Opening 2022 with a boom!

Just finished this drama a minute ago, having basically binging it in a few days. I’d say this drama is a delightful surprise for me. I just basically come across this in youtube while surfing around after finishing A Girl Like Me, directionless. The first episode started with a boom, and me, being a special force enthusiast, am efficiently hooked even from the first episode.

Plot: I like that this is almost 85% pure armed force stuffs and only 15% other plot/romance. And it doesnt hurt that the 85% was really quite well done imo. The cast/production/directing really do it beautifully. All the trainings/special mission/equipments/artillery are very impressive and engaging. Well done! I enjoyed all the episodes, just maybe a little less on the arc of FL’s PTSD, those few episodes are quite draggy.

Characters: Almost half of the characters who are in Blue Lightning Commando get their own highlights and not only the ML and FL. Applaud the scriptwriter. ?? I know that it makes sense that in such a high risk job, you just cannot run away from death. And from the start, i dunno why, but i’ve always have the gut feeling that the most understanding, selfless kindest guy will bear the brunt of being the one who died, and lo and behold, i spent the entire ep 30 bawling my eyes out and basically 2 episodes after that intermittently crying. Thanks to all the cast, my whole face and eyes are swollen with all the eyebags and panda eyes for an entire night of marathoning. I havent seen any drama of Vengo previously (yes i know!) and he did quite well in this, balancing between being a thanos whilst having a good heart deep inside, and also kind of giving me a feelings of an ex delinquent having to grow up but still a brat deep down lol. The FL is also a nice surprise. Although not quite as tall as the ML, i didnt get the height difference vibe from them because she just appears ‘taller’ with her confidence and self esteem presence. Other supporting casts as the Blue Lightning Commandos are a gem, each of them has their own strength. I truly admire the comradeship of theirs and as i said previously, everytime each of them shed tears while trying to be strong at the same time, my heart broke with them. Aishhhh Lin Yi!!!! (Still cant get over it! Lol. And did i mention, Lin Yi’s final sacrifice scene is beautiful? Lol)

Music: very appropriate to the plot/general military vibe.

Subtitle: this is basically my pet peeves of an otherwise very delightful experience. I spent almost 13episodes watching this on youtube with questionable subtitle and then changed to weTV app. However, the subs are also a disappointment there. Luckily the 20plus years of watching chinese dramas come in handy for sub self correction. Lol. Hopefully someone somewhere will amend this in near future because such a gem should be able to be enjoyed by more viewers.

All in all, i have always love a good thrilling military drama, and this one, really delivers it! ??

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When it says slow burn, you better believe it!

Am actually writing this review for the first part after i completed watching the whole part 1 and part 2, so might probably mix them up (the rating is for the whole series though. Lol)

Ok first of all. Niao Niao here is barely a 15yo girl who has grown up without any (good) parental figure and was left to her own account to survive. Nevertheless, i spend almost 2/3rd of part 1 really trying to stop myself from not completely disliking (hating is a strong word) Shaoshang’s a-mu. That woman imo is completely ridiculous. I know she loved shaoshang silently (because viewers are shown that) but the way she acts with regards to shaoshang is completely ridiculous! Everyone said she is a just woman, and in trying to treat SS and YY justly, she just appears as a mean mother. And i dont even think she knows the word ‘fair’ well, because the way she coddled YY is basically putting down her own daughter and walk all over her. Lucky YY is a good girl nevertheless, because if any girl else being treated to such a pedestal and being backed up to such a level, it was no wonder if she end up being a villain. All in all, i completely am very much frustrated with Xiao Yuanyi. Lucky SS has her a fu and brothers at her side, or else i might end up more frustrated! Lol

And as I said, when they told you it is slow burn, you better believe it. Lol. The first 10 episodes are so slow I basically just grit my teeth and keep on watching because it’s Wu Lei and Lusi’s drama. Nothing much important happened, and LBY and SS also has minimal interaction together. And i am quite surprised that they spent sooo many episodes on SS and A Yao’s relationship +- courting even though i did appreciate how kind and honest Lao Yao is. My heart hurts when he needs to break up with SS (though at the same time happy because well, this is a chance for the main couple to start shining!).

I like the 2 sidekicks of LBY the most. Lol. Those 2 are such a comedic add ons to LBY’s cold face. Haha. And I also very much appreciate that the emperor and his harem is portrayed as so, it was a fresh breath of air from other emperor and his harem which is full of conniving backstabbing villains from other dramas. I love that the emperor dotes on LBY so much, he was treated almost better than the emperor’s sons themselves. Hahahha. Comedic lighthearted characters aside, this part 1 also has a lot ( and i mean a lotttt) of very annoying screechy characters. Basically all of the ladies (aside from Third Shumu and Qiqi) are annoying little shits and their mothers usually are no better. Sometimes, you just felt like pulling your own hairs watching their petty little conversation/trial of one upping each others, they are just that fickle!

Now, on to the main couple. I love that LBY treated SS so well in silent, it shows how much he loves her to me (as a viewer). But well, if i am SS, i also would not just make my own conclusion that he loves me just like that, without any words at all from him. He never mention that he likes her or at least saying anything towards that before he threatens her that she is agreeing to being his wife if she didnt agree to meet him in the forest during her engagement day to a yao. I was like woahhh where is that coming from? Lol. And yes, he could not completely gave himself towards building a relationship at that time just yet because his revenge is still not paid, so he basically can only let SS pass him by on another man’s arms. Lucky fate has its own plan, and A Yao has to be wedded to someone else, or else LBY will be left licking his own nails with his revenge to accompany him.

