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The Ahjussi Next Door

Pawnshop owner Cha Taesik is dragged into drug and organ trafficking whirlpool when his stripper neighbour and her daughter Jung Soomi is kidnapped by drug trafficking gang. Forced to make a drop-off in exchange for the mother-daughter’s return, it turned into a shootout and he’s hauled in by the police under suspicion of murder. He broke out of police custody to track down Soomi, leaving trails of blood wherever he went.

I read that this was Won Bin’s last project before he went totally hiatus. He definitely left in style, cuz this movie is the bombbb! It’s gore and blood all the way as Cha tries to save Soomi, giving his all while leaving the villains dumbfounded to see how formidable this uncle next door is. Despite being an all out action packed piece, Won Bin had his share of emotional moments, when his character lost his wife and unborn baby and when Soomi finally returned to him. Honestly I really think they should make a sequel where Cha finally reunites with Soomi after he served his time. Am thinking it would turn into something like Shop for Killers uncle-niece duo.

It’s a pity the actress who played Soomi died in 2025. She wouldve made a great role out of the adult Soomi if they ever made a sequel. Her talent as a child actress was already astounding, she wouldve bloomed as an adult.

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A Small Fry Trying to Take Down the Giant

Southern Knight, 4th rank imperial guard Zhan Zhao is caught in a kidnapping case as he is making his way to the capital to deliver an important secret letter to the emperor, with both court officials and jianghu warriors hot on his pursuit. While suffering from substantial injuries, he joins hands with Huo Xiaodi, young mistress of Linglong Sect who is on the run from her marriage, on this detour to rescue a medicine boy albeit failed to do so. Due to his injuries and to ensure that letter arrives to the capital, Zhan Zhao decides to join hands with Huo Xiaodi/Huo Linglong and Bai Yutang. Their adventures do not stop at the capital, as the emperor commands Zhan Zhao to further investigate the case on the letter that had also branded him and his friend who lost his life for that letter as traitors.

I totally love the pacing of the plot, which is FAST! I cant seem to put down the phone and keep wanting to proceed to the next episode. I like how they connect all the seemingly unconnected cases that they found along their investigation that always lead to the Royal Uncle, Prince of Xiangyang. There is hardly any plothole that I could dig into despite the plot being rather intricate with intertwining mysteries and cold cases that they uncover - Huo Linglong with her engagement that seem to involve the possession of an ultimate weapon of the Linglong Manor, Bai Yutang with his late brother’s murder case that he was convinced a set up, and Zhan Zhao with his dark past of 10years ago that was related to his loyal boyservant Ming Zhuer.

I also love the friendship and affection the group had for each other, something that started as accidental encounter had forged a solid relationship between them. And i especially love the lack of romance here which proves that ML and FL can be friends without romance to dramatize the plot. Despite the absence of romance, Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Huo Linglong had extraordinary chemistry with each other. Who says you need romance or love triangles to spice things up? Totally hate that kind of trope so i am glad they didnt go for that angle. What they had is purely great friendship that nobody could shatter.

I must say Yang Yang’s fight sequences, especially his swordfights, are some of the best I’ve seen on cdrama so far. Theyre fiercely brute and elaborate, and it is hard to see much flaw. He’s good at doing these action scenes, I can tell that he worked real hard on them. In fact all the fights on this show is very good and manage to keep me on the edge of my seat , especially when Zhan Zhao had never got better from his severe injury throughout the show. I like how forceful each strike is and the movement of each fighter is flawlessly breathtaking. Although, I had to comment that the body double/stuntman for the FL is rather badly chosen and actions horribly done. His size is obviously much bigger than FL, also much thicker, hence every step he made only looked too obvious. The horrible wig he had on him only made it worse. I felt like i was watching the 90’s HK kungfu drama where you can spot which part did the stuntman take over cuz they stood out like a sore thumb 🤣

This is definitely another notable work of Alan Fang, I had my eyes on him ever since A Journey to Love and none of his works disappoint, even when he took up the villain mantle in Whispers of Fate. Alan Fang is a true underdog that excel at being the SML.

I am not sure why the rating is so low for a great show like this. Dont fall for it. If youre an action lover, this show will literally make you drool.

It is rare to see a group of close-knit friends staying alive at the end of cdrama nowadays. They had to make season 2, right?

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Great Recap of the 3L3W10MPB

The story takes off after the mortal version of Bai Qian, Su Su, jumps from the Zhuxian Terrace that ended her mortal tribulation, though the scar of the experience plagued her so much that she asked for the memory to be erased. 300 years after that event, Bai Qian came across her then husband Ye Hua again, but this time as the fiance of Empress od Qingqiu, the crown prince that she definitely failed to recognize due to the memory wipeout. It was A Li who first recognized her as his mother in the painting, and convinced that she was Su Su, Ye Hua is adamant to try every means necessary to win her back even if it means using their own son for it. And all this while, Bai Qian keeps running away from this weird stalker she encountered at the Eastern Sea Lord’s son birthday banquet.

As an avid fan of Eternal Love drama, this movie really serves the purpose of a rewatch. I’ve always felt the first half of the drama a bit draggy, so I am elated to find this movie where I can finish the best parts of the show in less than 2 hours.

At first I was not convinced to see the cast, I’ve always felt Liu Yifei to have the acting talent of a piece of wood, and well Yang Yang, his face looked too modern for an ancient setting. But I am glad they proved me wrong with their outstanding performance and amazing chemistry. LYF definitely improved tremendously since I last saw her as Xiao Longnu in Condor Heroes series, and Yang Yang’s face kinda grows into me. At least he’s much nicer to look at than the I-dont-remember-his-name actor for Eternal Love drama’s Ye Hua.

