Female centric historical drama

I do not intend to write a long review for this one, so I'll just summarise my thoughts as succinctly as possible.

Overall:
This is a female centric drama focused on the growth of the lead character Chang'ge in her pursuit of vengeance and how she comes to find her role and aim in life.

Positives:
+ This is NOT a romance-themed drama which is fantastic for people who are more plot focused.
+ There is effort to expand character development beyond those of the lead characters. Every character has his/her own motivations and reasons to act in the way they did.
+ There is emphasis in the strength of the protagonist Chang'ge and how the fact that she is a female does not limit her in any way. Most female characters are strong and capable in this drama.
+ There is respect between the primary pairing and the male lead Ashile Sun's attitude and thoughts toward his beloved aligns with modern thinking.
+ Excellent pacing from the first episode up till when Suozhou fell.
+ Brilliant start and directing for the football match. I do love Dilraba's acting right at the start as a haughty and playful princess.
+ Great push and pull between Chang'ge and Li Shi'min when it comes to the dynamics of their relationship.
+ Above average acting and good acting chemistry overall.
+ Best OST of the year.

Negatives:
- The conflicting interests of Chang'ge and Ashile Sun means that sometimes Sun is forced to take a step backwards to the disadvantage of his faction to accommodate plot development.
- There were way too many reversals towards the end, and they were not thought out well.
- There is a repetitive plotline for the second female lead Le'yan which seemed to have taken inspiration from a similar plot point at the start between Chang'ge and A'dou but portrayed in a relatively unpolished and awkward manner.
- The part regarding a political alliance via marriage between Tang and Ashile was a very clichéd plot point and was resolved in very clichéd fashion.
- Weird styling for the protagonist.
- Unusual directing angles and shortcuts taken by using comic in place of certain heavyweight scenes.

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A fluffy story where nothing much happens at all

I actually watched this drama while it was airing, but I didn't think about leaving a review because I neither hated it nor loved it. Frankly speaking, that just about sums up the show. It's neither here nor there and overall just a forgettable drama.

On the story, this is the weakest link of the entire drama. There is no conflict at all. There are slice-of-life dramas which are executed brilliantly and entertaining, but 20th Century Boys and Girls is a romcom that tends toward slice-of-life in terms of the lack of conflicts. Pretty much nothing happens. In a nutshell, it's about first loves slowly getting back together, but there was really nothing in their way and all it took was a confession. The side plots were dull and the second male lead added zero competition. At the end of your watch, you are unlikely to recall a single scene that had left an impression.

However, I find myself going back to the drama because I quite enjoy the dynamics between the leads. I especially liked the characterisation of the male lead: sensible, capable and sweet. It's what you'd like real life romance to be like, but it's not enough to sustain 16 episodes.

Precisely because the drama lacks a plot, there isn't an opportunity to the cast to display their acting prowess. Again, it's neither here nor there. You can't say that the acting is good, but there's nothing really lacking or jarring too. I do feel that they have decent chemistry and scenes are not awkward (except with the brother).

If I were to use one word to describe the drama, it would be "invisible". I feel that epitomises how forgettable and pedestrian this drama was.

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I've learnt that Thai lakorns have pretty much repetitive plots, and most stories are just rehashes of others, with maybe a teeny weeny bit of fresh elements added in. Gum Lai Mat or Gold Bangle is a typical Thai drama about reincarnation, karma, good and forgiveness. In short, it is very much influenced by Buddhism (understandably). However, Gum Lai Mat is a great rendition of an old tune, and I would say that it's a good drama by even by normal drama standards.

I'm not going to talk about the acting in this drama, because there isn't really anyone who impressed particularly, but it just worked. I had some concerns about the lead pairing(s) because of the age differences, but then again the male lead doesn't look his age. In any case, I like how the romance developed. Thai dramas have this inexplicable obsession with love at first sight. This drama isn't any different, but there is a basis for this "love at first sight", and I like how it tied in with the story. I consider the romance to be a slow-burn romance. The chemistry wasn't electrifying, but it was comfortable.

If you're watching this for the romance, just know that the male lead is third-billed in this drama. This drama is one that revolves around the conflict of the two female leads (which arose because of the male lead), and headline by two of the most talented female actors in Thailand, so don't expect too much romantic interactions.

In terms of executions, it was very well done, with the past life interweaving with the present day events. I didn't really skip any parts even though I watched the drama primarily for Janie T., which is a good sign. The story and the way it was revealed impressed me. The main conflict wasn't as superficial as other lakorns, and the main characters had very mature characterisations. Some people may not like that there was no retaliation done by the female lead, but I could understand the reason behind it (plus Thai females leads are almost always perfect, moral beings).

