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MatildediShabran
Two Odd Fish Acting As Chairs
It took all my patience to get through the first 3 episodes. I can't comment on plot, because I didn't watch enough to warrant a critique on that, and plot, as I've said many times, is king.What I witnessed were two wooden chairs, in period costumes, interacting with each other.
I like the actress playing the FL, but here, she talked in a weird, unnatural way which was super odd. A cold, calculating fish that needed a better director. The ML looked ridiculously older than her (I see now there are only 10 years between them, but it looked like more than that to me). The ML was also a cold, calculating fish, and since his visuals (pulchritude) wasn't in-keeping with hers, they made a very unlikely fishy couple (or an odd chair coupling). I had to drop this because I was cringing at how unnatural everything from the dialogue to the love pairing was. It all seemed very forced to me, which made it unenjoyable to watch.
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Almost Made It Past Episode Two
Right away, I wanted to see this drama because I've seen both the ML actor and the FL actress in other dramas in which I thought they did a great job.What is going on with Li Hong Yi doing super low-budget dramas? I thought he had more clout than that.
Right away, the cinematography informed me of how low budget this production is. It looks very cheap and visually bland. Unfortunately, I couldn't get over the lackluster aesthetics because there wasn't an interesting story behind it all. This drama.... I struggle to find anything positive to say about it that might redeem it. Even the costumes seemed to do nothing but take away from the performances of the actors. Let's just say.... I wanted to make it past the second episode, but everything about this production conspired to make it unwatchable.
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A Comedy of Errors....... And Bathroom Humour
I really wanted to like this one. The production quality is very low (even the sound fades in and out like a cheap production), yet there is an overall spirit behind this drama that feels like a passion project.It's a comedy of errors, like any other. Misunderstanding after misunderstanding creates the basis of this drama. It's cute, but it's also tiresome. The FL was excellent, and the only reason I forced myself to watch 6 whole episodes and gave this drama a considerably high rating, but I am not a nine year old, so fart joke after fart joke bathroom humour makes me cringe rather than laugh. Actually, nine year olds would probably enjoy this drama better than I did, and intentionally or not, that's the age range this comedy would appeal to most.
A mediocre story concept with exceptionally good acting by the FL. I suggest you watch it.... If you have the sense of humour of a nine year old.
I'm giving this 5.5 fart jokes out of 10.
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When The Child Actors Outshine the Rest
This drama started strong. I was into it, that child actress and the child actor were awesome!! Unfortunately, they had to grow up and get replaced, which ruined the drama. ?I can't stand Crystal Yuan, which is too bad because there are a lot of Chinese actresses which are much worse. She is, and please, please pardon me for saying this, she is the most ordinary looking leading role actress ever, so when she is cast to play a woman of notable beauty, I tend to have a hard time believing in her character. It's so mean to say, but it is my personal opinion on the matter. She may have a wonderful personality in real life, which is maybe why she keeps getting cast in leading roles? I don't know, but nothing about her on screen presence makes her notable to me. I've dropped every drama she is in because I can't really bring myself to like any of her characters.
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Love and Common Sense
I know many people love this drama. I honestly wanted to love it. I didn't intend to drop it the way I did, but I just couldn't take anymore.The FL has no senses, but we are supposed to care about her. Let me make it clear that it's purely because she is missing a brain that I dislike her. The other senses didn't diminish her worth as a person, but I can't deal with a no-brain no-personality FL. On top of that, I can't stand the actress who plays the FL. I find myself dropping every drama she is cast in, and I feel bad about it because she isn't a "bad" actress, but I personally can't stand her.
The ML was icy, as he was meant to be, but you can't have two icy protagonists, as it offsets the emotional balance, as there has to be some warmth somewhere. I did find myself caring about the ML, but was also annoyed at his cold, stern interactions with the FL.
Anyway, the plot was so boring that I just couldn't make my way through another episode. I could already tell what was going to happen anyway. The first few episodes was just the FL annoying the heck out of all the other characters, and then putting herself and by default, others in danger because of the issue she has with not having any "common sense", as in a brain. A brainless FL in a drama is not something I can get over.
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A Flute, A Zombie, An Apple, and An Ass
I don't want to stir the pot on this drama, since it's considered by many to be the best drama ever made. However, I do want to talk about a few things that I liked, and a few things that bothered me.Firstly, I only needed to watch the first two episodes to know exactly what this drama was going to be about, that's why I had to drop it. The very first scene has the most outrageously bad CGI, and I could have told you the entire plot of the drama from the first scene alone, which is something that really bothers me, but I'll go further into that shortly.
So, now that the characters have revealed their roles in the story, and we know the main protagonist was wronged and this whole scene was him seeking revenge through the crappiest CGI ever, then the story begins from the end, and suddenly, we are shown some of the best and most artistic "big-budget" cinematography I've seen in a Chinese drama. The unevenness of these two factors kind of threw me off.
In the span of the first two episodes, we learn exactly what happened to the main character 16 years ago. Firstly, the main character is presented to us as an eccentric genius with sociopathic tendencies. Right away, we can tell that he has been wrongly accused of harming a female character that he knew 16 years ago. The other characters literally feed us every bit of information we might need in order to piece together what has already transpired. My issue is, why the heck do I want to invest my time in watching so many episodes to get the details of what happened, and how he was obviously framed for a crime he didn't commit 16 years earlier? I don't care how things really happened, since I already know how they will end.
I had the same issue with Ancient Detective, as right in the middle of the drama, they go back in time to reveal how it all began. I don't really care how things began if I already know so much about the end result. Maybe that's my own personal failing. I don't mind a subtle hint (not like the very first scene) at the very beginning, but not a full expose within the first two episodes, followed by an entire series of episodes on how everything started. I also dislike prequels for this same reason.
Anyway, this is my issue with watching this drama. The main character is interesting and all, but I don't find watching a cackling, effeminate man who has clearly lost his mind a huge draw, personally.
I think that a lot of the hype behind this drama has to do with the gay and effeminate aspect of it. BL is kind of gay exploitation, and I'm not really into making homosexuality into an entertainment gimmick.
5.5 zombie flutes out of 10.
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