And the fights in the movie are much more interesting and fun to watch than the drama, LYF’s Bai Qian actually had real physical fighting scenes that doesnt just show her waving her arms around fighting off enemies with her immortal powers like in the drama.

I thought drama’s Zhe Yan was lovable enough, it turned out the movie’s Zhe Yan is even more handsome and peculiar, with his demeanour much more interesting than in the series, so much that I immediately took a liking at first sight. I love his peacocky phoenix costume very much, because it matches the colourful environment they had in Qingqiu, a total contrast from the series’ all white Zhe Yan. While some people might find the colourful setting of Qingqiu to be comical, I find it beautiful and ethereal instead, and I liked the movie’s depiction of Qingqiu more than series’.

I am not sure if this movie would come out bad for someone who’s never watched the original drama or novel, but for me as both drama viewer and novel reader, and most definitely a fan, all those plotholes magically filled themselves as I watch so I didnt notice them until i read some of them in other reviews.

Basically i loved this movie cuz allows me to powerbinge the whole series in mere hours. In fact I’ve already watched this movie thrice! I totally ship Bai Qian-Ye Hua no matter who the actors are. However I gotta admit, the fact that i don’t really like Yang Mi (the drama’s Bai Qian) as an actress might play a role, so when Liu Yifei came into the picture as another actress that I used to dislike but yet managed to grab my attention as I felt she portrayed a better Bai Qian than the drama version, it kinda affected how I saw this movie as a whole. So somehow I am more content with the movie’s Bai Qian- Ye Hua than the series.

The only blunder that the movie made was the ending, but since I knew the ending in the novel I kinda strike off the movie’s weird ending instead. So yeah I cheated but I’ve rewatched this movie three times so I guess I do like it regardless what kind of ending it has.

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Jumvengers, assemble!

I havent come across a show that could make me laugh my heads off and then sob in the next minute since A Dream Within a Dream, until Salon de Holmes came along my feed. I was laughing my heads off with tears in my eyes on Ep 2, then shed quite a bit of tears before 10minutes in, so much that I immediately declared Jung Young Joo to be my new favourite korean actress after Lee Siyoung. Heck this is also my first Lee Siyoung’s show that her character didnt become my most favourite one, cuz hers here was sleuth instead of a full on martial fighter.

The show tells the story of 4 women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who met each other in a mall hostage incident where they ended up solving the mistress mystery of the gunwoman. Forming a group of friendly neighbourhood sleuths to pass their time, the first case being a simple parking hoarder gradually escalated into a more serious case with each episode, that eventually led them to Gong Miri’s childhood nightmare, the serial killer, Ribbon Man.

This is the first show of Lee Siyoung’s that I saw of her taking up a cheerful, classic clumsy housewife role with no martial ability. All the past roles that i saw of her are cold and reserved women with fighting ability. This Gong Miri role gave me a different perspective of Lee Siyoung’s talent that i never expected of. She was really good at playing Gong Miri that I stopped seeing her as the boxer Lee Siyoung. She really nailed this role that depicts of a housewife who has a rare talent at sniffing clues and deducing mysteries, yet also struggling to handle her in-laws while being frustrated at her husband who’s having problem in the bedroom chores, like how she did her other shows.

Although I liked Gong Miri, i loved Jung Youngjoo’s Chu ‘The Hulk’ Gyeongja even more! Becoming a housewife when she was at the rising stride of her policewoman career was the hard choice she had to make in order to make concessions for her then mentee turned husband upon her retirement. Her husband had been her subordinate when she was in the force, but his low self-esteem never dwindled even after she left, hence he never stopped putting her down when they were around his subordinates. Chu generally plays along but when he pushed her buttons too hard, she had no qualms to turn to violence, which usually puts her husband back in his place cuz he is no match for her strength.

I really love the flow of the plot that gradually escalated from petty parking fights and garbage owner tracking to decade-long serial killer hunt. The writers are also really brilliant at incorporating comedic scenes into sob scenes then goes directly to thrillers. I also love the fact that the lives of the housewives is depicted to be closest to normal daily life with partriachal husbands to bedroom problems to the schoolchildren’s bullying cancer which many viewers can relate to.

The fightings are really good and they definitely did not spare an effort to make our main characters bruise and bleed, or even crack a bone or two for our retired police officer. I miss seeing Le Siyoung fight though, cuz she did none in here. Okay she’s got a few clumsy brawls but that’s just about it, no fancy martial art moves other than those executed by Jung Youngjoo’s Chu ‘The Hulk’ Gyeongja. Like, for real, it is truly mindblowing to know that Jung’s age had been 53 when she filmed the show. All her moves were powerful and she definitely didnt look like someone in her 50s 🤯 This is one of the few things that I admire about kdrama industry - they do not give a qualm about hiring actresses at veteran age as main lead. This is definitely not the first kdrama that I saw above 50yo actress taking up the lead helm. Truly inspiring.

This show definitely did not disappoint and I can’t wait for season 2!