Honestly, I can't comment much without giving anything away. In summary, it is a well-written drama that is entertaining throughout.

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To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the drama version of Eternal Love (or Three Lives, Three Worlds as some may prefer to call it) because of the casting. Mark Chao's initial stills were super disappointing. Honestly, even now I still don't think that he is a good visual fit for the character Ye Hua. The cast for the movie [1] is a lot "prettier" in comparison. I won't say that I've changed my opinion totally, but it's not as bad as I thought. In fact, the reason why I decided to watch the drama is because Dilraba Dilmurat is in it!

I think everyone should know by now that the drama is adapted from the novel of the same title written by Tang Qi Gong Zi. The novel is plagued with plagiarism accusations, and apparently there is ample proof of it as well. I don't think it's fair to give the story a low grade because of the plagiarism claims; the production itself is innocent after all.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of fantasy-wuxia dramas. There hasn't been any fantasy drama which caught my eye since Chinese Paladin. The genre simply doesn't appeal to me. This is also the reason why despite being an avid reader I've never thought of reading the original novel. However, according to the book fans, it's a pretty loyal adaptation. I also like how there really isn't any overly cliched plots, though it certainly took time for the villains to get their comeuppance. I really really do wish that they gave a happier ending to Feng Jiu and Dong Hua but I get that they have their limitations [2]. I also wanted a "happily ever after" for Zi Lan and Yan Zhi, which unfortunately also didn't happen.

There are some actors in the drama whom I thought were hopeless in their craft. In particular, Vengo Gao. He was absolutely terrible in Les Interpretes but he improved a lot in 3L3W. Yang Mi too, seemed to have recovered her form from her earlier years. Her double act as Bai Qian and Xuan Nv was impressive. I'm not as awed as everyone is by Mark Chao's acting - he just doesn't look the part, but I guess he must be good judging by the positive responses. I liked Dilraba the most though. It helps that she's stunningly gorgeous and her character is super likable as well. Overall, the casting is incredible because of the visuals. It's hard to find a drama like 3L3W where every single female character is so freaking good-looking.

On the music, I don't skip the opening theme because I quite like it, but I can't say the same for the ending soundtrack. I don't think the music is anything to shout about, I'll say that it's just fine.

There are still some minuses though. First is the special effects. I don't think Chinese dramas right now have the technical expertise to make a xianxia drama look believable yet. So this is not a huge knock, just a disadvantage of the genre itself. Next is the styling. Mark Chao looks like Severus Snape when he lets down his hair. Yang Mi's high forehead (when she's disguised as a man) is also slightly distracting. Also, I'm not exactly sure how the deities "grow". Su Jin looked 6 at age 500, but Feng Jiu is still a toddler after thousands of years. I guess perhaps (nine-tail) foxes don't age as quickly, but it's sure confusing.

In all, it's a pretty solid production. I'm not sure if it's because I've just finished the god-awful G&I, but the comparison did help. It's amazing how a fantasy drama feels more natural than a pseudo-historical drama. The drama has a pretty good rating on Douban at 6.2 and that's despite a lot of people giving it only one star due to plagiarism. I don't love the drama, but I liked bits and pieces of it and I think it's at least entertaining. You'll probably skip some parts here and there but the length of the drama is actually tolerable. They do have a story to tell and the episodes are not merely fillers.

-- Footnotes --

[1] The movie version stars Liu Yifei as Bai Qian and Yang Yang as Ye Hua. Just looking at visuals alone, this is an awesome cast.

[2] Another production company has picked up the rights to the Feng Jiu and Dong Hua spinoff and thus they cannot replicate the story from that novel. Also why you most probably will not see Dilraba and Vengo Gao reprising their roles.

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It's interesting, because the only reason why I continued watching this drama was because I was writing my own plot in my head and imagining interactions that could be interesting. The drama turned out to be nothing like what I expected, and at every point where it could have gone the right way it went the opposite direction instead.

First up, I appreciate the casting. They are both good looking, so that is some motivation. I think Mario was good. His character didn't make sense but he was good. Yaya's character also didn't make sense, but her portrayal made it more confusing. I cannot criticise their performance too much though. I completely understand if they were unable to comprehend their characters, because this show is just plain illogical.

This drama had all the ingredients of good makjang. Accidental pregnancy, a long separation, love-hate, then reconciliation. BUT, they didn't seem to be deep in love enough and they appeared to really hate each other after the seven year separation. Really, the crux of a Romeo-Juliet like storyline is to love while not being able to love. They certainly got the not being able to love very right, but the actual fondness was not there. So throughout the drama I only felt that they liked each other 5% of the time and for the rest of the duration they looked like they will end up killing each other.

