Yes, I had exactly the same feeling. By mid way when you see the damage and the sacrifices fighting against eunuch…
I can't believe I have to write this for a drama character - did the freaking MARQUIS have to get the army involved and get all his soldiers killed?! I mean, he could've just ordered them out and stayed there and take the loss if he cared.
And he didn't. He wanted to win. All those deaths - and his own - are on him. Let's not twist into pretzels here trying to claim the moral high ground on a story.
All the revenge - and basically ALL the stories - involve innocent bystander victims. I guess we need to invent some other standard by which to judge this drama, then, so that we don't get it mixed up with all the rest of its kind in the genre.
After 29th, myself. Think about it like this. If those people were allowed to continue with whatever they had…
Yeah, modern optics on ancient revenge motivation always clash. What else is new. TBH I'd kind of want to let them have it raw - yes, this revenge killed half the population. Yes it's not ethical by the standards of the 21st century. Should the hero be tormented by it? Who cares, he has anger management issues and needs to vent. And I don't want to add the /s, people should learn to interpret words in writing too and not need prompts.
PS As for people not accepting collateral damage for revenge plots or stuff - people gobble up all the superhero trash movies where Batman or any one of the ~good~ guys destroy half the city - repeatedly - and still don't get the villain in the end.
was dongxia clothing based off of Mongolian costumes? cause whenever I saw their outfits I kept thinking it was…
To me they looked pretty similar to the "Demon" tribe's in Till the End of the Moon, and AFAIK, most of the costumes in that drama are based somewhat in Western regions of China (around the Mogao or Dunhuang Caves area).
Watched the first half of the first ep, do they ever move out of the silly slapstick-with-not-so-witty-dialogue area? I was really waiting for this one, started watching last week, felt off to me, now in its second week, how is it? (Please give me spoilers, particularly on style/dialogue and overall feeling. I am not looking for police comedy TBH...)
I’m on episode 28, and so far, I’m really loving it! It’s super engaging and interesting... but there’s…
After 29th, myself.
Think about it like this. If those people were allowed to continue with whatever they had already been doing for so many years, still a lot of innocent people would have died. And they wouldn't have been soldiers or fighters who at least would still have a chance to survive - they would've been the regular people, like those Zhifu pushed into the tombs to check if they could unravel the traps (or the tens of thousands who died when Zhifu's cracked dams failed, and all the people who were set adrift even if they didn't directly die).
Even IF he never tried to get revenge, those people still would be dead, and many more (because if he hadn't put an end to it, there would have been more).
(After 27th) I can't believe I was tearing up because of freaking Zhifu...
Also, I went AAAAAAAAAAARGH at that ep ending. WHAT THE HELL DON'T STOP THERE!!!!!!
Anyway going to watch 28th now.
This has to be the most emotional role XZ played (that I've watched) so far. He totally delivers, and the support cast too. The only lesser side is the FL's, TBH. Then again she doesn't have too much to do right now.
I saw something about this on tiktok 😭 I thought it was adapted from that novel until I read your commentThen…
I know, right? Maybe it's because there would have had to be Xiao Hai in it and they don't do that in Thai BL that isn't drama-serious like, yet... But maybe if this one gets hyped and is well made, we could have a chance to see that one too eventually.
saw takuya mention had to run off to watch the first epimma be honest i initially wanted to wait for more episodes…
It kind of is :D
Go directly to the preview for ep2 and tell me if "Armin"/Pond doesn't look exactly like KimuTaku in his heyday (and by heyday I only mean he was so young, LOL, he has that fine aging quality still) :)
So let me tell you. There's this Chinese danmei rebirth novel called Rebirth of a Movie Star (重生之朗朗星空) written by someone with the pen name of J112233 (they always use pseudonyms because China). It's AMAZING!! And happily it has been TLed into English, and TLed very well, kudos to the translator!!
If this kind of stories are appealing to you (or anyone reading this) do yourself a favour and look up that novel. It's so worth it.
I'm not going to throw shades because even in the first ep, RESET diverged from the same story (while having some initial similar settings) and hopefully it will diverge more. I'm just going to note that the actual TL was finished in 2019 and the Thai novel was written in 2020, so at least the publication order is clear enough. If there's any inspiration, I don't really mind, as long as it doesn't directly copy that danmei novel.