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Exhilarating Ride to the End

A distraught man walks into a police station claiming he had killed a man while yelling at a CCTV camera. Jo Sooji, a single mom detective is adamant on investigating the case despite subtle threats by Jang Do Han from Seoul Prosecutor's office, until she is left devastated when her daughter fell off a building while under Sooji’s mom's watch. Further investigation shows Yu Na went into the building with a high school student who was volunteering at Yu Na's school, who turned out to be Seoul Chief Prosecutor's only son, Yoon Shiwan. Yu Na died due to complication of multiple injuries a few days later and both cases are eventually hushed. Jo Sooji goes on a rampage, holding Yoon Shiwan at gunpoint intending to kill him as the law would not hold him responsible for Yu Na's death. She iss subdued but is let loose by mysterious person during police transit. Since then, she works with Seo Bomi and Gong Kyungso and a leader none of them ever knew, to crack down past cases revolving around Chief Prosecutor, Yoon Seongro.

Man oh man, the pace of this one is too fast that I could not put down my phone even when I go to the bathroom. I finished all 32 episodes in under 2 days! Lee Siyoung has always been one of my favourite Korean actress, and of course she works wonders on this. Jo Sooji went from being a loving mom and dedicated police officer who believe in the law to a notorious fugitive who kept doing the police's work for them while breaking the law here and there, apprehending and handing out suspects that would blow up past cold cases that Yoon Seongro had been trying really hard to bury. Lee Siyoung’s action sequences have always been superb, and watching behind the scenes clips where the actress does the stunt herself is even more fullfilling.

I really liked Kim Yongkwang's Jang Do Han. He was great at pissing people (and me) off with his outlandishly peculiar antics, then managed to get me angry at his manipulating schemes, and then had me feel sorry for him for the lengths that he had to go to in order to achieve his goal. A very awkward and complicated character whose wavelength cannot be anticipated at all. You won't know whether he would go rogue or do that good deed expected of protagonist characters, cuz he is that grey character with questionable conscience.

And Lomon who played Yoon Shiwan was damn awesome. I thought he looked familiar AF, and while I was writing this that I found he was the main character of Revenge of Others! He rocks there too, I've wanted to watch his other works since I saw Revenge of Others last year, but I didnt notice The Guardians. Although he played the antagonist here, I truly enjoyed it as he played the twisted psychopathic young man really well. I am going to watch out for his other works later.

All in all I love this show. It has an open ending like they were going to do season 2, but somehow they never did. Too bad for that. Action lovers, go for this! Romance lovers should steer clear cuz there is no romance whatsoever between the main leads, exactly the way I like it.

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What Doesnt Kill You Makes You Stronger

I was suddenly feeling nostalgic and felt like watching my first and biggest kdrama when i was in my teens. I remembered how obsessed I was with Jang Geum that I even bought the cd boxset a few years later when I finally earned my own money during my college days, as it was aired on tv the first time and there were days that I missed one or two episodes. Fastforward 20+ years later, I realized had I first watched it now at my current age, I wouldve dropped it so fast due to how timid and reserved the FL’s character was written throughout the show. She literally had no rebuking bone in her. She was always bowing her head and hunched over so submissively, talking so very slowly and the episodes almost always end with her facial reactions of either - shocked, bewildered, sad, or happy - and all of these expressions usually came wide eyed and gaping mouth. I am glad I came across this show when I was in my teens where I havent experienced much life yet and expectations rather low. I guess FL’s perseverence and brilliance was what hooked my attention the most back then.

Anyway, now that I am rewatching for the third time, I fastforwarded so many scenes where they replayed past dialogues of characters in the background for flashback scenes and there were a whole dang lot. It also irks me that FL would always gets sabotaged all in similar ways and her decade-long court lady experience offered little help in outsmarting the bad guys, even though the sole motivation of her entering the palace (BOTH TIMES!) was for revenge, knowing full well that she is surrounded by crafty enemies. Her confused or shocked expressions as she gets framed by her old enemies one after another just make my eyes roll, as if that’s her first time! What makes it much worse is the tricks were so repetitive that I can literally guess what the next trick would be while Jang Geum acts like a clueless rabbit all over each time. And her quivering and stammering like a new girl instead of a seasoned palace veteren every time she gets questioned after each set up made me wonder, why the heck was I so obsessed with this character? 😒 she gets nervous and flustered so easily, and panic when carrying out covert excursions. i also cant stand her spacing out lamenting her sad life either, it made her look weak instead of pitiful. How I wished she had 10% of Jang Duk’s defiance so her character didnt look too feeble and weak, so that this whole thing would be more fun to watch. It’s also a shame they couldnt come up with better framing scheme that doesnt make the FL look helpless and naiive, while always calling out either “ye” or “mamanim”, there were probably more than a thousand of that same word in the FL’s script. And I especially despised how FL would swallow insults and unreasonable scoldings lying down, even as she held the highest title for female officials. Like I said, she had no rebuking bone in her.

Watching this old series also made me realized how pure the romance was in shows like this back in those days. Couples in love did not have to hold hands, cuddle or french-kiss every time they meet. Although the romance was not intense and physical-oriented, it was still conveyed successfully to the audience as I can really feel how deeply Min Jungho’s cared for Jang Geum, and how she felt for Min Jungho even they did not express their love verbally. Back then it was all in the poetic script, how beautifully they string the words to convey the characters’ feelings for each other. I liked it when Min Jungho first realized he was smitten with Jang Geum, and asked her earnestly,”Would you share your pain with me now?” Oh god I just melted. And this was waaaayyy before Jang Geum and Min Jungho was a thing, mind you! Before he realized she was the girl he was looking for all this while. Oohh so sweet. The chemistry between Lee Young Ae and Ji Jinhee was explosive! Oh one of the other dialogue of Min Jungho’s that melted me was during the plague arc, when he saved Jang Geum from the fire and told her,”How could I not come back for you when I realized I finally hold value in your heart?”

