A Story of Friendships & Love Built in a Tiny Courtyard While Overcoming Personal Hardship.

After watching LX in Will Love in Spring and hearing good things about this one as another slice of life story, decided to check it out. Glad I did; he was able to play a more smiling, joking character though with no less responsibility on his shoulders. I've only seen Crystal Liu in A Dream of Splendor where she did very well. This was a story of friendships and love built in a tiny courtyard while overcoming personal hardship.

Pros: I really love the friendships that were built in the courtyard and how they went beyond the courtyard but into the rest of the village and were intergenerational. Also though FL or XHD lost her best friend in the first episode, she was never far from her mind especially when she finally told her new friends about her. ML or XZY (lovingly called A'Yao) was my favorite character because of just how much he shouldered and was always still joking and smiling. He was essentially taking every major project from the village on himself. When HD and A'Yao became friends, it was nice to see that it wasn't a rushed romance but a real bond that grew. We saw that he caught feelings first but she wasn't far behind. The other great characters were DM, NN, HY, Mr. Ma (when he wasn't flipping his hair), granny Xie and a few of the other grannies, XC, XX (girl) and XX (guy). The 4 kids were cute too. Joseph Zeng's two episode guest appearance was surprising but good. How all the courtyard folks and others would rally around those going through a hard time was very heartwarming. Brought hope to humanity.

Chemistry between the leads was awesome and comedy within the story was pretty good. I really wish they had more time on screen as a couple as opposed to giving that up to her 3 episode leaving and town revitalization towards the end. Their kisses were very good so that as always was an added bonus. The OSTs and BGM, locations, were all very on point. Though there were times when there was maybe a bit more verbiage than necessary, a lot of it was beneficial. Really loved the growth of the characters into better versions of themselves. Found out afterwards that the person who played XC's ex-husband was actually the show's assistant director. Pretty cool when the directorial staff can play extras or do cameos.

Cons: Too many side characters and plots that I felt took up too much of the story. You already had so many important supporting characters that everyone else should have been left alone. Most of the time that XQ girl that had a yen for A'Yao for a while or the embroidery lady who had a heart attack but for the life of me I couldn't remember who she was, there were others too but I don't remember. The leads could have had more together time since this was billed as a romance and they only technically had 9 episodes but most of that was taken up by things and people not important to the story. It would have been easier to focus on the quality not quantity and have the leads maybe get engaged by the end. Show more couple time in those 9 episodes. Wish NN and male XX's friendship/feelings were better fleshed out too.

Forced propaganda was so unnecessary here. You can revitalize a village without sticking propaganda into it. Even the poor kids were singing an indoctrination song. It stuck out like a sore thumb especially when the friends in the courtyard would be just shooting the breeze drinking and making toasts to each other and out of nowhere someone pops out with "may our country prosper"; like who says that when they're just hanging out with friends? It's not a political or even business meeting. Made me role my eyes on more than on one occasion because it was not the series for that. If you're going for a country living romance with friends, you just don't need that. Not realistic at all when there's a juxtaposition to everything else.

Would I recommend it? Despite those few baubles, I enjoyed this story and glad I listened to people in the other comment section. Look forward to LX's future dramas. Check this out if you haven't yet.

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Story of Resilience in Life, Love for Both Humans & Geese

Had been interested interested in this one for a while as I wanted to see LX act, I've seen ZYT before in one modern and a two season costume. This was a slice of life with imperfect characters and romance. Great relationships with siblings on the female side and just a rollercoaster of reality that mirrors what we deal with in real modern society. A story of resilience in life and love for both humans and geese.

Pros: LX's acting impressed me enough that after writing this review, I'm off to watch Meet Yourself. His character (CMD) was very much honest, he knew when he was wrong, when to go hard, when to back off, and when to give solace and learned how to seek it. I loved how they showed how through losing his best friend and meeting his Shifu, he was able to turn his life around. Becoming a mortician, he was able to become a gentle source of comfort and independence. Though he didn't know about partnership love until FL or ZJ returned into his life and taught him though she herself really didn't 100% know either. Their chemistry was on point from the get go and you understood that they really were high school sweethearts in their own special way. ZJ wasn't a cookie cutter character either and despite her disability had managed to become quite successful in her field. She did plenty wrong but also knew or was told by her best friend (WXX) or even CMD when she screwed up. No one spared her feelings, but told her straight up what she did wrong which I really liked. And she owned up to them because it was explained to her in an adult fashion. And that's such a breath of fresh air; to air out everything wrong right away and not just let it fester. Very straight forward.

Other favorite characters were WXX as the smart best friend. It was so great to finally see a bestie that wasn't afraid to give ZJ a verbal smack when necessary. Probably one of the best ones I've seen in a modern recently. Her soon to be hubby grew on me too. ZJ's siblings ZY and HNN were some of the smartest kids in terms of EQ ever, loved the three's relationship. Also best friendship goals of the drama were grandma Chen and grandma Lin. From the time they were kids until sadly grandma Lin's passing, those two were the bestest of friends. Another sad and tragic death was Mr. He, who was HNN's father and the other two's stepfather. They'd already lost their father when ZJ was 12 to a car accident that also took half of ZJ's leg (was very glad how she explained phantom pain to CMD; it wasn't glossed over); now HNN eerily also at the age of 12 lost hers. He was such a great father to all three. CMD was there every step of the way for ZJ through that and afterwards. ZY had to become more mature and he did it, though losing his pet goose to a plot device was sad, until the goose showed up with its girlfriend at the very end of the last episode after the credits finished rolling. That was absolutely hysterical.

You laughed, you cried, you enjoyed the precious moments of every character. The OSTs, sets, and everything else was on point. Wish she showed her feelings and vulnerability more. Only when she really screwed up in the end, did she finally stop with the smiles and cried. I get it about vulnerability supposedly looks weak because I've done the same but in reality it's what makes us human and not robots. He called her out on it and that was another great example of how quickly she understood things. I'm glad it was a HE though the way ZJ handled things in the second to last episode left you wanting to bang your head against the wall, the rest of that episode and 21 was essentially them getting back together (with the help of her siblings) and having a long-distance relationship until a freak occurrence made them both say enough is enough, we're not going to be apart anymore. From what I gathered, she was returning to Nanping for good (after all they were already engaged and he's got the great apartment) because with her own business and setting up that medical tourism bit would require her constant attention, she could move about at her own pace. She finally loved someone more than Shanghai. She'd handle healing living people and he would handle respecting the dead and their families. They really did belong together.

