It takes 60,000 years worth of patience to watch this show...

So, I really tried to like this show. I mean, it has good actors, a splendid wardrobe, amazing production and special effects. Even the opening and ending OST match the vibe that this show is trying to achieve...

BUT:

1. The Gods are weaker than the Devils till the 46th episode
2. The secondary lead/Muguang is a complete and utter fool but also gets major screen time
3. The villain is known from episode 12 and continues to go undetected and run rampant till episode 46. AND you get to see this all the time as everyone else is taken for a ride but you still ought to believe that they are Gods and not idiots.
4. Only saving grace are another pair of secondary leads - TianQi and Gu Jun - who unfortunately do not get enough screen time or the power to solve anything
5. The ML is too busy falling in love/out of love/ reincarnating/ suffering amnesia/ solving reincarnation problems and acting like the entire universe 's problems are on his shoulders
6. One avatar of the FL which is all powerful and can actually solve problems is there in approx 22 episodes. The first 12 eps where she is busy training and falling in love (so in my eyes - basically doing nothing), and then the last ten where she alone is able to devise how to make good triumph over evil. The rest of her avatars are powerless and only involved in entangling with the ML and suffering in the hands of the villain

SO:

Story:
If you can't tell from the above points how frustrated I am with the overall pace of this story then my rant has fallen on deaf ears. The storyline is pretty interesting as it has been derived from a popular novel. All story arcs are also fleshed out sufficiently with multiple secondary leads. My only bone of contention is that this story will try your patience to the limit and then some.

Acting:
TianQi and Gu Jun were good. The female lead is a good actress and Xu Kai is good at looking good. To me the story overpowered the acting. I have zero tolerance for fools and characters that just don't take the hint. Unfortunately, this show is filled with them so I wasn't able to get past my frustration with the characters to appreciate their acting.

Overall:
This is watchable if you are a fan of xanxia/wuxia genre. The production value is fantastic and the special effects are truly wonderful. The acting is okay and if you are a fan of the book you'll probably be a fan of the show. I think I would have rated this higher if it was a K-show with only 16/24 episodes. If I am watching something for 49 episodes it had better be sensible and keep me invested in the characters. I lost hope after ep 40 and only sheer grit made me finish this show so I could share my review truthfully.
All in all, if you have low patience for issue resolution and do not suffer fools gladly then do not bother to watch. You will thank me later!

PS: This is my opinion. If you don't agree that's fine but please desist from writing rude comments.

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An epic fantasy immersed in island lore and mystery

I am basking in the afterglow of this drama as I write this review but I shall try to be impartial or as impartial as I can be considering I have given it a perfect score.

So with no further ado, here are the reasons why I loved RLIAGL:
1. It has a mix of genres: fantasy, mystery and romance seeped in mythology.
2. The leads are working adults. (I am old and if you are too you know why this point is a good thing)
3. Great script writing and intriguing story board. Every episode brings a new meaning to the overarching storyline and keeps you hooked. The format of the episode also lends well to the mystery and keeps it interesting.
4. Good acting by everyone involved. Also, leads are cute eye candy.
5. Amazing score! The OST for this show is really really good.
6. Production quality is high and the visuals are also good. I loved the cinematography of this show.

The reasons why you may not like RLIAGL:
1. The romance is a slow burn. Its slower than a sloth climbing a tree. Its so slow that you might think there is no romance. And that would be because the romance is not the main part of this show, it's the mystery of why it ain't gonna rain in this land no more.
2. The story also starts of slow. It takes the first few episodes for this show to grow on you and while it does it might bore the socks out of impatient people.
3. The female lead could have done certain things better (a lot) . But that is no fault of her own it's because of the script writer.
4. The audience as well as secondary characters get the drift way quicker than the main leads. A few times I wished people asked the right questions instead of going about in a tangent, but that was the fun of the show and I didn't mind it as much.
5. It's quite melodramatic. Everything has an epic consequence like the world ending or people dying.
6. I was dissatisfied with how they resolved the environmental degradation issue. (You'll know what I'm talking about only if you watch it. :P )
7. It is not a Kdrama. It is from Taiwan and a lot of people don't watch shows from here. On the other hand, I have no idea what you are doing reading this review in that case.

