started to realize, too.

Other themes and concepts explored include regret and repentance; and the idea of how much a person’s memories make them who they are. These ideas fall obviously out of the main premise, but then later come back in different ways, which is pretty neat.

Overall I give the show a thumbs up for the themes, but by the end I felt like they were beating me on the head with them. These ideas get discussed so often towards the end that they lose some of the original subtlety that made them so thought-provoking.

In terms of world-building, xianxia has never been great about logic and consistency, but I’d say this show ranks in the top half in terms of nonsense. For example, cultivation terms are thrown out helter skelter with no explanation. World truths are introduced and forgotten as needed. Many spells and charms are so specific they could only ever work in the exact context in which they show up, clearly tailored to advance the plotline. etc.

But at least, the constantly shifting tangle of who knows who is whom got so complicated that I couldn’t keep track, thus I was unable to identify any plot holes or inconsistent behavior related to it.

In terms of execution, I thought the acting is quite good. With all of Su Yishui’s personas, Deng Wei convincingly shows quite a bit of range- not just happy vs angry vs cat, but also various levels of cold and authoritative. For Julia Xiang as the female lead, while I found the cute-acting as Ranran a bit annoying, I think that’s more the story / director’s vision and voice acting than the actress herself. I like her adorable smile and her Mu Qingge (I also like the VA’s Mu Qingge). The supporting actors, like Chen Xinhai (Su Yu) and Deng Kai (Wei Jiu), also have good performances, with great facial expressions.

The fighting is ok, a bit of sword fighting and spinning (decently executed) but mostly just arm waving and CGI. The CGI is overall decent- in the better half of what I’ve seen- but sometimes a bit too much, especially in the battles. There is way too much blood spitting.

The settings and music are both not bad, but nothing I kept thinking about after the show was over. I found the costumes to be nice-looking if sometimes highly impractical… so many floaty layers and long trains.

Finally, for better or worse, I didn’t feel as worried watching this as I do with some other shows, probably because there’s a decent amount of plot armor and the show itself just doesn’t feel that dark. Therefore I’d still classify this as light-hearted, despite having some sad stuff. I do wish it had more humor- there were some laughs, but I think they could have done more with this material.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





This show has a happy ending, including a full half episode of epilogue-type stuff like scenes of their wedding and their happy married life together. It’s not quite at the level of Legend of Shenli which gave us an actual fun story, but still satisfying. Most of the side character stories also get tied up to some extent, though not quite all to my satisfaction.

Mu Qingge comes back for the last 5 or so episodes, both her memories (therefore her person, imho) and her abilities. Apparently this is a break from the novel, where she doesn’t get her memories back until the extra. I’m glad for this change; I would have rated the entire show lower if it were Xue Ranran to the end.

At first, Qingge and Ranran seem more like a split personality, but I think the Qingge traits ended up dominating. This allows her relationship with the ML to evolve into a really amazing, actually equal partnership, which is a joy to watch.

I’m not too big a fan of Ranran, but here I’ll admit she was necessary. Despite the show trying to hint at it, I refuse to believe Mu Qingge fell in love with Yishui. So the only way SYS could get Qingge was for her to also have this dual personality of Ranran.

Su Yu, the crown prince, is the character that left me feeling most conflicted. His good-bad duality is a bit exaggerated and overdone, but I still fell for it and felt bad for him. Ultimately I was satisfied by how his story ended; being able to reclaim his dignity was more than I had expected for him.

I still think the setup of the main baddie and how he’s defeated are lame, and the last two episodes have too much cheese. But I guess the show can’t be deep everywhere. Nothing like a good save-the-world plot to lighten everyone’s mood.

Read More

I only liked it at the end

This drama took me almost the entire show to get into it. I kept leaving and coming back for lack of better options (at least these two MLs were pretty good looking, hehheh). Only at the end did I start to like it, just in time for it to be over.

This show features three distinct mysteries in three closed systems, tied together by an overarching plot. The three contained mysteries are done fairly well, with a straightforward structure (a menu of characters from whom to pick) and enough clues to follow along. They were enjoyable to watch, though I might have liked it better if fewer people died. The overarching plot is also a decent story. If you like a show where you can solve mysteries alongside the characters, this one is for you.

My main issue with this show is characters and relationships.

We’ll start with Jian Buzhi, the eponymous (Chinese title) ML and the main character. When I think about how I feel about Jian Buzhi… I just come up blank. He doesn’t have much personality; it’s just fun to watch him solve mysteries.

Zhao Wohuan, the SML (not love triangle SML, just less important male lead SML), is such a puppy. He’s endearing, but just a bit too dumb for me to like that much. At the same time, his fighting development was so unrealistic. I felt almost offended at how quickly he skyrocketed to the top… what a dump on everyone else who worked so hard for so long.