Cons: Very few of these. Mom was my least favorite character until her son read her the riot act. Her nagging was nasty and degrading. The stuff she said to all of her kids was something I would personally not have tolerated. I honestly wanted to hit her with a broom for many episodes, I even ffw'd her. She would maybe give 2% of good advice but the rest of the time, it was a hot mess. However, after ZJ fainted from stress over their argument and the mess she caused with CMD, her other two children sat her down and told her what's what. I was surprised how much she improved afterwards; it was in no way an overnight thing but she made every effort to be better which was very appreciated. After a while, she became the mom her kids really needed and should have had from the get go.

Thing I liked least about ZJ was that she brought up her disability nearly every episode sometimes twice to CMD and in general just in regular conversations even though she was the one constantly preaching about independence and being worthy of equality. If people already know, why keep bringing it up? It was just very weirdly written. Nothing to do with the actress. The other thing was why did she have that tendency to bite CMD? It was so out of character; she wasn't a vampire or a dog. Like you're trying to apologize but then do that? Like why?

Last small thing, is when they wrapped up the series, I wish they showed our leads walking hand in hand on the beach of Nanping like the trailers and many posters showed. That would have been the perfect and important way to end with them; so felt that portion was a bit rushed as our other supporting characters got a little something at the end especially the goose. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the HE.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I totally would. This was a slice of life with imperfect people who learned and evolved along the way. Wonderful romance that was believable. If you like mature dramas without tropes, this is for you.

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Beast Mode Activated

Picked this up on a whim when the air date was announced as I had seen HYT (ML) in two republican era detective dramas and this was a totally different genre plus a romance so was interested in how he'd do. I'd heard of ZJY before but never seen her in anything and was familiar with some of our supporting cast especially the main antagonist. This was a female-centric drama about going through hardships and evolving. Not to mention ML's ability to go from quiet and kind to beast mode activated.

Pros: I have to give the martial arts of ML or GYX main pointers here; it gave this review a title. At 6'2 or 6'3, GYX towered over everyone including emperor psycho aka his own uncle (which baffled me when I saw it in the first episode as I had seen the actor who played big bad twice before and thought he was monster sized but here he looked like a mouse in comparison), so when he deployed his martial arts be it sword or fists, he could destroy a human in seconds. This was also funny to me because his fat guard in the brigade who could carry two people at once and the guard he killed upon assuming his post as commander; both actors played bad guys in TLB (ironically the aunt who was raising the kid of the concubine played the main antagonist in TLB too; reunion!), and they were huge there; yet here they paled in comparison. Props to HYT for doing the stunt work himself. The chemistry of the leads was on point as well; they were just too cute together and great partners in crime. Loved how no matter what—even during breakup—he had her back 100%; even if it meant as stealthy Batman. The story was nice about the FL and how she leads her female family out of disaster after disaster while they evolve from dependency on men to independence as the men are exiled north and just in general because once the men returned, they learned of the new normal very quickly. GYX also led the bureau to a change from barbaric to a brotherhood that was united and supported each other. Was also great that his three guards (my favorite was spider monkey guard though CQ was good too), always protected HZ and her family too however they could. It was like the Hua family and them became a massive family. Called the entire bureau the Spider-Man brigade; their ability to assassinate goons in a midst of a food competition at the restaurant while picking up blood drops took the cake. We're talking Cirque du Soleil meets Special Ops action here.

This drama was not short on comedy be it intentional or not. There was always something that made people laugh at any given point. The comment section here was lively. The OSTs and BGM really fit most scenes especially the beast mode ones. Favorite single character was actually very hard but both leads fit, wish we saw more of the SML as he spent like 30 episodes studying lol. The secondary couple (SY and SH) was adorable, SY stole everyone's heart (and boy is her actress versatile; from a cunning seductress spy in MJTY to a young woman with high functioning autism as it seemed here), Ah Jian, empress dowager (who I wish went to the wedding) as mentioned guards, the eunuch (first kind one I’ve seen in any drama next to a nasty emperor), all aunts and cousins of HZ, the maids and their men, one uncle, grandpa and grandma (grandma's death was the saddest thing of the entire show other than Hua Rong's).

Let's talk about our main antagonist; emperor psycho as I dubbed him. Actor never disappoints; you hated his guts from the first episode to the second he died in the last one. Hell has never had a more deserving candidate from a drama. A narcissistic psychopath that only with death could people be free. Though I loved how HZ finally took him to town in 38 and GYX let himself be heard too, the man himself was the absolute monster and played it very well. Costumes and sets were nice as well.

Cons: I wish the script let the leads emote more as HZ was far too perfect and could get through any turmoil without so much as an eyebrow lift. Only saw her really show negative emotions twice, when she was told by the emperor she couldn't redeem the men through money and she went from catatonic to ballistic in under 2 minutes and when GYX took on the palace guards and got himself severely injured, she was shrieking and crying. Same went for GYX, the actor has a difficulty emoting in general apparently as his are very subtle; but when he's fighting, he's not playing around. But his negative or even positive emoting was rare i.e. breakup scene and when emperor psycho croaked were the only two times he cried, I think I saw him really smile maybe three times in the entire show. He smiled more in their BTS when they did the actual scenes; so wonder why director didn't use those scenes.

I had more issues with the script than the acting; though the breakup scene lacked gravitas especially given it was a nobility arc for a change and not a dumb misunderstanding. It just seemed that many important scenes where angst was required, were never given a pause but just rolled along to the next whatever it was. The spy astronomer and last adult prince were more like plot devices to get to the death of emperor psycho; I forgot who that prince even was as he appeared a total of two times prior. Felt very disjointed from the rest of the show. The last 6 episodes were a sprint to the finish line as for a story that large you needed to pack it in. Especially the very last episode. They really sacrificed quality for quantity here, sadly. Instead of focusing on many smaller characters and story lines, they could have chosen less of those and really fleshed out the leads, second couple, SML, a few others and stuck to a more conducive storyline. What we got at the end, was a dizzying amount of people whose loose ends needed to be tied and it was done in 30 seconds or less for each batch while the leads were forgotten for a bit.

Wish the Jurassic sized CGI dolphins didn't take up the ending of the leads as they were unnecessary and made that scene laughable for the wrong reasons. Continuity and dubbing were also visible issues during the show, the other CGI wasn't that great either though thankfully rarely used and mostly for the background and I wish the music didn’t drown out some of the conversations as well.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Despite the running around and kinks, it was an enjoyable series and one I would recommend especially if you like female-centric with sweet chemistry types of dramas.

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An Absolute Slam Dunk of Sweet Victory!

All Xianxias should be like this! PA redemption and a perfect score across the board, which is incredibly rare for me. Obviously watched for both leads in this reunion that blew many dramas out of the water. This was an absolute slam dunk of sweet victory!