Unfortunate, because the potential was there.

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Top visuals in a sweet romance drama

Gu Man is pretty well-known for being a hit generator. All her previous works like Boss and Me, O2O and You Are My Sunshine were wildly popular in Mainland China. I won't say that I'm a fan of Gu. I've only read You Are My Glory out of all her novels, and I've only finished Boss and Me and YAMG out of all her drama adaptations. The only reason why I even read YAMG was because the casting news leaked. I will confess that Gu's writing style does not particularly appeal to me. Frankly speaking, I was curious and also apprehensive how everything will translate to screen given the length of the story dedicated to gaming and reactions of netizens. To be brutally honest, I feel that Gu Man is an okay writer, but she's not a great scriptwriter.

The major minuses I see are: 1. extension of the gaming and aerospace engineering plot lines which did not contribute to the pace nor story development (I liked the ending though), 2. inability to fill up blanks in the novel dialogues and insufficient visual direction, 3. stereotypical portrayal of the entertainment industry. The gaming part was fine, because I do game a little, so I get the gist of what was being said, but the aerospace engineering aspect was a snooze fest. There are parts of Yu Tu's career story which I just fast forwarded through and will never go back and watch again. I applaud Gu's dedication to make the story as professional as possible, and stuff like electromagnetic interference are basic Physics concepts that most people can probably understand. She's also careful to not make Yu Tu look like the smartest person in the lab. Objectively this isn't bad, but it's just boring, and boring cannot be helped. Also, if you noticed, the script is almost a mirror reflection of the novel, but there are some parts which are awkward and needs more dialogue to fill up the interactions. It's okay to have blanks in your novels, but it's not okay to have them in a drama. Even Pan Yueming was sort of awkward in some scenes because the interactions weren't fully fleshed out.

Still, I like the story overall. I liked how there is almost no angst, I liked how the love story was slow burn, and I liked the ending. I think the launch at the ending was what the drama needed, not whatever she added in the middle. I liked the characterisations as well. Yu Tu is actually a very typical Gu Man male lead, a smart and handsome classmate/school senior (who happens to be facing some life decisions). Qiao Jingjing is a stronger female lead than the kind Gu usually writes. She's successful, confident, smart, brave and straightforward. She knows what she wants, and she is also very perceptive. I also think Gu has a knack for writing sweet snippets and witty dialogues, but in a way it's also a slight negative because some may find that the show is not as eventful as what they may like.

On to the cast. I've actually written a few posts on what I think of the leads. Just a disclaimer, I really like the two of them. I think they are beautiful and they can make me watch anything (the two of them, one isn't enough). However, I don't think they are great actors. This is especially evident in the first half of the drama. I've said it before, sometimes Dilraba doesn't give me the emotion I expect or she gives something less. Yang Yang was just extremely stiff at the start, and I was disappointed in his scenes with Guan Zai as well as his mentor in the restaurant.

As the show moved on though, both of them got a lot better. Dilraba is very comfortable with cute and bright roles and when she wants to be she's just the most adorable person ever. Yang Yang is okay when he's not being emo. He was very good during the second proposal scene as well. I was also surprised however with Dilraba's speech delivery, because in the trailer her voice was a little too soft at times, but she's really good in the drama. Yang Yang swallows his words a lot though, and you can hear how he links his syllables in the scene where he drove Jingjing around at the launch site. It's a little hard to get used to two words becoming one and I think he needs to cut out on that habit. Despite my gripes, the cast was the best thing that happened to this drama, because they fit the characters to a T. They also have brilliant chemistry. I don't know why there are people saying otherwise, but they complemented each other perfectly.

Overall, it's a sweet romance drama with an exceptionally beautiful cast and great rewatch value (I rarely rewatch dramas). You'll find yourself going back to replay their interactions over and over again.

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This CCTV adaptation of Laughing in the Wind was heavily panned after casting Xu Qing in the female lead role because of her age and again after airing because of Li Yapeng's dissonance with the Linghu Chong role. However, taking into account the plot, acting and production, this is personally my favourite adaptation of LitW.

On the differences between the novel and the drama, I don't have a strong feeling on that because I understand that you need to take creative liberties with adaptations. It's not so realistic to have Ren Yingying appear as late as she did in the novel and it helps to cultivate the relationship between Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying by reimagining their first encounter. Other than this particular change, I don't believe there was anything too different from the source material.

The plot is actually very typical Jin Yong and even pretty typical wuxia. You can see parallels of the discussion of good and evil in Cha's subsequent novels like Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre, as well as other wuxia master's novels like Liang Yusheng's books. The story is essentially about the pursuit of wulin dominance and the things people resort to to achieve their aims. This is one of Louis Cha's most famous books so most C-drama watchers should be familiar with the story.