The cinematography is really nice i think, especially scenes such as the lantern festival and the place where SS meet LBY at her engagement day. However, i must say that the costumes are less flattery than other dramas’, but i think it is mostly due to the era/dynasty that LLTG is based on, rather than the costumes team itself. I can only see one main design for the costumes, be it the females or the males’ costume and the pastel colour itself doesnt seem so flattering. Usually i can feast my eyes on the costumes while watching chinese dramas, and this handicapped seems quite glaring to me.

OST during part one is basically non existent. I cannot remember much of it if it exists lol.

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Awesome!

Just finished this 5 mins ago and decided to review it while it’s fresh in my mind.

Decided to give this a chance now after falling in love with YY after watching Who Rules the World. Cant get enough of his good looks and acting, i now can start giving this drama a chance. Previously didnt start this even though reba was one of my fav actress due to the e-sports theme that the drama actively promote it as. Im not a gamer, and the idea of watching an e-sport themed drama drags my legs (in this case, my eyes) down. Not until now that i have both my FL and ML as an excuse to start braving the theme. And i am soo very glad to watch this! YY and reba’s chemistry are top-notched in this, i was squealing like a mad fangirl, especially once they got together! Lol


Ok. Let’s talk about it one by one. First, the ML. Of course, now that YY has rapidly climbed my ladder of one of my most favourite actors in Chinese entertainment alongside XZ, i guess, i’ll be digging his previous works and anticipating his future works. His character as Yu Tu here initially was broody, melancholic man who are in a midlife crisis (lol, if you take an average life span of 60years) between dreams and financial reality/supporting family. And YY plays broody serious character sooo well (of course his face helps that too lol! You can just sit there, be all serious and mean, and people will still thank you for just existing. Haha). Now i know why he plays Feng Lanxi so well. Haha.

Reba is of course in character. Well played to boot. Her chemistry with YY is chef kiss and their lovey dovey is sooo making me feel all my glory of single-hood. Lol. So beautiful and good in acting, what more can i say about reba

The plot is quite a 180 degree in my opinion. If one were to just watch the first say, 3 episodes, and then skipped forward to watch the last 3 episodes, i’d say they might be asking themselves if it is the same drama. Lol. Basically about first 15 episodes are focused on the gaming and how JJ used the game to built on her relationship with YT and basically assimilated herself into YT’s life while he considers his future course. And the later episodes showed how much YT now able to work and strive towards his dream and goal while being supported by people who actually believe in him while he doubts himself. Alas, it’s true what they said, behind every successful man, there is a woman proudly believing in and sacrificing so many things in the journey. And i love how they showed that a woman can stand tall alongside a man they love without an issue when she is self-assured in herself. JJ showed that she can live her own life, assured to do what she wants without depending on a man to elevate her status, gives her riches or make her popular because she can do it herself. And Yu Tu, being someone who has high social status, intelligent to boot but dragged down by financial constraint that status and dreams come with, able to rise above and overcome it because JJ stands tall like a pillar while he works thru it. This drama literally shows how 2 puzzles pieces actually work together to fit in place, rather than built to fit. I love that there is no lingering third wheel characters/exes as well. Basically JJ and YT know who doesnt fit them and ditched them earlier. Lol. Even though i basically let the gaming’s instructions and elaboration goes into one ear and out another one (same with all the technical terms for aerospace thingy), i still enjoy it a lot, more the aerospace thingy than the gaming since im quite a tech enthusiast. Tbh, i even shed tears during the scene of rocket launch because aside from carrying a national pride with it, the launch also carries years and years of toil and sweats of the people who work hard to built it, and ultimately also carries with it the sacrifice and support of their families. Many relationship/families cant stand such a sacrifice and being a part of an industry that requires similar values, i relate with it sooo well.

Ost: there are a few that stand out and frequently used in scenes, but my most favourite is the opening song. It was such a lulling ballad full of soft love to me.

Things that i have love hate relationship with in this drama:
-JJ and YT’s wedding. It was definitely an original idea to have a group wedding for the ML and FL’s wedding, but arghhhhhhhhh do not rob us of a glorious wedding vow and scenes! Hahaahah. Though they did mellow down the disappointment with inserting solo’s scene in between, but sobsiessss
-tooooo much gaming elaboration! Hahahha. Not my cup of tea
-we want little yu tus and little jing jings!!! Hahaha

In short, totally fall in love with yang yang and reba again thru this drama and hopefully i dont get too long of a withdrawal so that i can enjoy third drama in a streak! Lol

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Good show, just have a few points to nitpick

Ok. Just finished this 5mins ago and i am burning with so much feels!

I’ll start with the good things about this drama. And bare in mind, i’m starting this show with 80% assurance that there will be tragic ending, so it’s not that the not happy ending is the thing that bugs me while watching.

-the chemistry between the FL and ML are thru the roof. From the first maybe 15episodes, they are still calling each other disciple-master, but somehow you get that theres more to them. No lovey dovey words, nor there are any kiss scene, but somehow, we know how in love they are. Which is basically what chinese dramas do best as compared to western ones (i hate when people kept commenting while watching chinese historical dramas for the leads to kiss already ?. Hello, this is chinese historical where basically for males to have a look at the female’s feet prior to marriage is considered taboo and disrespectful already, what more kissing or the french kiss you people from the west are clamouring for??)
-fight scenes are almost well executed and not cringey to watch. I’ll probably rate them 8/10
-costumes are aplenty and very beautiful for both the males and females. I especially like all the costumes for the palace scenes. They are all looking very majestic and flowy ?
-the patriotism and ‘serving the country till death’ theme are very well potrayed and carried out thru the series.
-it’s quite refreshing to see such a character such as cui wenjun. She’s a matriarch alright, but still retain her humanity and respect almost all of shiyi’s decisions
-shiyi’s character is so mentally strong in my opinion. She is mature. She can still discern what she ought to do/her responsibilities as a daughter of a noble family even though she is head over heels in love. If zhousheng chen did not die unjust-fully like that, i bet she will carry on being such a powerful support to the country