Story/Acting Overview:
A woman believes in the stories her grandmother taught her when she was young and before she was abandoned by said grandmother. This is her journey as she navigates through life, meets & parts with people and begins to question her beliefs.

With a great cast, production and unbelievable scriptwriting, this show has all the right elements to be a blockbuster in my book. I enjoyed the acting by the entire crew. Toem was my favourite actor with Fali coming a close second. Loved the layers in their character.

As mentioned earlier, the story is infused with island lore and mythology with small folk tales at the beginning of each episode which portend some major events which might occur in each episode. The format was great and lends to watching it one episode a time as it feels like each episode is a chapter in the RLIAGL book.

While the romance is a slow burn, I enjoyed it as I never thought of this story as a romance but as a fantasy mystery. I was more interested in understanding the characters and Kawas than I was in Tian-Di & Orad's love story. As we move further into the story line, we also come to understand why their romance is such a slow burn. Past events and future situations play a vital role in their romance.

Overall:
Overall, I enjoyed this show way more than I expected to at the start and by the end it had grown on me. As the story reaches towards its climax the pace also picks up leading to an amazing ending. There are plot twists that I wasn't expecting and therefore, was quite blown over with the revelations.

A perfect 10 from me (9.5 ~ 10 all the same) as I know I will end up rewatching this and it's perfect OST.

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As unending as an oath, this drama drags on forever...

This drama is truly a test of love and patience. Your love and patience that is.

After YAMG, I thought we would get another sensible modern drama since, the novel this show is based on received immense praise but sadly, I live to be disappointed.

Yang Zi’s Zhi Xiao is immature and annoying. Her only saving grace is her good choice in a partner, Dr. Gu. The side couples are two-dimensional characters whose life's purpose is to get on your nerves. This drama is a struggle to finish from beginning to end. I had to hug the thighs of the fast-forward button to skip a lot of senseless scenes but Zhi Xiao still managed to annoy me.

The first four episodes were ridiculous but did get better until we were confronted with a father that likes to torture his family. He is a victim of circumstance and ‘woe is he’ but for some reason I could generate no sympathy for his plight.
We are introduced to the second male lead and female leads who try to get in between our main couple’s awfully sluggish love story. Misunderstandings abound and their resolutions like the story take forever while leaving an unsatisfactory aftertaste.

By episode 20 I stopped caring about the storyline and the side characters. The male lead and my unending patience were the only things keeping me watching this travesty. There is a minor rise in interest when the male lead suffers a setback. I was pleasantly surprised with how the female lead stuck to her guns and at the same time supported the male lead. This was probably the only sub-plot where I found her behaviour admirable.

While the plot in romcoms has always been a foregone conclusion, as viewers we watch it for the cast, subplots, setting and dialogues. Unfortunately in The Oath of Love the plot is thin, the pacing highly inconsistent, most conflicts un-engaging, with forgettable dialogues. The female lead was annoying 8 times out of 10 and the narrative became repetitive in the middle phase. I am just glad this wasn’t 40 episodes as my corpse would have to review this drama then.

The only positives in this drama for me were the cinematography, the background music, the lure of a happy ending, the little theatre at the end of each episode and the eye-candy, Xiao Zhan. Unfortunately none of these positives were strong enough to overcome the tragedy that was the drama.

It’s possible that some will like this drama for all the same reasons that I did not. But would I recommend anyone to watch this? No. Unless you are a staunch fan of YZ or XZ and gifted with boundless patience, this drama is not for you. For a middling fan lacking in patience this drama cannot score more than 5.5/10.

You've been warned. Watch at your own risk.

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A slow burn thriller filled with beautiful cinematography

After a few months of dropping dramas midway, this was the first one I completed. While the story has it's plot holes, it is extremely gripping and addictive. After every episode I was compelled to find time to watch another one. I actually liked that the airing schedule only had two episodes per week. The time in between helped to make me more invested in the drama rather than lose interest. This is a slow burn that you need to take slow.