They did not have to say i love you or i cant live without you, instead they spoke with their eyes and gestures. Even the way Min Jungho and Jang Geum’s eyes light up everytime they see each other was enough to spell love all over the their faces. Compared to nowadays, even period dramas where the girls were supposed to be reserved and maintain proximity gaps with the opposite gender, their characters would instead brazenly hug or kiss the love interest. Or the least they would show is the couple prancing around the market or festivals while holding hands or each other’s waist. 🙄 so modern-like, huh, hence unrealistic. At least in this show the couple only started to hug during perillous situations that they almost lost each other, and most importantly they never did it in the presence of others. Though i felt that Min Jungho love for Jang Geum was more than her for him. He literally left his post without notice for her and yet she couldnt be bothered to do the same. I also could not figure out where was her dedication for the emperor coming from. It just doesnt add up.

I had an utmost admiration for the soundtrack, it held the no 1 spot in my heart for so long back then before i managed to move on. The main themesong Oh Na Ra! was so good i even memorized it as a kid despite not understanding a single word. The piano soundtrack was also one that managed to make my heart flutter, i cant help myself from humming the tune whenever it came on. The instrumental pieces were all phenomenal, successfully giving off the classic period vibe.

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Rainbow Team, assemble!

Kim Do Gi returns with the rainbow taxi crew to address the grievances of wronged individuals seeking vengeance. One case after another opens up more on the background of some of the crews.

The very first episode came out with an explosion (literally) of the rainbow team in action overseas. This show just moved up a few notches from my expectation. And mind you, my expectation is pretty high after the remarkable and successful Season 1 and 2. One of the things that i quit expecting from kdramas is actors being able to speak comprehensible English, even if their characters were supposed to be brought up or lived overseas for decades. Most kdramas have failed miserably at this so i quit putting my hopes up for it. Taxi Driver S3 managed to break this expectation by becoming the second show that managed to have actors speak not only comprehensible but also fluent english. It is understandable if only the main actor poured his heart and soul to learn speak english, but even the support roles played their cards well and managed to pull this off. I actually didnt need the subs to understand their english 🤯

Kim Do Gi not only displayed his good English, but also very dramatic Japanese, speaking like how i heard those anime characters speak when my son was on the tv. 😂 Reminds me of my favourite General Oki from the movie Kingdom a lot. I noticed they even hired a Malaysian extra and let him speak Malay in one of the episodes. There’s also a korean character who spoke Tagalog, although I can’t comment on how fluent he was, to an untrained ear i thought he spoke well (maybe with a little foreign accent) Kudos to the the team for making this multi-lingual feat work amazingly well. Your effort is extremely commendable.

As usual, i highly anticipate to see brilliant action choreograph and season 3 did not disappoint. Honestly I can’t get enough of Taxi Driver i hope they would franchise it like western shows, they can go over season 10 and people will still want to watch.

In every season, Kim Do Gi’s undercover personalities always cracks me up, this time the crew also went along rather than them doing behind the scene works. Love Go Eun’s style at going after the online scammers. Oh man 16 episodes are too short. Please don’t take up too long to do season 4 😓🥺 we want more!

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When the Demon Meets the Demon Slayer

Wu Zhen is a county princess, sister to the empress, with a notorious reputation for being unruly and wild by frequenting a particular pleasure parlor, the Ruyi Pavilion, which is an unconventional practice for a respectable lady of noble birth. Little that people know, the boss of Ruyi Pavilion, Lady Huzhu is actually a fox demon and assistant to Wu Zhen, the current Cat Lord of the Demon City. A heavenly fire afflicting Chang’an 18years ago had changed her fate into a demi-demon as she is now, living her life as a human by day and demon by night. Because she needed to manage Demon City, she had to get out of the house at night with the pretense of frequenting the pleasure house, and this is how she scored the reputation of a notorious noblewoman chasing men one after another.

One day during her pleasure outings in the city, a particular Mei Zhuyu of the Mystic Department caught her eyes. Although just an unremarkable cousin of the notable renowned Mei family of Chang’an, Mei Zhuyu displayed an uncanny talent at solving mystical cases, thanks to his secret identity as Changxi Palace’s demon slayer. As demonic unrests began to unfold across Chang’an with the help of a sinister hidden hand that was also involved in the heavenly fire 18years prior, Cat Lord and Changxi Palace demon slayer raced to solve these cases, one focussed on retrieving the demons back to Demon City for punishment, while the other adamant on vanquishing them altogether, making them go head to head in the darkness but a loving couple in the lights.

The story started off really good and fast paced, the push and pull between the main leads as they dabble their secret identities throughout their relationship is pretty much interesting and not quite as cringy as i thought it would be. The action choreograph is rather good even with those supernatural powers being played on. I totally love the diversity of Serpent Lord’s character when she turned into her fiance Mei Si when he accidently swapped bodies with her. The actress played gender swap really well especially when she walk with the dress train. The actor who played Mei Si was really good during the gender swap too. The roundabout change of character and body posture of both actors is on point.

I especially liked how they managed to make the death of support character to be memorable and heartwrenching, mainly due to how the characters grew towards the end. The plot twist is very unpredictable, i had to commend on that.

However I found Xu Kai rather stiff here, not sure why, it didnt look like he had much chemistry with Tian Xiwei. It’s weird cuz I have seen many of Xu Kai’s work and although only three of Tian’s, they are obviously good actors. Unfortunately, somehow I felt the spark between their characters had been lacking. I had to admit this is definitely one of Xu Kai’s finest works that I have seen, it’s unfortunate that the chemistry didnt come through for me, else the rating wouldve been higher.