Pros: Literally everything! Though I never read the novel, those that did made it obvious that this series followed the novel by about 98% which is very rare. The novel had a solid storyline and this kept it exactly there with apparently lots more comedy. Comedy was good here. Even in the somewhat angsty scenes, it was ever present. Both leads (SL and XZ) delivered stellar performances and their connection started literally from episode one and the mortal realm. Their love transcended all three realms. All of the characters were very layered; though some needed evolution and growth where originally they were annoying. SL playing the powerless chicken while the human XZ takes care of her was just hysterical. Once she returned to the immortal realm, though she still had that prearranged marriage to that annoying FRJ (who up until the end when he finally grew up, I really wanted the maid to hit with her broom), XZ who I nicknamed Mr. Clingy as he clung to her like glue--when he still didn't understand that he was falling for her--and all of their interactions were gold.

There were 3 tragic characters in this story (all done extremely well by their respective actors); MF, and SL's parents. I know people hate on MF about his betrayal but he had no choice as we saw and he explained just before he took his own life. His identity didn't leave him the choice of not betraying her (by killing his own friends in the military but you could tell how much it affected him after the fact) and though at first he was brought up on hatred, it was because of her that he learned about love. But he refused to kill her or harm her and even when possessed fought against the demon FS to help her escape post her "death". If he had the choice, he would have betrayed the demons a long time ago. His own father didn't care about him; which as SL said, he was heartless. MF's only reason for existence according to the two demons was to be a spy and used as a body shell for both. Quite sad and unfair. Her mother was right about being shackled by your identity. Both parents fell in love despite dad being a demon and completely harmless but even they couldn't be saved from the demon emperor. Dad voluntarily had to become the fire seal to keep all the demons in that abyss and mom died shortly after childbirth. Even XZ was shackled by his identity until his death but freed by his long gone friends in rebirth. A fun fact; the actor that played FL or SL's dad, also played opposite ZLY in JOF as someone who was in love with her. And this was also their first collaboration since that show only they played father and daughter here. To have her father save her life through self sacrifice at the end was beyond touching; only time they got to meet each other face to face.

Other great characters were all of the generals, SMY, the maid, lady Jin, Luotian, QY, and eventually FRJ. Each played great roles in the overall story and the lives of our leads. The demon emperor had very few scenes in later episodes and he did ok as a villain; maybe if he played a bigger part in this story, he would have been considered as more but it was FS that offered main antagonist vibes during the entire show. Which being played by this actor who's known for comedic roles was quite a switch up though he was convincing.

Every inch of this show from costumes, CGI, OSTs (LYN's song and two of the BGM's were my absolute favorite), sets, were spot on. Nearly every episode had you rolling in laughter but it knew when to taper that off into seriousness or a bit of angst. I love this modern take on ancient costume drama; the one liners, innuendos, going against the grain, everything was well done and executed. You were invested in the leads and there were no misunderstandings, no annoying guerrilla glue third wheels that spoke in a prepubescent voice and pouted, no tropes, or unnecessary angst. Also no love triangles though SML or MF did love SL, she made it clear right away that no way and that was that. They still fought side by side until the betrayal and even then he was still willing to risk it all to save her. Only other couple were her parents short lived story and the best friend God who was going through trials on earth with the same two women every life cycle but even he was freed. It was so refreshing to see just one couple and the arc of their story as it revolves around times of peace, war, and so forth. Only two full rebirths no more and the ending was great though I wish they spent less time on Lady Jin and her love life and showing them two with her pregnancy and their friends and family in his mortal backyard as it was said in the book. But his proposal and her dropping the baby bombshell leaving him speechless and then chasing her around in the snow was still really awesome. Their love really was eternal.

Cons: I don't think I can call them cons here but more like slight inconsistencies. Like who was MF's mom? Did she even exist or was he born from fire like SL's dad? Or hatched from an egg? The demon emperor didn't have a body towards the end and because MF self sacrificed, his body couldn't be used for his father. But how did he ultimately disappear? Because after FL broke the seal and took off out of the abyss, we never saw him again. Was he in FL's body when he fought XZ and ultimately purified by XZ and SL? Wish that was shown better. And I didn't like the Heavenly Emperor; just as you think he got the point, he turns around and says or does something that makes you want to just send him into that abyss. Only in the second to last episode did he seem to be a bit wiser. Honestly that was it. No other cons.

Would I recommend it? 110% yes! Literally floored me from start to finish. I didn't skip a single thing. An absolute must watch if you want to laugh, giggle, cry a bit, and just enjoy yourself. One of the best dramas I've ever seen out of any country. Forever put into my watchlist.

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Chinese Justice League for the WIN!

I don't remember why I had originally put this in my watchlist probably because the concept seemed interesting and I've seen a good chunk of the cast previously in other dramas. The fantasy element was always fascinating and so it was the Chinese Justice League for the serious WIN!

Pros: Favorite character was definitely the demon grand marshal NTEX. I had only seen the actor in one modern before and I was blown out of the water by his performance here; he's improved by leaps and bounds and is totally suitable for costume dramas. He literally delivered every ounce of his character until his dying breath and then in spirit. Not a perfect character; made a big mistake, had flaws but absolutely won the hearts of everyone. WG was in close second as it was his storyline of becoming essentially the mortal God of War but through trials and tribulations and even death but returned to triumph at the end. For him it was from power to slave to slowly developing into a very formidable force of freedom. Everyone he met along the way, became his friends and allies. He grew his anti-immortal army slowly but once they joined hands, they were awesome. WG and NTEX's friendship/brotherhood was my absolute favorite. Them two shared a brain cell when it came to strategies; that was so cool!

Other favorite characters were Ah Lan, Uncle Ziyu, grandpa, SX, Bei'er (though her appearance was very short, it was meaningful), precious dragonfly and even ZQ plus the last real Sage who took over governing that realm afterwards, SX managed to flip him to the good side lol (their funniest portion was as they were both just hanging in that space above everything until the undying bird left SX's body to join WG and took them two riding its tail; made me laugh as I thought they were both dead but nah they were just chilling in the immortal lounge lol). All the leaders of their respective clans were great. As for villains, hands down favorite was GM aka Hannibal Lecter. Dude was the comic relief for the show; the actor nailed his character so much, the other actors would try to make impressions of him during their BTS and he would do like standup comedy for them in character. He was a trip and I personally wished he stuck around longer than say the cackle queen, I'll speak about her below. It was my first time seeing Jeremy as an antagonist and he delivered though he was only around in a few episodes. I think that could be a great niche for him if he ever returns to acting (which given the recent interview he did, isn't out of the realm of possibility, though he wants to also try directing after spending time with his family). His character HL was a tunnel visioned obsessed with love King of the Immortals who finally got his comeuppance via WG.

