Tyun
Down Under
This review may contain spoilers
Let's get this straight first, Under the Power is a RomCom focused on the characters rather than story. There are more negatives than positives, but the drama was alright to the end. I have re-edit my review having completed the series, so check out my thoughts below!
Story/Plot
Story is about Lu Yi and Yuan Jin Xia solving crime/mystery cases with friends in a case by case arc format. In summary, everything before the Japanese Pirate Arc was good as the drama seemed like it was following a storyboard. Once the Japanese Pirate Arc/ Poison Plant Arc started, I suggest letting go any sort of expectation of a story (Literally watch the drama with a grain of salt). The story was a mess; obvious missing scenes which causes the audience to literally guess "something here" happened, scene jumps and cliche chinese 'drama' ideas (e.g. villian will take the characters away rather than killing them where the characters will just easily escape by untieing their ropes)
Completion Evaluation: No coherent story all the way to the end. Everything 'just happens' on the spot. *Shakes head*
Acting/Cast/Characters
- Lu Yi is the Oppa.
- Jin Xia is the cheeky girl who everyone loves and gets away with anything with her smooth talks & detective skills.
- Yan Shi Fan is the big hidden villian/ antagonist that everyone knows. Usually, his underlings start the problem for each arc and everything eventually relates back to him. He is evil because he has fetishes and is greedy, so very cliche.
- Shangguan Xi and Yang Yue are very frustrating to watch. Shangguan Xi at least has more depth to her character where the audience can empathise with her suffering and feelings. Yang Yue falls in love with Shangguan Xi at first sight so he must protect and love her at all cost now at the cost of his life??? (Very Cliche)
- Nothing against the actor Ethan Yao, but the character Xie Xiao is a brain-dead kid. If you are reading my review right now, IGNORE THIS CHARACTER, pretend he does not exist, this will save you brain cells and a million eye rolls.
Music
Due to the drama still airing, many scenes where the OST should be playing have been muted (maybe due to copyright reasons). This is not the drama/ production fault. So I went back and listened to the OST/ music individually and they were not bad.
Completion Evaluation: A few of the OSTs were out of place for a few of the scenes, had to lower score.
Rewatch Value
I won't bother watching the drama again apart from some memorable clips. As stated in the plot section, the story is a mess half way through so don't go through the pain again.
Why I gave the drama my current rating? (8 -> 7)
The max I could give this drama is a 7, however I still enjoy the drama for the Lu Yi and Yuan Jin Xia interaction. Since this is a RomCom, of course we watch for the cute relationship between the two main leads which is still very engaging and fun. We watch for the bickering, the caring, the protecting of one another and the cheeky one liners that get all of us swooning. However the major downside of this drama IMO is the story which ruined this IP. At the end everything was rushed, made no sense and was just boring to watch. The last episode was a total joke just to create a happy ending bahahaha.
Story/Plot
Story is about Lu Yi and Yuan Jin Xia solving crime/mystery cases with friends in a case by case arc format. In summary, everything before the Japanese Pirate Arc was good as the drama seemed like it was following a storyboard. Once the Japanese Pirate Arc/ Poison Plant Arc started, I suggest letting go any sort of expectation of a story (Literally watch the drama with a grain of salt). The story was a mess; obvious missing scenes which causes the audience to literally guess "something here" happened, scene jumps and cliche chinese 'drama' ideas (e.g. villian will take the characters away rather than killing them where the characters will just easily escape by untieing their ropes)
Completion Evaluation: No coherent story all the way to the end. Everything 'just happens' on the spot. *Shakes head*
Acting/Cast/Characters
- Lu Yi is the Oppa.
- Jin Xia is the cheeky girl who everyone loves and gets away with anything with her smooth talks & detective skills.
- Yan Shi Fan is the big hidden villian/ antagonist that everyone knows. Usually, his underlings start the problem for each arc and everything eventually relates back to him. He is evil because he has fetishes and is greedy, so very cliche.
- Shangguan Xi and Yang Yue are very frustrating to watch. Shangguan Xi at least has more depth to her character where the audience can empathise with her suffering and feelings. Yang Yue falls in love with Shangguan Xi at first sight so he must protect and love her at all cost now at the cost of his life??? (Very Cliche)
- Nothing against the actor Ethan Yao, but the character Xie Xiao is a brain-dead kid. If you are reading my review right now, IGNORE THIS CHARACTER, pretend he does not exist, this will save you brain cells and a million eye rolls.
Music
Due to the drama still airing, many scenes where the OST should be playing have been muted (maybe due to copyright reasons). This is not the drama/ production fault. So I went back and listened to the OST/ music individually and they were not bad.
Completion Evaluation: A few of the OSTs were out of place for a few of the scenes, had to lower score.
Rewatch Value
I won't bother watching the drama again apart from some memorable clips. As stated in the plot section, the story is a mess half way through so don't go through the pain again.
Why I gave the drama my current rating? (8 -> 7)
The max I could give this drama is a 7, however I still enjoy the drama for the Lu Yi and Yuan Jin Xia interaction. Since this is a RomCom, of course we watch for the cute relationship between the two main leads which is still very engaging and fun. We watch for the bickering, the caring, the protecting of one another and the cheeky one liners that get all of us swooning. However the major downside of this drama IMO is the story which ruined this IP. At the end everything was rushed, made no sense and was just boring to watch. The last episode was a total joke just to create a happy ending bahahaha.
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