Not sure how it is in the novel, but I think the magnificient Cat Lord is a little too fragile as the story progressed throughout the show. She keeps getting injured one after another and frequently needing saving, and this definitely didnt bode well with me who prefer strong female characters. The beginning was awesome and the Cat Lord looks formidable and powerful, but this wanes gradually under the pretense of the mortal body weakening due to latent illness. I don’t mind a lead character that keeps getting injured and weak, my only pet peeve is when it’s a female character they just love to turn her into a damsel in distress so that male character would shine, despite her background being formidable and uncontested in the demon world. 🙄 Same goes to Serpent Lord, they managed to weaken this character so much that she could be rendered helpless with just a simple powder. So weak and yet they both were supposed to be co-leaders of the demon world 🫩😌.

But I can say I enjoyed the show despite my above grievance. Everyone acted well and the plot is good enough to keep me glued to the screen.

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Tough Women Never Back Down

It is almost impossible for me to pick up a romance piece, especially in a modern setting, but here i am after reading a review off facebook. I’ve only remembered Zhao Lusi from The Long Ballad and Love Like the Galaxy, and William Chan from The Mystic Nine, but i decided to give it a go anyway, not putting much hope cuz i have dropped 3 shows before this one mainly due to mainlead lack of chemistry. I am happy to admit Love’s Ambition had turned the tide.

Xu Yan was leading a life under a fake identity as to escape her sad childhood memories of her parents. Setting out into the big city alone, she strived hard to make a better life, and seemed to hit the jackpot when she caught the eyes of Jinda Corporation heir, Shen Haoming. Determined to seize this man, she was willing to sacrifice it all, including her reputation when she decided to hire actors to pose as her parents with fake background. The marriage was a success, and she was showered with love and soaring career as a news caster, when thunder struck with the return of ML’s childhood friend who had been in love with him. Sounds like the typical love triangle script, but apparently, Xu Yan isnt the typical FL. As her marriage caught up in the rocks and her career hangs by the thread, she decided to take the high and hard road to break away when she realized Shen Haoming had not married her due to love but to make use of her relentless personality and working background to embellish his business profile. And when she thought she had moved on, it turned out she was pulled even closer to her soon to be ex husband.

Initially it seemed like FL was the typical gold digger, going out of her way to win the heart of future mom in law from hell, to the point of groveling to her. But i liked that Xu Yan did it elegantly with meticulous strategy. And to realize that the only reason she held on to Shen Haoming was because she truly believed his love for her was even sadder when the cracks appeared in their relationship.

Xu Yan is the embodiment of a tough and relentless young woman who is clear of her vision and mission in life. Although she loved ML to the point of disowning her own dysfunctional family, she had no problem letting him go when she saw that there was no future between them other than being nominal husband and wife. She would not live her life in such prison, and she was not afraid to wade the waters of fire to escape it. This is one of the few physically weak FL that I truly admire because damn she was a really tough cookie.

Love the chemistry between the mainleads. I didnt feel much for their relationship at first, cuz i thought ML was rather old for Zhao Lusi. But as the story progresses, i saw that they looked really good for each other, and when ML finally realized how he really felt for FL, it actually looked convincing. I can say i ship them both despite not having much impression of William Chan at the beginning.

Although this show seemed like a pure romance, it turned out to be more of life/family drama instead. I love the family dynamics portrayed in here. How FL’s relationship with her in laws would deepen beyond what i expected. There was no real villain here and no extreme jealous lover that pisses people off when they appear on screen. Even the big sister who seemed to be a real troublemaker in the beginning was molded to be Xu Yan’s bff at the end. The only characters that I could really hate to the end are in fact Xu Yan’s biological parents cuz there was no reconciling plot for them. They never realized or admitted their mistakes of sidelining Xu Yan which caused significant childhood trauma for her growing up.

This is a great light drama that people could enjoy without much distress for hateful characters. Although i am an action-wuxia lover, i can approve of this when there was no interesting titles to watch. Which was why i picked it up in the first place.

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Smashing Court Intrigue Drama

I have been putting off this title for so long cuz I do not recognize any of the cast and the fact that it was more to court politics than action drama. After so many years, I finally decided to watch this as I wait for Purple River S2 to fully release its episodes.

Basically Lin Shu was the son of a Da Liang great General Lin Xie, and he survived the massacre of his whole army and family due to framing. Injuries sustained during the battle made his body riddled with fatal poison which treatment include flaying of skin and crushing the bones, leaving him with sickly body and different appearance at the end. All was endured so Lin Shu could return to the capital 13 years later as Mei Chang Su, leader of the pugilist world and a strategist coveted by the two Da Liang princes battling for the throne. Taking on the never crown candidate, the least favored with no court members connection Prince Jing, Mei Chang Su executed his carefully devised plan to redress his family’s treason case,

Gosh I almost missed a masterpiece. The fact it was not boring was one of the appeal. Court power struggle drama are usually slow paced and lots of talks instead of action, but this one had a somewhat appeal to keeps pulling you into it. The first few episodes were rather slow (and confusing) as they were introducing character backgrounds. The pace started to pick up significantly towards the 10th episode. I liked that the first person to recognize Lin Shu despite his different facial appearance was his grandmother, the grand Taihou. It was such a sweet moment and heart-wrenching especially when he could not help to squeeze the hand of his fiance when Princess Ni Huang pulled away. Every reunion in this drama was a tearjerker as each one realized how painful it was for Lin Shu to survive the massacre.