Issues:
-the ML and FL’s look/beauty are something that grew on me. Not a fan of first FL’s look when she was younger but then she grows beautifully after. Props to the dresser/MUA. And i have a little issue with ML’s look initially due to finding him quite similar to Young Master Mo in Legend on Hua BuQi. Lol.
-the master-disciple love story may be slight disturbing at first, what with they equating them to ‘once a master, always a father’ sort of statement at start of the story, but then, with their narrow age gap and zhousheng chen being the ‘one woman man’ that he is, i grow to accept the love between the 2 leads afterwards
-liu zixing’s affection towards shiyi is basically creeping me out from start to finish. He’s complete obsessed lunatic i tell you!
-not sure what disciple shiyi is meant to be when she’s being sent to Nanshen Wangfu. I mean, it’s not like she has the build for or the motive for learning how to fight a war. The plot of master-disciple is quite shaky and unconvincing imho ??‍♀️

Ok. That being said, what’s left is basically my biggest pet peeve regarding the plot!

Like, the hell with zhousheng chen??!!! I understand why he swore his earlier oaths like not setting foot in the central plain again and even not getting married and having child of his own. Truly, he’s a powerful Wangye. So, his oaths are just basically to remove himself from threatening the throne. But pray tell me what the hell is he thinking just basically surrender himself to slaughter by someone who are very clearly not fit for throne (liu zixing) and a traitor/outsider (jin rong) than claiming the throne himself and do right by the country??! If it’s only about honoring his previous oath, then he had no problem setting foot in central plain after he swore not to? And it’s not like he’s taking the throne from someone rightful, like his brother, or his nephew liu hui. Even the little emperor liu zizhen is forced to abdicate by the traitor liu zixing, so what kind of rightful emperor are you surrendering youself to?? I mean, that is just plain stupid and selfish of someone of his standing. He knows that he is unjustly accused and put to death, and knows that this will not sit right with the ministers and his uncles/elders (who btw are dropping like flies being killed due to his surrender) and also his battalions of Nanshen Royal Soldier and generals, who are obviously going to rebel in order to revenge him. What peace are you preserving by surrendering?? And did he even spare a thought to shiyi, his so called beloved disciple who are still, at his time of surrender, who is still trapped to marry liu zixing, the very one who ordered all this massacre?? He just goes on his merry way to death, like it is even honourable?? For me, at that point of events, the more honorable way to go is to put down the rebellion/traitor, pick up the throne and govern your country (you know you are better than the ones currently usurping the power. You are even from the royal liu family at birth, so it’s not like you are not qualified even though you already change the surname previously ?). You can even bring liu zizhen up and properly nurture him to become a good emperor and abdicate the throne to him later if you detest the throne so much! But he went the chicken route and surrender rather than braving the way and do the right thing. I mean, i kept on watching the coronation scenes so many times it drives me crazy! Hahaha. What ‘long live the king’?? No king lives that long in my opinion. Lol. And alas, the throne went back to liu zizhen, the child emperor who cant even govern properly by himself. ??
And obviously, his decision will lead to shiyi’s death as no woman in love will stoop so low as to allow herself to marrying the one who she’s convinced killed the love of her life wrongly and is not the rightful ruler anyway. Anyone can see that. Daaaahhh ??

And for god sake, liu zixing! The f* do you want the throne for??! You are obviously frail in health and will die sooner most probably rather than later, the hell do you want the throne for??! And basically killing all your Liu families by trying to work with Jin Rong when you know that jin rong does not even respect you and given a chance, will overthrow you for his own Jin family??

Finally, i found that the Yang Shou character is the most intelligent. Lol. Even if some of his actions are questionable, and even his loyalty is questionable, in the end, he push forward, knows whats he’s doing and his end motives are. He got his due as a general and can even appoint Liu Zizhen as the emperor in the end. That, zhousheng chen, is how an intelligent general works!

All in all, it is quite a good show and having a 24 episodes is just enough for the theme and plot (rather than having more and risk being draggy), but i dont think i will quite rewatch this in the future.

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Passing time is a kind of splendor

Actually, finished watching this a while ago , just didnt have enough motivation to come to MDL to rate this and review. It is just another series to tick off for me, not much to rave on (good or bad!).

This is my first finished story of Liu Yi Fei, started on her and YY’s Once Upon A Time drama before, but cannot continue on. Maybe because it was a fantasy (and i didnt do that well with fantasy genre), her chemistry with YY was also not that much for me to continue on. LYF has certain unique voice to her character (i assume it’s her own real voice since it is the same in ADOS and OUAT) and initially it doesnt click with me much but then i grew used to it. Chemistry is there between her Zhao Pan Er and Chen Xiao’s Gu Qianfan, but not that sizzling for me. Is it bad that i found i prefer their relationship while they are bantering more than after they get together officially?

Plot is so and so, especially a lot of plotholes towards the end. Making Ouyang Xu as the last boss for the couple to hurdle over (when he was such a weak villain imho) , the writer didnt even tie up what happen with the so called power fight between the scholar faction leader and GQF’s father’s faction. They all vanished under Ouyang Xu’s arc. Plus, initially they describe GQF’s Capital Security Office as an entity that is powerful and GQF himself as the mighty ‘Living Devil’. But by the second half of the story, all those went down the drain and GQF is suddenly weaker than ever and the Capital Security Office is hardly with power enough to do a damn thing. Lol.

