Knavery

This was ridiculous. On the level of makjang daily dramas in terms of melodrama.

I'm struggling with ratings. If I classify this as a makjang I'll probably rate it average at a 7.0-7.5 but it's not. This was supposed to be primetime TV. I guess I'll probably settle on 7.0 because the cast put in a lot of effort for this mess of a script.

By the way - the product placement in episode 16 was hilarious.

Do you want expansive spoilers that reveal everything or just basic answers that do not reveal too much?

I think this is really good. Sad but a lot of heart with the heartache.

Yeah after a while it seems like one giant self-pity party for Oda Nobunaga.

I'm kind of on the fence between a score of 1 and 5.5.

This is Japanese nationalistic propaganda and denialism at its finest. It does tell a story and there should be one told about Japanese Americans, their property being confiscated, their life in internment camps, the racism, etc...

But the way this show glossed over war crimes by the Japanese is unacceptable. And make no mistake - the writers and director are aware of these crimes. It's referenced once during a break at the trial by one of the Japanese-American characters. Paraphrasing it here: "why are the Americans hung up on what happened in Manchuria 10 years ago?". Remember - the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into the war happened because of American sanctions on Japan to end the occupation of China (Manchuria). This is basic, basic history. So America very much cared. Instead a Japanese TV show presents it as "oh the Americans didn't care until they could use it against us!". False.

They just don't care. For them Japan is a victim here. Millions of civilians dead, trafficking of hundreds of thousands of women as sex slaves, inhumane medical experiments on live human beings, concentration camps for civilians and POWs alike where it's estimate 1/3 of the population died... but lets give the orchestrators of these genocides emotional moments with their families at sentencing. Poor them. A few were sentenced to death. So unfair.

How about all those Chinese, Korean, Filipinos who died throughout the war? They didn't get the same time or attention as the sympathetic war criminals or any subject matter that presented Japan as the victim. They got one line by a character dismissing them as "why should anyone care about that?".

I mean seriously. As soon as this got to the trial portion of the show... you would have thought this was a sham trial of innocent Japanese men. Millions of innocent civilians died. The director has to know that. We have letters and memos written in Japanese by members within the Japanese military and political establishment at the time writing stuff like "kill all captives". That's a war crime. Written on paper and carried out by their military. And yet all that merited in this show was a dismissive 'why does America care about something that happened over 10 years ago'. Give me a break.

I think this rant sealed the deal. It's going to be a 1/10 because this propagates all the denialism of the extreme right wing nationalists in Japan. Extreme nationalism is bad whether it's in Japan, America, China or anywhere else. And it's bad whether it comes in an art form like movies and TV or government statements.

Not bad. Short, simple, kind of bleak at times (sometimes life can be bleak though).

The characters seem to go a million miles an hour without moving a single mile over 6-7 hours of screen time. A review in a word: boring.

Not really the show for me. If you like slice of life and can make connections with characters easily then then I could see this being for you. There are life lessons, moments and meals. There were things I did enjoy, just not enough for an entire show IMO.

Some messy aspects but I think the cast does a good job of masking the weakness by having good chemistry together.

She has a memorable look and she would do well playing a mischievous lead character.

Yes, I am glad as well. She was a sympathetic character for me in The Song of Glory. I will definitely be checking out her new dramas.

Plus reading the descriptions down below of the webtoon or whatever - the character doesn't seem too complex. Confident and flirty (or teasing). She's a former idol who had experience with both before moving to acting and she has a bunch of dramas under her belt.

I can't say I will watch this - we're simply way too far out and I might be watching, doing other things but it's not a bad casting in my opinion.

I gave it a second watch and the comparable for this drama to me is probably the Get Smart movie starring Steve Carrell.

It's not the best thing ever but it made me laugh and I think Dong Shik has similar vibes to Steve Carrell's character in Get Smart - believe in yourself and fake it until you make it. And the audience is along for the trainwreck of a ride.

This is a really strong start to this drama. In terms of making a TV show, I think it's easier to make a good romantic comedy but hard to make a great and memorable one.

With only three episodes I think this is a show that could likely end up in that "great and memorable" category. The cast is good, the female lead has strong facial expressions. The male lead also manages to have his moments. The side characters are fun and light.

They keep setting up tropes for the characters and then mocking them in their drama-within-a-drama. They subvert other tropes especially with the second leads and the grandpa.

This could be a hit or an all-time favorite romantic comedy for me if they can keep the momentum going.

It's probably a good idea this is only 12 episodes. They can keep it fun and light, the leads can show chemistry and they can end it before the clichés pile up too high. There were quite a few in episode 1. I guess the flipside is they aren't shy about making fun of themselves with that TV show within the TV show.

Jing Tian seems like she was born with the physical traits, presence and demeanor to play Republican era characters.

As for the drama I think it starts really strong but the last 5 or so episodes go at a bit of a frantic pace and it's jarring when you compare it to the rest of the drama.

This reminds me of an American indie movie. I feel like it would have been a bit better with one or two fewer 'heavy' topics some of which you see in the tags. Still, really strong drama. Hope the leads get more roles in the future.

I didn't have an issue with the cast but the story feels off and I dropped it. Maybe I'll come back to it later. It's unfortunate. Again no issue with anyone on the cast... the story just felt so light and was already going in circles.

I want to add - Teresa Li and her character got a lot of crap from the comments I saw especially on Viki. It seems unfair and missing the bigger picture.

Lets start with the looks criticism - she looks fine. The male lead isn't the best looking in this drama so why does the female lead need to be the most beautiful? She wasn't my favorite female character but it was a good performance, a good contrast to the other women close to the male lead and she fits with him the best.

If you take a step back from the silly moments and look at her seriously she's pretty good at figuring out what the male lead is thinking or planning around. She's his foil that he can run many of his thoughts and ideas past. She's his emotional support beam as well when he needs reassurance and love.

I think one of the issues is the show uses her as a bit of comedic relief from heavier moments. Her obsession with money is injected to lighten things up.

I'll end with: Qing Niao was my favorite character. I wish her character had been explored more.

I'll start off with what I enjoyed - I think the first thing is the story was reasonably well done with some hiccups here and there in the back half. The characters were compelling and memorable. The characters also had a pretty good dynamic between them. I think pretty much anyone can find at least one character they like.

The show was put together well and I enjoyed it.

The big "negative" here is that they build a complex world for the cast to navigate and in the end... it feels more like a setup for a season 2 and maybe even 3. I want to make it clear that there is a story. There is a reason. There is an ending. This show can stand alone with one season and no additions and say "I told a story".

But despite this it feels like season 1 is to set you up with the background and start of an even larger journey for the characters. I don't know this but I would imagine the web-novel likely does continue past where season 1 ends.

And I'm always wary of planning for season 2 and beyond with Chinese dramas. Season to season they have no issue swapping out the lead actor or actress or both. And the writing and performances are good in this show so these are memorable characters... even those listed as 'supporting' are memorable. I don't want anyone swapped out. It won't feel the same.

This is one of those few dramas that I wish was longer so it could have dealt with a "bigger" story. My complaint about this show is "it could have been even longer and better!".

I think this drama struggles with what it wants to be. Seems like it will be a forgettable to mediocre drama despite the cast doing a good job. Something you recommend from the historical genre but not close to the "best of" list for any of the sub genres (comedy, romance, intrigue, detective, etc...).