Dashing Empress
PH
Arthdal Chronicles Part 1: The Children of Prophecy
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Watch this patiently to appreciate part 2 & 3
Obviously, I watched this drama because of Song Joong Ki., my second time seeing him in a non-dashing and undesirable look after in "My Werewolf Boy". I believed this drama was either the first or one of the few that produced a reimagination of the lives of the earliest people; It was fascinating to hear their dialect, particularly on the kids' cast, overflowing with talents for them to memorize and pronounce it The build-up of the story was tortoise-like but I had to press down my standards since it was a chronicle, needed a long and detailed narration as precedence. On the contrary, your eyes will be delighted by the sight of nature's beauty and the pride of its cinematography.Was this review helpful to you?
Impressive for a mystery & crime investigation genre
I was encouraged to watch this drama because it was well-received and got a lot of appreciation from the viewers that I personally stood correctly. I must say the plot was cleverly presented, every turn of events has surprising elements, and the revelation of the mystery itself though dragging the story long did not bore me at all. Watching this drama made me a smart viewer because as the male lead went on his personal investigation, I myself was thinking along with him. It was a surprise that each protagonist and antagonist has his/her own wittiness to beat one another. However, the male lead stood among the rest. His tame personality and well-behaved manner disguise his inner guts to fight and you will love the charm of his sarcasm while gently talking back to his superiors. This drama exhibited the importance of having great skills in the field of investigation as a prosecutor so that you don't have to solely rely on your working detectives to solve a crime and eventually serve justice uprightly. The only flaw I found in this drama was the scene of the high school students hanging out in the house where the murder crime happened, it was irrelevant and unnecessary to be included. But I have to note that the emotional scene of the culprit shedding tears was a stellar performance of all. As I myself experience to be entertained by this show, it has to be known that it was close to perfection in line with its genre.Was this review helpful to you?
The most sincere love you will ever received after hurting someone
The story was ordinary, however, the solid performances of the actors made this drama likeable. I was bored in the first few episodes but as the story progressed, my enthusiasm to go on watching revived. The lead couple's interactions made me smile especially in scenes when Park Ju Hyun acted awkwardly cute though in most of the scenes, you will just end up in tears. Notable scenes for me were the love teasing of the team members when finally the lead couple's dating was discovered by all and the two fathers betting whose daughter to come first and bragging of their future son in-laws. I liked the character of the male lead who I happened not to be familiar with. He has his own wounds and yet, he has a great sense of responsibility and matureness in dealling with his love relationship with Park Ju Hyun, the genuine and purest kind of love a girl could wish for.The opening song was cool. The plot of this drama was simple but the script was written remakably that it will remain in your thoughts after watching it.
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Great actors but decrease the watch value for its flawed story
Let me first mention some of the lines from this drama that set me clear to a realization of the essence of the court from a layman's perspective."Love that surrendered to principle and duty."
"Winning all battles doesn't make you great. What makes you great is when you make the enemy succumb without fighting."
"A trial isn't a means to decide who's right and wrong. It's a means to choose who's being more convincing within the boundaries of the law."
Sadly, this drama failed to meet my expectations. It became uninteresting because of repetitive scenarios every time a new case was assigned. The legendary lawyer got to handle it assisted by his prodigy, then the prodigy's emotional sensibility would get in the way to complicate the case. and in critical moments he would come up with a better solution to fix it. The flow of the story was so flat and didn't heighten my excitement about what to expect next. I didn't like the character of Park Hyung Sik here, an arrogant young man with a special memory recall ability, stubborn with the decision that put him in trouble most of the time and bothered by his weakness bearing an identity of a fake lawyer. I guess I'm just used to seeing lead actors portraying a strong impressive personalities with a small spot of weaknesses. Nevertheless, all the actors acted brilliantly having Jang Dong Gun leading the outstanding cast, and the English song played often in the drama was a perfect choice.
Despite my disappointment in this drama, I've learned a few things from it, informational in the aspect of the law and court proceedings that made me grasp my pen and take a few notes.
