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.

Read More

Characters Needed Work

I had to drop this drama, after many attempts at picking it back up. Mainly because I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters enough to try to properly identify the different clans and their kin.

Maybe I don't have what it takes to be a Wuxia watcher. Maybe you need to care about the Martial Arts World to watch Martial Arts centered dramas. I couldn't believe that the FL was played by the same dough-faced actress I hated so much in "Love Between Fairy and Demon". Could her role have been played better by a much better actress? Absolutely. But, she wasn't bad. She just doesn't have depth to her, naturally. She looked absolutely ridiculous in her wig, which was too large for her head. In scenes where she was supposed to outshine the other potential brides, she looked remarkably plain in comparison. Now, I am a huge fan of the moral story of a prince that chooses not the most beautiful, but the most innocent bride as his, but true goodness of character has to be expressed by the bride for us to fall in love with her.

The SFL is one that I fell in love with. They showed her vulnerability in flashbacks. They really fleshed her out. Not to mention that her beauty outshone the FL many times over.

The FL kept being saved by the SFL, the ML, and others, and without beauty, or character (like the SFL), I needed a reason to root for her, yet I found myself unable to come up with any except that she was the FL. I hated seeing the other female characters being harmed. I cared for them more than the FL, even though I knew less about them than I did about her. Without being able to care what happens to the FL, there was no tention left for me to care what happens next.

The cinematography was above and beyond the standard. It was big-budget cinematography, and bursts of colours were used sparingly and to good effect in high-drama moments.

It's not a boring drama, exactly. Just.... you have to really care about the main characters to keep your interest, as their lives are the "stake" of the entire drama. Without the two main characters, there wouldn't be a story, so if you can't care about the main characters, then you're really out of luck.

Read More

Farm Romance

I have seldom given any drama a 9.5 rating, but I have to make an exception here, because this drama is exceptional. Never did I feel even slightly bored so far. The cinematography is top quality. The senior actors are divine, and so, so funny! Slight criticism in terms of the ML. I don't know why, but the male actor gives off an arrogance that I find uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, he's not bad, I just find the SML more likeable, as I did when he was in the piggy and tiger drama... whose name I will be looking up and putting here.... shortly (Love You Seven Times). I prefer actors with "nice guy" energy over those with "arrogance energy". That's just my personal preference, and probably always will be.

This is one of those drama series that really feels local. I mean, the humour and essence of it feels like it could only have come out of chinese culture. The best of Chinese culture.

I can't say enough good things about this series. It's outstanding in every way, and they would have to really mess up the plot for me to stop enjoying it (fingers crossed they don't).

Read More

Plain Piece of Toast

Life do-over very similar to "Till the End of the Moon", minus the crazy magical element. This is a very plain piece of toast drama.

The ML.... who is the SML up till now (ep. 9), is wonderful, as he always is. Actually, all the actors are well-cast in this. No weak players here. But there is no plot to be found yet.... at ep. 9... and that's pretty late to be looking for a plot. This could have easily been a really good "slice of life" drama.... except.... it wants to become a melodrama, which would give it some flavour, but I personally don't like melodrama. It kind of wanted to be another "A Dream of Splendor" drama, but fails in the story department.

Read More

Even My Leg Hair Is Beautiful

"I'm the most beautiful and lovely fairy. Even my leg hair is beautiful." -FL

Updated at the end:

What can I say? This drama appealed to me more than "The Eternal Love" did. The ML has real "good guy" energy to him, and so does our FL. I have seen this ML in a number of other dramas, wherein he had all the charisma of a chair (made of wood). Not so with this drama! The FL and ML worked so well together that they won me over. I didn't even have Second Male Lead Syndrome for once. Their PDAs felt authentic and they msde each other interesting as characters to watch. Excellent casting choice here.

I love that the item that allows the characters to time slip is a meteorite stone. Haven't seen that used in a drama before.... or in any story, now that I think about it.

The story is nothing new. It's full of tropes, but I am very entertained, which is all I can ask for in a fluffy drama like this one. Oh! And the quote above that the FL said; I copied it out and will be repeating it as an affirmation.

So... this drama crashed and burned after the 20th episode. 20 episodes was all it could handle before running out of ideas and running off the rails into melodrama city. Should I take the rating down for this? I think in this case, the core charm was so strong that I will just pretend there were only 20 episodes to this series.

Read More

Two Men Fight For Custody of Their Dog

Internal dialogue before watching:

****************************************
Voice #1: Don't watch this, you know it'll just drive you crazy.

Voice #2: Look! Timmy Xu is in it! He's such a good actor!

Voice #1: But Gulnazar is going to be insufferable.

Voice #2: Zhao Shun Ran is in it too! Waaaatch it! Waaaatch it!