And where should i start with Song Yingzhang? Lol. This is the character that annoyed me the most. Time and time again she made the same mistake and time and time again she was forgiven, given a new book to start over. Luckily she ended up relatively fine at the end. Another character that i find annoying and no much point despite his quite extensive screen time from the beginning is chi pan. I am not even sure what is his character’s value in the plot honestly, except in the end when he ended up hiring the girls as managers to the restaurant. Lol.

OST are not that memorable, i didnt even try to go to youtube to search for the ost after finishing this drama like what i usually do with other dramas which ost stood out to me during watching.

All in all, this is an okay drama for me. Good enough to finish from start to finish once, but highly likely not for a rewatch. Nothing that is triggering my bad button too much but leaves me nothing too excited as well. On to the next show!

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Third strike!!

This is my third drama of yang yang in a row after discovering him last week! Lol. Started with WRTW and YAMG, still cant get enough of him, so decided to watch this. Being a military drama enthusiast, of course this is right up my alley.

First and foremost, i am very much in love with how they do the battle scene and the fighting choreo was such a satisfying watch! It looks so sophisticated and elegant at the same time. It was 10/10 from me! Lol. Basically, the military part of this drama is chef kiss!

YY’s acting for most part is amazing, except for a few, which probably will be mentioned below. Lol. So many whump scenes for our YPY. I loike! Haha. Of course, YY’s body and built is really suitable for a commando character. Tall, not too thin and broad shouldered. The military gear looks so good on him. Though my boy at first sometimes is very annoying (i really empathise with his commanding officers tbh. Haha), i think it is a needed annoyance so as to portray how YPY grow up later on.

The supporting characters are all very good. Good to see Xiao Yun Jie and Lu Xiao Tian again after their roles in SCI. Best musketeers ever! And of course one need to mention GXX. Her acting is tip top and her portrayal as a sniper/commando is one of the best female soldier acting i’ve seen so far.

Now, as much as i love this drama, there are a few not-so-nice things that i feel the need to mention. Firstly, the PTSD arc. As we know, soldiers are very much prone to ptsd due to their highly volatile job-scope. So, many military dramas usually include a ptsd-related arc, as with this drama and Operation Special Warfare. And as how OSW botched the ptsd arc, GOSF also did not do the topic justice. During that arc, i was struggling to finish watching without skipping ahead. It was so sloww and draggy. And this is the only time i feel that yang yang’s acting fall flat to me. It felt like a boy throwing a tantrum rather than a soldier having to brave thru a ptsd phase. Sorry YY. Secondly, i feel the need to mention about how the scriptwriter tend to write how YPY always goes missing every time they finish a drill. Lol. Once was ok, twice is kinda pushing it tbh. Same goes with YPY opening up about his past. It should only been done once in the entire series and best achieved thru opening up to his cheetah’s teammates, rather than to Staff Officer Ai imho. And personally i feel that the final arc regarding the anti-terrorism competition is kinda anti-climax being put after the drug-dealer epic showdown. That arc should be the closing stunt for the show. And not sure if it is a case of sloppy post production editing or what, but what happened to the scene after YPY was taken to the enemy’s hideout and was then rescued by Xiao Fei? It seems that something is missing and suddenly the next scene is already YPY happily spending his day in Cheetah’s camp. I was like, ‘the hell happen here??!’ Lol. The camera work was also dizzying in some scenes. Lastly, sometimes the colour scheme really distracted me. Sometimes, they made it look like it was a 1990’s drama what with the black and white colour scheme.

Ost are not that many. So and so. Well, it is a military drama, so i dont expect much for the ost

Rewatch value: i think i’ll be rewatching many scenes from this drama in the future. The whump part of YPY and of course, the battle scenes!


P/S: i’m so sad this is going to be my last Yang Yang marathon in a while (not sure i want to watch Love O2O, it was from soo long ago and the cinematography and everything is wayyy different than say, dramas that were produced in 2018 and above.) 50/50 on watching the king’s avatar because of the e-sport gaming theme. Arghhhh Yang Yang! Please hurry up and comes out with a new project! Lol

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Binged this in 2days and i would say, it is intriguing enough for me to keep on pressing the next ep button on my off days. Lol

Considering this is a time loop series, it is very much easy for viewers to get fed up and stop halfway, and i must say, around ep 4-6ish, i almost got a feeling of wanting to give up because of how much the scenes are getting repetitive and how the police officers are behaving is starting to grate on my nerve! Lol. Luckily it picks back up around halfway mark and i cant wait to see how the leads are trying to better their tactics to achieve different outcomes everytime.

I am bit too lazy to arrange an essay right now (lol) so i would just mention things as i remembered as i go along typing then

-this is probably my first time seeing timeloop theme series and it always crosses my mind while im watching this series, but the wardrobe coordinator/stylist/mua must have the time of their life not having to think too much. Lol. But i wonder how many of those same set of cloth they used to film a 15episodes drama? Haha
-bai jinting is one of my favourite chinese ML since YAMH and he delivers a nice acting in this as well but i was pleasantly surprised with the FL. This is my first time watching her drama, and she truly nailed her character and compliments bai jinting so well. The chemistry is there, which i love
-maybe this is just me, but i truly think that the FL looks soooo much like Go Ara. Lol
-the romance is maybe a drop in the ocean, tiny as it is, but it seems quite rush. Not that i have any problem that it was there though
-the actress who played that psycho mother is reallllyyyyy gooddd. Her expression, voice and not to mention, her resistance while fighting back realllyyyyy gives me goosebumps, she definitely give me a psychotic murderer vibe *shivers*
-and did i mention, i hateeeeee how the police handles the case initially. Sergeant Jiang is unprofessional as hell, not to mention, judgemental to the T. Captain Zhang is just slightly better than Jiang. He redeemed himself slightly towards the end. In real life, thats the recipe for scaring away someone who wants to do a good deed, and letting the criminal unable to be convicted, just because innocent people just dont wanna deal with a biased, judgemental police. And Of course, coming from Operation Special Warfare prior to watching this, i am totally disappointed with how the law enforcer behaves in Reset. Lol. Maybe i took it too personally haha


In conclusion, a good single watch drama for me personally. Dont think i’ll be rewatching this again though. Haha

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Took all my strength to finish this!