Everyone did a phenomenal job here despite me never seen them on screen before. My most favourite character was Prince Jing’s mother, then Concubine Jing and later Taihou at the end. Her character was the most intelligent and sensible of all, something that her son lacks quite a lot in terms of sensibility and self restraint. She knows when to advance and when to retreat, basically she is the sound of reason for the SML, Prince Jing, who was Lin Shu’s cousin and best friend.

The plots and strategies devised by Lin Shu in each hurdle were mindblowing and unexpected. I developed panda eyes and headache in the morning for a few days as i binge this cuz it was hard to put down the phone at night.

My only complaint is how flat the ending for Mei Chang Su had been. I was expecting an emotional scene with grand farewell by those he left behind, but it didnt happen. His character was just erased without much flare. Gosh i was so disappointed, was looking forward to see how Ni Huang and Prince Jing bade their farewells.

Honestly this was a masterpiece, and this is coming from me an action lover and rarely take on dramas of court politics genre.

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Playing with Emotional Damage

Ye Ping An is a traveling physician who boasts her ability to cure sickness of the heart. Entering the capital and opening a clinic, she faced accusations of using black magic, but also earned quite a few success stories as she cured patients. Using hypnosis to delve into the hearts of her patients, she built quite a reputation for herself. Until a murder happened involving one of her high profile patients, a court official at that, which she became a suspect of. Yuan Shaocheng, a low ranking official from the slum Mang Gutter, was eager to earn some merits to climb higher up the ladder, was set to solve the case and pin the blame on Ye Ping An. Is it really a straightforward case as he suspected of, or is it an elaborate conspiracy set off by hidden hands behind the scene? Is Ye Ping An really a victim of circumstances, or is she the one who moves the chess pieces around in order to uncover the sinister dark operation of kidnapping, sexual abuse and framing of a court official done by the upper echelon?

Really love Liu Shishi’s role as Ye Ping An this time, i think i might even love her more than the badass Ren Xin of A Journey to Love. Ye Ping An isnt well-versed in martial art like RenXin, but she is extremely adept at playing mind games. She gets things done with Plan B, C and D in place in case of Plan A fails. She is very confident of herself, and handles people calmly and confidently, a countenance that could agitate even the most evil ones out there. Although she isnt physical combat capable, she certainly doesnt need saving by ML when she’s stuck in a tight spot, very unlike other physically weak FLs. Ye Ping An is more capable in handling the bad guys than most quickwitted FLs I’ve seen and she definitely doesnt shy away from hardship, even it means getting herself tortured in the dungeon, if that is what it takes for her to achieve her goal. Real badass there.

Am extremely impressed with Xuan Lu, who plays FL’s sworn sister Lu Danzin, this time. She is one of the most seen supporting actress in most of the dramas i watched, i mean i think i saw her everywhere, and this time she really showed how diverse of roles she can play. Other than the meek and physically weak characters i always saw her as, she can also play as brash and rough fishmonger too! Her accent and style when she played this undercover role in Kill My Sins has astounded me and she’s really into it, and when her character transformed into confused and angst, she really did well too. Hat’s off.

I’ve only seen Shawn Dou in Princess Agent, which he excelled there, and here he did extremely well as the lowborn official who strives to elevate the fates of people of his hometown, even at the risk of him tumbling down the rabbit hole of evil. This character is quite shady in the beginning, but later found his right path as his fate got entangled with FL. Both driven by interest, but moved on to become confidants later on.

I really like how the story incorporate subtle affection between the lead roles, though it might not have been romance, but they know they can be each other’s advantage but not rely on it too much. Both have their own skeletons in the closet, both carry deep feeling of regret and drive for vengeance, and both can help themselves out of any trouble without expectation of getting saved by the other half. Their dynamics is indeed very special and memorable.

I also love the sisterhood between Lu Danxin, Cai Lian, Ni Chang and Ye Ping An. Although they could not avoid having bumps in their relationship, deep in their hearts they know they have each other’s back, even when they are at their worst.

I know this story must have been set during Empress Wu Zetian’s reign, i mean, the prominent royal families Li and Wu are a definite giveaway, but somehow the dynasty was Da Feng? I know historically Wu Zetian’s reign had been Zhou Dynasty so I am not quite sure if this is supposed to relate to the historical Wu Zetian or not. But it was definitely a wild and fun ride to be in. The intricacies of conspiracy isnt as big as those in the drama Louyang (hey i noticed their constumes and hand salutes are similar too!) but still involved the game of thrones. Although Luoyang is more action packedthan this one, Kill My Sins captivated me with its amazing mind games. Liu Shishi and Shawn Dou deserves all the praise for their excellent performances. The rest of the cast did an amazing job too! Gosh I love everyone. There are hardly any weak female characters, even if they cannot physically fight. Even the most gentle, the ever so elegant Ni Chang, another of FL’s sworn sister she acquired in the capital, was strong and capable. The screenwriter was amazing to come up with this brilliant story.

The soundtrack is more to instrumental, which somehow fits the mystery setting of this drama.