A wife is faced with her husband's death and left with a debt of 40 million yuan. Her signature was forged in the documents making her the underwriter (I have serious doubts about the legalities of this but let's not get into it). There are boat loads of people invested in finding out where the money is at. And there we have our thriller.

Is the husband dead? Does the widow have the money? Who is the lawyer that suddenly popped up from nowhere? What is the husband's assistant looking for? What's the best friend keeping from the widow?.......are only a few of the mysteries that surround us. And thankfully they all get answered over the course of 38 episodes.

There is a natural progression of mysteries as the show unfolds and the acting was at par with the intensity of the thrill. Both ML and FL are new actors for me and did a great job bringing their characters to life. I really liked the FL's character, though she is the main protagonist we never get to really understand what she is actually thinking inside. She is a very strong character and doesn't let the circumstances she has been dealt with get to her. While we see her breaking down multiple times as is natural but we also see her getting back up without depending on someone else to help her. She has a reason to doubt everyone around her as no one is telling the truth and everyone is interested in the money she supposedly has hidden. And also, I found her drop dead gorgeous. Her stills were just too beautiful.

The ML starts off as yet another despicable fellow who is trying to take advantage of the widow but gets better down the road. His motives remain shady for a while and we don't get to know him until quite later but whatever his personality, he did a great job bringing his questionable character to life.

The supporting characters are also fleshed out well and we get to know more about them as the story progresses. I appreciated that there were all kinds of characters in this drama. The good ones, the selfish ones, the silly ones and the bad ones. Many characters were grey and not fully evil which brought a very realistic element to the people side of things in this show. While there are two protagonists, the rest of the characters also got their time in the limelight so this felt more like a mature drama thriller with an added element of family relations.

The cinematography is just beautiful. I loved everything from the colour palette that was used to the artistic stills and soft touch ups. This show was a mood I wanted to immerse myself in and the melancholic music softly crept into my heart sprouting delicate leaves of naive expectation. I hoped for a satisfactory ending that would answer all the mysteries that kept piling up as the episodes went into double digits.

This is a slow burn that I unexpectedly enjoyed just like the grammatically incorrect but apt title. A 8.5/10, if only because it kept me engaged and stopped my dropping spree.

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Slower than cold molasses in winter time....

Similar to the American film 'The exorcism of Emily Rose' which combines the horror genre with courtroom drama, 'The Medium' tries to combine the horror genre with biography/reality tv. I say try because I think it failed in generating sufficient interest or traction in either of it's intended genres.

Let us first tackle the 'horror' portion of the movie and all it's entailed expectations. The premise of the movie is interesting, we have a camera crew that is following a 'medium/psychic' who is purported to be possessed by one of the local Gods. As we follow her life, we are introduced to a her family members and the complicated family dynamics. This portion of the movie narrative takes almost 45 mins. Even I can introduce my family in lesser time and I have 21 first cousins.

Anyway after the sluggish introductions we delve deeper into the character of the medium's niece who I must say portrayed her character pretty well. We are one hour 10 minutes into the movie and I am yet to be scared. The creep factor of this movie is extremely slow. This would be acceptable if 'The Medium' was a thriller but it isn't and it is also not capable of keeping the audience engaged cause it's first half is extremely boring. As one of the reviewers previously mentioned, the first half could have been compressed into 12-15 minutes.

Unfortunately things don't get any better after one hour. While the story of possession becomes proven and the nieces antics become crazier there very little horror. It's more of a supernatural intent and horrific fascination with which we watch the behaviour of a possessed person. There are some scare-inducing moments, but when a movie is over 2 hours the moments feel extremely minuscule.

What fails this movie is also it's train wreck of an ending which begins half hour before the ending credits and just like the sluggish pace of it's intro, is slow but devolves into a complete parody. While 'The Medium' suffered from a sluggish plot line and inconsistent pacing, it was the farcical ending which was the final nail in it's coffin.