Hmmm where to start? Actually, i’ve finished this a while back and has been putting off writing review to mellow back my disappointment from being too reflective on the review. Lol. I’ve even finished another 29 episodes drama in the mean time (which i scored 9, so at least that is quite healing. Lol)

I have quite an issue with this drama. Almost drop it at many point during watching, but since the idea of having to scroll thru list of dramas trying to found a new one to watch is not that appealing to me at that time, i kept watching this, one step at a time. Lol

Ok. First thing first, my biggest pet peeve of this drama is the FL. Tbh, i’ve quite a not-so-nice experience with the FL’s drama in her Flaming Heart. In that drama, i thought it was her character that annoys me so much and i decided to give the actress a second chance this time (since i like the ML, so maybe this time i can change my view?), my oh my, how wrong it turns out to be. Sorry to say, watching her for the second time, i now know that i have a problem with her acting. ZHW is pretty in a way, but she has very little expression when acting. Sometimes she appears very much wooden, i just cant get into her scenes! When she cries, it was like having someone who shed tears due to cutting onions rather than being heartbroken. I am soooo disappointed! You dont even get a vibe
of a crying scene whatsoever! Another major thing i’ve noticed, she lacks imagination in scenes that needed such, for example, during a scene of drowning, the way she acts, we know that it’s all added cgi and everything after, but for god’s sake! please act like you are in the water and trying to steal a breath, rather than appearing so comfortable and la la la. *facepalmed. Same goes to manyyy other scenes that we know will be CGI-ed or added post-production, i just cant help but cringe everytime. Also, in this drama, her voice actor has a voice which has mischievous lilt to it, i assume it was chosen because mo yan’s character was supposed to be a happy go lucky cheeky girl who is mischievous and free while being a genius at the same time. However, once again ZHW just cannot deliver. Her stiff acting and the mischievous voice just doesnt go well together imho. And im sorry. I will probably steer completely clear of her future works (unless her leading man is someone i am veryyyy much in love with. Lol)

As for the ML, tbh, i gave the FL a second chance due to Caeser Wu. Lo and behold, as how gong jun cant help during flaming heart, CW fails to counter zhw’s effect on me as well *sigh
In fact, i find that it even cause me to have quite an issue with CW’s acting this time. I mean, i love him in General’s Lady but here, his acting falls flat, there is no chemistry whatsoever, not too mention, flaws are everywhere you just cannot close one eye on it. I miss his chemistry with his FL in general’s lady and this goes to show, no matter how good an actor you are, if the other lead is not up to par, it can drag you down as well.

Other things I remember that is worth mentioning: (good and bad)

-fight scenes are cringey and lame. The slow mo effect definitely dont work!!!!
-cgi is bad. Arghhhhh
-the prince’s character is the only plus thing imo
-the second love story between liu ge and the princess is more catchy and worthwhile though at first i just cannot get the princess vibe from the actress, her acting as Jiuling’s maidservant in Jun Jiuling still fresh in my mind ??
-i think there is more, but i just dont have energy to recall more bad scenes from this drama

All in all, this really took all my strength and will power to finish till the end. It scores just above 6 nonetheless because i’ve never scored anything less if i can finish a series. It helps that it is only 24episodes, if it is anymore than that, i think i may have drop it tbh.

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Reviving chinese drama for me

Finished this 2 days ago after marathoning for 5 days in between work. Overall, i was quite impressed because honestly I was in a slump with regards to watching chinese dramas recently. Started The Longest Promise, but cant seem to continue after 15episodes even though XZ is one of my favs. Finished Fireworks of my heart but it took me a month and so much willpower. Finished Legend of Anle, but also took me quite some time. So the fact that I finished this in 5 days even with working shifts in between, tells me that this is interesting and able to capture my attention. Lol.

Storyline was quite fast paced, which I like. Even Legend of Anle has some part which is quite draggy. Not sure what is being done, but YZ’s portrayal as a man in early episodes is quite convincing, she appeared quite thick built and not that skinny (as compared to say, Lusi’s or Dilireba’s portrayal of man in disguise.) Though some things done with her by the male leads may appeared to be gay-ish if we are looking from man to man’s perspective lol (but honestly, which guy is that happy to suck a man’s neck time and time again with such a questionable position? Lol)

Overall, the screentime allocated to CX, TSJ and XL was so evenly spread to me that I cant even figure out who was the main male leads at first. Lol. The actors for CX and TSJ plays crying scene so well, they can basically cry in split second. Lol. I was amazed tbh. CX was a power hungry guy, but i like that he stays loyal to Xiao Yao despite everything. He and XY was completely dependent and supportive of each other even XY doesn't mind that CX is using her to establish power. I guess many people support XL and find that he’s the perfect guy for XY, but as someone who’s already at that kind of age, I guess I am not kinda into bad boy guy anymore, no matter what sacrifice he had done for her behind the scene. I mean, i get that he saves XY and sacrifice his own life for that (but if I have 9 lives, i wouldnt mind losing one so much. Lol) but he was an a$$hole to XY as well, especially when she was Wen Xiaoliu even knowing she’s a girl, so yes,thanks but no thanks.