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Except for the superb fighting scenes, the rest were a boring dupe of a crime investigative genre
It will always be a challenge for any writer and director in the production of the same genre to be favored by the eyes of the onscreen viewers. Very few succeeded in crossing the comparison and they truly are gifted in their crafts.Forgive me for saying this because this drama was a failure of those efforts. Among the elements I appreciated the less are the following:
1. The crime cases and the investigation process were predictable. It was not doing the effect of cracking my impression.
2. The funny scenes were not funny at all. Something was off with the timing and dialogue.
3. The characterization of the six main members of the Judicial Review Office was jeopardized by the poor story execution. It was a total waste for such a unique balanced composition of roles.
And so there, boredom strikes me here and dropped it all the way. Didn't bother myself anymore finding out the mystery of Li Bing's character turning into a white cat.
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A well-told story about the irreplaceable legacy of a sect leader after a selfless self-destruction
This was my very first watching a Chinese drama that was a non-romantic genre that hooked me all the way. A drama that has a substance in which the underlying conflicts, twists, and turns in the development of the story hardly made me stop watching it continuously. There were some predictable scenes at some point in the episodes however; it did not weaken the flow of the story.The selection of casts was great. Joseph Zeng was particularly outstanding here. His performance in this drama went beyond Cheng Yi’s acting as the main lead. His characterization stood out among the rest and was noticeable in the entire drama. I recently watched him in “Romance on the Farm” and he already captured my attention there with his baby face looks, not so much of the acting yet. But in this drama, he properly delivered the role and saw in him a promising actor to watch for.
The component of humor I think also brought this drama receptive to viewers. The shift of tone to make a certain dialogue or scene funny by adding background sound effects was amazingly done by the technical and editing team which indeed made me laugh. Well, the fighting scenes were given for the wuxia enthusiasts and I also enjoyed watching those sharp moves.
I was absolutely satisfied after relying on my choice to watch it from one of the many approving reviews I have read.
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Jeremy Tsui as the lead was not good enough to appreciate this show.
I thought it could measure up to "Autumn Ballad" where I first saw Jeremy Tsui and began adoring him, unfortunately, it failed to do so. I have watched a few dramas with the same slow storytelling pace and still, it pushed my interest to finish the show. With this one, each episode made me struggle with whether I should continue watching until the end.I believed it has a potential storyline. The screenwriter could have shortened those scenes in which the FL was acting up as a fragile and feeble woman. Those scenes in particular bored me a lot and made me decide to drop it.
I also did not feel the chemistry between Jeremy Tsui and the FL. Their early romantic interactions were especially dull and missed the heart-moving effect.
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Thread of scenes and how the FL's character was made drive me off
Fair to say this drama indeed has an interesting storyline but watching it did not make me feel good. The following are my reasons why I ought to drop it.1. The mother of the young boy (this child at a young age already identified himself as a girl) embraced her son's true personality and let him show himself to everyone as a girl which naturally was disapproved by the people around them. She should have protected her son by keeping it secret in the meantime and should have known that he was too young to handle society's mockery.
2. This Uncle Chat (not blood-related to the young boy but bonded through family relations) was deeply attached to the young boy until his teenage years. His scenes of recalling their memories together were like he was missing his lover and preempting the story that they will be lovers in the future.
3. Nira (the adult female transformation of the young boy) kept on telling lies to those people who were sincerely helping her to start a new life as a woman just so she can indulge in a romantic relationship with her Uncle Chat who was still married without love to her Aunt and carry on her revenge plans. Her thoughtlessness, selfishness, and unmindfulness always create scandals that jeopardized the situations of those people whose after her welfare.
4. The object of Nira's revenge was to destroy her father and yet. he would allow him to touch and caress her maliciously when she could have instantly repelled it.
5. The onset of Nira and Uncle Chat's romance was displeasing because it was an illicit affair and Nira was deceiving him for not telling who she really was.
The above conflicts may appear agreeable to many but certainly not to my standards of how I gauge a prime drama to watch.
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