arikr
As said in other reviews the drama is very thought provoking.
It questions the values of society : justice, family, love, health...
The World Between Us reminds me somewhat of one of my favorites TV series : The Wire. The two series are very different but they share a similar inspiration I think.
Although some actors are idols, the show is nothing glamourous : it is filmed almost like a documentary.
From the perspective of an european person, one can only wonder if the taiwanese society is realistically pictured in this drama because of important cultural differences : how the media and public opinion hold the family responsible, the death penalty, the social pressure in general...
In the show we just follow the characters and watch them overcome the hurdles life throws at them.
The pace is steady, there is no great intrigue or resolution, nor is it necessary in this show.
Every character is touching and realistic. The acting is on point, the writing is flawless.
The music is okay and adds just the necessary emotional touch (If you are like me, that will help you cry as in any good asian drama).
In short this drama is a gem and a must watch, in a genre on its own : entertaining but serious and thought provoking.
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A solid wuxia
The drama is well made from start to finish. The plot is decent, realistic and very tight (no plot holes). The actors have good visuals and play well. The music is good.The ML is somewhat of a coward in all matters of physical altercations. His playground is the mental battles, planning and strategy.
If everything is good, why didn't I rate it 10 ?
Everything is good, but not exceptional -> so 8,5
P.S. : If you like a fast pace and hate to sit down to look at the scenery, this drama is not for you. The story takes its time (but without lagging in my opinion) and you should savour it like fine old wine.
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After the mid-part the actions of some main characters became inconsistent and illogical. It makes sense if they are mentally ill, but they were not presented like that. Still the good parts prevented me from dropping and the pace picked up.
Then towards the end nothing makes sense anymore. I almost rooted for the evil guy since the other characters were not much better than him :
- The male lead continues to be obsessed over something stupid and irrelevant and disaster follows.
- The team leader wants to cover the sky with her hands to hide her story but if she only tells the truth it will hurt for a few minutes then she will be relieved and everyone will forgive her.
- Everybody think he/she can be alone with the most vicious criminal (but to arrest some other characters they deploy 50 policemen)... Well some tried that before and nobody's there to talk about it...
In conclusion I had to drop the show at episode 14. It was a really good show on many aspects, and if you can put up with nonsense you might be able to watch it until the end.
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This drama is a masterpiece in dramaland.
It is a must watch for many reasons :
- Incredible acting (especially for a cdrama).
- Beautiful, realistic and well developped story.
- Amazing work from the makeup and costume artists, very good OST.
Cecilia Lui really outdid herself in this drama, and the other actors didn't fall short.
There is only one main character for me, that is her Maertai Ruoxi. Although in many scenes, we see things from the eyes of other characters, that is mainly to allow us to watch in an entertaining way what she will hear or read from others.
Because of this, we don't know more than Ruoxi and I could empathize completely with her thanks to this setting.
Every character is somewhat realistic and consistent, I really liked that.
The evolution of Ruoxi was very well described. After being uprooted from her modern day life, she valued relationships even more that in her past life because that was the only way to take roots in her new life.
Thanks to this drama everyone living in a socio-liberal democracy can fully appreciate the benefits of a modern society.
The tragedy for Ruoxi then began when she entered the Palace, putting her in the eye of the maelstrom, where she could only anxiously wait for the events she knew would happen.
Although the tragedy began then, Ruoxi cannot fully realize it, and blooms like a magnificent flower surrounded by her friends and loved ones.
But the Palace is the Palace, and history cannot be prevented, so Ruoxi still feels a veil is between her and the world. And the fear of the inevitable is already poking at her heart.
During her stay in the Palace, she could never fully realise her love, and eventually lost almost every root she had taken in this new life.
The agony of it is portayed so well that your heart will also bleed. At the same time, the watcher can predict the end, and let go, like Ruoxi.
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What I liked :
- Awesome cast
- Great acting overall
- Great pace overall
- OST that had me dancing or playing drums on my table.
What I disliked :
- Some characters were lacking in depth or missing something.
- The ending leaves (too) many things unresolved. The last episode looks like it is missing some scenes !
- The love between the "original lead couple" was too shallow, contrasting with the story. And there was no resolution.
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But with an average rating of 9.3 and many dithyrambic reviews, I was expecting a unique gem. The show wasn't that for me.
The good points :
- Incredible cast and acting : great actors in EVERY main and supporting roles. (Probably the best casting I have ever seen in quantity and quality).
- Solid writing and pacing.
- Beautiful stories, realistic enough characters.
The average or bad points :
- The show was previsible to me (but I watched too many dramas... )
- I skipped some of the band parts (musical parts of the drama) : I didn't like the way it was recorded/mixed and the music didn't move me.
- For a medical drama, it is amazing (although I don't know anything about medecine). BUT there are already many great medical dramas out there, and although the medical parts were amazing, there was not much originality.
- The first season calls for the second with some cliffhangers at the end.
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The acting is good overall. The scenario is cliché but there is potential for a good drama.
I really loved the main actors and the others are also very good. Every actor is funny, beautiful or annoying so it's entertaining.
The problem is that the characters makes too many non realistic decisions, so much that it's not bearable anymore.
They have some developement since the beginning of the show, but it's not consistent. Sometimes they are smart and at other times in the same context they will be stupid. Sometimes they are lively then you don't know why they become lethargic...
Anyway the plot holes are so big that I don't even see my TV screen anymore. Almost everything could be resolved if they just talked to each other, that would weaken the villain so much... But even though they know that already, since they have experienced the feeling of sharing some information and thus not being thrown around like a trash bag, they still keep their mouth shut for no reason at times.
They know they absolutely shouldn't be alone with a killer and manipulative person, but they still go alone for no reason and afterwards suffer alone without telling anyone. And they see that the other is probably like them but still they continue ruining themselves.
Take the main character for instance : she becomes so smart and confident after she decides to help her husband, it's cheat-like (god mode ON), but then she seems to revert to a useless character, she begins sharing but afterwards she clams up.
For these reasons the characters are broken : I can't conceptualize them, they make no sense, thus the show makes no sense.
The villain especially : he is consistent in being unrealistic, he is even less human because they try to make you emphatize with him but it's not working. Also you can't explain why some lackeys are following him wich is very disturbing... what is in it for them, they can't follow him just for his good looks right ?
So in conclusion the show has potential, many people seem to enjoy it and so did I, but you have to overlook the many character flaws and plot holes. For me it's all I see so it's too upseting to watch.
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