Meanwhile, I was rooting for Tushan Jing so much all the while because despite the flaw that he is engaged to be married to someone else (through not his own arrangement at that), he stays true and loyal to XY from start to finish. The soft and tender love TSJ has for XY is such a balm to me. I like that he was so kind to everyone despite being hurt so much (but at the same time his character is not dumbed down to showcase the kindness, he was completely in the know, but still choose to show compassion). I was actually hoping for Tushan Hou to repent and appreciate such a good and kindhearted brother that he has, but well, it doesnt seem like so *sigh
I like that TSJ is so sweet in his flirting and is so supportive of XY despite XY’s bullying him in between. Lol.

CGI was quite good and the scenery was beautiful. There’s something weird here and there but well, it was a fantasy drama, so I guess some landscape/animal scene must be exaggerated. Lol. OST was quite good as well, and accompanies the scenes so well.

Overall, i cant wait for season 2 to be published. Hopefully it wont be too long. I cant understand why they cant copy Love to the Galaxy and shows part1 and part 2 back to back, instead of taking their own sweet time like this

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Awesomesauce!

What can i say, this drama is a pot full of good stuffs! Lol

As usual, such a brilliant drama, had to binge it in 2 days! I just cant help myself from letting the wetv play the next episode time and time again. I applaud the scriptwriter for such a good writing and plot (and the novel writer too!) This is my first time watching a drama able to mix both the jianghu and the imperial court so well as the main story line. Usually, we only see one of them being a major theme, and the other as a side theme only, but not this one. The fact that both the FL and ML are well known and important figures from both worlds and the writers able to flawlessly intertwined this in the plot really makes this drama one of the best for me.

Beware, this review is going to be one of the longest i will probably ever write personally. Lets start with the ML. This is my first drama of yang yang (yes i know!) and i would gladly say he is now currently probably one of my favourites. His acting here is engaging. Witty. He can change persona so fluidly. Witty and playful sneaky hei fengxi, the regal and authoritative er tianxia and of course the head over heels feng langxi. He nails all of them. His facial expression was good, his crying scenes broke my heart to pieces and of course his smile and honest to god flirt melt me to a puddle of goo. I love how Feng Langxi is a regal prince, but also a powerful martial artist as well. I mean, it was so satisfying to see him blast his court enemy/army with his martial arts, rather than just using ol’ single sword like in other imperial dramas. Lol. How cool is that! When he lost his inner force, he is still powerful, but like he said, it was nice being protected instead, rather than being the one always gruesomely protecting others. Honestly, i was snickering over that unexpected comment of his when it comes up.But enough of gushing over him now. Lol

And tbh, lusi did a spectacular job here. I feel that her acting is very mature and natural here. I’ve seen her before in a female student arrives in imperial college and the romance of tiger and hero, it was ok, but nothing to talk about, her Li Le Yan in long ballad is better despite not being the main lead, but her as bai fengxi is endearingly witty instead of annoying witty, and her as feng xiyun is calm collected and strong, instead of just someone playing pretend. Lol. She has improved a lot here and of course im very much impressed with her action scenes in this drama. The chemistry between the ML and FL is thru the roof, which i likee lol. Another thing that impressed me that how bai fengxi character said, “if you want to help a lot of people, it must be done through politics. Fighting in jianghu might solve small feud, but you can do more in the court” -something along that line. I feel how mature her character is at that time, because, despite her free-spirited wanderer martial artist self, she still can see how a well meant and upright power figure can change the world to a better place if done properly. She roams freely, but she never forget her roots and responsibility as a royal, which i am very much respected.

May i gush next about the costumes and set? Lol. Having to portray 7 different palaces with multiple other noble mansions must be a daunting experiences for the crew, but they did well and they are all suitably rich looking and well set up. And of course, the costumes for all characters are really well made, not only just the leads’. But i must say, the costumes for the ML and FL are plentiful and very beautiful, making them look regal and fairy like. The makeup and hair is nice too. All in all, it was a feast for the eyes.

Ost: at first, i do not notice the ost that much since wetv app usually skipped the opening and ending credit and goes straight to the story, but towards second half of it, it is incorporated more in the story and i must say, the ost was beautiful. I especially like the ‘half-half song’ (lol, havent found out whats the name of the song yet, need to lurk in youtube pronto! But its the song that always played during the emotional family scene). The ending song is nice too! Especially during the wedding parade. Oh did i mention how satisfying the wedding scenes are? Especially coupled with the prewedding goodness. Lol

And lastly, i think i need to gush about the well done job on the fighting and war scenes. *clap
Not too many dramas can portray the big scale war scene to a satisfactory level, and i am very much impressed that this drama can deliver this. Not only it does not feel that fake (nobody fought a war with an obvious 15people which usually happened in other dramas *roll eyes), but the war formation etc is nicely elaborated and portrayed. And if they can do that well on the big scale war scene, of course they satisfactorily able to deliver a onetoone and small scale fighting scenes better! The fighting choreography are applaudable and looking suave. The long ballad may be the only one which come close enough to this drama’s level (from my recent list of watched drama) but of course in long ballad, they can cheat around their big scale battle scene with the donghua insert scenes.

And second lastly (lol), what makes this drama endearing to me is how both ML and FL was given their own time to shine equally. There is no need to make the heroine becomes meek so that the hero can shine as knight in shining armour and no need to bring down the hero so that the heroine can be hoisted up as ‘strong female lead’. When feng langxi was going thru hell fighting for his place in his court, i like how the writer made bai fengxi such a sturdy support beside him, equally smoothing his way ahead. And of course, when feng xiyun needs to step up suddenly and take her old place, i like that feng langxi once again was shown to be such an admirable support to her without taking her limelight away. They fit together like a puzzle and i really equally admired and envied them both. Lol. It’s a perfect show of a relationship, a rare gem in period drama. There is also no sorry excuse of jealousy scene/useless third party/unnecessary sacrifice trope as well, which is refreshing. And i like how they just made it that female officials/generals are easily accepted as norm in the storyline, i was getting quite bored with the ‘female fight for equality’ trope in period dramas tbh. Lol.