Internal dialogue whilst watching:

*******************************************

Voice # 1: Did she just..... did she just sniff the air like a dog? She just did it again! OMG, she is method-acting her entire role as a canine! The weird facial expressions, the hyper body language.... she's playing the FL as a literal dog!

Voice #1: Did Timmy Xu just.... spin in circles whilst bathing himself in baijiu for absolutely no reason? Yes, yes he did.

Voice #1: Each of my cats have a higher IQ than this FL.

Voice #2: Zhao Shun Ran is such a great actor. Behind his craft is a maturity of character and a sincerity that not a lot of actors have. He has a goodness to him that you can't teach an actor, and very few actors possess it.

Voice #1: These MLs are basically fighting over custody of their pet dog.

Voice #2: I've got nothing to add. Makes Huang Xiaoming seem like a genius actor. She's a piece of wood, but a good-looking yet goofy piece of wood.

The End.

Read More

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

"There must be 50 ways to leave your lover".

- Paul Simon

Indeed, every way to leave your lover is explored here in "Lost You Forever".

What a pleasant surprise this is. I could never stand Yang Zi and her saccharine cuteness, but nonetheless, I gave this a try, and it did not disappoint! The strongest aspect this series has going for it is the dialogue, which is intelligent above any Chinese fantasy drama I have seen to date.

Yang Zi, in opposition to her usual on-screen persona, played an intelligent woman who becomes extremely skilled at life in general as she progresses through the story. It was nice to see a female main character change with time and learning, instead of staying the same.

She gets callouses on her hands in the same way she developes callouses around her heart. Would I have prefered if another actress had played the role? Yes, if I'm being honest. However, Yang Zi killed it (in a good way).

I've talked about Tan Jian Ci before when he stole the show in, "Court Lady". This guy is so, so good, and yes, I am going to mention his sexy voice one last time here. What a sexy baritone! Mmmmm

Anyway, Zhang Wang Yi was the show stealer of this drama. He is phenomenally good here. What his character embodied for me was the impending sense of loss a sibling feels during adolescence, when their sister or brother abandons them for marriage to form their own family. At least, that's the sense I got about it.

This drama explores different types of loss, including how every brother/ sister will one day lose their sibling/s one way or another. We all come into this world alone, and that's the way we leave it.

This series does have its draggy episodes, which has to do with the usual pitfall of too many episodes to fill with content. I can't lie and say I didn't skip over large chunks of it, which I didn't even need to see, as there is a whole lot of recap talked about by the characters within each episode. This could have easily been a great 16 episode drama, but I understand that writers are pretty much forced by contract to stretch ideas out to breaking point, and I can't blame them for something they have no control over.

Read More

Why Did I Watch This?

I honestly don't know what I was expecting, as.... it sounds like a very annoying story idea with the usual vampire cliches, which is exactly what it was.

I guess I just needed some background noise. I think the part I liked most was the theme song "This vampire is on fire, this vampire is a liar".

Basically, whatever they could get to rhyme with vampire was thrown in, exactly in the same way as every vampire cliche was thrown into the story.

The FL is a beautiful swan-necked woman who has become a harsh, closed sort of individual. She's cold, and the vampire ML is warm in comparison, even without a pulse.

I have seen the second female in several dramas before, and they did an excellent job of making her insufferable in every way from the very first episode. Not only that, but they filmed her in the most unflattering way they could, as she is a stunning beauty normally, but they had to make sure the FL outshone her in this. The SFL was written as the archetypal wealthy "enemy of the people". In Korea's socialist brainwashing, attaining wealth is the biggest sin one can commit, so the wealthy are always portrayed in the most unflattering and undeservingly bad light. Think of Squid Game and Parasite. It's awful to think people cannot be judged by the content of their character, as neither wealth nor lack of wealth should be the deciding factor of a person's worth or output.

The SML was really good and heartfelt in his role. Yes, I was rooting for the good-hearted SML, who ironically needed a heart transplant. Not that our ML was lacking as an actor, but I felt his character wasn't developed as well. It made sense for the FL to be a closed person, but I found her to be lacking in charisma. I mean, I've enjoyed cold FL characters before, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about her, and I'm not sure why. There was a secondary female character named Rose that had hardly any lines, and yet I liked her more than the FL, because she had personality.

This drama is a waste of your time.

Read More

Life Choices or Fate?

Having watched this drama, I still don't know what to make of it. It's a very, very strange melodrama that I really can't recommend to anyone. I can't even get wrap my head around what the message was supposed to be.

The SML did the right thing most of the time, but the FL still chose the other guy, just because the script made it so that she would choose him. The SML becomes obsessed with her, which is terrible, but she kind of manipulated him into becoming that way through her interactions with him.

Maybe the theme was: choose someone who won't become such a fan of yours that he will turn into a simp? I don't know, but I do know that choosing the bad boy just because he isn't from a rich family is a really poor moral.

