KangHae
I took a REALLY long time to finish this but thank God, its done.
Story: 8/10
I had a lot of problems with the story but overall it has a very attractive story line.
.
1) Plot:
The basic plot/story is one of my favorites. Of a guy who has 8-years of his life missing from his memories and not just that, he might've been a bad guy in those 8 years. Moreover, its crime/investigation/drug trafficking plot which means every other scene might be a climax but....it isn't. Overall, I loved the drama but I have serious issue with the sequencing of the story. It would've been more thrilling had we not known about those 8 years of Liu Zi Guang. The viewers knew but the characters didn't. For me, it killed the thrill that we could've felt otherwise. The mystery of those missing 8 years and the snippets of what he did would've been hella more attractive only if we hadn't known those scenes in detail. I wish the story would've started from when Liu Zi Guang came back to Jiangbei and progressed from there since we had our share of flash backs of the starting episodes later in the drama.
2) Characters:
The characters....were normal? Too normal for my taste? I mean, this kind of plot requires thrilling characters, right? Anyway, I absolutely LOVED Liu Zi Guang in those 8 years. He was entirely a different character from his goofy present self. What irritated me the most were the stupidity of the female lead at number of times and Liu Zi Guang's over protectiveness. Maybe the writer had intended to make his character 'manly' and he succeeded in making him so only, he felt fake at times. He was...too darn perfect. And too darn immature. It was uncomfortable, to see someone like William Chen acting like a teenage boy.
If I'm to talk about my favorite characters of the show, I'd say Captain Han without a second thought. He was...the most sensible, passionate, rational character and I absolutely LOVED him. As for Li Wan, she became my favorite because of her character development and...the actress is gorgeous (；・∀・) I loved Liu Zi Guang's friends. Damn, they really loved him, didn't they?
3) Character Development:
Surprisingly, the character development on the main leads part was...crappy. It was there but wasn't enough. Both the leads were too perfect and aside from changing because of their feelings for each other, they remained pretty much the same. The most character developments that I got to witness were in case of: Captain Han -> He went from crushing/cool captain to someone understanding and his friendship towards Liu Zi Guang was one of my most favorite things. The way he stood beside him till the very end. The guy deserved a hug but... Li Wan -> She, like Han, was harboring massive crush on Liu Zi Guang but I loved she went from crushing on him to loving him and learning what true love actually is. I absolutely adored her. Xiao Shuai -> A playboy and typical bad boy but I loved how he learned that his loved one suffered because of his actions and changed accordingly.
.
Acting/Cast: 8/10
The acting was great, especially on William Chen's part. The way he went from mob member to a clueless hero was noticeable. I literally felt the change in his demeanor. Other than him, everyone else was just...okay. Sandra Ma was great at number of places but overall, her acting didn't pull me. Oh, I absolutely LOVED Sophia Hu who played a guest role of Lisa. Damn, she was badass and so, so cool. Wish she'd been there most of the story-line.
.
Music: 9/10
I loved the soundtracks AND the background instrumental tracks. I wish Chinese released WHOLE albums （πーπ）
.
Re-watch Value: 7/10
For starters, the drama is too long for a re-watch. If not for middle 25 episodes, I would've loved to watch it again some day because of the action parts! They were nicely done.
Conclusion:
If you love fluff amidst action then this drama is perfect for you. Out of 47 episodes, 30 are full of fluffy moments while rest 20 are action packed and intense. If not for the sequencing of the story line, I would've rated it higher than I have.
Story: 8/10
I had a lot of problems with the story but overall it has a very attractive story line.
.
1) Plot:
The basic plot/story is one of my favorites. Of a guy who has 8-years of his life missing from his memories and not just that, he might've been a bad guy in those 8 years. Moreover, its crime/investigation/drug trafficking plot which means every other scene might be a climax but....it isn't. Overall, I loved the drama but I have serious issue with the sequencing of the story. It would've been more thrilling had we not known about those 8 years of Liu Zi Guang. The viewers knew but the characters didn't. For me, it killed the thrill that we could've felt otherwise. The mystery of those missing 8 years and the snippets of what he did would've been hella more attractive only if we hadn't known those scenes in detail. I wish the story would've started from when Liu Zi Guang came back to Jiangbei and progressed from there since we had our share of flash backs of the starting episodes later in the drama.
2) Characters:
The characters....were normal? Too normal for my taste? I mean, this kind of plot requires thrilling characters, right? Anyway, I absolutely LOVED Liu Zi Guang in those 8 years. He was entirely a different character from his goofy present self. What irritated me the most were the stupidity of the female lead at number of times and Liu Zi Guang's over protectiveness. Maybe the writer had intended to make his character 'manly' and he succeeded in making him so only, he felt fake at times. He was...too darn perfect. And too darn immature. It was uncomfortable, to see someone like William Chen acting like a teenage boy.
If I'm to talk about my favorite characters of the show, I'd say Captain Han without a second thought. He was...the most sensible, passionate, rational character and I absolutely LOVED him. As for Li Wan, she became my favorite because of her character development and...the actress is gorgeous (；・∀・) I loved Liu Zi Guang's friends. Damn, they really loved him, didn't they?
3) Character Development:
Surprisingly, the character development on the main leads part was...crappy. It was there but wasn't enough. Both the leads were too perfect and aside from changing because of their feelings for each other, they remained pretty much the same. The most character developments that I got to witness were in case of: Captain Han -> He went from crushing/cool captain to someone understanding and his friendship towards Liu Zi Guang was one of my most favorite things. The way he stood beside him till the very end. The guy deserved a hug but... Li Wan -> She, like Han, was harboring massive crush on Liu Zi Guang but I loved she went from crushing on him to loving him and learning what true love actually is. I absolutely adored her. Xiao Shuai -> A playboy and typical bad boy but I loved how he learned that his loved one suffered because of his actions and changed accordingly.
.
Acting/Cast: 8/10
The acting was great, especially on William Chen's part. The way he went from mob member to a clueless hero was noticeable. I literally felt the change in his demeanor. Other than him, everyone else was just...okay. Sandra Ma was great at number of places but overall, her acting didn't pull me. Oh, I absolutely LOVED Sophia Hu who played a guest role of Lisa. Damn, she was badass and so, so cool. Wish she'd been there most of the story-line.
.
Music: 9/10
I loved the soundtracks AND the background instrumental tracks. I wish Chinese released WHOLE albums （πーπ）
.
Re-watch Value: 7/10
For starters, the drama is too long for a re-watch. If not for middle 25 episodes, I would've loved to watch it again some day because of the action parts! They were nicely done.
Conclusion:
If you love fluff amidst action then this drama is perfect for you. Out of 47 episodes, 30 are full of fluffy moments while rest 20 are action packed and intense. If not for the sequencing of the story line, I would've rated it higher than I have.
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