The Epic Journey of the True Son of Bei Liang.

This show is a wholesome package. From politics to scheming and strategies, romance and comradeship, family bonds and the journey of growth +cute beasts and martial arts manuals :).....This has a little of everything in a way that doesn't overwhelm you.

This is the story of Xu Feng Nian, the much anticipated future lord of Northern(Bei) Liang. But that doesn't mean he will be under the limelight throughout the show. Each and every person he meets has a character arc that could impress us in the long run. The story is very well developed. The pace may not be uniform but the overall effect is heightened due to this.

This is a show which you must definitely watch once completely before forming an opinion because everything( even what you might think idiotically unintelligible and frustrating) make sense eventually at various check points in the story.
'Once' you finish it I am sure you will hurry to rewatch it and gather clues on what is yet to come.

Can't forget to raise a toast to the stellar cast and their solid performance. Although we have only seen little of some, their roles are too consequential to the storyline to be ignored in the upcoming seasons. So although season 1 has given a worthy closure to the first part of the story, I am looking forward to even brighter follow up seasons.

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YOLO : Repeat mode ON

This is the first non meteor/comet-triggered timeloop cdrama in my memory

Amidst the thrill, excitement, mystery and comedy of the episodes that seem to end even before I take a couple of breaths, I find this a fun ride. In retrospective it is a beautiful show that leaves you with positive emotions.

First of all appreciates every detail of the story and acknowledges the pain taken to bring each character's 'realistic' story under microscope. Ofc this is a middle class adventure...in the public Bus No. 45

15 episodes...compact and crisp, the richness of stories in each loop is enough to keep you engaged.
The show remains faithful to the time travel tag by getting to use the trope to effectively tell stories inside stories from different angles and perspectives conveying faithfully the richness and complexity of emotions in the web of relationships.

About the music... I find it new to cdramaland like a fresh breath of air. Minimalistic but littered wherever appropriate and befitting the genre. It reaches the crescendo at accurate points and complements the mood well.

ML has the boyish charm that makes his actions seem cute. He is also as serious as it can get at the right moment.
Fl doesn't lack in terms of acting or motivation.
Lu Di, ....Savior of cats..., ROCKS

That old lady made me go through all emotions from extreme hate disgust horror awe terror to feeling her helplessness and sympathy for her. Making peace with her character was a major challenge.

Kudos to the bus driver. He was and still at the end of the show remains the toughest nut to crack . The Comradeship in the police force is also brought to the forefront under the pressure from a bombing plot.

On the flip side
Answers to some of the questions are not explicit. You will have to refer back to the novel to be sure.

Was the ending an overkill?
In the case of Romance, the excess is always a bonus for me. Can't complain. But Personally felt the Romance overtook the plot a bit at the end.

I also felt the juxtaposition of rewarding versus punishing ceremony uncomfortable. But I was cheering for the leads at that time and they nearly blind folded me with that.

Last but not the least. (Could contain spoilers*)

Wht about the girl child of the one in the jail?
Will mengmeng initiate another loop incase her father tries to murder him(the worst case scenario)?
I am looking forward to Mengmemg's thoughts on this.

Ofc I would heartly welcome a season 2
May be also the adventures of the delivery guy who gets stuck in a time loop of his own?

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Destination Leap Day: Feb 29, 2020

There is a certain charm to this drama, which i believe, only a certain blend of life, philosophy, experiences and fantasy in a médiocre setting can give rise to.

My First Hong Kong Drama and I am impressed. The quality seems to be on par with TW dramas. Perfect camera frames and beautiful cinematography. Watch out for the shaky cameras during emotional scenes( well it shook throughout 1 specific scene as i recall now) and I find it oddly appropriate :) :)

The story in itself is not 'extra'ordinary. Just the usual story of a girl who happens to time/cross-dimensional travel. But the implications of that travel/s...well that is explored in a very very satisfying manner.
The FL has an end purpose which is to undo an unfavourable(?) incident in the future(29 Feb, 2020). She drags innocent people into this self- serving timeloop 'drama' and eventually ends up being an executioner of the very same inevitable Destiny . Same goes with all those who help her to avoid this uncertain future calamity.

Some of what i like
1) The dramatic arc of the poor man whose life is messed up by the fl's attempts at re-writing the future. While everyone pins him down as the sole reason for the ultimate calamity, none of the characters realise that they are the ones scripting his misfortune and inturn their own misfortunes. As our leads fail to appropriately apprehend this variable, a realisation sinks in. Doesn't the story also belong to the random passerby who might or might not get swept into this fiasco and be condemened to suffer in silence?

2) The melo take: I Like how they portrayed the relationship between the three female friends . It is so warm and enviable. The drama does pay individual attention to their stories. The father-daughter relation is also explored in detail within the limited time frame. The melo take after episode 5 might have slowed down and shifted the focus of the drama a bit but i personally found it agreeable, therapeutic to an extent and even insightful.

3) The intense love triangle undercurrents. The fl doesn't make it official with any of the male leads in the drama (She is developing feelings towards one and is not really sure about the other). But she did have chemistry with both of them and both are equally important characters eventhough the show concentrates more on developing her relationship with one of them. The answer to 'who all will end up together'really made me persevere till the very end. Did i get a closure? not really.( fear not we have S2 )

4)The ending: The drama does wrap neatly after epi 9. But the expecetd closure is not what we get from episode 10. Instead a eerie sort of uncertain equilibrium pervades that entire episode, which i think is laying the groundwork for a season 2. It is not confusing in itself but yes, incomplete There are loose ends which i hope will be explained in S2

What I didn't like.
I want more of the smoking hot male lead YKC . I want the show to explore more of him and his relationship with the fl in the upcoming season. It was very hard to choose between the two polar opposite Male Leads. I nearly wanted both of them to get their respective happy endings with the FL . But i will be even happier if the show could further explore this trio's relationship and convince the audience of the most compatible couple pairing

This is not a grand and eventful drama. It is a just show for a cold night. Make yourself cozy under your blanket, near the hearth.Let your heart go with the flow.
Feel free to feel conflicted, smile, cry, open up, reflect, anticipate and accept. There are a lot of relatables everywhere.
The show won't pull you in immediately. It maintains a respectable distance. It is entirely upto you if you want to be pullled in. Make sure you are in that frame of mind otherwise the show might end up giving you a sense of dissassossiation and dissatisfaction.

Try to get a feel of the drama with its music, esp the intro and the outro. It does carry within it the essence of the whole thing..

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