I think i can safely said that i’ll be rewatching this again and again in the future. Just like the untamed. There are sooo many scenes worth rewinding and rewatching imho

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The Untamed Accompaniment

A bit too late in the bandwagon, but glad nevertheless to have seen this at least once (die hard fan of the untamed here. Lol)

First of all, let me put this out here, the first scene freaking scared me out of my body! Lol. I literally need to put my hand in front of my eyes, and peek thru half of the screen from behind the fingers. Lol. Like the cinematography for the first few scenes.

And sizhuiiiiii my baby boy! How grown up you are already! Solo night hunt huh?

Wen ning is cool as usual. Very the ghost general. Lol.


I love how they incorporate the jokes on Ning shushu vs Wen qianbei in the movie. Goes to show how wei wuxian has been rubbing off on wen ning all this time. Haha

A bit sad that they cannot have WWX and LWJ cameo-ing in this, might be more natural and sweet. The fact that their little a yuan is now grown up and able to battle well already. *wipe tears

The battle scene music is quite funny though. Lol

All in all, i think, for one to truly enjoy these 2 movies (living dead and fatal journey), one needs to at least watch the untamed first. These movies are too short to build characters from zero

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Nice light movie

This is my first drama of both FL and ML and i was wholly surprised by their performance.

I was just trying my luck and randomly choose to watch this. Havent know anything about this series prior to watching, havent seen any trailer, just came across this reel in IG once. The plot is typical, nothing too elaborated or havent seen before but it’s light and well played, so i have no qualm about that. The FL’s acting caught my attention, she was quirky and the way she delivered her lines matched up with the savageness of her character and i was very well entertained. Lol. The FL grab my attention to keep watching even before the ML has the chance to (i grow to like the ML later). Cant believe this is Gu Xiang from WOH though. I just know it after coming here after finishing the series. Lol. She has the potential to be the next FL roles and I would like to see more of her. The ML has potential as well and the vibe he was giving can very well melt you as well (but still shows some innocence of first love. Lol). I love that even though theres heart breaks in between, the laugh scene can still be flawlessly inserted.

I like how they developed the second love story as well. Convincing, while not taking over the love story between the ML and FL. I just had some issue with Su Zheng as the ML contender, i feel like SZ’s character is not developed enough or been given screentime enough to be able to bring up a challenge to the ML.

The ost sounds nice as well. Though nothing that stuck with you long after.

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Finally a decent firefighter drama!

I was actually in quite a C-drama slump, i guess, since finishing Love Like the Galaxy. Havent been able to quite finishing the dramas i’ve started after that (still have 4 episodes of love between fairy and devil to go thru and still havent had the heart to continue it right now. Lol). So basically, this is the first drama i finished since then. Quite a feat i would say, even though it took me almost a month. Lol

First of all, i would say, finally theres a drama who did the firefighter theme well in my opinion. From start to finish, i like that they stick to what firefighters do best in their line of work, which is putting down fire and rescue mission. I was literally praying they wont do what Flaming Heart did and suddenly encroached into things like drug smuggling out of nowhere. Lol. The rescue scenes are well done enough in my opinion, theres fire scenes, typhoon scenes as well as accidents scenes. Well done! The medical scenes are as usual, 50-50 hit and miss. Coming from a medical background, i still havent see doctors work done well in dramas. Maybe knowing what needs to be done and watching that it’s not in the drama took away some of the hype. Haha

The love story between Nan jie and the younger firefighter is refreshing. I bawled my heart out when he died. Opps.

Yang yang and WCR. Hmmm. I guess the chemistry is there, but it is not smouldering or anything. It was convincing enough i guess. Just not love story of the year. This is my first drama of WCR and she did well. And pretty. Looks quite natural and make up was appropriate for the role of a doctor.

First 10ish episodes was quite slow. It takes perseverance for me to keep on watching but it picks back up around 1/3rd in. Im not sure why they feel the need to include the tangent of Song Yan being a special force soldier before becoming a firefighter though. And there’s quite some link to glory of special force as well, what with the same actor cameo from GOSF in this drama as well. Did these two dramas have same director/producer?

And of course, shout out to most annoying irritating mother award of the year. Lol. Sometimes i felt like squeezing the life out of Qin Qin’s mother, erghhhhh so overbearing and cannot be reason with woman! Some people said the drama did Ye Zi bad by turning her character into such a slobe but i guess they need that to teach xu qin’s mother the taste of her own medicine. Im glad they redeemed Ye Zi at the end though.

Ost are good as well. Glad to hear Na Ying’s voice after so long (love her with Xiao Zhan in Our Song!). And I especially love the song on rescue scene! I listen to it previously sung by Bai Jinting prior to Fireworks of my heart being broadcasted, and already love it then. So it was quite a surprise to hear it as this drama’s ost.

Finally,i was glad to have found a firefighter themed drama done well like this one. After Flaming Heart and that one drama (i forgot what its name) by ren jialun, i almost gave up finding one.

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Walking down memory lane

Actually, am not planning to watch this drama because it was from quite some time ago (2016 was quite a number of years for a drama. Lol), but i came across a clip of xiao nai’s accident in youtube and being a male lead whump fan, i was intrigued, started to watch ep 8-10, and then i was sold, so had to go back and watch from the start. Lol.