The battles were pretty great for the most part. The Justice League was very cool while the band of thugs were extremely cocky for their own good. Which most of the time was their undoing. The rock music during the big bad fights was the best and all costumes, sets, and even CGI I won't complain about because it was good. That last fight when WG merged with NTEX's spirit as well as that of the demons and the undying bird to finally kill HL was the best part of the entire series.

Cons: Unfortunately, though the FL (BC) started out as a strong and independent woman, she soon devolved into a whining mess whimpering "A Gou" so many times per episode it started to hurt my head. Like there were times she just needed to zip it. It seemed that was her only line for a long time. There was no chemistry between her and WG no matter how much they wanted to force it upon us. They were fantastic as brother and sister though; that's what they should have kept it as. I hoped that her possession would invigorate her character but in that one she was very robotic and when she was returned she was still a blubbering mess. Like where was the awesome, resourceful woman we met? We wanted her back! The writing was off there.

That ending was so jacked up; ok lackluster wedding whatever but then BC just up and dies in the middle in front of everyone? What even? Why? You knew she went through a lot during the final battle especially being used to build that iced transformer (that part of the battle made me roll my eyes and laugh. The cyclops and his friend vs HL in giant iced transformers was very ridiculous and thankfully short lived. Seemed like an episode filler not something important) obviously used up her life span. So why not tell WG about it sooner? Nah, it's better to tell him just before you dissipate on your wedding day in front of everyone. Just seemed heartless and out of character for her. So that entire end portion of the episode was beyond unnecessary. There were other ways for WG to walk around to the different clans and say goodbye or check up on them. They could have done it together and it would have made so much more sense as they just wanted to live in peace. And that snowman cabin last 1.5 minutes scene where the door automatically opens but there's no one there though he smiles? The open ending was a crock of BS, at least show her face smiling back at him. Was that so hard? It ended in Xianxia style though this was not that genre at all.

The cackle queen, lord help me. The actress plays a great antagonist don't get me wrong, but that voice and that cackle was horrifying. It made her sound like a Halloween store plastic wicked witch. Anytime an antagonist cackles, it completely takes away from their evilness. They need to stop writing that into series. The best villains are those like HL who can look through you and you'd get a chill up your spine. Her death was anticlimactic as I wish WG had finished it instead of HL otherwise it looked like she had a self-redemption thought process before she finally croaked.

A bit too much talking; I agree with several people. The battles needed to continue not pause for a boatload of speechifying. It would take away from the fierceness of the fight or battle. Same went for several deaths, we didn't need long speeches right beforehand from some. Also it reminded me of Snow Eagle Lord and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when they chucked the moves on screen with giant letters; extremely unnecessary. The characters were yelling them out as is.

Would I recommend it? Despite the many cons and the unsatisfactory ending, it was still a good watch. Besides these thoughts are mine, you may feel it was great. So decide for yourselves.

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Soul Swap & Case Solving; Possible Season 2?

This series mystery solving and "face swap" intrigued me plus I wanted to see LXY in a different role as when I put this on my watchlist I had only seen him in TBOY and though he did well, I wanted to see him play someone other then a sarcastic, bald monk with insane powers. Since then I've seen him as an antagonist in Destined too. This was a very different soul swap & case solving with a cliffhanger ending to the storyline so a possible season 2?

Pros: I liked the cases themselves and that one case was connected to the next and so forth; slowly exposing the massive organization behind it. LXY or PY was impressive as he moved from various emotions of love, grief, revenge, foresight into just about everything, his swords skills were quite impressive, and his jealousy was hilarious. This show was able to make sadness and comedy pop. FL or YCW/SZ played by JJY held her own and I can say that her acting has improved from the first couple of times I've seen her; she was able to portray her character very convincingly. I actually thought the show had some fantasy elements too like the soul swap (I can't call it a face swap because the two actresses were different; both in body type and height. Even though they tried to pile JJY's hair on top of her head to make her appear taller, to a discerning eye, it didn't work), and the bugs spell incantation to make someone blind and how it reversed itself upon healing. This made the cases even more interesting as it wasn't just another coroner and investigator type thing. I liked SML whom I nicknamed Sparky, when he showed up because let's face it, the guy is hot and he played his character very well though I'm glad they got rid of the extra eyeliner he was introduced in (as the young master) as it was very distracting. Though I liked SFL as a friend of FL and a part of the foursome, I'll talk more about her below.

Other characters like the maid, A Ze, brother of the original SZ, Lady Qi, the princess, and even fat Liu were all great characters. The villains and spies even the supposed mastermind all did their roles well. The story of PY trying to bring down the organization that "killed" his wife on their wedding night when it was really the obsessed sister of his best friend that had kidnapped and soul swapped with her just before the wedding, pushed her off a cliff and than got handed her own karma due to the death warrant by the mastermind of YCW’s parents murder and many others in a huge conspiracy. SZ didn't deserve that kind of death and YCW was going to get to the bottom of it. So the husband and wife team that didn't trust each other at first, still started to work together. Second leads also helped in their own way. Though Sparky had a thing for YCW, that was a silly competition and never really felt like a love triangle. Also liked that they showed a few decent kissing scenes and even the second leads getting it on. Plus YCW told Sparky from nearly the get go that she only saw him as her best friend. Best part was the revelation of when PY figured out finally that FL was indeed YCW. It took a bit for them to get together but they did and it was super cute.

The costumes, sets, OSTs, all fit as they should. The story ended on a bit of a cliffhanger in the storyline as the real mastermind wasn't really unveiled leaving room open for a possible season 2 but what they were doing was totally revealed so the mastermind had lost that element so also could just have been set up as an intriguing finale.

Cons: While I loved Sparky’s character, his ending was just weird. It was like they needed to add more tragedy to this; really? And it had nothing to do with his acting but the writing was inconsistent with how we saw him for the rest of the show. One could argue that when he saw his dad essentially die twice, he lost it and decided to go infiltrate the big bad organization all by himself. It made no sense though; if he found information that was useful to his friends ie PY and YCW, he had no backup to bring it to them and everything was just very haphazard. Essentially he was going on a suicide mission with no real assurance that he would even succeed; he ignored his friends warnings repeatedly when they told him how dangerous it was. We saw his death coming very soon after his father's death because it was just that stupid. They essentially did him dirty by making a smart, decisive man just impulsive and dumb. Also the actor lied to fans when the foursome did that Sina building sweep to promote the series and they were asked if both sets would have a happy ending. The leads didn't say anything and he said the second leads would; in reality the very opposite happened (don't get me wrong, I'm happy the leads at least are together). Same was done by the cast of A Journey to Love, when in reality everyone died lol. I think fans should not trust actors from these types of series with this question anymore.