I actually like Li Yapeng as Linghu Chong. I don't think he's a bad actor. I watched the 1996 TVB version as well and I agree with most that Lv had the right vibes for the role, but Li was also good technically. He might not necessarily fit visually or disposition wise but his portrayal was alright. I do have gripes about his gestures because he was not relaxed enough but otherwise I found him pretty good. Xu Qing was the big surprise for everyone back then and I can see why. She was excellent. A top actor who showed that age really is just a number. She is widely agreed to be the best Ren Yingying and I concur. She was a highlight and a huuuuuuuge positive. To be honest, I don't think there is any particular misses when it came to the actors. Most of them were fantastic. I believe I commended Li Jie for a later adaptation of Legend of the Condor Heroes and he was equally good as Lin Pingzhi here.

I have also mentioned in multiple reviews that I prefer grand sets. Mainland productions have an inherent advantage because of their budget and the scenery that they can use. This drama is a great showcase of exceptional artistry and production value. "Realism" is huge and the sets and props actually look aged. That shows effort. My only complaint will be the hairstyles of the male characters, but it seems to be a recurring Zhang Ji Zhong production issue.

Unfortunately, C-dramas have fallen (perhaps due to restrictions which are consequences of environment protection) since the late 00s and recent productions use green screens extensively in place of natural sets. I'm still optimistic that they get better though, and I'm looking forward to more wuxia productions of similar or better quality in the future.

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The show is just absurd.

Let's start out by getting the terms of the contract straight. Dong-kyung has terminal cancer and 100 days left to live. She thoughtlessly wishes for the end of the world, after which Doom approached her to enter into a weird contract. The contract stipulates that she has to wish for the destruction of the world in return for a painless 100 days before her death. If she goes back on her end of the deal, her most loved one will die in her place. Oh, and he will also grant her an additional wish on the side, presumably a loophole for her to break out of this conundrum. What are the fine prints? How is this contract enforced? No one knows, perhaps we can just take it for granted. Wait a minute, if the world is doomed, how can she and her loved one survive? Well, good question. From any logical point of view, it seems like this is a dumb contract to enter. In fact, even the truck of doom there to grant her an instant death seemed like a more viable alternative. There is a "reason" for this though, see what happens next.

She figured that she can wriggle around the terms of the contract by finding someone else to love. She also has the perfect target: Doom. She doesn't really care that after she falls in love with that person, she most definitely will not want to wish doom upon him as well. I mean, drama characters have the right to be ultra short-sighted to push plot movement anyway, so we need to accept her rationale behind this for drama sake. She's also dying, and that desperation means that she can't think straight. We should really forgive her even though the decision makes no sense. And who would've guessed? This plays fantastically into Doom's plan because he's tired of being Doom anyway. Brilliant! Now, our leads have motivation to force themselves to fall in love with each other. The writer proceeds to cue all k-drama tropes. *roll eyes* What's the point of the contract did you ask? For them to fall in love of course!

They do so very quickly. That's natural, right? Even though it's forced, even though the relationship build up was skimmed over, it doesn't matter. This is just fan service after all. What now? Huh? Falling in love is not a good idea anymore? Okay. It's a good idea again? Okay. It's time to spend a few episodes deliberating to love or not to love. In the meantime, write some Chicken Soup for the Soul-esque lines and have the characters engaged in intentionally "profound" dialogues about the meaning of life and death, fortune and misfortune, yin and yang, North and South, positive and negative... you get it. It's important to emphasise to our viewers that this drama is not just a frivolous fantasy romance, it's a thought-provoking philosophical drama and we want to send the audience a message. A message that's been told a thousand times over and is nothing novel. *glance*

Follow me. One step forward, one step back, side to side, side to side. Okay, the story is finally done with the flip flop and faux dilemma. Our leads realised that their affection for each other is strong, despite the fact that they've only known each other for a very short time. They confess their love but gets hindered by a god-like being. We don't know what's the reason for that, but there must be a reason, and we'll discover it sooner or later. We do know one thing, that love, not 42, is the answer to life, the universe and everything. We can rest assured that our leads will romance more. Meanwhile, we should not doubt or be perplexed, because this lends to the mysterious vibes of the drama. This is why character motivations are vague. This is a fantasy drama after all, how can you expect answers at the start, even if they have everything to do with understanding why people do the things they do? Of course, the best epic dramas do world building, lay out rules and laws, and leave engaging puzzles. Basic creative writing 101. This drama is different, we're not gonna tell you what are gods, what do gods do and whatnot. This is a departure from normal dramas, this is different, this is how it should be.