Now, speaking of the biography/reality tv portion of this movie it was majorly passive. The camera crew did not communicate much in terms of the story progression in the first one and half hour. When the story started picking up about monitoring the possessed person the camera crew started communicating with the possessed's family regarding the footage and the last half hour they were as active as the rest of the cast. I felt their presence was superfluous because if the intent was to gain a third-party perspective, there should have been more interactions between the camera crew and the audience/viewers since, the movie is what they 'filmed'. So I am confused whether this was actually supposed to be found footage horror in which case this is nowhere near 'Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum' standards. There was zero audience engagement with respect to this theme.

Overall:
The scares are relatively low and the movie is more into the depiction of gory or revolting behaviour. The pace is beyond sluggish with a smattering of interesting incidences. Overall, this movie could benefit from some serious editing and compression into a standard one/one-half hour movie. So would I recommend anyone to watch this? No. But if you are interested in the show be ware of the first half. This scores a 6.5/10 in my book.

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A moment of silence for that spectacularly bland ending

Like many recent big budget Korean shows trying to capitalize on the Hallyu wave, The Silent Sea suffers from unrealised potential. There is nothing spectacular about the show except for its cast, budget and cinematography which would have been perfectly fine. There are many shows that are well received by viewers even when these are the only three strengths of the show. So what set Silent Sea apart?

Overall:
The pacing is slow and the camera pans quite a lot in the initial episodes to show us the scenery which is exquisite BTW. There are some beautiful scenes and some real fast shots during the action sequences. All good till here.

There were few indications from the beginning though. A lot of unanswered questions. Dialogues that went nowhere. Some illogical & impossible sequences but these are all not a major turn offs. The stellar cast and great acting by Bae Doona and the rest of the actors was a big draw. The musical score did not intrude on the scenes too much. The plot was also okay, or else we wouldn't be here watching it in the first place. The show was on the right track till episode 6 with minor veering and thats when it lost its marbles.

The unnecessary segues, the wasted scenes where they tried to drag out emotions instead of having scenes that would attempt to logically introduce some of the subsequent illogical actions of the crew and the open threads really bogged down this show.

The Silent Sea could have been salvaged if it was only the last episode that sucked but unfortunately as it was the entire ending sequence which spans two entire episodes in an 8 episode show, it left me with disappointment and dissatisfaction. These two -dis words unfortunately are the last two impressions you want to leave an audience with, after a show's completion. This is also the reason why a lot of people remember only the bad things about Silent Sea even though the show was entertaining and the actors did a great job.

So would I recommend this show to others? Yes, its not bad for a one time watch as long as you are okay with the wasted potential. The first six episodes were a solid 8 for me and it only goes downhill for the last two so, it is tolerable to watch the beautiful cinematography (including Gong Yoo) and appreciate the effects.

If only the ending sequence was better! A 7/10 from me.

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A unique drama with great potential that wasn't realised

I was hooked in by the promo poster and the premise but was disappointed with the unrealised potential of this drama.

Story:
First three episodes really built the tension and I was excited to know more about the witch, the evolution of Jeong Jin as well as how Gil Young would handle his school life but unfortunately the next two episodes fell flat. The drama turned episodic with new characters that were introduced in every episode and a fresh new ML also came into the picture. With all this, the backstories of the main characters fell on the wayside until the last three episodes making the main characters uninteresting and inconsistent.

The premise of this drama is very unique and interesting. Considering this show is only 8 episodes I felt the script should have focused more on the stories of the main characters and fleshed them out better rather than introducing many secondary characters. The build up in the first three episodes was so good that I ended up expecting too much from this series and eventually got disappointed.

Acting:
Sing Ji Hyo was the perfect witch with her flamboyant appearance and attitude to match. Nam Ji Hyun as the owner/helper was naive and wanted to believe the best of everyone inspite of being thrown around by the world. Chae Jong Hye is cute as the part timer. All actors were good but I felt there was a lot of wasted potential.

Overall:
Meh! They might as well have made this a five episode drama and it would still be just as good/bad. Anyway, its okay for a one time watch as long as you aren't expecting anything great to happen on screen.

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A great found footage horror film for the fall!