SFL was just strange. Her romance with Sparky was sort of lopsided. It felt forced and she couldn't even talk without pouting 95% of the time. She followed Sparky around like a puppy even before as someone said in the comments he had "runner-up feelings" for her. Yes, they got together but I can't say the chemistry was real to me. Even the maid and A Ze had more chemistry than these two. Can't even compare to the leads; those two had chemistry before her identity reveal even happened. I would have preferred them two to just be friends. We really didn't need a second or third romance. This story had so much going on already.

Suspension of disbelief had to be deployed several times; other than Sparky's whole suicide mission decision but the abuse case with the girl fighting her father in the alley while both male leads just watched? She knew information about that ripple organization but they didn't act and just watched her father essentially kill her or she herself by his sword. Like what even? You've got two highly skilled swordsman just standing there watching their only real lead die? Just beyond.

The ending was rushed with the "mastermind", death of the princess, Sparky and his thing but at least he gave them the evidence they needed even if it was just a clue off his dead body, dad and son reconciling. Like a lot happened in a very condensed amount of time and I wish it was fleshed out more. The pace of the rest of the show was great but the ending definitely took off like its pants were on fire.

Would I recommend it? Yes I would. This show has many layers and despite the minuses, it was a good watch. Actors for the most part did a great job and it's nice to see the alliances form the way they did.

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Life Imitating Art In Amazingly Realistic Detail

Tissues, tissues, and more tissues. This show absolutely blew my mind. I knew the premise but still the acting and accuracy were unforgettable. I wasn't familiar with the leads, just a few of the support but they took this show to a whole other level. For me it was life imitating art in amazingly realistic detail.

Pros: I know ALS well as one of my great aunt's had it and ironically I diagnosed her a day before her doctor did at the nursing home. But she was in her early 80s and it was her leg for 4 out of the 5 years. We lived in different countries so by the time she was diagnosed, she only lived several more months. But here was different; you had a young guy and taking on something so devastating just absolutely broke my heart. I love how they handled it with professionalism and grace. Both lead actors did a superb job as did most of their loved ones and coworkers. Plus bringing in an actual ALS specialist as opposed to just an actor to play the part was very smart.

Where I said life imitated art was because I've got a chronic illness though without an expiration date; when LT's disease was getting bad I felt like he was living my life. I was bedridden for 2 years, it nearly killed me, I know wheelchairs, ambulance trips to the ER 6 times a month, crawling on your hands and knees to the bathroom, falling, tremors, all of that. Even now when I've had a setback and when he had given up all hope and rolled into the river and AZQ stopped him, it was like my mom and me. Her yelling at me not to give up and me saying I want to meet my grandfather in heaven because like LT, I lost my grandfather over 3 years ago but to a tragic accident that every first responder in my city still remembers; it was the catalyst for this setback. Like LT, my grandfather raised me so he was a father and grandfather though I have a great mom unlike LT who's mom needed tweaking. So many similarities, you can imagine how hard watching this was but at the same time, it was too beautiful not to. When the setback occurred I had just finished all of my classes in my PhD program, was/am an honor student and was set to start my dissertation; now I've spent 4 years nearly trying to get back to school to finish my degree without success...yet. Just like LT having to see his dreams go down the drain; it's too much. In case people are interested, the illness I have is called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME for short; I've got a slew of others but this one is the life/death sentence without treatment or a cure and affects 20 million people worldwide (for further information please visit www.MEadvocacy.org). Enough about me.

It was refreshing to see how LT's company and boss stood behind him and with him every step of the way. The OSTs were wonderful and LY's perfect portrayal of LT especially towards the end as I saw a lot of Stephen Hawking's mannerisms in his performance. I would absolutely give him some best actor award. LLY (AZQ) was super woman; her quiet grace was so poignant even when she was constantly quietly crying; she would be the voice of reason even towards adults. Wise beyond her years. I'm so glad how parents evolved and understood their negligence or their children's strength. Also CGP, I mean my lord, this man had to shoulder his best friend's secret for so long, I was afraid he was going to have a mental breakdown. He shouldn't have ever been given this burden, which I'll talk about in the cons.

Cons: This story would have gotten a rare 10 from me though I wouldn't be able to rewatch it, but a few things I feel just could have been changed. For starters, I understand not wanting to be a burden to your loved ones probably better than many but when you're living on borrowed time and you can see things getting worse, those loved ones like your girlfriend deserve the choice of staying with you or not. That breakup was so unnecessary and than the best friend has to shoulder it all, isn't fair to people. LT wasn't given a choice with ALS but then he turns around and shuts out the one he loves the most? Is there a difference? Everyone in his life was devastated when they found out and angry and they deserved to be. He should have said something. Because they could have mitigated things 6 months earlier. He wouldn't have worsened so fast as the doctor said, mental stability is everything in these kinds of situations. I don't agree with his choices then. If it was an illness like mine, ok sure, time is all we have even when our bodies spiral out of control but ALS is a ticking clock, no luxury of time.

Secondly, I'm sorry but I couldn't take XHD. She never spoke normally, not once. She was either whining, yelling, or acting like a self righteous know it all; that time she blamed LT for cheating and CGP threw her out of the restaurant and told her to get lost was the best thing he did. She was out of line and just a mess. Than throwing them together romantically was unnecessary and zilch chemistry between the two to boot. They made her character way too over the top and it was jarring. Couldn't our FL have a sane friend?

Lastly, this was small but it would have been less confusing if they posted the time jumps on the screen. No need to make a big deal out of it but just subtly noted because it was confusing where we were especially once LT was diagnosed.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely; just with a whole stock of tissues. It's like one of those artistic films that just takes a place in your heart forever. I know it did in mine.

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Chinese Game of Thrones with a Great Brotherhood

I've been anticipating this one for a long time; now not saying I had high expectations especially since it sat on a shelf for nearly three years. Now that part one is over, I feel something is missing. Watched primarily for LYN and I knew a few other of the supporting casts though not the other leads. But the vibe of this was the Chinese GoT with a great Brotherhood.

Pros: I loved the brotherhood; them three together on screen or when they could know what the others were thinking when they were so far apart. The comedy in the beginning was nice. LYN played ruthless DiLin very well and yet had a soft spot only for his two sworn brothers, his precious wife and unborn child. The rest of the world be damned. Pretty proud of him as the role was done early on in his career. SYL was the sexy hero of the trio and the woman he fell for molded him to a T. Their sexy time was very well played and left my iPad smoking. ML was the goofball with the secret ninja powers not even his brothers apparently knew about. He comes off as a playboy but has a great strategic mindset; so he's their hidden weapon.