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Promising Story that Could Have Been Better

Chu Qiao woke up to find herself a slave in Yuwen household after surviving a nerve-wrecking cruelty at the hands of the noble youngsters - becoming a target in their hunt, fighting off wolves in the process while trying to escape their arrows. The sole survivor of the ordeal, she was left to recuperate by herself in a shed in Yuwen household, where she found out that her other name was Jiang Xiao Liu, and that her adoptive brothers and sisters were also slaves in Yuwen household. As she tries to survive in the compound, she decided to try to catch the 4th master eyes, Yuwen Yue, for protection, while she look for ways to escape. Yuwen Yue realized her potential when he saw how she survived the hunt, and took her under his wings and began training her to become a spy. Yuwen Yue was actually the heir to a spy network for the kingdom, as his grandfather had been its leader. Just when he thought he began to feel differently towards her, Chu Qiao found an opening to escape the household and went along with Yanxun, a hostage prince from Yanbei whom she befriended while living in Yuwen household, as he was going to return to Yanbei. To their dismay, the emperor’s approval for him to return to Yanbei was a ruse to execute his entire clan for mutiny. Yanxun was placed under house arrest with only Chu Qiao by his side. Drawn to Yanxun due to his ordeal which she felt similar to hers, she stayed with him during the house arrest, and together, they started to devise a huge plan to escape the capital and return to Yanbei.

First off, although I loved Chu Qiao as a character, i found Zhao Liying rather stiff at times. I loved her chemistry with Lin Geng Xin who played Yuwen Yue though. They rocked the relationship even though they mostly bicker with each other after her escape from the capital. Lin Geng Xin was okay here, and i love his ice lake scene the most. His anguish when he realized he could not be with Chu Qiao due to the difference of allegience was genuinely conveyed. Zhao Liying could really cry too. The ending was devastating and I cried each time the scene comes on.

The costumes are so smart looking, even the women dresses are so nice. And dont let me start with the songs, gosh the songs are truly the bomb. This is the first drama that I saw of Zhao Liying, which i first watched in 2020 during the covid lockdown, and I instantly became a fan. I rewatch this now for the 3rd time i think, cuz the sequel is coming up next year.

Although the ending ripped my heart to pieces, reading the novel definitely provided some consolation, since the novel was indeed a thousand times better than the adaptation.the novel Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue were even more badass than depicted on screen. I know the production could not help but tweak the storyline since transmigration/rebirth plots are frowned upon in China, but mannn, they really missed out a lot and instead created many plotholes in the adaptation. I guess I can only dream of the novel becoming real on screen.

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Torn Between Duty and Love

I first saw Liu Xueyi on Kill Me Love Me and i liked him there, though not so much when he turned into a lovesick puppy (unlike the novel), so I am expecting he would do well here. I was right. He convinced me as Yuan Zhong, the immortal youth who conquered the Divine Hand forged by Goddess Wu Shuang, later used by his clan to kill the enemy - the expelled divine clan, War Demon - and subsequently suppressed by these elders he held in high regard afterwards cuz they were afraid of his power. Wielding a divine power at a young age, the teenager was eager to please his elders’ and obey all their commands, ending up being imprisoned for 40 years in the name of secluded cultivation. He was released later but not not before the divine hand’s power sealed by a necklace the elders made him wear. He lived as the High Priest of Youhu immortal clan for 20 years, patiently scheming his way out of his elders’ clasp. And having been subjected to 60 years of suppression that left his body frail and sickly, resentment began to form and tainted his pure heart, but one being believed he was a good person - Diety of Craftsmen, Wu Shuang.

I think Tiffany Tang did a terrific job as Diety Wu Shuang. After the great war, primordial Diety Taihe was injured and went into slumber, his divine hand severed and thrown into mortal world, and the ascension ladder was broken, restricting any dieties from descending into the mortal world in their physical form. The only way out of the divine realm was through the sea of oblivion that would rot away divine powers. Of all of them, only Wu Shuang was willing to go through this sea to retrieve the divine hand she created, as she could rely on her creations instead of her divine power to get through it. Initially tasked to kill Yuan Zhong and retrieve the hand so Diety Taihe’s primordial spirit can be restored, she later changed her mind as she deemed Yuan Zhong a good person and cannot be killed. She promised the elder dieties that she would accompany Yuan Zhong til he dies naturally before retrieving the hand. And one of the promises include her not to have any emotional attachment with him and reveal her identity as a diety.

Although i did not have high hope when i started watching this drama, i found that the story really engaging, especially when the ML’s continuous suspicion of FL didnt annoy me, even after her mortal body died for him twice. I usually hated prolonged misunderstanding, but this show managed to get me hooked. I especially love FL’s resilience and strength, she would not waver under any circumstances at all. They both did not turn into hopelessly lovesick puppies, which intrigued me even more.

It is also one of the rare shows where the ML needs constant saving by the FL (well she’s supposed to be the superior being anyway) and i enjoy them very much.

It is the first time i saw Tiffany Tang and in some scenes i couldnt help myself from seeing Liu Shishi in her. Dont you think they have an uncanny resemblance?

The sparseness of the divine realm weirded me out though, was it due to budget constraint? Or was it something that could only be understood with the novel? There were less than 10 individuals in the divine realm so it is definitely weird compared to other xianxia i’ve watched. And i wonder why their ‘supposedly’ dieties are all with unimaginable flaws like humans? Whats the point of being god then? If a god can succumb to human flaws then theyre not god at all. It’s weird that some people would worship these flawed beings, on screen or off screen.

The songs are good too and gave quite an impression on me.