But I would've given SO MUCH to see that novel put into drama, LOL. Maybe sometime soon, if this one's successful, here's hoping :D
I am so very mad they DIDN'T just buy the license for (ETA: Chinese danmei) Rebirth of a Movie Star directly. Reset seems to be heavily influenced by that novel (and if not, then two different people had the same general idea LOL and I don't mind it one bit. Except that I really LOVE that one novel and if they made an adaptation I'd be here for it all.)
Anyway - not bad at all. I liked all the MC's reactions to the rebirth, he's all shooketh up and not just instantly into planning revenge/a better life (I like rebirth novels, but most danmei rebirth goes something like - hero is reborn, calmly accepts the situation, locates the System, if any, gets instructions, starts planning LOL). So this is kind of a fresh take on rebirth for me. Also, it definitely seems TD also remembers, doesn't it? And LOL, his initials - Thada or The Devil. What can I say, if the shoe fits...
Let's hope somebody actually saves Achi from his fate, he's cute. Heheh.
In the preview, Pond/Armin with his new self-done haircut (like... GIRL SERIOUSLY WTF LOL, DON'T EVEN TRY THAT AT HOME LIKE, EVER!!!) looks SO MUCH like Kimura Takuya young, I almost did a double take.
Actually, this kind of digs up a lot of memories from the turn of the millenium. That kind of jeans OMG I had just gone over the trauma. And the Nokia ringtone is nostalgic - I had the same kind of phone for 20 years (eventually got a smartphone too, but kept the old bugger and it refused to ever die. I still have it and it's working, and I have a charger for it too, anyone wants a Nokia old enough it's legal to drink already? :D)
You need to watch The Final & The Beginning too (in this order). OR. Just in case you want to really be smitten…
There is an anime series for the whole manga (it covers the same story that the RuroKen movies 1-3 also cover, with some skipped or added arcs - amazing soundtrack!!!! amazing seyuu, amazing story, but it's an older anime and it's been 35 years, it kind of shows a bit in artwork - AND a few Original Version Anime (OVAs) that cover some of the arcs that are not in the TV series (movies 4-5). One of those OVAs (not all are the best) is Tsuioku-hen, the best OVA ever made IMHO. (Note there's a re-make anime series that just aired in 2023 or so, but TBH I am nostalgic for the older one and didn't really got caught in the new one, myself.)
I don't know where the OVA is still available to watch, maybe Prime? The DVD set is on amazon, it has to be somewhere online (either as Rurouni Kenshin Tsuioku-hen or Samurai X Trust and Betrayal). Also, if you find them somewhere (NF, Prime, or places like aniwatch or something), only watch Trust&Betrayal from the OVAs, LOL, the others don't matter.
For a general impression on how PPL works in Thailand, LOL. Everybody's driving a Toyota, no exceptions. (I'd fit right in hahaha~) That is precisely the reason why there are ONLY hit-and-runs in dramas. If the driver would stop, everybody would obviously notice he's driving a Toyota, and there goes the PPL budget LOL. So they don't ever, EVER stop.
So, NewGuy KNOWS how the doctor evades the curse. How does NewGuy do it, then? Does he use the same tactic? Or is he living like a hermit, never getting close to anything living just to escape the curse? (I fear for next-door cute neighbour, she seems to be civil to him. Danger alert).
I wonder why NewGuy didn't approach Day directly and came to Ozone. If he tried to talk rationally to Day I think he'd have understood not to tell Night the secrets or something. But now they managed to make yet another blunder and push Night into maybe talking to the doctor again...
And he didn't. He wanted to win. All those deaths - and his own - are on him. Let's not twist into pretzels here trying to claim the moral high ground on a story.
All the revenge - and basically ALL the stories - involve innocent bystander victims. I guess we need to invent some other standard by which to judge this drama, then, so that we don't get it mixed up with all the rest of its kind in the genre.
PS As for people not accepting collateral damage for revenge plots or stuff - people gobble up all the superhero trash movies where Batman or any one of the ~good~ guys destroy half the city - repeatedly - and still don't get the villain in the end.