Part 1 revolved around the GoT like power struggle and rebellion of one of the older keepers of the country. As well as the invasion of North Clan who are barbaric in nature. The one in control however was the one who pitted people against each and was the real mastermind to keep power for himself. Even ML's Shifu who never planned on rebelling was made a pawn of just so the old fart could stay in power. The old fart chief who looked feeble and sickly was really hellbent to keep everything to himself; doesn't matter who he destroyed and how. He had DiLin kill one of his "most trusted" spy's entire family just so they wouldn't form an alliance later against him. The actor played a very conniving and scheming antagonist pretending to be a protagonist very well. But all of that scheming, has made him more enemies than I'm sure he's aware of. His main phrase was "I trust you the most." That's how you knew he didn't trust you at all. Thankfully two out of three brothers have figured out that he is not who he appears and are very wary of him.

The budget was definitely on the lower side with major edits done plus a title change but the GoT low lighting atmosphere and that kind of world setting was only missing a few dragons and looked really cool. OSTs, costumes, scenery otherwise were all on point. I really hope they release part two soon.

Cons: One word: Ning! Her character though as completely unimportant as it was took up so many episodes, we feared instead of it being about the brotherhood, it'll be about this royal poodle gorilla glue and her childish crush on ML. While I understand this story had to show her childish behavior but not for 15 episodes. Oftentimes, only one brother would make it into an episode and it grated on everyone. The 12 year old tantrums she would throw thinking the entire planet—especially the nails on chalkboard "Xiu gege" she would whine—revolved around her and her needs was mind boggling. Her country was at war where people died left and right but all she could think of was the pretty dresses she hasn't worn etc. She ran away from home just to whine to the ML about how he had to cater to her like she was on some vacation while the man was trying to keep people alive. It was disgusting and she had way too much screen time where for a while, the story hiccuped a lot. Instead of wasting time on her, they could have told more about the brothers upbringing and how they became sworn brothers in the first place. Would have been far more interesting. Or even on the story of North Clan and why they couldn't keep still in their own territory. Anything but her. I hope in part 2 she takes a very serious seat in the back row.

The fact that there was more talk than action other than the very beginning and ending, we can attribute to the low budget as I would have preferred more fighting scenes then just the aftermath with explanations. Or after DiLin massacred an entire battalion, he just stands there, covered in blood. Would have preferred to see that actually play out as opposed to what we saw, same with SYL's battles.

Would I recommend it? Despite the lord awful Ning and lots of talking, it's actually a pretty decent watch and does grab your attention. It is an OE as there's a part 2 that's apparently already been filmed and needs to be released; so hopefully soon. I say give it a go.

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Swamp Thing Meets Species w/Some Jurassic Park

Another prime video laughingstock about a lake monster or two in Thailand that kills people on land in a very disbelieving fashion while those trying to get away and screaming isn't at all believable. Cars supposedly driving fast are obviously going no faster than 10 mph. One dude becomes like of one mind with the smaller monster and sacrifices himself to get rid of both. No one is panicked ever. Just walk quickly, chant, and pretend the thing is horrifying which is the only thing CGI got right. Thailand definitely needs more money in their entertainment industry because this was sad. Not a recommendation.

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Friendships Formed through Intertwined Meow-Steries

I will be completely honest when I say I dropped this drama mid-episode 2 because of the really cheesy childish antics. But something told me to return to it and listening to my instincts and asking some people who kept watching, I did just that. And I'm very glad I did because this is one of those very few cdramas that actually got better with each episode especially after 5 or 6. So I'm very glad I trusted my instincts to finish watching. It was friendships formed through intertwined meow-stries. See what I did there? ;)

Pros: At first it seemed each of the cases were separate but as you continued to watch, you understood they were all connected to the original case and story from three years back and LB losing his father to some unknown organization of mask wearing assassins and being turned into a cat. The story revolves around him and his group of subordinates (SB, WQ, CB, and Alibaba) in the CJR with an extra kid (CS) who becomes LB's little brother of sorts plus QQZ who used to be LB's childhood best friend but due to a misunderstanding those 3 years ago that is only really resolved in the second to last episode they appear on opposite sides. In reality QQZ infiltrated the organization that's trying to gain immortality through murder and to overthrow the Empress. Favorite character is hard because the main gang is great plus QQZ who I wish appeared in more episodes so they could have properly fleshed out his and LB's friendship. CS knew of LB being a cat first (not counting QQZ of course though he didn't know or ask for that to be done) and it didn't bother him and then towards the end when the others found out about it, they still stood by him calling him a "Cat Hero", which was so awesome.

The old fart society, though they were the main villains, you also had YZH who though started out just as helpless as anyone was fed to some demon cat but got the upper hand and became a demon cat himself, morphed into a sociopathic loony that killed people, turned LB into a cat, caused the domino effect that got LB's father murdered, and ultimately killed QQZ just for a stupid game in his own mind. Same went for CS's brother CJ aka Black Rakhasa who was the actual murderer of LB's father as he was hired by the old fart society because though he cared for his brother, after being bullied in Shendu, instead of helping others, he chose to be a predator. LZS got karma not once but twice; got killed once, brought back by the old fart society, used until he no longer was needed and killed by them for his blood. Whoopsie; now thats seriously cold karma.

This show had many layers that you had to peel back like an onion to understand. People did come back to life but none were immortal save for YZH and LB; though LB gave the only antidote to YZH as a deal for his testimony at the old fart society's trial which was before his own. QQZ wanted the antidote for LB and he essentially died for it. I did tear up because the way LB keened over QQZ as they finally made amends officially--though LB had long suspected that QQZ didn't really turn bad--just before he passed was only seen when he lost his father. When finding out just how much evidence QQZ had found out on his own even before LB's father was killed and his father knew QQZ had successfully infiltrated but didn't tell LB. Maybe if he did, then their misunderstanding wouldn't have happened upon his murder; LB was very smart even back then and he would have left him alone.

But in the end it was CS who saved LB and the gang; the kid that started out illiterate and very naive, brought the city folk together to save his best friends through the haunting final words of the now gone QQZ copied hundreds of times and distributed to the people of the city.

Wow, I feel like I've fallen back into the story. Let's move on. The costumes (save maybe the Walmart wigs and beards of the foreigners from Alibaba's country), OSTs, scenery, fight scenes were really great, plus appropriate comedy was all very nice and fit everything.

Cons: I wish we got to see the Empress's face as that was a huge mystery the entire show. As well as who Du Zixu was; he was an important figure in the story as a lot of it started with him but we never saw who his character was. I wish that they ended SGQ's story better as she was moved properly out of the story but don't just poof her. Also wish that the story didn't begin as shakily as it did then maybe I wouldn't have dropped it in the first place.