Firstly, i just got to know YY recently from his WRTW, then watched YAMG and GOSF and wow, how YY has matured and improved as an actor. I’m glad i got to know him in 2022 though. Lol. Btw, whats with YY and drama related with gaming? Are all his modern dramas must include some sort of gaming theme going on? ??
Nonetheless, i must say, YY in love o2o was such a green actor when you are coming from 2022. Haha. Notably, i found his hand gestures in the drama were consistently awkward, especially when Xiao Nai was explaining things in detail/presenting. and it doesnt help that as a CEO, he needs to do that quite a lot. Lol. Acting a cold, aloof god like Xiao Nai with a face such as Yang Yang’s was an easy feat to sell i think.

Plot wise, when looking from a lens of 2016 production, i would say it was acceptable. It gave me the same vibe of Jerry Yan’s meteor garden to the 2001’s me. Aaahhhh brings back so much fond memory! Lol. I get how comments from youtube from years ago were basically all gushing about this drama. Understandably, if you watch this 2016 production from 2022’s lens, you will probably find this to be overrated. A pretty face with a cold exterior, rich guy, a ceo, intelligent to boot, pro hacker/programmer. whats not to like? Hahaha

Come to think of it, YAMG now seems like a finer, improved adult version of Love O2O in a way. Where Love O2O was basically revolving around college to graduating period, YAMG caters more towards late 20’s adult period. Of course, being a product of 2021, YAMG was leaning more towards an equal standing, give-and-take kind of relationship as compared to the ‘toxic’ relationship that some people from recent years were raging about in Love O2O where the ML was more dominant and in-charge *roll eyes

Other things i would like to mention but was too lazy to put in a paragraph, so bullet points it is:

-xiao nai is too perfect. Lol. He’s a senior but then his transition to being a ceo, having his own company office and staffs and his lavish spending and lifestyle seems quite illogical sometimes. I mean, it was understandable if he was a millionaire’s son in the first place, but the writer just put him as a professors’ son only ?

-the fangirls in the campus really annoyed me. Hahahhahaa. I mean, he’s just a senior (albeit a spectacular one at that), no need to flock around him everywhere with mobile phones right in front of his face everywhere on campus’s ground

-the FL’s kissing scene was realllllyyy disappointing. Lol. Coupled it YY’s enthusiastic kissing, it pretty much create an oceanwide difference effect haha

-talking about the FL, i thought this is my first drama of hers, but going thru her list of dramas in Mydramalist, turns out she was also the FL in Chronicle of life! Watched that drama some years ago and i quite like it. But i did not recognise it was the same actress!

- plus side: i like ML’s sidekicks’ acting. Especially, yu banshan. Quite natural to me

-sooooo manyyyy annoying females sidekicks though. Notably Nana and the Xiaoyu clan. Typical jealous low IQ/EQ bitches. Hahaha. Chao Guang was also annoying to boot. Feels like kicking him to the curb! Aishh. Such an superficial guy

-KO and Hao Mei’s awkward almost BL side story. Lol. Not sure where the scriptwriter wanna go with it. Lol

-OST are nice, especially the ending song sung by YY. I fall in love with that song much earlier after a browse around in youtube, wayyy before i decided to give this drama a go


All in all, it was a good enough drama to pass the time, especially if you are a new YY’s fan like me and is revisiting some of his earlier works. Just maybe try to imagine you are watching this in 2016 and you will do just fine. Lol. Dont compare it with dramas/acting coming from 2021/22 era. Dont expect much in terms of plot development etc. it was just so that you can just gush over the ML’s god like perfect person and fragile, need-to-be-protected FL. Lol

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Awesome!

First of all, i’d say that it is worth the 2years wait we all have done for this drama to be aired. First 2 episodes, initially i thought this is gonna be a typical drama of a girl having a daddy problem, which later found the love of her life and was swept away to heaven. But well, i’m glad to be wrong.

Where to start? Hmmm…maybe with Yang Zi. Tbh, this is my first YZ’s drama for me, having not watching her ashes of love due to fantasy not being my cup of tea. Though being such a popular heroine, i’ve always heard of her stint. I really like her portrayal of LZX, especially so coming from Heart of Jade just before i start on TOOL (where i’m having a bit of a likehate relationship with the FL), i can see the difference between the 2 FLs. YZ’s acting is more mature, she has a great face expression and you can easily empathise with LZX in a lot of scenes. Kudos to yang zi!

And as for XZ? What more can i say? Total swoon-worthy of course! As usual, XZ’s acting is superb, his eyes convey so much with so little expression, and of course, who can resist a competent handsome tall man in a white coat?! Lol. Obviously not me.

Plot is good. Might have a bit of a plot hole here and there, but it doesnt take the pleasure out of watching. I must say, this drama has the most satisfying ending for me personally. The wedding, the father’s letters, the scene with their 7yo son, it all came to such a beautiful tie up for the drama’s ending. LZX’s growing up is done beautifully and her relationship with her father almost always had me in tears, especially towards the end. TOOL had me giggling in all its cheesy/lovey dovey scenes and bawling my eyes out in equal measures. The chemistry between XZ and YZ are chefkiss!

I had issues with sansan in almost 2/3rd of the series though. I mean, her immaturity and the way she kept on parting her infinite wisdom (not!) to LzX is really grating on my nerves. But i guess, it goes to highlight how much mature LZX is compared to her peers who havent gone thru what she did personally. I dont know if i missed it or what, but i would like for them to tie up what happened to sansan and gu xiao though at the end, but ah well, we cant have it all right.

Ost are nice as well. The duet song between YZ and XZ especially sounds fairytale like! When they first performed the song almost a year ago at an award show, i’ve already get a disney’s vibe from the song. Soo nice! And of course, XZ’s solo song is nice as well.

All in all, TOOL is awesome i end up between two minds whether or not to marathon it and at the same time, trying to delay watching so as to make it last more! Lol

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