I can't prescribe to China's vilification of the rich, as I don't think money, or the lack of it, is a determining factor in the moral quality of a human being, and that's what I think is most important.

The acting of the SML is heavily criticised for not being very good, but I disagree. It is certainly an over-the-top theatrical performance, but this is a melodrama, and there was nothing wrong with it. Actually, it was refreshing to see a male character cry and display his emotions outwardly. He was a sensitive character that I probably enjoyed more than the actual ML.

I was rooting for the SML the whole time, in fact. Even when he became obsessed with the FL. He was a sweet, sensitive soul who gave his heart away to the wrong girl, and I felt bad for him.

Anyway, the story is a huge melodrama mess, and overall this is not a great drama, but I so wish sensitive, sweet characters could get the FLs in Chinese dramas.

Read More

Piggy and Tiger Tales

I'm a bit on the fence about what to talk about with this Xanxia. I don't like Xanxias in general, but I love Chinese costume dramas, so I give them a try nonetheless, just in case one might be watchable.

I've stated in other reviews how I feel about the ML and the FL as actors. The actress who plays the FL always plays the exact same role of the gentle ingenue with a good heart, but somehow, compared to most FLs inhabiting this archetypal role, this FL seems to not annoy me or grate me in the same way as the others. The actress here, not only has a rare and astonishing beauty, but a real aura of goodness about her within her screen presence. I don't know what kind of person she is in real life, but I like her because she gives off a real sense of goodness. The ML is obviously a better actor technically, but the list of Chinese FL actresses I cannot stand is long, and this actress is not on that list because her expressive eyes and her screen charisma prevents her from being just another pretty, but wooden actress. In her defense, she's not the best, but she is so much better than the overwhelming majority of Chinese drama actresses.

The ML, is one that I had not enjoyed his performances up till now, but was pleasantly surprised and impressed with his performance in this. He doesn't scowl here, as I had previously encountered.

He was really, very good. If he is lacking in anything as an actor, it's charm. I wasn't charmed by him, and I didn't feel anything for him as a character. In fact, the 2nd male lead, though a very, very shallow character with no great charisma going for him, interested me more than the ML as a character. The story connecting the stories wasn't built up enough for me to want to watch further, but I appreciated the attempt at an original Xanxia story, at least.

It's not a bad Xanxia, but it is quite boring and predictable. The CGI used is laughably bad, and is worthwhile noting for that reason. Overall, an almost watchable Xanxia.... almost.... watchable.... but not quite.

A generous 6 grumpy pigs out of 10.

Read More

Promising, But Boring

We get it, China. People with money= bad, poor people= good. We get it.

Two childhood sweethearts divided by class difference. Nothing new here. We know they are going to get together, but there is no actual connecting story here, so the plot is stretched over sexual tension that just doesn't burn bright enough to keep interest.

I have a girl crush on Janice Wu, which is why I gave this a chance in the first place, and she did not disappoint. I love her facial expressions and mannerisms. The ML was ok as well, but he was written without any real depth, and that also has to do with his lack of flaws. A perfect ML is a boring one.

Read More

A Messed-Up Anne Of Green Gables

Updated Review: I was really enjoying this, until the writers betrayed the characters in the worst possible way. Update at the end.

Episodes 1-17:

A really crazy, emotionally confusing coming-of-age story featuring a beautiful orphaned outsider and her cousin best friend. This drama series doesn't really know what it wants to be. One minute, we'll see quite realistic depictions of war, and then the next, the characters are serving up broad comedy. As a result, I have no idea what to feel about the storyline. This drama series wants to be a drama just as much as it wants to be a comedy, but it just fails at holding itself as either genre, nor a balanced mixture of both.

The FL, is absolutely beautiful, cheerful, optimistic, intelligent, and everything you would expect from an Asian Anne of Green Gables. Does she act a bit too flighty/ immature at times like just about all the FL in Chinese costume dramas? Yes, she does. However, I found her incredibly charming despite this, mainly on account of her sharp wit and bravery.

The story is both predictable and unpredictable at the same time. I really don't know what to make of it all. But I do know that I'm hooked on this drama, as messy as it is, and won't be dropping it. The character I can't stand in this series is the SFL. She's an educated half-wit Mary Sue who is always getting herself and by default others into trouble. I already know she is going to get the ML, or.... the character that I consider to be the ML. Her whole Mary Sue role is written just so she will end up with the best male character in the drama. I was actually enjoying the fact that romance was taking a back seat to the story of the two women living life on their own terms, but it looks like that might come to an end in future episodes. Both MLs are very interesting characters which I look forward to watching more from.