Extraordinarily bad.

Satire aside, there are some huge problems with the drama.

1. The premise is weak. We all know that romance dramas need a reason to bring our leads together, but the reason here is too obvious, too lame and too unconvincing.

2. World building is non-existent. The first two episodes should lay down what are the basic laws of this fantasy world that the writer has created, but we got none of that. The writer is treating the laws of the universe as mysteries the viewers should uncover, which isn't good story telling. This means that the drama isn't grounded and viewers are left scratching their heads why people behave in a certain way. Also, because there is no ground work done, these mysteries are not enticing but frustrating.

3. The deliberately cryptic dialogues. Usually, when a drama wants to relay a message, it uses a sub plot to tell a story and let viewers come to the conclusion themselves. DAYS is very peculiar in that its story and scenes contribute very weakly to the sort of message the writer wants to tell. Instead, it tries to emphasise the messages indirectly with the dialogues instead, and then you're left thinking: "Oh, just this? Meh." It doesn't resonate with the audience. It reminds me of the short stories I wrote in middle school with really basic plots and an underlying theme that was executed awkwardly.

4. The story development is slow. In fact, I'm not sure what exactly is the story. If they want to talk about the romance, then our leads have fallen in love too quickly and what's left is separation and reunion on rinse and repeat. If they want to be philosophical, then the script just falls short entirely.

5. The detached side plot is jarring. At the present moment it doesn't contribute to anything (except the tug-o-war between the fans of the actors).

On a personal level, I find the drama extremely pretentious and trying to bite off more than it can chew. I rated it a 1 to balance out the actual ratings, but to judge the drama solely based on its quality it's a 5/10.

EDIT: Also, don't assume that I don't understand what's going on in the drama. I do, I just don't see how it's deep or meaningful in any way. I also understand Korean, so there is nothing lost in translation for me.

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Clichés after clichés

To summarise this drama, Park Ji-eun just took a semi-interesting characterisation and ran with it. The romance was okay, but the plot points were outrageous.

Hae-in is a likeable female lead. Rich, gorgeous, capable, straight talking, with a dash of childhood drama. The sulky and haughty heiress is actually a very popular characterisation that is tried and tested. It's no surprise that viewers love her. With the contrasting male lead Hyun-woo (just money-wise though because a male lead cannot be imperfect), we have the perfect setup for a typical Korean romcom with the gender roles sorta reversed. "Sorta" is important here, because eventually the story went from finding love after marriage to saving the damsel in distress repeatedly.

Like I mentioned, the romance was fine. I don't think there was sizzling chemistry, but there was definitely some temperature. The part where they were falling in love all over again is pretty much the best part of the drama, though the lovey dovey bits had me cringe a little. I do agree with most that the acting is good, though personally I thought it was also accentuated by the horrendous script.

The reason why I'm writing this review is because I am amused at how bad the writing was. I'm not even upset, I'm genuinely confused how the drama lost steam so quickly.

Hae-in's family were a failure of a chaebol family, billions in net worth but they have the combined intelligence of a high-school student. At the beginning it was funny, but towards the end it became ridiculous. It also undermined Hae-in's characterisation a little, because she should have put up a respectable fight if she was as capable as the writer wanted her to be.

I don't understand the second male lead as well. He has an inexplicable obsession with Hae-in which is creepy. I get that he's only supposed to be the catalyst for the relationship, but it needs to be interesting at the very least. Instead, he feels like a writer's cop out to introduce convenient obstacles in the story, and it's incredibly frustrating to watch.

Don't be fooled by my rating; this is a negative review. This belongs to the I-don't-know-why-I-stuck-with-it camp. I think the drama is engaging for the first eight episodes or so, and some might find it sufficiently palatable if they are just looking for a light drama to watch. But do lower your expectations.

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A misclassified docuseries

First of all, let me give a shout-out to the best thing in the drama: the ending theme. Awesome rendition by a great singer. So I didn't know what they were doing with the opening theme. Even I can sing miles better than that.

For the drama, I would say it's very clearly a docuseries in disguise as a drama. The show tries really hard to put in tidbits about law, explanations of the different roles in law enforcement, and the different methods of fraud. They also emphasized heavily on confessing your guilt for a reduction in sentence. This is a show clearly meant for the masses in China (and realistically Asia in particular) where online fraud is rampant. And so, you might find that it's simply not that interesting, especially with heavy screen time given to the higher ups in the procutorate, where you see them stuck in meetings, watching live broadcasts of police operations and whatnot.