With an intriguing introduction, use of clever music and visuals, the movie starts strong. The backstory of the mystic religion and secretive ritual which was conducted by the residents of the village was also very interesting. From the beginning one could see the cleverly placed inklings of the curse among the practitioners.

Off on a tangent here, but I found the lack of respect for other people’s religion quite annoying. If someone says don’t desecrate our altar or respect our idol then follow their instructions or just scram! By the end of the first hour I was supremely annoyed at the trio of ghostbusters who didn’t show a modicum of intelligence, or survival instinct. They were mostly the instruments for spreading the horror and the next hour just reconfirmed my beliefs.

BTW splendid acting by the main female lead and the child. The lead portrayed the emotions really well and the atmosphere created was truly immersive, be it the past or the present. Even the child did an awesome portal of being confused, neglected, loved and cursed. Wide array of emotions here!

The cinematography & use of colours though not as lush as “The Medium” was believable and pulled the audience into the story. The story is peppered with a whole lot of jump scares though the gore was a bit too much for me. The fear factor is definitely high and the BGM tied in perfectly with the eeriness of the horror story.

I found the horror to be more of a creepy feeling that builds up to the finale rather than a classic American horror film, and what a great finale. Finally a movie that has a fitting finale! I loved how they retained consistency with the storytelling through use of psychology. The imparting of a particular message to the audience by presenting the same symbol & prayer at regular intervals was also very unique. The breaking of the fourth wall was vital to good storytelling.

Now as one of the reviewers mentioned previously, this movie should have a trigger warning for trypophobia (it’s not obvious but for those who suffer from it, it’s glaring) as well as child neglect. Another con for me was the constant switching of the two timelines. The yo-yoing back and forth gave me whiplash besides confusing the hell out of me in the first hour.

All in all, this was a great horror film peppered with just enough scares and a good creepy background story. While the movie could do with a tighter editing and shorter duration, the overall horror was good enough to deserve an 8 acc to me. And that’s the highest score yet this year for a horror film.

Recommended for - creepiness, jump scares, mystic rituals/superstitious beliefs and lots of gory visuals.
Not recommended for - slick/fast buildups, trypophobics and people sensitive to blood, child neglect or whiplash.

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The best Anti-Samurai film to be ever made...

Unemployment has always been a tragic consequence of change and modernisation. What if this situation occurred at a time when there was no pension, no unemployment benefits and the moral code was not able to keep up with the times?

To me Harakiri had elements of a job interview gone horribly wrong. Considering the past two pandemic years where a lot of people became jobless, this movie hits close to home and makes me feel really thankful that we live in different times.

Story:
The time is 1630 - Japan. We have a ronin (wandering unemployed samurai) Tsugumo, who goes to a clan house and requests permission to kill himself i.e commit Harakiri. The clan elder Saito tells him a story designed to discourage this but the tables are turned when Tsugumo skilfully humiliates the leader in front of his retainers.

This is an anti-establishment film that portrays the flawed bushido code hiding behind a facade of honour and morality. It depicts the tragic circumstances surrounding ritual suicide and provides a potent message which I think is relevant as long as authoritarian regimes exist in this world. We are all born into a system that influences our thinking and behaviour. Be it cultural or political, the system defines our actions and when we are faced with an ethical dilemma it can challenge what we think to be right or wrong. A similar situation forces Tsugumo to give up his ideals and deal with it in the only way he knows - sepukku/ harakiri.

The story is poignant and the thought evoking screenplay by acclaimed screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto is brought to life by Kobayashi in an extremely mesmerising narrative structure with some beautiful stills and graceful cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima.

Acting:
Tatsuya Nakadai as Tsugumo delivers a flawless performance. His calm demeanour in the initial sequence really brings in the sombre mood of the film.
Mikuni Rentaro does a splendid job as Saito. The acting in this film overall is superb but the direction by Kobayashi elevates this film to brilliance.

Overall:
There are a lot of symbolic shots during the opening and closing sequences that reflect the tarnished glory of feudal Japan. History is written by the victors and the ending shot of the samurai armour sears it into the minds of us viewers as it brings forth the hypocrisy of feudal Japan.