Though I know it was also in the source material, I really don't feel like QQZ should have died especially after his line of "I have also outlived my usefulness." That's not true. He was very important to LB, the veterans he worked so hard to exonerate, and now the gang of CJR too. I don't feel sorry for YZH at all; even though LB did towards the end. In a way he chose his own path in life. He knew the antidote was on that dagger, he could have taken it at any point but like BR, it was a lot easier to be a predator pretending he was a god than choose to be good.

Would I recommend it? I absolutely would. Just get passed the first several episodes that are a bit cheesy and all over the place. But the rest is very good and worth watching; it's got a little bit of everything comedy, mystery, action, case solving, clues, but most importantly friendship.

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Amazingly Better Than the First

After watching the first one; I didn't want to watch this one because that one was a mess. I like Jason Statham so decided why not; I'm bored. I'll give a whirl. Other reason I didn't want to watch it was because though I'm a scuba diver, I have a phobia of octopi and knowing essentially I'd be looking at the kraken with huge tentacles gave me the jeebs. Thankfully, that part of the show was towards the end and minimal. But though things were messy and far from perfect (antagonists were subpar at best but thankfully most were eaten fairly quickly); the comedy and bantering between the characters was amusing even in dire strait situations. It's not a film for everyone but if you want to just relax with some popcorn and have a chill evening, go for it. It is actually amazingly better than the first. That said, I hope they don't make a 3rd lol.

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Dumpster Fire that Sank Faster than the Titanic

The first absolute flop of 2024. This is what happens when great source material is essentially thrown out the window and absolute garbage is written instead with maybe 3%-5% of the book like the names of the characters and a few of the similarities but that's it. I only wanted to watch it for WRC who played SML and the great story of the female general. Instead what the audience got was a dumpster fire that sank faster than the Titanic.

Pros: Give all of the actors their dues; even with this hot mess of a script, they all did a great job as their respective characters. The costumes, OSTs, scenery, and the 10 minutes of screen time that WRC (CYQ) got in 36 episodes along with the FL (AM); their chemistry was really great as microscopically as it was shown. The fight scenes in the beginning were very well done. More of that was needed. Since the ending was so ambiguous; even though AM turned CYQ down in front of like everyone (which otherwise would have looked like she was "colluding" with the enemy again) at the end and rode off into the sunset supposedly alone, I do believe that this time she rode towards him as the rest of the time he was pursuing her. Who could resist that kind of proposal? A Marquis with an entire army just to ask her again to be his wife. What bolsters this opinion is that for the first time ever she wore pure white, had her hair down just like CYQ did and she crossed the river heading north. So I will take it as her understanding who really had her best interest all this time at heart and would let her be free. Also they shot a second ending where supposedly she meets him in a forest after she leaves and they set off traveling Jianghu together. I would have preferred this ending but according to the leads apparently even they didn't know which one would be used.

Cons: Dear lord, where do I begin? Literally everything that wasn't mentioned above. How can someone take such a fantastic story and turn into a mess of epic proportions? What was wrong with the first female general being the story? Why force the rather ridiculous romance of ML and FL on us when there was literally nothing between them? She and Xiu'er had a greater connection ~insert massive eye roll here~! Why did it turn into ML's story? He was a joke, a fool of a playboy that by the mid-end turned into no less villain than the first emperor. He had no contemplation of taking of human life; only his own mattered, everyone else be damned. This wasn't "Fighting for Love", it was "Fighting Bullshit on Screen."

The crappy palace politics and the twists with Mu Bai or whatever his real name was and the empress who apparently grew a heart and brain overnight. So unnecessary and just dragged this already giant mess into an even bigger abyss. Why kill Tang Ge? And the anticlimactic end to CQ. I can't form sentences on this absolute scale of destruction of a solid story. I hope Beimo returns and conquers Nanxia so their people would live in peace and away from the royal madness as it seems Beimo has it more together and their people aren't subjected to the crap Nanxia does.

The amount of loose ends is staggering. I stopped trying to figure them out halfway through because they legitimately gave me a headache. Very few were actually tied. This macaroni art Frankenstein project wrapped filming in December of 2021 and people were waiting only to be sorely disappointed a little over 3 years later. I truly hope WRC gets better scripts and projects in the future; he deserves it. This was a great injustice to him and his character because essentially everyone but the ML were relegated to support cast even the FL and it was her story!

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. It'll piss you off especially if you read the book or know anything about the original IP or if you're watching for some semblance of integrity or intelligence, none of which exists here. The entire production team screwed up on a stratospheric level. Just run!

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Rushed Chinese Jurassic Park with a Volcano Instead

I'm a natural disasters nerd and have been for nearly 30 years; I've read and watched everything I could get my hands on when it came to tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, rogue waves, meteors, comets, asteroids, and occasionally hurricanes. Was just cruising Prime Video for any not so great natural disaster flicks and came across this one. Was very surprised that it was a Chinese film and found it here on MDL. It came out on prime two years after its initial release in China, so all of the actors voices were completely dubbed over but done well. I was familiar with only a handful of the actors; though the science wasn't there, this was like a rushed Chinese Jurassic Park with a volcano instead.

Pros: What I liked the most was the CGI which was top notch and all of the actors really played their parts well. Very typical of a state of the art hotel built on an active volcano; so greed over safety. It was entertaining to watch and I gave it the score I did for these pluses. The story needed to be longer and it would have been better if done so.

Cons: The total lack of science. First of all, an explosive eruption doesn't happen in just 20 minutes. This was a typical cone shaped volcano but both of its eruptions resembled those of Krakatoa, Tambora, and Vesuvius though on a much smaller scale. The fact that no one took the time to explain that those ash clouds racing down the mountain were pyroclastic flows that could reach up to 500 mph in speed and 1,000 degrees F, was ridiculous. ML aka dad survived not once but twice even though he was in the open where the flow reached him even if he hid in the hole in the ground; just look at the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum for that explanation. It's literally impossible to survive at all with just minor burns; each person would be incinerated alive. The ejections out of the volcano are called lava bombs and not only do they explode but they create their own lava flows.

I wasn't looking for a whole lot of accuracy it being only 1.5 hours long but just some basic volcanology would have sufficed; something they teach you in elementary and middle school science class.

Would I recommend it? Yes; as just a natural disaster flick with special effects and good acting. Grab some popcorn and relax.

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Love & Shine with Billiards

Watched this for WL and the sport aspect. Also was interested in the fact that they traveled to various foreign countries to film. This was the second time I'd seen WL in a sport-modern drama but this was more romance focused. I think I was only familiar with a few of the supporting characters. It was love and shine with billiards.