I have talked about several flaws in terms of the script already in the comment section. First of all, the first case of insurance fraud was very sloppily concluded. There are also notable grammatical errors in the dialogue. I also think that the fact that a single case spanned the whole drama was a little too slow for pace. What I'm most disappointed with is how there was a lack of misguidance when it came to unveiling the actual antagonist. The show really could have done with more red herrings. All of which could have been a lot better executed.

That being said, I have to give props to how the production tried to make the show as realistic as possible. I am a software engineer and I have to say they actually provided very decent and layman-enough explanation on how the "malware" was injected. I might disagree with the ease of execution which was implied but on the whole I find the research well done. They also touched on monopoly and anti-competition acts by social media companies, which I found oddly satisfying given the current climate. In fact, Douyin (Tiktok's Chinese origins) and Weibo are currently engaged in a battle regarding that, though it might not be publicized.

I also thought interesting issues were raised about the neutrality of a platform, the intentions of the user, and the necessity of restrictions. The discussion on this is actually not unlike the debate on gun laws, though the web is arguably less potent a weapon. Another interesting topic brought up was about whether Xiao was really as heinous as claimed, given that he only delivered the bait, and his victims willingly got themselves hooked. I have my own conclusion, but I won't touch on it any further. It's, however, a pity that when he spoke about it during the trial, there was no attempt at a rebuttal.

On acting, there's nothing really wrong imo. I do feel that some of the calefares and guest actors need some help, but it's a problem with Chinese productions in general. It's pretty common for shows with part time actors to appear jarring because they don't sound and seem professional. I feel that Dilraba does have an elite air to her naturally, and she is one of the younger female actors who can take up a professional role, but this role isn't as challenging because she is just our point of view. And this being a drama produced by the official agency means that there is no room for creative liberties.

All of the above contributed to my conclusion that this was a misclassified docuseries. I stuck through it to actually voice my opinions on the potential debates but unfortunately I didn't see any deeper analysis from people outside of yours truly.

P.S. Dilraba is gorgeous in this show. Absolutely stunning. It's interesting that a sponsored drama like this brought out her looks more than a romance-themed show.

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I finished watching this drama quite a while ago but never thought of writing a review. HK dramas don't get much attention here anyway so I doubt many will see this. Also why this is an extremely short review by my standards.

Pros:
+ Shi Ma and Yao Yao [1]. Shi Ma's character is hilarious, especially how his best friend is just a ball (to quote Yao Yao). The drama can cut out the other main storyline and it'll make it even better, because 99.9% of people watching are really just watching for these two characters.
+ Shi Ma and Yao Yao's romance. Okay, I'll readily admit that this is just an extension of the previous point. Very standard relationship progression, from a bickering duo to lovers. Their interactions are super funny. It helps that they are a very good-looking couple. I mean, TVB actors aren't exactly known for their looks really.

Cons:
- Sisley Choi. Her acting is horrible, her voice is annoying. I'm usually not skeptical of acting really, but she's bad. Her voice is totally unbearable though. I wondered if it's because she's not a native speaker, but I concluded that her voice is just naturally not-so-pleasant.

Summary:
A very standard HK procedural. Not very brainy. It doesn't need to be since it's focusing on the traffic police, which is honestly not very interesting material. One of the better dramas of the year, by virtue of Natalie Tong and Benjamin Yuen's characters. A surprisingly easy pair to root for given that it's their first cooperation. I do wish that they'll continue to pair up gorgeous looking fadans and siusangs. I'm quite superficial in this regard, which is why the only other drama I watched in 2016 is the Mafia drama which had Elisa Sam and Matt Yeung. I was looking forward to Roger's drama (not so superficial after all), but it was a letdown...

-- Footnotes --
[1] I don't know how to romanise Cantonese since I can understand but I can't speak the dialect. So all names will be romanised as it is spoken in Mandarin.

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Go Back Couple is the best drama of 2017 for me. I went in with low expectations on this one, since I've read (part of) the webtoon it is based on and I thought it was awful. However, the drama manage to elevate what I consider an extremely mediocre source material into a masterpiece, and I'll have to credit both the director and the writer for producing such a wonderful piece of work. Also, all the actors did extremely well in this drama, with our two main leads putting in absolutely heart-breaking performances. Unfortunately, compared to the hype it received in South Korea, the drama didn't have exceptional ratings. It is also a little underrated in the international community.