With a brilliant screenplay, an amazing director and the wonderful acting of every cast member, this is undoubtedly one of the most thought provoking samurai film to be ever made!
A solid 10 from me.

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Being in your 30s isn't an easy feat.....

...cause we are weak beasts after all!

Kemono ni narenai watashitachi is truly a masterpiece of an adult comedy about people in their late 20’s and 30’s working a job they don’t necessarily like but one you have to grudgingly live with cause it pays the bills. That feeling of dissatisfaction leads us to fill that hole with something/someone to make us feel complete ergo - weak beasts!

We have Aragaki as Akira, a Yes-woman with a less than stellar boyfriend/partner and Matsuda as an accountant who acts with a superbly blasé attitude as if the struggles of ordinary mortals are above him.

The story starts in a bar cause that where working people frequent if they are unattached or depressed. I loved that bar. There was one I frequented when I started working too and that’s why this story is so relatable. Everyone knows that colleague who can’t say no and just keeps taking shit from the boss. Yes, that’s Akira! And that colleague who acts cynical and worldly but is as confused as the rest of us - Kosei!

This show is about how these two seemingly different people meet, engage with each other and eventually come to terms with themselves as well as the crap that’s been handed to them. Yes, Akira can be quite irritating with how slow she is on the uptake but I am sure we’ve all been through that when it comes to some trouble in our life.

The pace is melancholic and the sepia coloured cinematography inspires an atmosphere that is somber just like the ambivalent contemplations of our leads that can barely clutch onto the problematic realism of their lives. This is not an over the top drama, it pivots on the subtle desperations of working class people who care about solving their issues silently so as not to enrage public sentiments. This show is Asian reality to the T. Stuck with parents who balanced between their jobs and age old traditions, this generation (x) still cares about appeasing parents and society though a part of them rebels inside. Every character has a story, they could very well be people you know, your colleagues, friends or acquaintances.

This show definitely creeps up on you when you least expect it. Supported by stellar acting all around this Japanese gem is definitely in my recommend list though the slow pace sometimes might get to be frustrating. You may not like some characters while some might tickle your fancy. But hey, isn’t that life?

8.5/10 from me. Go watch it when you are in the mood for some contemplation.

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An adaptation from a romance novel done right and then some...

Firstly let me clarify - this is NOT an E-sports drama.

This is a love story between two adults working in two very different fields who happen to come together because of a shared hobby, in this case a game. So if you are here because of GGS, Love O2o, GYH, King's Avatar, Love Scenery or FIYS and are expecting a lot of gaming you will be sorely disappointed.

On the other hand, if you are looking for adult protagonists with mature issues like finances, career, family and lastly - the search for that ever elusive life partner, then this drama is for you!

This is a slow burn that explores more about the ML than our FL. Being an engineer myself as well as in the same age group as our protagonists I found this drama to be pretty realistic and equally brilliant!

All the fans of Josei - this drama is perfect for you!

Story:

The romance starts slow but progresses naturally. I am happy with the pace though some might find it slow but it's the slowness that makes you stop and appreciate the stories of the supporting characters as well as the beautiful cinematography.

The story definitely focuses more on Yu Tu's life than on Jing Jing's. I liked that as I am not an actress and I wouldn't be able relate to her life. While Yu Tu is a normal fellow and I wasn't expecting to be so invested in his character.

The existential crisis that he is going through resonated so well with me - personally as well as through seeing mutual friends. There are many high achievers that have felt a career slump or questioned their life choices after reaching their 30s and this drama is showing the perspectives of different people so well. I could even relate with the conversations that were being held between YT and his colleagues or friends.

QJJ, our FL is mature, successful and not clingy. She is the emotional support to YT's internal inferno. Their love is quiet and takes you on a journey.

The supporting cast is also great. The FL's manager is sensible and not an EXTRA-character who restricts the FL from dating, etc. And though the ML is a typical smart, taciturn and handsome fellow he is suffering from typical career issues which are highly atypical in C-Dramaland.

FYI - There has been a dearth of slow motion scenes where the FL/ML just stare at each other vacantly or the ML touches the FL and the camera pans around them for 1 minute showing them from ten different angles. You can watch this drama just for this reason alone!!