Edited: I decided to read the novel, and found that the storyline in the novel is quite different than the adaptation. But i like the changes the adaptation made to FL’s character though, especially the ‘saving ML’ every time. 😆 in the novel, ML wasnt quite a don-in-distress, he actually saved FL quite a number of times cuz he couldnt accept a mere mortal woman would protect him. And the reason she proposed to the diety elders to wait for ML to exhaust his natural life before reclaiming the hand was also different than the novel’s. In the novel, the waiting was due to the consequence of taking the hand forcefully (by killing ML prematurely) cuz that would mean messing with the hand’s fate (it’s with ML now so it’s fate is tied to him instead of Taihe) of which doing so would cause Taihe’s remnant primodial spirit to completely disappear. It was not because she believed ML was a good person that shouldnt be killed. They kinda romanticized the connection between ML and FL a bit here by having her standing her ground because she believed he was good, when in the novel, her sole motivation to venture into the mortal world to retrieve the hand was due to her thousands years old love for Taihe and she insisted to wait because she didnt want Taihe to disappear.

All in all, the novel was fun, and although the changes of the adaptation was acceptable, i honestly prefer the novel’s ending than the adaptation’s.

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Too Cheesy of a Xianxia Love Story for my liking

Xiang Yun was a cloud that was enlightened by the Red Thread Master of the Marriage Pavilion in Heavenly Realm 3,000 years ago, and has since worked as a lowly fairy there. She had a very strong bond with the Red Thread Master, almost like a daughter to him. Meanwhile Chu Kong is the Heavenly Realm God of War, who had just woken from slumber. He had his primordial spirit damaged after defeating the all feared demonic Moluo Queen Cang Hai 30,000 years ago and was told by his brother the King of Heavenly Realm, Haoxian, to go through love tribulation to repair the damage. The mischievous Xiangyun decided to reap some benefits while she still can, and auctioned Chu Kong for interested parties to tie the knot with him. Caught in the act, Chu Kong was enraged and went after her. By some twist of fate, the red thread that was supposed to be tied between Chu Kong and his loved one ended up tying itself on Xiangyun instead, and accidentally they both fell into the mortal well and unwillingly went through their first love tribulations together. And thus they had to go through 6 more afterwards while trying to repair Chu Kong’s primordial spirit, but inadvertently uncovered a deep horrible secret of their past.

Dunno why Ding Yuxi kept accepting projects with badly written FL. I mentioned bad because i read from the discussion that FL’s personality was different in the novel. This is the second time i saw him with such FL after Melody of Golden Age. This time his FL is physically weak, whiny, crybaby and a damsel in distress. I was close to dropping again (i did with melody) but i forced myself to continue cuz first, i really am curious of the story behind their lost memories and second, i didnt want to drop another of his work because his first show White Cat Legend had left a significant impression on me. Although im not a fan, i saw that he’s got the potential of a good actor.

I never imagined DYX has such a diverse acting skills (glad i didnt drop it earlier). He actually excells really well impersonating FL’s gestures and countenance, acting cutesy and all, when they swapped bodies during one of their tribulations, while Yang Chaiyue who plays Xiangyun did it rather badly. Like how she walks, sits and holds things, they did not look like how a man would do (eg when sitting together with just the two of them, DYX would close up his legs and droop his shoulders like a lady would sit, and while YCY shouldve sat with knees apart and straight shoulders like how a man would sit, she did the exact opposite). I am impressed to see DYX running while lifting his nonexistent skirt when he was wearing male attire like how a girl would run lifting the front of her skirt to prevent from stepping on it. He’s really into the character swap! I was expecting YCY to stumble on her skirt when she first woken up to the body swap because naturally a male in tight attire wouldnt have run while lifting the front of his skirt (cuz he had never worn one). Sadly she didnt forget to lift the skirt so yeah, her impersonation is generally inferior. I considered that some men might still lift the front of his robes while running, and yes ML wears huge flowy robes while in Heavenly realm, but then how man would lift the robe while running is very different from how a girl would do it, and YCY did the girl version instead of a man. It’s the little things like this that matters when it comes to gender swap to determine how good the actor is.

As for the FL, i have to admit the actress Yang Chaiyue is ethereally beautiful especially in her heavenly fairy attire, but i find her character is written not to my liking. She likes to speak in whiny voice, and her personality is written to be childish and babyish, which i find very irritating. I dont blame the actress, it’s the screenwriter who wrote her as such, although I read from the discussions her personally is quite different in the novel. I like her briefly as the domineering ever so confident queen better, but this only covered a small part of the show. She returned to the cutesy whiny personality even when she regained her lost memories, probably because she was reborn as Xiangyun and this was her new life and personality.

I find the set of Heavenly Realm very funny cuz some locations looked like a giant space station with rings rotating around it. and whats up with vomitting blood and never bothered to wipe it clean even hours afterwards? Just to remind viewers that they vomitted blood is it? It really irks me that almost all cdrama is like this. It’s like seeing somebody eat with food crumbs sticking on their mouths and never bothered to wipe after eating. It’s gross. It is instinct to wipe if something spills over our mouths right? Even if it was saliva we would instinctively wipe it off, i cant help but be bothered when seeing stains of red or purple that should have been blood to remain there like it didnt exist. So disgusting. Why did i mention this here and never did in other reviews? Cuz there are tonnes of blood vomitting here, almost in every other episodes especially towards the end.

Anyway i fastforwarded many of the couple’s romantic scenes cuz i was only enduring them to see how they unfold the secret 30,000 years ago and take revenge for the lost souls.

Btw i really love some of the songs like My Love and Break Through. They kinds got stuck in my head so this kinda upped the rating a bit.

If you like sweet cheesy kind of love story, you should adore this one. If youre more into action, then skip it. 😆

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