Go Back Couple is not a drama about romance. I know that there is fervent shipping going on, but that is not the focus of the drama. Through the (unintentional) mistakes made by Jin-ju and Ban-do and their consequent regrets, the drama relays messages and lessons to us viewers about the importance of relationships and communication. It was never about whom Jin-ju will end up with, but about how they went back and became better and more understanding persons. More so than the romance, the part which tugged at my heartstrings the most was the recurring theme of parental love. The relationship between Jin-ju and her mother is extraordinary. I cannot remember the last time I cried watching a drama, not to mention the last time I cried so much watching a drama. Kim Mi-kyung and Jang Nara have exceptional mother-and-daughter chemistry. Of course, their brilliant acting also played a part.

On to acting, I must first applaud Son Ho-jun for his breakout performance. Haitai was my favourite character in Reply 94 (which I did not finish), but Son Ho-jun didn't have great luck with his subsequent projects. His character in Blow Breeze was so bland and his acting so stoic that my first reaction to his casting was "oh no". Alas, I was absolutely wrong. He was fabulous as Choi Ban-do. Many Korean netizens have commented that this character would have been ruined if it was portrayed by another actor and I do agree. I think he has the right blend of comedy and melancholy in him, especially with his soulful eyes. Next up is Jang Nara. I'm a huge fan of Jang Nara, so I'm accustomed to her acting style already. She really impressed as Ma Jin-ju though. She's well-known for being the romcom queen, but I feel she excels the most when it comes to emotional acting (still great in comedy though). Besides, the two of them have excellent chemistry (Jang Nara seems to have sparks with everyone she's act with). The two of them (and Kim Mi-kyung) made me bawl my eyes out at their scenes together. The actor who gained the most from his appearance though, is Jang Gi-yong. I think he was great as a greenhorn, and he managed his expressions really well. I'm only slightly disappointed at the scene where he's supposed to stare at Jang Nara's character lovingly, because I really didn't feel the love. Nonetheless, he had a "perfect" character to work with and I think his stock is rising fast.

I don't see big flaws with the production at all. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out on future dramas from the director and the writer. I know that some may have issues with how a certain trope was employed towards the end, but I felt that since the plot point wasn't exactly emphasised on, it didn't negatively affect the quality of the drama as a whole. I'm slightly disappointed with the ending, because I do not believe in second chances and I'm not so sure about the decision that was made on what should be retained from this "vacation". There is a fantastic (the adjective here means fantasy-like, it's not a synonym of awesome) explanation for their trip to the past, which was cute, but it takes away slightly from the realism the drama is all about.

In conclusion, this drama is an outstanding piece of work. It was slickly executed, with awesome directing, writing, and acting. I didn't give it a 10, but my heart is telling me to. I'm still torn about the rating, because there are only two 10s on my list - one is because of nostalgia, and the other because I loved the writing so much. Perhaps in the future I'll change my mind, since dramas on MDL are almost always overrated anyways.

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Best adaptation of the novel

Zhang Ji Zhong's productions are always maligned because fans of TVB adaptations look at them as inferiors. As someone who's watched both the 2000 TVB and 2007 Chinese adaptations, this is comfortably the best. The bigger budget and better natural setting gave grandeur to the end product and it really shows.

Jin Yong has a very peculiar problem in that editions of his novels always get worse. To fans of the book, it is a dream come true that this adaptation sticks to the original as much as it did, though I would really prefer it if A Jiu disappeared from the picture completely. This is also the reason why fans of the novel dislike the 2000 adaptation, because it twisted the plot and characterisations to accommodate A Jiu's character development and her nonsensical love line with the male lead. Thankfully, in this adaptation, Qing Qing's parts were maintained (deservedly). It would be better if they kept the plot point where He Tie Shou fell in love with Qing Qing, but it was not to be. The only other issue with the plot is that the actual source material runs pretty thin, but there is nothing one can do about that. There is a reason why this is one of Louis Cha's less popular novels after all.

The casting is brilliant. I would like a taller male lead to make the hugging scenes less awkward, but otherwise Dou is alright. Casting Eva Huang is a stroke of genius because she is basically Qing Qing come alive from the book. Kudos to Zhang for staying with her despite her then contractual issues. Qing Qing is not a likeable character with her pettiness but Eva Huang portrayed her extremely well. He Tie Shou was also a perfect choice (though her career has since gone to the gutters).

The action sequences were good as well. Looking back, they were really well choreographed. I do wish that the more recent wuxia productions can put in more effort into this aspect.

Overall, a fantastic adaptation though it could probably use a bit of extra money here and there.

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Inconsistent drama, amazing Jang Nara

I loved all the episodes up till episode 10, and I loved episode 12, but everything fell off a cliff after that.

Sell You Haunted House is basically an episodic series with an underlying arc being the exorcism of Hong Mi-jin. The show was consistently good in the beginning. It is actually a relatively well-written supernatural drama with good world-building. We know from the very beginning how exorcism works: exorcist + name + hairpin + medium + stab + memory. The biggest puzzle was also written down plainly right at the start. Why is Hong Mi-jin still dwelling in the human world? What is needed to exorcise her? We know what's happening and we have a direction for the story, and that's a good thing.