Acting:

While the awkwardness of their (YT + QJJ) first encounter was a bit uncomfortable to digest, their subsequent encounters really grew on me and I felt their relationship was more realistic than other dramas that I have watched.

Both the leads did a great job of representing the emotions of adults that are meeting their school classmate after a long time. I am not a fan of childish/dumb/cutesy FLs and I specially liked the way the QJJ is handling her long forgotten crush like an adult as opposed to in an OTT/immature way.

Yu Tu was wooden in the initial episodes but becomes really expressive after he officially gets together with QJJ. If you've read the novel you would know that his character is the typical taciturn fellow though I would have preferred the screenwriter change the characterisation a bit to show us the anguish he is feeling regarding his life choices initially.

I also liked the acting by all of the supporting characters. Shout out to YT's Ex - she was someone you can really understand and probably know such a person in real life as well.

Overall:

I am in love with this drama. This is one of my favourite C-Dramas of all time. I just really appreciated the mature romance and it helped that all of the characters were believable. Kudos to the scriptwriter and director for seamlessly incorporating the epilogues from the novel and adding extra scenes as well as some memorable dialogue to make this a cohesive story!

The desert scenes were a special favourite of mine!! Some beautiful shots are captured in this drama!
What a wonderful drama!! A 10/10 for me. Definitely going to have withdrawal from this.

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A vastly different story in the Novoland universe which might not sit well with everyone...

There are vastly polarised opinions regarding the faithfulness NPE holds towards the original source material. Not being a fan of the original novel, this review may seem biased to a few of you. It also doesn't help that the summary for this drama is somewhat misleading. So here's my version for you -

Drama Summary:

NPE tells the story about the court & harem of the last dynasty in the eastern lands of Novoland, the Zheng dynasty. As Emperor Xu pines for his dead empress and neglects a lot of corruption there are political undercurrents threatening to upend his rule. Meanwhile, Fang Zhu a minister and his best friend rescues a girl Haishi; who has a strange encounter with a Naga, from a coastal town. He makes her his disciple and the drama focuses on her life as a undercover male who eventually becomes the personal guard of the Emperor Xu.

There are very few fantastic elements in this drama and it focuses mainly on realistic fight scenes, relationship woes, political history and angst.

Now, here are 5 reasons why you should watch this drama:

1. The female lead is strong minded and doesn't lose her maturity or senses when she is around the object of her affection. She appears capable and intelligent.

2. The secondary leads look good and the plot is interesting as well so I don't fast forward the secondary storyline.

3. Politics and military action are well balanced in this story. Neither of the two overpower the 'drama' that is happening between the various characters.

4. The romance is a slow burn and no one falls for the other at first sight. I'd rather say this drama is about yearning & the longing for love rather than any romance.

5. The production value is pretty good and so is the music.

And yet there are many reasons why you may not want to watch this show. I have kindly enumerated them for you:

1. The male lead is no longer a eunuch as in the original material & neither is he uninterested in the female lead. All of this means we end up hating on the ML for emotionally torturing the FL. And it doesn't help that a woman in her 30's is forced to act like a naive girl/man in the initial episodes.

2. The second male lead apparently needs to work on his line delivery (I don't understand Chinese so I cannot judge this but I liked XKC's acting and he made a very interesting King for me)

3. There is quite a lot of physical abuse in the initial episodes which might turn some people off as this drama is based on a 15 year old novel.

4. For people used to watching xanxia/wuxia dramas where the plot moves really fast the relatively slow pace of this drama might get tiresome. Compared to other Novoland stories, this drama has less action and more intrigue. And believe it or not, the pace reduces even further as we reach the climax of the drama.

5. It could be disconcerting to hear the ML's voice as it is dubbed by the same voice actor that dubbed for a major character from TMOPB.

Story:

Read above points to understand how the story is. But let me summarise for you: you don't need to concentrate on this story if you are a native speaker. You could be doing your chores and watching this in the background and you'd be totally fine.