Like here, (ep3, not a lot of spoilers in case you want to watch it: https://youtu.be/4l4L7nu2K3I?t=2993 )
Think about it like this. If those people were allowed to continue with whatever they had already been doing for so many years, still a lot of innocent people would have died. And they wouldn't have been soldiers or fighters who at least would still have a chance to survive - they would've been the regular people, like those Zhifu pushed into the tombs to check if they could unravel the traps (or the tens of thousands who died when Zhifu's cracked dams failed, and all the people who were set adrift even if they didn't directly die).
Even IF he never tried to get revenge, those people still would be dead, and many more (because if he hadn't put an end to it, there would have been more).
Anyway going to watch 28th now.
This has to be the most emotional role XZ played (that I've watched) so far. He totally delivers, and the support cast too. The only lesser side is the FL's, TBH. Then again she doesn't have too much to do right now.
Go directly to the preview for ep2 and tell me if "Armin"/Pond doesn't look exactly like KimuTaku in his heyday (and by heyday I only mean he was so young, LOL, he has that fine aging quality still) :)
Recs (not in your list):
Not Me
My Stand-In
Top Form
Spare Me Your Mercy
Not BL, but worth it:
Peaceful Property
If this kind of stories are appealing to you (or anyone reading this) do yourself a favour and look up that novel. It's so worth it.
I'm not going to throw shades because even in the first ep, RESET diverged from the same story (while having some initial similar settings) and hopefully it will diverge more. I'm just going to note that the actual TL was finished in 2019 and the Thai novel was written in 2020, so at least the publication order is clear enough. If there's any inspiration, I don't really mind, as long as it doesn't directly copy that danmei novel.
But I would've given SO MUCH to see that novel put into drama, LOL. Maybe sometime soon, if this one's successful, here's hoping :D
Better be careful what you're wishing for :D
Did anyone else find it so funny that whenever they meet SOMEHOW Armin ALWAYS faints in TD's arms? Like... OMG he's Armin's kryptonite :D
Anyway - not bad at all. I liked all the MC's reactions to the rebirth, he's all shooketh up and not just instantly into planning revenge/a better life (I like rebirth novels, but most danmei rebirth goes something like - hero is reborn, calmly accepts the situation, locates the System, if any, gets instructions, starts planning LOL). So this is kind of a fresh take on rebirth for me. Also, it definitely seems TD also remembers, doesn't it? And LOL, his initials - Thada or The Devil. What can I say, if the shoe fits...
Let's hope somebody actually saves Achi from his fate, he's cute. Heheh.
In the preview, Pond/Armin with his new self-done haircut (like... GIRL SERIOUSLY WTF LOL, DON'T EVEN TRY THAT AT HOME LIKE, EVER!!!) looks SO MUCH like Kimura Takuya young, I almost did a double take.
Actually, this kind of digs up a lot of memories from the turn of the millenium. That kind of jeans OMG I had just gone over the trauma. And the Nokia ringtone is nostalgic - I had the same kind of phone for 20 years (eventually got a smartphone too, but kept the old bugger and it refused to ever die. I still have it and it's working, and I have a charger for it too, anyone wants a Nokia old enough it's legal to drink already? :D)
I don't know where the OVA is still available to watch, maybe Prime? The DVD set is on amazon, it has to be somewhere online (either as Rurouni Kenshin Tsuioku-hen or Samurai X Trust and Betrayal). Also, if you find them somewhere (NF, Prime, or places like aniwatch or something), only watch Trust&Betrayal from the OVAs, LOL, the others don't matter.
PS: the original anime also has the BEST music, here's an example: Departure (Noriyuki Asakura) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3YhVNyHMMw
So, NewGuy KNOWS how the doctor evades the curse. How does NewGuy do it, then? Does he use the same tactic? Or is he living like a hermit, never getting close to anything living just to escape the curse? (I fear for next-door cute neighbour, she seems to be civil to him. Danger alert).
I wonder why NewGuy didn't approach Day directly and came to Ozone. If he tried to talk rationally to Day I think he'd have understood not to tell Night the secrets or something. But now they managed to make yet another blunder and push Night into maybe talking to the doctor again...
Anyway. Here's hoping for a happy ending, still.