Every few episodes depicted the story of a lingering spirit. The pace was good, the execution was slick. I was especially impressed with episode 10, because I genuinely had a heart in the mouth moment. The action sequence was exciting, the improvisation was smart, and everything was just perfect. That one scene pushed the drama to a high. What was even better was Jang Nara's performance in episode 12. Simply legendary.

However, I wonder if this "high" proved to be detrimental to the series, because in comparison the remaining parts of the story lacked punch. After episode 12, the preview for the next episode was like telling the viewers "don't watch". Episode 12 was not a build-up, it was the climax. And so it was difficult for me to continue with the series, because I didn't think it was possible to Jang Nara to top her performance (not because of her, because of the flow of the story) and I didn't think it was possible for the series to give more excitement. I was right. I had to force myself to finish the show.

I do appreciate how the clues were given and how the solution to our puzzle was logical. However, I already guessed how the egg ghost could be exorcised, and I guessed how Hong Mi-jin could be exorcised. A better approach will be to push it further and make it smarter. The show needed a surprise, a eureka moment, but the writers failed to do that. I would prefer it if another episodic plot was added in to make the unravelling of the main story much quicker, and the quicker pace would've also allowed the writers to cover the flaws of their plot.

Overall, this is still one of the better K-dramas of 2021 though. Even if you don't like how it ended, I would say that the first half was a good watch anyway.

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I actually planned to write the review about a week ago when I started re-watching the drama, but quite a lot of things happened in the meanwhile, and it was especially shocking due to the timing.

To be frank, I don't think the plot is anything to shout about. If I were to poke holes in the story, I can probably write a lot as well. For one, there's the typical noble idiocy trope. Second, the drama is a little wishy-washy in the handling of the reconciliation. That said, the good thing is that the male lead isn't your typical rich asshole. He's someone who's genuinely kind and gentlemanly. In fact, he's perfect and the kind of guy you'll crush on in real life. The romance is also slow burn - the kind I like. Plus, the two leads had wonderful chemistry.

Godfrey Gao was perfectly cast since his background aligns well with the character. He's more than fluent in English and he looks the part too. On the other hand, it takes a while longer to get used to Jiao Jun Yan. She doesn't actually sound like someone who majored in English, but I don't know how fluent English major students are in China so I can't say. She also looks a little plain on first glance. However, I feel that Jiao Jun Yan carried the entire show with her acting. If you manage to get through the first few episodes, you'll definitely grow to love her.

Kudos to Godfrey for giving his best acting performance ever, but I would argue that it wasn't "difficult" for him because he is Li Chuan. It was great casting and they found a compatible actor for the role. Jiao Jun Yan was bloody impressive though as Xiao Qiu. I would say that she is probably the best female actor of her generation (85+ers) in China. At least, I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head. Surprisingly, this is actually quite a popular opinion on forums (hey, at least I know a good actor when I see one). She's not breathtakingly beautiful when she's expressionless, but she has a gorgeous smile and she's brilliant with her crying scenes. I was blown away in the scene where Li Chuan tore up their photo and threw the fingerprint ring away (in the trailer so not a spoiler). The way she cried, her gestures and how she gave a little stomp of feet when she demanded Li Chuan to retrieve the ring. I feel that it was a genuine reaction from a girl of her character's age. There are some raw moments here and there but I have never seen any other actress of her generation top her performance in this drama, and this was when she just graduated from acting school. The four fadans are really just serviceable at best. My hunch is that having her as an acting partner helped Godfrey quite a bit too, because he was never this good. On a side note, if anyone else is interested in seeing more of Jiao Jun Yan, I recommend Medical Examiner Dr. Qin.

The music was great as well. I love the opening theme and the two songs sung by Reno Wang. "Start Over" was a fantastic composition, while the two other songs tied in well with the plot. My only complaint will be that Reno Wang's lyrics sometimes made little sense, but I guess he's more of a songwriter anyway. I would say that this is one of the best Chinese drama OSTs.

Overall, I feel this was one of China's best attempts at melodrama. Well, in general they stink at making modern dramas. Chinese modern dramas are either too niche (political, family) and thus not palatable for international audience or too try-hard (e.g. Les Interpretes). This sort of brings you back to the 2000s where Korean melodramas were all the craze. To summarise the reasons why you need to watch the drama: 1. the romantic chemistry, 2. Jiao Jun Yan's wonderful performance, 3. Godfrey Gao (just look at him) and 4. the music.

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