Acting:

Yang Mi was good at portraying her frustrations with her Shifu. Shifu had a wooden expression but since his character is the cliche taciturn ML it didn't really matter. The emperor ZKC looked crazy for the first few episodes (I loved his acting here the best) and then later turned into a sane but frustrated emperor. I think the acting was okay but as mentioned earlier his line delivery might throw native speakers off. Consort Shurang was okay and so were Zhouying & the embroiderer.
All in all the acting was good considering this is a wuxia/fantasy.

Overall:

I found the cast & pairing pretty okay and the story quite interesting. I think if you are expecting a fast paced high fantasy action series or a sweet historical romance it's safe to say you will be disappointed. Personally, I have enjoyed this drama more than I expected to.

While the drama does drag on a bit and the romance (what little is there) is as slow as molasses, the tragic story itself makes one addicted to watching it. The last ten episodes could have been condensed into 4 episodes and this would have received a solid 8.5 from me but unfortunately the scriptwriters didn't ask for my advice.

As it is, this is a 7.5/10. (It's sole grace being none of the characters were irritating so I could finish this series with a bit of fast-forwarding of the last few episodes and yet I enjoyed watching this show).

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There is no light in those eyes...

The Light in your Eyes is the most depressing drama I’ve watched. It is depressing because the heartwarming scenes were always followed by heart wrenching ones. Every episode was designed to make me cry. This was an emotional roller-coaster I would have preferred not to be on.

The drama is about the life of an unfortunate woman and the way she deals with ageing. The acting gets better as the story progresses but I just couldn’t get over the number of unfortunate incidents that a single family suffers through. I felt everything was a bit too over the top.

The plot in the last three episodes confused and irritated me. The plot twist was superfluous and made the previous episodes an unnecessary drag. While 12 episodes is short I felt they should have condensed it further to 8 and I would have probably appreciated the story more. This was a struggle to finish because I am not a fan of crying all the time.

I decided to watch this drama because people have been raving about it but I just couldn't get myself to like it. Overall this is a tearjerker and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone for an easy watch cause it’s anything but easy. Unless you want to be depressed and bawl in every episode, this drama is not for you.

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A moment of nostalgia captured in exquisite stop-motion ...

Based on the short story by Nankichi Niimi, this short stop-motion film by Takeshi Yashiro was two years in the making. A touching story about a mischievous little fox, it teaches us about how there are hidden kindnesses that we may ignore as we are burdened with instinctive prejudice that colours our outlook.

The hunting scene at the beginning was splendid. It illustrated the tension between Hyoju’s father’s beliefs and Hyoju’s own aspirations really well. Both Hyoju and Gon are orphans but their guilt leads them to stand on opposite sides of a divide. To me the lesson from this film was the need for dialogue and empathy.

The amount of work involved in crafting Houju, Gon and the villagers is visible in the movie and the natural materials used to create them lent an earthy & aesthetic appeal to the entire film. While the red liquorice flowers were symbolic of the feelings of our protagonists, the way their bright red colour pierced an otherwise brown landscape was truly beautiful.

The unique texture of stop-motion animation evoked nostalgia and left a lasting impression. Truly a worthwhile short!

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Thrilling take on an teenage cheating syndicate!

This was such a refreshing movie to watch. I really liked the dramatisation of the clever escapades of a bunch of teenage students. School stories are a thing of past for me and it's really difficult to connect to them now but this movie made answering multi-choice questions as thrilling and exciting as robbing a bank in 'Money Heist'!

Summary in one sentence - A smart high-school girl takes advantage of her brain to make money by selling answers.

Lynn was brilliant as the high-school genius-turned-hustler and her accomplices or enablers Grace & Pat were equally good. I felt for Bank's loss of naivety/innocence as he realises intelligence can get you only so far. It sucks how close to home this story hits. Even though being smart in Asia is not equivalent to being a nerd in the western world, money & connections unfortunately, speak everywhere in the world!

Overall:
Bad Genius is a great pun and a totally apt title for this excellent and entertaining film. I highly recommend this for all who are fans of the school/teen and coming-of-age genre. An 8.5/10 for me!

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