I thought both MLs were acted well. Jian Buzhi looked so happy whenever he solved a mystery, it was adorable. And Zhao Wohuan’s actor captured the puppy feel well. I just didn’t quite like the way they were written.

Relative to the two MLs, the FLs are much less central to the story. Zhan Shiqi (I’ll just call her 17) is the main FL. I found this show for having a strong FL, but she ended up being my least favorite character. I think she’s trying to be an ice queen beauty; but she’s trying too hard to be cool, like she herself thinks she is badass. Too much glaring.

Besides being too cool, Zhan 17 doesn’t have much personality. The bits and pieces of character development she does get are incohesive. Her only notable feature is her whole thing about… wanting to wear pretty clothes? That’s pretty vain, especially for a punchline. On top of it all, I thought her styling was bad (fabulous feather dress aside). Something about it didn’t look good with all the glaring, and this actress has looked better in other shows.

I’ll consider Ming Yue the SFL, although she doesn’t play a huge role. I didn’t care too much for her for most of the show, but at least she’s not around that much.

So I didn’t quite connect with these characters, but the feeling was compounded by some poor relationship building. The bromance between the two MLs was cute- I do love a good bromance- but it came out of nowhere. It was so strong that I mostly forgot it was built on nothing, but once in awhile I’d do a double take and wonder how we got there.

The main romance was even worse. There were a couple overly dramatic scenes and then suddenly they were mooning after each other. Their relationship was founded on nothing, I couldn’t imagine why either one liked the other, and the scenes between them were cheesy. They both needed more personality for this to work.

The romance wasn’t critical to the story, so I did my best to ignore it. But at one point when it got in the way of the bromance, I was so angry I actually stopped watching for about a month. This situation never resolved well; later I learned that the director had deleted some key scenes. Either way, I didn’t buy into their relationship and I didn’t like 17, so I could only do my best to overlook all parts involving them.

The second relationship is based on the SML’s desire to protect a weak and helpless female. The reasons for attraction are all male chauvinist; the only saving grace was that it’s not actually true. Even so, I found it cringey and couldn’t root for it- until I ended up surprised by how well I liked its resolution.

What this show does well, is side characters. New side characters are introduced throughout the plot (eg all the candidates within each mystery), usually with interesting backstories or premises. And happily, several of them stick around or come back after their case is over. This was a huge plus; I don’t like getting attached to characters just to watch them disappear.

Like the bromance and romances, a lot of the friendships became too dedicated too fast. That said, by the end I found myself liking this show quite a bit, and I think it’s because the side characters got more development and I was invested in their stories. The male doctor and female doctor were probably my favorite characters overall.

On the flipside, many other side characters revealed a tragic backstory and then simply died, leaving me feeling sympathetic and sad. And I was looking forward to humanizing all the assassins, but they just kept dying. Lives were a bit too cheap in this show.

In terms of execution, this show was a smaller production, not very high budget. For example, there is only one song- which I happened to really like. A lot of the scenes also conveniently occur in deserted settings, obviating the need for extras. I think they found a good forest and worked it (it’s a nice forest, I agree). Budget is what it is, and I think they did a great job skimping on things that matter less.

I also really liked the fighting style. It’s full of flashy spins and well-done wirework, but I liked best that the moves are clean and solid rather than just having a lot of them in a flurry, like some other shows. Using daily items as weapons is a unique premise, but I think it’s just too hard to make an umbrella look deadly. The actress’s performances weren’t bad, but I thought the umbrella fights looked fake. And what could that umbrella possibly be made out of to be so indestructible?

Overall, I think this show does some things well- especially given their limited budget- but other things less well. Other people seem to really like the character development, so it might just be me personally not connecting with them.

P.S. I know the names are supposed to be ironic and funny, but who would ACTUALLY name their kid 不知 (Don’t Know) or 我還 (I Return)?

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The show ends in a fairly satisfactory and happy way. All is resolved, no further hard-hitting deaths. The answer to the overarching mystery is also a nice plot twist.

I only say “fairly” satisfactory because it ends on this cliffhanger hinting at a second season, which never came. It looks intriguing, they suck me in, and then… poof. How annoying.

My interest in this show picked up towards the end, I think partly due to the side characters getting more airtime, and partly because I liked how the second couple’s relationship (which I didn’t care for until the end) was resolved. I was afraid Ming Yue would lose her head like some lovestruck girl, but it was nothing that cliché. Their final scene was quite sweet, and I would have liked to see where it went from there.

Read More