One very interesting character is Wu Yin, who is a male character, pretending to be a female, played by a very beautiful actress. I'm not saying that this actress does a bad job of pretending to be a man, but I could think of many male actors who could play a young man pretending to be a woman just as well, and I do feel that it's so obvious that the character is being portrait by a woman, that even with her face covered and in all black clothes like a ninja, I could still tell the character was being played by a woman. It just isn't plausible to imagine the character is a man, so it takes away from my enjoyment of the story.

The way our young romantic FL lets us into her imagined expectations of romance was a really nice component to the storytelling, and this also informs us of the main message of this drama:

That life isn't fantasy. It's as unpredictable as it is indifferent to our wishes, hopes, and dreams.
___________________________________________________

Update with some SPOILERS:..... Where do I even begin?!!! The writers took a beautiful story featuring great actors, and have just thrown everything into the mud.

From ep 21 onwards, the SFL, who has no brain nor beauty of her own, instead of doing the right thing, she profits off of the FL's love for both herself by stealing the SML, not even asking him how he feels about marrying her now that he has survived war. The FL accidently gives away her love to the SFL out of perverse loyalty. The SFL could have gone and been a nun, as the SML suggested, but no, that's not good enough for her.... despite her having no IQ or looks, she is too good for this... somehow.

The FL gets kidnapped and held for ransom by the actual ML (wish he was the SML, unfortunately, he isn't). The ML even attempts to rape her at one point, meanwhile our FL has Stockholm Syndrome, so of course she is developing feelings for the ML, because that's human nature, and I completely understand it, but our ML, no matter his sob story background, is a brute with multiple wives, who threatens his way through life and into our FL's heart, and it is disgusting to watch. This ML is really the worst. And his subordinates are telling the FL how she needs to be nice to the ML after all he's done to her?!! This is the same ML that forced her to get engaged with him, and then forced her to marry him! He literally ruined her life! The FL's love for the SFL also ruined her life, but in a passive way, whereas the ML straight-up took a wrecking-ball to all her hopes and dreams and her future. I can't even.... aughhhh! I don't know if I can keep watching.

Read More

So Much Wasted Potential

The Good:

-Wormhole plot point
- Time traveling desk + prince, but he's always asleep when it happens which is... a bit strange, because then the wormhole theory doesn't actually work. Just make the desk inside the wormhole and then he gets transported with the desk, or what was the point of having the desk transport in the first place?

- Reference to Scarlet Heart\ them watching Scarlet Heart.

- Lantern being connected to the wormhole. Beautiful lantern with original illustrations.

The Bad

- Pretty much everything else.

-FL never matures like in Scarlet Heart. She stays the same.

- Acting all around is OK. Main characters seem to be made up of newbies out of theatre school. No great performances, except the emperor who was excellent.

-CGI animals were incredibly cringe. Not as cringe as watching grown men get swatted by a CGI bear, but pretty close.

- Fight scenes were incredibly fake looking and cringeworthy.

- Characters were all incredibly dumb.

In Conclusion:

This could have been an awesome homage to Scarlet Heart. It started off with the idea of a love that spans 300 years, but Scarlet Heart went deeper than that. It was about human relationships and how there are different ways of looking at them, and about different ways of loving someone and how you can love someone completely but their dark side can ruin you. Anyway, Dreaming Back to the Qing is a superficial drama with no big ideas to it. The FL was likeable enough, but she remained as superficial as the drama itself.

Read More

Sweet and Watchable Martial Arts Story

I am enjoying this short drama so far. It's super cute and high on charm. The story is the most important aspect, and I am finding it sufficiently engaging. Not anything amazing, but definitely watchable. My main and only complaint here is the FL. She is unusually plain looking. No, I don't mean that she is unattractive physically, but the average young Chinese woman on my street is twice as beautiful as this FL. Within the drama, they kept bringing up her good looks, so it was also a character trait that this actress just doesn't have. It didn't help that her character stuffs her face with food at every available opportunity, without closing her mouth while she chews. I know it was meant as a comedic character quirk to make her more relatable, but I found it incredibly unpleasant. The FL is rude, disgusting, and greedy, but we are meant to look past all that because of her peasant status and her good heart. Well, I personally couldn't look past all of this, or perhaps she didn't possess enough redeeming qualities to offset her faults.

It bothers me that wherever there is male friendship, there is talk of BL. Think of what kind of message that sends. Men can't have friendships anymore without being accused of non-platonic relations. It sickens me to think that male friendship can be perverted by mainstream media. Friendship is sacred, regardless of gender, which is also why I am against this genre called BL, because it's exploiting homosexuality. The male friendship in this drama (so far) is its strongest story arch, and it doesn't need any kind of love gimmick to make it more interesting. So far, romance in this drama has taken a back seat to actual story, as it should. I'm a bit worried about where the story is going, but so far, if they hadn't hired a "Zhao Lu Si" type, plain-looking, broad comedy actress, this would have been a really good drama.

Read More

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.

Read More