Pros: I didn't read the novel as I never do so can only review from a viewer's prospective. One thing this drama drove home about WL (LYY) and his acting was that the guy has the ability to give both bedroom eyes and looks that can drop an entire army. In this case, straight from episode one, he knew who and what he wanted. This was a case of love at first sight and he was hooked.

The story was really about pursuit and he gave his all. Furthermore this drama could do loss very well like losing his coach just as he finally returned home properly. That legit made me weep as it brought back grief that I've been personally dealing with. The FL (YG) was alright though I liked her more when she acted maturely as opposed to the pouting as that got old quick. And the supporting cast were awesome and fun especially MXD and JY were great when paired with LYY; so comedic it was like the 3 stooges.

All of the OSTs, scenery especially in Finland and France was beautiful. I really liked the rock/techno compilations when the leads and friends were in competition and ready to kick ass. The sport aspect of it was great, wish there was more of it and explained. The chemistry between the leads was very sweet and it got funny when in the comment section we had a very long discussion about did they or didn't they and if they did, which they did (I admit it lol); when was the first time? The fact that this show could bring about mile long conversations is what made it very successful.

Cons: Now while I did enjoy it very much, it wasn't without problems. For example why didn't they show MXD and LL's love line through to the end? It was very unsatisfying to leave them hanging when MXD was essentially the SML and a great friend/cousin to the leads. Their relationship should have been aired out more. Also why wasn't MXD there at the proposal at the end or in the 3 year time lapse rounding out? LL was but he wasn't? It was weird.

I wish they had balanced the billiards portion more with the romance side of it. There was so much of the getting the leads together and their relationship before we ever got to what they both loved doing. I'm great with fluff but it should have some meat and potatoes too. Would have also been great to explain to the audience what 8-ball, 9-ball, and snooker actually was and how it was played. Also, though I understand cultural differences and whatnot, the FL pouted way too much and the ML did most of the heavy lifting even emotionally. At some point, I said to myself that a 23 year old woman should act her age. That tantrum she threw and then expected him to call her when he didn't do anything wrong but was the one that was sad and needed comforting in the one "fight" they had made me roll my eyes.

The weird hosts that turned an international competition into a dating show was unnecessary and unprofessional when you're trying to show an actual competition on an international scale. Is it so common in cdramas or in China in general for everyone to be so nosy? Everyone wants private stuff to be public. Obviously hiring some actors that were referees who couldn't even speak English made it even more unprofessional looking. If you're going with an international event, you have to make it look as realistic as possible not just certain things that had just a tad too much propaganda which was also 7 versions of unnecessary.

Would I recommend it? Yes. It's very good despite the cons and will have you laughing, crying, and cheering in all of the right places. Definitely give it a whirl.

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Building 19; An Underrated Show

19th Floor or Building 19 as I think it should have been called because we never really saw 19 floors but the number on the building itself. This show was ridiculously underrated and that's sad. I didn't expect it to be good and only really knew ML, FL, and Bai Shu's characters from a few previous series. But it had a great storyline that never dragged and only a few baubles.

Pros: A show has to be good for me to watch it with AI subs as it's something I very rarely do because they give me a headache. But even before I knew when Viki was actually going to drop with subs, I was invested in watching. I'm so glad that romance wasn't the priority shoved in there like most even sci-fi shows have done. The teamwork and friendships built gradually amongst the players of this life or death game was the main theme. We did end up with two couples ultimately but it was a very toned down process that wasn't forced.

Favorite characters were def ML and FL; the essential high IQ and EQ alpha male (GX) and female (CY) who really in a sense were childhood sweethearts. He had searched for her high and low and they ended up in the game together as her father helped him find and protect her. All of the members of the team went from annoying, having issues, or jackasses to great friends and supportive of each other. Absolutely everyone evolved and grew. I'm actually glad Uncle Lin never regained his game memories because someone else taking over his body and the rest of that would have been pretty traumatic. There were 3 fathers in this series that had daughter issues including the villain but he was just insane. I wish GX hadn't sacrificed himself to save him. I would have let him fry. Thankfully it didn't take GX too long to return to the land of the living and have his memories restored.

The basic premise of this show is that a villain (YML) hijacks a game from two other creators and creates a horror show where players must "die" somehow or figure out a way to pass each level to survive. Players never choose it, but a chip is implanted in their heads because they tried a free VR game and the device implemented it. Those that die in horrible ways, end up in a coma with their lives basically in this dude's hands. And all of this because of his own selfish actions and being unable to save his daughter but because the paramedics didn't get there in time, he blames the world and wants everyone to suffer.

The CGI was truly amazing how realistic they made each world. They showed a video of each level in the game and how it's created. There are comical moments too and tear jerking ones. They also showed each important person's family life and how imperfect it already is plus each night, they get sucked into the game no matter where they are; sitting, standing, on the toilet. All of the twists and turns of this series really had you wanting more. Even YML up until his last episode, you wanted to use a flamethrower on.

Cons: Starting with YML; he was just a loony that deserved jail time or to die in his own game. So him being saved by GX and from just a few of GX's words understanding his mistakes that for 29 episodes he didn't get wasn't very believable. Yes, this was an AI-VR sci-fi show so reality was superficial but this was basic human nature stuff and a leopard doesn't change his spots so fast.

The fact that the group actually believed him when he said he'd remove the chip was poor writing. Also when they sneaked into a high tech building on some occasions but got caught in others was unbelievable. A place like this that had guards and cameras everywhere, how could you not get caught? Or think you were in the clear? It was very unrealistic and this happened like 4 times. Another weird plot hole was that in the last episode the policeman speaking to the press said they'd been investigating this for months and had "the masses" tell them this was going on; what masses? Her dad that was in Uncle Lin's body? Only the ones in the game knew about it and the doctors that were made to disappear or director of the hospital. Where did this mountain of evidence come from that they'd been compiling? The group was afraid to go to the police because they didn't think they'd be believed. Meanwhile, the police supposedly knew and yet didn't do anything about it until they mysteriously and randomly showed up at the place when YML was chucked into reality by GX in the second to last episode to arrest him? Makes no sense.

Personally, though they made weird overtures with that random dude in the last 3 minutes of the show that there may very well be a season 2, I don't want it. Cast will most likely be different and the reason for it wouldn't make sense anymore. Leave well enough alone. Should have just ended it on our group walking away together from that alley fight.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Just wait for Viki to drop with proper subs; it's a great series if you like sci-fi despite some flaws in the cons. All of the actors did a good job. Worth the watch.

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